ISTA issues
- Thread starter Mayday
- Start date
I found a website from where you can download ISTA+. However, the site claims that you need 60GB for ISTA+ and 100GB for ISTA-P (for programming). That is a lot of memory space.
So my question is: can you install AND RUN this software from an SD card? I can buy one 256 GB, load everything there, and run it from the disk, but only if the software will allow it. Any help will be welcomed
So my question is: can you install AND RUN this software from an SD card? I can buy one 256 GB, load everything there, and run it from the disk, but only if the software will allow it. Any help will be welcomed
ponchi101 said:I found a website from where you can download ISTA+. However, the site claims that you need 60GB for ISTA+ and 100GB for ISTA-P (for programming). That is a lot of memory space.
So my question is: can you install AND RUN this software from an SD card? I can buy one 256 GB, load everything there, and run it from the disk, but only if the software will allow it. Any help will be welcomed
Never installed it on an SD card but that might be a good option.
It could always be installed, use it then remove it if space is an issue.
256gb sd card for the GoPro was about £45. 512gb was about £95. You can get cheaper as cards but not all SD cards are equal.
60gb isn't that big these days. Currently have 3TB on the laptop and 30TB on the NAS.
DMike
Senior member
Never tried ISTA on SD but I've tried to install INPA (which is much lighter) on a SD card - it was way too slow and iirc, there were problems with the numerous small files eating up the large blocks fast. Ended up buying an external HDD and later on, for ISTA, a dedicated low spec, big hdd laptop.
I run both ISTA+ (rheingold) and ISTA-P from an SD card in a (very old) windows 8.1 Atom based tablet.
Startup is slow, especially ISTA-P, but that is slow from every computer. On my normal laptop (pretty recent quad core I7, ssd) it also takes almost 1min to load. I don't think that's all disk read/write time; the program is big because of the database data, not because of the program itself. The program itself is just inefficient.
The tablet is maybe twice as slow as the fast laptop. Comparing to the time it takes to diagnose your car (reading is just very slow as ISTA reads all ecu's in your car; it's especially slow if you don't remove the attempt to contact the munich server to read FASTA service data) and subsequently fixing your car, the startup time is negligible.
Comparing it to a high end desktop rig is probably not very useful; who's gonna drag a modern desktop rig to their car? (or their car to their desktop :lol: )
Startup is slow, especially ISTA-P, but that is slow from every computer. On my normal laptop (pretty recent quad core I7, ssd) it also takes almost 1min to load. I don't think that's all disk read/write time; the program is big because of the database data, not because of the program itself. The program itself is just inefficient.
The tablet is maybe twice as slow as the fast laptop. Comparing to the time it takes to diagnose your car (reading is just very slow as ISTA reads all ecu's in your car; it's especially slow if you don't remove the attempt to contact the munich server to read FASTA service data) and subsequently fixing your car, the startup time is negligible.
Comparing it to a high end desktop rig is probably not very useful; who's gonna drag a modern desktop rig to their car? (or their car to their desktop :lol: )
GuidoK said:
Thanks GuidoK. That is all I needed.
If you are running ANYTHING on an Atom processor, that is already a feat. Any Core ix chip will do a better job. So I guess I will finish learning how to use INPA a bit more and then decide if buying and installing ISTA+ will also be a better diagnostic tool. I gather that I can do that for the 14.99 pounds, the 256GB SD card ($28), and then the USB-C to ENET cable ($15) plus the cable ($17). About an $80 job.
If any of you haven't done it yet then I'd recommend moving to SSD drives. If a machine can take M.2 drives put those in too!
In my laptop I have 1 x 1TB Samsung 860 Evo and 2 x 1TB Samsung 970 Pro M.2 in the laptop.
Faster and quieter than spinning rust.
8 seconds from turning on the machine to being on t'internet.
Old software can be slower than modern software though but definite speed increases compared to XP, Win 8 etc.
In my laptop I have 1 x 1TB Samsung 860 Evo and 2 x 1TB Samsung 970 Pro M.2 in the laptop.
Faster and quieter than spinning rust.
8 seconds from turning on the machine to being on t'internet.
Old software can be slower than modern software though but definite speed increases compared to XP, Win 8 etc.
GuidoK said:
Ok, I knew about the cable for my e85, but for the F and G series I thought one needed the ENET cable.
So, INPA is pirated. I did not now about that. Do you have a link to download the free software? I was looking at the bimmerdiagnostics.com site and they offer a 1-click installation after download, which was the reason I was considering the 14.99 pounds price.
Yes for those you do.ponchi101 said:
I don't have a link for the software. I think I downloaded it 4 years ago, not bothered by keeping to find the newest versions as there won't be any new functionality for a Z4 (I don't work on newer cars, I just have the one z4 and when it works, it works, even on a 8 year old atom tablet with an sd card :wink: ). These things can be found through the usual channels. Just google.
I also think it's not forum rules compliant to either ask for links to pirated software or to share it or share links to it. We don't want this forum to get into any legal trouble :wink:
The reason I don't endorse sellesr like bimmerdiagnostics or bimmercables etc etc, is that they make money off pirated software and bring it in the open (advertize with it). And I think that's way more a thorn in the eye of BMW (and them taking all the countermeasures they can) than when it's kept low profile among a few hobbyists.
You can also see that how it went with the online versions of TIS. They were online for years and years but once those links were started to being shared among all the bmw forums over and over again, BMW started to take legal actions.
As for installing, when you have a version that doesn't use a virtual machine: most versions you find work better if you have a 32 bit OS :wink: