Running TIS 2000 on Windows 7/8/8.

1/10

1.3
Legal Notice:

The author and/or publishers of this document are NOT responsible for any damages incurred from the
usage of the information contained herein, NOR are the author and/or publishers responsible for the
information contained in this document or any information this document links to. It is strictly for
educational purposes.

Software and/or computer programs mentioned in this document are copyrighted and/or trademarked
by, and are the property of, their respective owners.

Preface:

This document is intended as a step-by-step tutorial and guide for users needing to run the legacy
software suite Techline Information System 2000. This software was once provided by GM / ACDelco
for the purposes of interfacing with a Tech 2 (J2534) Automotive Diagnostic Tool to facilitate
conducting advanced vehicle diagnostics and Engine Control Unit programming on what are now late-
model General Motors vehicles.

As previously stated, this tutorial is intended for computer-savvy audiences with moderate knowledge
of software and peripheral hardware installation; however, every attempt has been made to keep this
guide as easy-to-follow as was thought feasible and possible.

As with any automotive task, take appropriate precautions when attempting repairs and performing
modifications to your vehicle’s electrical and electronic control systems; you could fry the vehicle’s
circuits or your own!

This document may NOT be altered. It may NOT be reproduced or redistributed electronically without
the express written consent of the author and/or publishers. Private usage is permitted.
Page 2 of 7

Requisite Hardware:

• A Windows PC of modern descent with one unoccupied USB port (your Techline machine)
o PC should have sufficient RAM for your host OS, hypervisor, guest OS and application
stack to run concurrently (i.e. x86 Windows 10 machine with at least 4GB of RAM and
>20GB of free storage space)

• A USB-to-DB9 Serial Port Adapter (RS-232 link between Techline machine and Tech 2 (J2534))
o An adapter with a chipset to enable hardware flow control is necessary for full
functionality of all programming modes

o NOTE: adapters with chipsets by Texas Instruments and FTDI seem to work best; avoid
adapters with chipsets made by Prolific as they do not work for our purposes

• A Tech 2 (J2534) Automotive Scan Tool (for vehicle diagnostics and ECU programming)
o Generic, imported Tech 2 clone performance is reliable, exemplary and comparable to
Bosch / Vetronix and other makes of the Tech 2 (J2534)

Requisite Software:

• Windows 7/8/8.1/10 (Host OS – Runs software on bare-metal hardware; i.e. VirtualBox)

o x64 (64-bit) editions of Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 10 Pro work best due to
memory constraints on 32-bit systems

• VirtualBox 5.2.x (Hyper-visor software – Creates virtual machines that run on bare-metal)
o Software to install and run an Operating System; i.e. Windows XP SP3, in a virtual
environment

o NOTE: versions of VirtualBox later than 5.2.x DO NOT support x86 (32-bit) host OSs and
thus may not meet your needs; for compatibility reasons, stick with 5.2.x!

• Windows XP SP3 (Client OS – Runs application software; i.e. TIS 2000)

o x86 (32-bit) version is required due to compatibility with TIS 2000, which is a 32-bit
application suite

• TIS 2000 (Application Software - Should have come with your Tech 2)
o Techline Information System 2000 software suite used to interface with Tech 2 (J2534)
Automotive Scan Tool and program Engine Control Units, etc…

• TIS 2000 Dongle Patch (Software Patch - Again, should have come with your Tech 2)
o Enables TIS 2000 functionality by emulating the presence of a hardware security key –
the applications will not function without either a hardware key (mythical / nearly
unobtainable and more than likely no longer legitimately manufactured) or the
aforementioned dongle software patch

Version 1.3 gmtnation.com © southsidesmoka

Page 3 of 7

Hardware Installation and Setup:

1. Plug the USB-to-DB9 serial port adapter into the unoccupied USB port on your Techline
machine
• A secure and stable connection between the Techline machine and the Tech 2 is of vital
importance when programming ECUs as a fault in data transmission during the
programming process could potentially result in a “bricked” ECU

• Do NOT use a USB hub between your Techline machine and Tech 2 (J2534) Scan Tool as
this can potentially introduce errors during data transmissions

• Windows should recognize the new adapter hardware and automatically search for and
install appropriate driver software; if your adapter came with a driver disc or is
obtainable via download, you should install your driver software from that source

2. In Windows Explorer on your Techline machine, right-click on My Computer, select Manage and
then select Device Manager
• The Device Manager window will open and list all available hardware on the Techline
machine

3. In the Device Manager, drop-down the Ports subsection by clicking on its’ expander
• The virtual and physical ports enabled on the Techline machine will be listed

4. Open the Properties window for your USB-to-DB9 serial port adapter, which should be listed in
the Ports subsection of the Device Manager

5. Under the Port Settings tab, set:

• Bits per seconds to 115200

• Flow control to Hardware

6. Click OK to save your settings; proceed to close the Properties window and exit the Device
Manager

Version 1.3 gmtnation.com © southsidesmoka

Page 4 of 7

The following section relies on the user having knowledge of basic application operation. If you are
unfamiliar with how to perform any of the operations required to proceed through the following process,
see the Help system of the appropriate application; i.e. VirtualBox.

Software Installation and Setup – Part 1 (Hyper-visor and Guest OS):

1. Install the VirtualBox hyper-visor software on your Windows 7/8/8.1/10 Techline machine
• Allow installation of any drivers that ship with the VirtualBox hyper-visor software

2. Using VirtualBox, create a virtual machine, using the Machine > New menu item, with
appropriate parameters to run Windows XP SP3
• Again, you must use an x86 version of Windows XP, not an x64 version, due to
compatibility reasons with the Techline Information System 2000 application suite

• Assign the Techline virtual machine 4GB of RAM (the maximum addressable limit for a
32-bit Operating System)

• Allocate at least 20GB of storage space to the virtual machine (sufficient space to hold
the Operating System, its’ paging file and desired applications)

• Your virtual machine will run Windows XP and TIS 2000 much faster if you allocate two
virtual processors to the Techline VM

3. Boot your newly created Techline VM and install Windows XP SP3 and all available updates
• Installing and updating Windows XP SP3 will take some time and require several
restarts of the Techline VM

4. With Windows XP SP3 up and running and your USB-to-DB9 serial port adapter plugged into
your Techline machine, open the Device Manager in the Techline VM you created

5. Enable the USB-to-DB9 serial port adapter in Windows XP SP3 via the Devices > USB menu of
VirtualBox

6. The serial port adapter should now be visible under the Ports section of the Device Manager
window in the Techline VM

7. Navigate to your serial port adapter and open the Properties window, again, using the Port
Settings tab to set the following:
• Bits per seconds to 115200

• Flow control to Hardware

8. After saving your settings by clicking the OK button, take note of the COM port number (i.e.
COM4) of the serial port adapter as you will need it to properly configure TIS 2000

Version 1.3 gmtnation.com © southsidesmoka

Page 5 of 7

Software Installation and Setup – Part 2 (Application Suite):

1. Insert your TIS 2000 disc in your Techline machine and mount it in your Techline VM via the
Devices > Optical Drives menu of VirtualBox

2. The TIS 2000 installation should begin automatically; if it does not, launch autorun.exe from the
TIS 2000 disc in your Techline VM and follow the installation wizard’s prompts

3. Several installation programs will run during the TIS 2000 setup process in order to install the
various applications, drivers and other data files needed for the complete TIS 2000 suite; as
such, there is a quantifiable amount of OK button clicking

4. During installation of TIS 2000, you will be prompted to enter some configuration information
• Set the COM port of your USB-to-DB9 serial port adapter for Techline communication

• Select a Standalone installation-type for TIS 2000 when prompted

• Select NAO (North American Operations) in the Dealership selection window

• Select the USB Security Key driver option in the TIS 2000 Security Device window

5. After installation of TIS 2000, an icon by that moniker will appear on your desktop. You should
have a second TIS 2000 disc; mount it in your Techline VM.

6. With the second disc mounted, launch TIS 2000 from your desktop – it should automatically
recognize the second disc and auto-update its’ databases; you will receive a confirmation once
the process is complete.

7. Unmount or eject the second disc as installation and updates are now complete.

8. Install the TIS 2000 Dongle Patch at this time; there are at least two separate versions and
installation differs betwixt the two – drag and drop for one and a setup executable for the other.
One works better than the other. In short, you want the dongle patch titled SuperPro.dll.

9. If all things went as planned, you should be able to launch TIS 2000 and utilize its’ full suite of
utilities without any problems.

10. Refer to the Tech 2 manual and always ask questions in the forums at gmtnation.com as
response times are low and most everybody will be glad to help. Chances are, you are not the
first person with your problem. Also, of importance, always take your time…

Version 1.3 gmtnation.com © southsidesmoka

Page 6 of 7

Troubleshooting:

A. “My Techline machine won’t recognize my USB-to-DB9 serial port adapter…help!”

1. Unplug the serial port adapter from the Techline machine’s USB port

2. Restart your Techline machine

3. Once Windows is up and running, plug the serial port adapter back in

4. Install the driver software for your serial port adapter when prompted

5. Windows should, finally, recognize your new hardware

6. If the above steps fail, try a different serial port adapter

B. “Now, my Techline VM won’t recognize my serial port adapter…what gives?”

1. Shutdown the Techline VM.

2. Ensure your Techline PC can recognize the adapter, itself (if not, return to section A)

3. With the serial port adapter plugged-in, boot the Techline VM

4. Once the VM is up and running, enable the adapter via the Devices > USB menu

5. Install the drivers for the adapter inside the Techline VM when prompted

6. Check the Device Manager for the presence of your serial port adapter

C. “I installed TIS 2000, but I get an error when I attempt to launch it…what’s wrong?”

1. The TIS 2000 Dongle Patch is either not installed, installed incorrectly or corrupt

2. Reinstall your dongle patch

3. After the dongle patch installation is complete, launch TIS 2000 and be amazed!

Version 1.3 gmtnation.com © southsidesmoka

Page 7 of 7

Online Resources:

Use the Free Download Manager when downloading large files to ensure file integrity and completeness.

• Free Download Manager – https://www.freedownloadmanager.org

• Oracle VM VirtualBox - http://www.virtualbox.org

• Bosch / Vetronix Tech 2 Manual - http://bit.ly/Tech2-Manual

• Techline Information System 2000 (December 2007 Release)

1. Disc 1 (Application Suite - 1GB .iso image in .zip archive)

 http://bit.ly/TIS2000-D1

2. Disc 2 (Database Updates - 1GB .iso image in .zip archive)

 http://bit.ly/TIS2000-D2

3. Disc 3 (Dongle Patch - 5MB .iso image in .zip archive)

 http://bit.ly/TIS2000-D3

• Windows XP SP3 (589MB .iso image in .zip archive) - http://bit.ly/X86XPSP3

Version 1.3 gmtnation.com © southsidesmoka