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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > DIY: Flash N54/N55 MHD/xHP without tablet



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      03-18-2017, 07:17 AM   #1
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Thumbs up DIY: Flash N54/N55 MHD/xHP without tablet

This guide will show you how to flash your car without the use of physical android tablet.

I recently purchased a space gray MacBook 12 retina. being it is ultra portable I opted for setting up emulators on my Mac instead of using a cheap android tablet to switch MHD maps on my car. for some its a headache figuring out which tablet supports OTG !

Core requirements
  • Mac/Windows
  • K Dac OBD cable
  • USB c to USB adapter (in my instance I only have a usb C port)










  1. Download & setup android emulator from (http://www.andyroid.net)
  2. Download FTDi VCP drivers for your OS (http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm)
  3. Enable Virtual com ports as shown in the settings image above (open the VM app not Andy emulator)
  4. Run Andy, log in to google play store
  5. Run MHD or xHP flash tool and make sure to select option to allow mountable devices every time you open this app. (at this point your cable should light up and it is ready to transfer data)


Last edited by NightStalker; 03-18-2017 at 07:46 AM..
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      03-18-2017, 08:47 AM   #2
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Thanks! How long did it take you to flash a map this way?
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      03-18-2017, 08:52 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
This guide will show you how to flash your car without the use of physical android tablet.

I recently purchased a space gray MacBook 12 retina. being it is ultra portable I opted for setting up emulators on my Mac instead of using a cheap android tablet to switch MHD maps on my car. for some its a headache figuring out which tablet supports OTG !

Core requirements
  • Mac/Windows
  • K Dac OBD cable
  • USB c to USB adapter (in my instance I only have a usb C port)










  1. Download & setup android emulator from (http://www.andyroid.net)
  2. Download FTDi VCP drivers for your OS (http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm)
  3. Enable Virtual com ports as shown in the settings image above (open the VM app not Andy emulator)
  4. Run Andy, log in to google play store
  5. Run MHD or xHP flash tool and make sure to select option to allow mountable devices every time you open this app. (at this point your cable should light up and it is ready to transfer data)


I just bought these things. how much does this flash cost and is it easy?
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      03-18-2017, 09:05 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by houtan View Post
Thanks! How long did it take you to flash a map this way?
I actually did not check but should be less than half an hour or so

Quote:
Originally Posted by krommmy View Post
I just bought these things. how much does this flash cost and is it easy?
prices vary once you are in the app it will show you what modules you'll need
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      03-18-2017, 11:03 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by houtan View Post
Thanks! How long did it take you to flash a map this way?
I actually did not check but should be less than half an hour or so

Quote:
Originally Posted by krommmy View Post
I just bought these things. how much does this flash cost and is it easy?
prices vary once you are in the app it will show you what modules you'll need
Less than half an hour lol wut!
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      03-18-2017, 11:08 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joey911 View Post
Less than half an hour lol wut!
He probably means the first flash. The first flash on MHD takes a while.
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      03-18-2017, 11:19 AM   #7
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Lol sorry guys. Yeah first full flash is obviously in between 28-35mins.

Switching between maps takes merely less than 2 minutes.

Keep in mind this is a emulator it's not using 100% computer hardware power so don't expect lightning fast read/write times lol.

It's as fast if not a little faster than most tablets
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      03-18-2017, 12:00 PM   #8
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I don't believe computing power is the limiting factor in Flash times.
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      03-18-2017, 12:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
Lol sorry guys. Yeah first full flash is obviously in between 28-35mins.

Switching between maps takes merely less than 2 minutes.

Keep in mind this is a emulator it's not using 100% computer hardware power so don't expect lightning fast read/write times lol.

It's as fast if not a little faster than most tablets
2 minutes! It is twice as fast as what mine is doing right now!!!

It functions just like a tablet right? Logging and stuffs?
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      03-18-2017, 12:38 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joey911 View Post
2 minutes! It is twice as fast as what mine is doing right now!!!

It functions just like a tablet right? Logging and stuffs?
yes, but you'll have to have your laptop connected while driving.

unless MHD releases their bluetooth module sooner.
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      03-18-2017, 12:48 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joey911 View Post
2 minutes! It is twice as fast as what mine is doing right now!!!

It functions just like a tablet right? Logging and stuffs?
yes, but you'll have to have your laptop connected while driving.

unless MHD releases their bluetooth module sooner.
Yea, it is nicer than going back and forth, car to tablet, tablet to laptop, car to tablet..... when you're out tuning.

If it works on Mac then there should be a way to make it work on windows eh?
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      03-18-2017, 12:54 PM   #12
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Cant seem to get this working on windows at least using the newest Andy (which is using VMWare player)

* Got it working, serial port forwarding isn't what's making it work. You need the USB Controller enabled to pass-through USB. Flash time was still 4mins

Last edited by bahn; 03-18-2017 at 01:05 PM..
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      03-18-2017, 03:31 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
unless MHD releases their bluetooth module sooner.
Didn't this idea get pushed to the back burner though..? I'd love a bluetooth MHD adapter, but I read that it wasn't a top priority, and that was about a year ago..

In January he was still saying "no" to any progress..
http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showpo...5&postcount=14
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      03-18-2017, 09:03 PM   #14
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Gonna try it out now. This would be so much better than using my poo $40 tablet with 16 seconds of battery life
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      03-18-2017, 11:19 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joey911 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joey911 View Post
2 minutes! It is twice as fast as what mine is doing right now!!!

It functions just like a tablet right? Logging and stuffs?
yes, but you'll have to have your laptop connected while driving.

unless MHD releases their bluetooth module sooner.
Yea, it is nicer than going back and forth, car to tablet, tablet to laptop, car to tablet..... when you're out tuning.

If it works on Mac then there should be a way to make it work on windows eh?
The emulator works on both Mac & windows
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      03-18-2017, 11:20 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bpdef29 View Post
Gonna try it out now. This would be so much better than using my poo $40 tablet with 16 seconds of battery life
Dude that's the reason behind this. I had this dragon tablet charged 100% i go flash my friends N55 and while the first flash was taking forever the stupid tablet was literally already at 25%. Luckily the flash was complete at 2% battery life lol
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      03-18-2017, 11:21 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeastMode335i View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Car View Post
unless MHD releases their bluetooth module sooner.
Didn't this idea get pushed to the back burner though..? I'd love a bluetooth MHD adapter, but I read that it wasn't a top priority, and that was about a year ago..

In January he was still saying "no" to any progress..
http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showpo...5&postcount=14
There's another thread here and at n54 tech talking about it's in the works recently and it would be one of the new things for MHD TBA
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      04-06-2017, 08:58 AM   #18
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bump
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      05-21-2017, 05:31 AM   #19
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Is the VM software part of Androidy or a seperate download?
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      05-22-2017, 01:25 AM   #20
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Quote:
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Is the VM software part of Androidy or a seperate download?
seperate download
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      05-27-2017, 02:19 PM   #21
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How does the Oracle Virtual Box tie into/communicate with the Andy emulator? I'm using Windows 10. I installed everything and Oracle wants me to create a virtual machine? I thought using the emulator is enough but I guess the usb port has to be able to communicate with Andy. Can someone clarify?
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      06-04-2017, 08:25 PM   #22
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will this work with Droid4x ? i tried to get andy but can not figure out how to make it work(or get it to open) on my mac.
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