Vida dice unit

[Oka]

I believe that VIDA needs to be connected to the internet from what I have read .. And I am going to use an old tower with Win 7 out in the garage, and run the Cat7 to the router inside the house.

Since you bought it from Amazon, then it is not an OEM item?
Then, should you connect it to the internet?
Are you sure the instruction asks you to connect to the internet?
Just checking!

[Reverend]

I run mine in a virtual machine on a wWin7 Ultimate install. No need to worry about the OS on the computer itself.

[Joe Mc]

Excuse my ignorance. What exactly is this "Vida Dice" unit? What will it do? Read and clear codes? Does it provide actual information as to what is wrong? Please do tell.

[Xfingers]

Plenty of info here to get you started:
http://forums.swedespeed.com/forumdi...ine-Management

[perkinscl]

Excuse my ignorance. What exactly is this "Vida Dice" unit? What will it do? Read and clear codes? Does it provide actual information as to what is wrong? Please do tell.

Vida Dice is the software and interface that Volvo dealers and shops use to diagnose, view repair procedures, make changes (that aren't possible w/o it, such as change DRL settings, fluid counters, etc) and upload software.

The ones discussed here are "cloned" units that hook up to a laptop with the Vida software. I believe you can do most of what the official units do, with the exception of uploading software.

[Joe Mc]

The ones discussed here are "cloned" units that hook up to a laptop with the Vida software. I believe you can do most of what the official units do, with the exception of uploading software.

Thank you! So unless you already have the Vida software this Vida Dice is useless by it self.

[perkinscl]

Thank you! So unless you already have the Vida software this Vida Dice is useless by it self.

Yes, but when you buy the unit it will come with a software CD to install. They are usually designated with the year MY it serves up until e.g. 2014D, etc. Like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/From-USA-OBD...gAAOSwAuNW54Y3

[Joe Mc]

Yes, but when you buy the unit it will come with a software CD to install.

Thanks. So I understand (or think I do?) The CD to install is for "Dice" and not for "Vida", so therefore useless (???) if you don't "already" have Vida?
You know, we've had this car since 04 and put over 100k miles on it...maybe it's time to stop pussy footing around and get Vida. Please advise as to where, how and the cost associated.

[ssicarman]

VIDA is the software that you load on the computer. DICE is that communication device/hardware that talks to the car and the laptop software. You can use VIDA on its own but you need the DICE to get the information off of the car.

[Oka]

Thanks. So I understand (or think I do?) The CD to install is for "Dice" and not for "Vida", so therefore useless (???) if you don't "already" have Vida?
You know, we've had this car since 04 and put over 100k miles on it...maybe it's time to stop pussy footing around and get Vida. Please advise as to where, how and the cost associated.

"VIDA" is the software while "DiCE" is the (physical) tool for the volvo manufacture year range. Sure you can still use the 'regular' OBD2 scanner tool for your Volvo, but VIDA DiCE is specifically
made for Volvo. Oh so I wish we humans would have a tool like the latter, so as to have a much better knowledge of our partners. Just dreaming!

The VIDA software does not come in a CD but in a dual-layer DVD. The software is about 6~8GB of data in it. Very large!

The DiCE is "therefore useless (???)" without the VIDA. However, The software is a worth having software, even without the tool. Actually, it should be a must have for a Volvo enthusiast; can be
used for parts search, locations or at least see what a part you don't know looks like. For repairs, it is great, though some of it's directions seem too bogus, but quite alright. The file can be downloaded
from online and installed, if you can handle the large download with your ISP data quota. You got to be very careful where you download it from.

Where and how much is just a luck thingy. Prices varies a lot. Do a search and read on some people's experiences (very important) and go from there. Just be pretty patient to read through some user's posts.