Preamble:

MSefi.com and its associated forums are for support and technical discussion of MegaSquirt^® electronic fuel injection products from Bowling and Grippo. All discussions must be respectful, on-topic, and informed. Everyone who participates here should be allowed to feel comfortable, un-offended and unthreatened, if they adhere to the rules. Anyone who uses offensive or aggressive language at any time on these forums (in posts, signatures, email addresses, etc.), will be removed without notice, and with no chance of reinstatement.

This is not a general automotive, electronic fuel injection, or electronics forum. It is not a place to document expansion boards, alternate codes, etc.. Posts that are not about MegaSquirt^® EFI controllers and associated products as delivered from Bowling and Grippo will be removed and the poster may be sanctioned, even if the poster feels they meet the rules below.

Read the manual to see if your question is answered there before posting. Many users will not reply if the answer is already available in the manual.

If your question is about troubleshooting, configuration, or tuning, you MUST include your processor type (MS-I or MS-II) and code version in your post. This is because the answer to your question may very well depend on the particular software variant and version used (even if the question is about hardware). If your question is about PCB assembly or modifications, you must also include the main board version number (1.01, 2.2, 3.0, 3.57, MicroSquirt® module, etc.).

If you have questions about MS1/Extra or MS2/Extra or MS3 code configuration or tuning, please post them at www.msextra.com where the developers of these are available to answer questions. Such questions posted on msefi.com or microsquirt.com will be moved to a temporary MSextra sub-forum, where they will be removed after 7 days

Where the rules may be unclear in some situations, this preamble should be your guide. The moderators shall be the final arbitrators in such matters.

Note that there are other MegaSquirt^® forums for discussing your project (MSruns.com), your interest group (MSgroups.com), msGPIO, and MicroSquirt^® (MicroSquirt.com), etc.. As a result, discussion on those topics should take place on those forums. There is a topic guideline for the various forums to guide users.

Forum Rules

Here are the forums rules for msefi.com, msruns.com, microsquirt.com, msgpio.com and msgroups.com:

1. All users are required to read the applicable sections of the manual and other relevant documents before posting a question. This saves everyone a bunch of time. The manual table of contents is here: www.megamanual.com/mtabcon.htm. If you can't find an applicable section in the documents, or any applicable sections do not answer your specific question, feel free to ask your question on the forums.

2. Posts, attachments, signatures, avatars, and any other content may be moved, removed, deleted, edited, or otherwise manipulated at any time, for any reason, without notice. This may happen immediately (especially for off-topic posts) or at a later date (for stale posts). Do not depend on the content of this forum as a permanent record. The forums are not set up for that purpose. If you see information you would like to save, keep a record on your own computer. If you have information you would like to share on an on-going basis, create your own web site (or ask that if it can be added to the manual).

In general, posts will be removed entirely, rather than edited. However, some words may be individually edited, either for spelling, or because they are potentially offensive to other users.

This rule is designed to prevent the forums from becoming littered with old posts that may become erroneous has MegaSquirt^® EFI controllers develop, as well as to improve the efficiency of things like the search function, etc. The moderators and administrators alone will decide what material stays and what goes, but in general, posts that:

• are of general interest to MegaSquirt^® EFI controller users,
• are concise,
• have a title that describes the actual content, and
• do not repeat material available in the manual,

3. Off topic posts are not allowed. Off topic is any subject that is not primarily about MegaSquirt^® EFI products from Bowling and Grippo. This includes: a discussion of non-B&G code offerings, other EFI ECUs (and especially links to other EFI web sites), any religious, sexual, political, or lifestyle discussions, etc. It also includes hi-jacking other's threads, and/or posting opinions or info that is not relevant to, or requested in, the original poster's subject. If you want to change the topic, start another thread. Off topic material might be in post content (including links), signatures, private messages, web links, the files you upload, etc. Off topic material is not allowed anywhere, and such posts will be removed and the offender sanctioned.

In order for moderators to determine if your post is on-topic, you MUST state your board, processor and code version in your post (or signature) at least once in every thread in which you ask for tuning or troubleshooting advice (ideally in your first post). Note that the specific answer to your articular question may well depend on the code variant and version you are using (even if your question is about hardware).

4. a) Posts must be made in the appropriate forum and sub-forum. That means base B&G MS-I and MS-II™ posts should be at www.msefi.com, MSx/Extra (né MSnS-E) posts should be on www.msextra.com, and MicroSquirt^® posts should be on www.microsquirt.com, etc. (If you pick the wrong forum, such as posting an MSnS-E question at msefi.com, it will be removed - or moved to a temporary, 'reply-only' forum if it is available, rather than be transferred.)

Try to put your topic in the appropriate sub-forum as well. For example, a question about ignition set-up for MegaSquirt-II™ controllers belongs in the 'MS-II™ Ignition Setup, Tuning, and Troubleshooting' forum, not 'General Information'. If you are not sure which sub-forum to post in, pick the closest forum, a moderator will move it if necessary. You will not be notified about the move. If you can't find your threads/posts, use the search function to find all posts made under your username.

If your post is moved by a moderator, and you repost it, this will be considered a cross-post (see #7), and you will receive a warning or be sanctioned.

   b) Posts and threads comparing the merits or 'features' of code versions from different authors must remain factual, and must be based on the contents of the actual source code, not hearsay, supposition, or any other source of claimed benefits. This is because such discussions can become inflammatory, derogatory, and filled with false or misleading information. The MegaSquirt^® EFI controller effort is, above all, an educational project, and users *will* learn something by trying to make sense of the source code. Those unwilling to do this are not qualified to comment on anyone's code, much less compare them. Discussions of various code versions from different authors must respect both the authors and the codes of all developers. Posts comparing codes that do not meet the above restrictions will be removed, and the poster(s) may be warned or sanctioned.

This rule allows the discussion to proceed with less confusion, less background information needed from those seeking help, and makes for easier and more efficient searches.

5. Posting in ALL CAPS, large fonts, or posting without some punctuation, etc., is not allowed (in the body of a post, or anywhere else). ALL CAPS is the forum equivalent of *shouting*, and such posts will be removed without notice, as they are difficult for others to read, and hard for people to comment on and help with.

Posts that have deliberately been broken up excessively with line breaks, or other unnecessary punctuation or symbols (aside from smilies) is highly frowned on, as such posts can make threads longer than they ought to be and obscure the useful technical content.

6. You must make every reasonable effort to ensure any factual information you post is accurate (or make a statement indicating otherwise). Posts that are an inaccurate representation of factual matters, that deliberately or accidentally mislead, are not allowed and will be removed (and the poster may be sanctioned). This keeps the forums from becoming littered with misleading, and potentially damaging, advice.

7. Cross posting (posting the same, or nearly the same, message more than once) is not allowed. Users who do this will be sanctioned. Don't do it. If you are not sure what forum to post in, pick one. The moderators will move it if necessary. Attempts to increase the profile of your post by posting it more than once will be highly frowned on (and will normally result in an immediate deactivation of that user's account).

If you are not getting responses to your post, instead of re-posting it, post a follow-up telling the forum what you have looked at, learned, and read in the manual or forum that you think applies to your problem. Include and test results or descriptions of any solutions you have tried or might try. Also, see: What if you aren't getting responses to your posts?

8. Advocating or counseling illegal or immoral acts is not permitted. This applies to any advice on any topic, and will be rigorously enforced. If you are not sure if something is illegal or immoral, it is. Note that circumventing local, regional, or national vehicle emissions laws is illegal, and discussions on such topics will not be permitted on these forums.

9. You must show respect for all other users and their work at all times, on all forums and in all private messages and other communications. A fundamental principle of the forums is that everyone who follows the spirit and rules of these forums should be entitled to feel comfortable here:

a. Trolling is posting messages for the primary purpose of eliciting an emotional response from other users, rather than to solicit or offer factual knowledge. It is not allowed, and will be treated very seriously. Moderators alone will decide whether the tone of a post is appropriate, and shall have the sole and final say in how it will be handled.

b. Flaming other users, or any other display of disrespect, is not allowed, and will be treated very seriously. If you do not think highly of another users posts or projects, please ignore their posts.

c. Foul language is not permitted under any circumstances. It does not matter if it is directed at another user or not, don't do it. Name calling of any sort, even if not foul language (i.e., labeling another user in any way that could be seen to belittle them) is not permitted under any circumstances. This applies to both posts and private messages.

d. Racist, sexist, homo phobic, 'age'ist, 'able'ist, 'size'ist or other discriminatory language or ideas are not allowed anywhere on these forums.

11. eBay auction links are NOT permitted under any circumstances. They go out of date quickly, add little useful information, assume the users of these forums are incapable of searching eBay, and are subject to abuse (since the administrators do not have the time to check all such links).

12. Any items for sale must be listed in this site's for sale forum only, DO NOT link to another site for your sale under any circumstances. If you have already posted an item anywhere else, don't post it here.

13. AOL email addresses are not allowed on the forum, due to AOL's excessively strict anti-spam policy. If you have a complaint about this, please contact AOL directly. Hotmail.com are not very good at screening their users nor in addressing spammers using their account. We no longer allow hotmail.com addresses for registration. Many other email addresses are not allowed if they have become significant sources of spam. Do not ask the moderators to make an exception for your email address if it is from a banned domain. Instead, use another address, such as one from work, school, or your ISP.

14. Signatures must be no longer than 5 lines (including blank lines), regular sized text (not large) and must not contain more than one image, and this image must not be larger than 500 pixels wide by 75 pixels high. Any image counts as 4 lines. So you can have 5 lines of regular sized text, or an image (max 500 pixels wide by 75 pixels high) and a maximum of ONE line of text.

Avatars can be no more than 80x80 pixels. That is, not more than 80 pixels wide, and not more than 80 pixels high. An avatar that is 100x60 is NOT acceptable (though 80x60 is fine, of course).

This rule is to avoid obscuring the actual content of a thread. Some signatures may be removed even if they meet the above requirements, if they are obscene or otherwise detract from the forums in the opinion of the moderators.

15. All posts must be in English. Any other post will be removed. This rule exists for a number of reasons, one of which is that it is our only way to ensure the remaining rules are not being violated in other languages. If you wish to start a discussion group in another language, see the forums at www.msgroups.com.

16. You must not use this forum to ask for, offer, or exchange printed circuit board layout files in any form. The MegaSquirt^® PCB circuit designs and layouts are copyright protected, and copying them and/or sharing them is strictly prohibited on this forum and in any other venue without express written permission from Bowling and Grippo.

Please respect that MegaSquirt schematics and other layout info are provided for educational and troubleshooting purposes only. All MegaSquirt^®-related circuit design and layouts are copyright protected, and cannot be copied, modified, or used in any other manner without the express written permission of Bowling and Grippo. Please DO NOT offer to send PCB files (gerbers, etc.) or ask others to send you PCB layout files for those items available from B&G on any MegaSquirt^® forums. This includes the MegaSquirt^® main board, MS-II™ upgrade board(s), MS-II Sequencer™ controller, the GPIO board, the stim, MegaView, relay board, or flyback board or any other B&G hardware. Any such messages or other attempts to copy this material will be removed without notice and the offender may be banned.

17. Posts containing email header information will be removed (this happens most frequently when people reply by email and quote the entire original message), and the poster may be sanctioned if this happens repeatedly. This rule helps prevent email addresses from being 'harvested' by spammers, and also makes threads easier to read and follow.

18. You are responsible for posts made under your username. You agree that all information or data of any kind, whether text, software, code, music or sound, photographs or graphics, video or other materials (content), publicly or privately provided, shall be the sole responsibility of the person providing the content or the person whose user account is used. You agree that our web site may expose you to content that may be objectionable or offensive. We shall not be responsible to you in any way for the content that appears on this web site nor for any error or omission. You explicitly agree, in using this web site or any service provided, that you shall not:

a. provide any content or perform any conduct that may be unlawful, illegal, threatening, harmful, abusive, harassing, stalking, tortious, defamatory, libelous, vulgar, obscene, offensive, objectionable, pornographic, designed to or does interfere or interrupt this web site or any service provided, infected with a virus or other destructive or deleterious programming routine, give rise to civil or criminal liability, or which may violate an applicable local, national or international law;
b. impersonate or misrepresent your association with any person or entity, or forge or otherwise seek to conceal or misrepresent the origin of any content provided by you;
c. collect or harvest any data about other users;
d. provide or use this web site and any content or service in any commercial manner or in any manner that would involve junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of unauthorized advertising without our prior written consent;
e. provide any content that may give rise to our civil or criminal liability or which may constitute or be considered a violation of any local, national or international law, including but not limited to laws relating to copyright, trademark, patent or trade secrets.

20. If you have a dispute with a moderator or administrator, you have no options. If you request a rationale for a particular action, you *may* get a response, at the administrator's/moderator's discretion (and depending on the time they have available). However, this will be the final say on the matter and they will generally not reply more than once. Do not argue with moderators, they don't have the time or energy for it. If you cannot accept their decisions or point of view, then you should find another site to post on. If you press moderators after they have already explained the reasoning, you may be sanctioned. If you use an abusive tone or language, you WILL be banned. This rule is to prevent our already overworked moderators from wasting energy on those who have nothing better to do than argue. If you have been sanctioned by a moderator, your only recourse is to write them privately and indicate you have read and understood these forum rules, while promising to follow the rules in the future.

21. Do not appeal to Bruce and/or Al to settle a dispute with a moderator. This wastes their time, never results in a decision being overturned, and it is highly frowned on. Such requests will result in a permanent ban. Instead, see the previous rule.

22. These rules may be added to, edited, or changed without notice. Check them regularly. YOU are responsible for knowing and following the current rules of the forum at all times. Ignorance of the rules is no defence for a transgression.

The rules are fairly clear on what is allowed, but we would like to add how we will generally precede. Penalties will range from a private warning if accidental and minor, to post deletion, to a user ban from the forums for more serious and/or repeated breaches. The moderators alone will decide the response, and their decisions are final. If you do not understand and agree with each and every rule, please do not join these forums.

1. First transgressions in relatively minor matters will simply be corrected, for example, an oversized signature removed, an oversized avatar removed, an off-topic or offensive post or thread removed, etc. This may be done without notice - you may or may not get a warning - if you find yourself affected in this way, please re-read the rules.
2. Second transgressions, and those involving more serious matters, will result in the user being deactivated and/or possibly loosing privileges (such as that ability to display an avatar, send private messages, etc.) on one or more of the forums. That means the user may not be able to log-in, but can still read the posts, etc. This is the least punitive method we have to get user's attention. In order to be reinstated, the user will have to write the forum administrators indicating that they have read and will follow the rules of the forums. We expect that 99% of users who are deactivated will be reinstated quickly and without issues, as most problems are the result of a simple misunderstanding or a failure to read the rules. However, users who attempt to circumvent the process by signing up under another username will be permanently banned.
3. Repeated or very serious transgressions will result in the user being banned from all forums, and will not be able to read the forums or documentation. This will also apply to anyone who explicitly indicates they will not follow the rules.

These rules are one of three sets of the conditions you agree to when participating on the forums. The other parts are the privacy policy and the terms of service:

For our privacy policy, see: http://www.megamanual.com/privacy.html

For our Terms of Service, see: http://www.megamanual.com/terms.html