My version from 2021 is on CD as well. I used an external CD drive to download the files onto my laptop and now I just use the PDF files on the computer and keep the CD as a backup.
2022 Ford Super Duty Service Manual
- OP 🔹 JJTremor
- Start date
Oh I'll figure out a way to not need the physical CD. That's insane to require a CD still and makes it useless unless it can be avoided (and there's always a way to avoid it).
Good call! Assuming the CD isn't need because of some dumb DRM reasons for the Helm manual, I'll just do that.
FWIW I just opened the general service manual I have on my computer and the file contains 11506 pages. There's also a manual for each engine/fuel system. The one for the gasoline fuel system is 1406 pages and the diesel is 1001 pages. Plenty of information for the owner to digest if that's your fancy.
Bedtime reading, here I come!
- OP 🔹
- #26
- OP 🔹
- #27
Looks like I'll have to wait until he restocks as he's sold out. He sold 6 of them in last few hours...LOL how many of you Tremor guys purchased his stock... It's ok, I'm in no rush. He does have a CD version available but I'll wait until he restocks in USB.
If anybody is interested, the same seller still has the CD version available on Ebay and it's $3 cheaper.
- Sep 26, 2021
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Thanks for the tips, I bought the CD version. I built my own computer, and it has every kind of drive and interface I could possibly find a slot for. (Even a floppy drive.
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- Aug 19, 2020
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I hope the Ford factory manuals are better than Subaru factory manuals. I borrowed a Subaru factory manual from a mate who was head mechanic at a Subaru dealership to do electrical work. Not only was it missing important information, it had wrong information so I found myself looking for a wire that didn’t exist. It takes a long time to find something that doesn’t exist. As I said, hopefully the Ford one is better but be prepared….
@Pompey That is definitely deep, campfire and beer talk right there!
Friends, wrap your head around that piece of Life wisdom!
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- Staff 🛡️
- #33
- Jun 25, 2021
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I don't see any data files that can be extracted from the Helm CD. I will probably go that route when I get the USB, assuming I have enough space available.
- Sep 26, 2021
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This is a good point. I have worked with many service manuals in both, vehicular and electronic industries and found that it is very common for the manual to lag the mechanical changes mandated by the engineers. Most of the service manuals I worked with had "change notes" as an insert, but even those seemed to lack the latest changes. So, I usually take the manual as a starting point and expect not everything will match. But it is still a good starting point, much better than no manual at all. I'm very happy @RedZilla let us know these were available, and all the follow ups with great detail.
Interesting. Well, should be able to make a disk image and mount that when you need to use the manual. Means there's no need for the physical CD anymore.
Did anyone else receive their eBay digital copy of the repair service manual yet? I ordered mine last Thursday and it just showed up tonight. I hate to admit it, but now that it’s here, I’m a little apprehensive to plug this USB into my laptop. Some strange wording in the included paperwork. Anyone else’s spidey senses tingling?
Attachments
- OP 🔹
- #37
I ordered one but haven't received it yet. I'm also very cautious of files I download or any digital media as I use my machine for work. There are a few ideas to protect your system. You can pick up a cheap SSD drive minimum 128gb and install windows 10 (free without activation) and use it this way ($20 or so). Sure it's a pain but it really protects your machine being it doesn't have access to your more important drives if unplugged. Sure it could always mess with your RAM or BIOS but that's very rare.
A simplier answer but not fool proof is to create a virtual machine and only open the file there.
There's always a risk when any software so my prerred method is a separate system that doesn't have any access to your network.
Ok, got the Helm manual in earlier this evening. First of all...wow does it feel weird to spend $200 on a damn CD. Literally a CD in a way-too-large-for-a-CD box.
Regardless, I've immediately dug into removing the need for the CD. Needless to say, it's very doable. Just takes a bit of doing. Conveniently, the configuration (ini) file is plain text and fully documented.
I'll type up a full guide with screenshots and such in a bit. Still experimenting with the different options. Most obvious option does indeed work: save an ISO of the CD to disk and mount that, instead of the CD.
Another option that works: just copying the contents of the CD (~700MB) to a folder on disk and tweaking the config file to look there instead the CD itself.
Regardless, I've immediately dug into removing the need for the CD. Needless to say, it's very doable. Just takes a bit of doing. Conveniently, the configuration (ini) file is plain text and fully documented.
I'll type up a full guide with screenshots and such in a bit. Still experimenting with the different options. Most obvious option does indeed work: save an ISO of the CD to disk and mount that, instead of the CD.
Another option that works: just copying the contents of the CD (~700MB) to a folder on disk and tweaking the config file to look there instead the CD itself.
Ok, after some poking here's how to get the Helm manual working without needing the CD after install.
Of note: you will need the CD for initial install without some more significant shenanigans. It is copy protected, meaning the installer won't run from a regular disc image. It needs to be run from a CD drive or a fully emulated CD drive as far as I can tell (would love to be proven wrong about this).
The need for the CD for install is super annoying if your laptop doesn't have a CD drive and you don't have a USB CD drive on hand. Yes, they're cheap, but they should be unnecessary in this day and age for software.
Also super annoying because you need to keep the damn disc around in case you ever need to reinstall it. I'll probably poke more at this, but wanted to get y'all unblocked on using the already installed software without the disc inserted.
Steps:
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
Of note: you will need the CD for initial install without some more significant shenanigans. It is copy protected, meaning the installer won't run from a regular disc image. It needs to be run from a CD drive or a fully emulated CD drive as far as I can tell (would love to be proven wrong about this).
The need for the CD for install is super annoying if your laptop doesn't have a CD drive and you don't have a USB CD drive on hand. Yes, they're cheap, but they should be unnecessary in this day and age for software.
Also super annoying because you need to keep the damn disc around in case you ever need to reinstall it. I'll probably poke more at this, but wanted to get y'all unblocked on using the already installed software without the disc inserted.
Steps:
- Insert the disc and run the installer as normal.
- Using File Explorer, copy the entire contents of the CD to a folder on your computer. I'm going to use the path "C:\Users\ccw\Ford Service Manual" as an example in these steps, but make that the path the folder you copied the contents to.
- The installer will have created the folder C:\TSO with a bunch of stuff in it. Open the file C:\TSO\tsobrowser.ini in a text editor of your choosing (e.g. Notepad). [Figure 1]
- Copy the 4th line, make a new line below it, and paste your copy there. [Figure 2]
- Comment out the 4th line by putting a semi-colon at the start of the line. [Figure 3]
- Modify the 5th line (the one you just pasted), replacing the path that looks like "E:\~stock\home.htm" (your drive letter might be different) with the path you copied the DVD contents to earlier (in this example "C:\Users\ccw\Ford Service Manual"). [Figure 4]
- Save the file, close it, and eject the DVD.
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
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- Staff 🛡️
- #40
- Jun 25, 2021
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Awesome info @ccw !! I did some digging the other night and found other instances of people complaining about the DRM on the Helms service manual precluding them from making an ISO. The Transit forum had a rather lengthy discussion about this. I stopped there as that was the extent of my technical knowledge about how to make it work. I will give your method a try!
The other issue I have on my new laptop (Windows 11) is viewing the wiring diagrams. I think it has to do with how the .svg files are handled.... Will have to look into that some more. Seems like that is a other common complaint.
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