How NCDS works

What is NCDS

The Nizpro Calibration and Diagnostics System (NCDS) is how Nizpro licenses and manages engine calibrations. You use it in two places:

• The desktop client: a Windows application that connects to your ECU through a Nizpro programmer to detect it, flash calibrations, and run diagnostics.
• The web portal: a browser view of your account, showing your ECUs, credits, devices, and account details. It works in any browser and needs no programmer or ECU connected.

Credits and coverage

ECUs are licensed with credits. A credit is a prepaid token for a single licensing category (called a licence group), for example a naturally-aspirated V6 category. DIY and dealer accounts purchase credits from Nizpro (sales@nizpromarine.com), and the available balance is shown in both the desktop client and the portal once they have been allocated.

Coverage is the set of categories an ECU is licensed for:

• Licensing an ECU in a category uses one credit from that category.
• Once an ECU is covered for a category, re-flashing any tune within that category is free.
• Flashing a tune in a new category uses a credit for that category. This is cumulative, so categories you already have stay covered for that ECU.
• A credit belongs to one category and can't be moved to another.

A credit can be held by a different account from the ECU's owner. For example, a dealer can purchase and use credits to flash a customer's ECU.

Roles, and what DIY means

• Customer: owns ECUs. A customer can view their ECUs and transfer an ECU to someone else, but can't flash, so they don't see credits or devices.
• DIY: a customer who holds a Nizpro programmer. The programmer is what unlocks the full workflow: buying and using credits, detect, flash, Flash to Stock, Return to Stock, and diagnostics. If the programmer is transferred to another account, yours returns to a customer account. Any unused credits are hidden but stay on the account, and they reappear if a programmer is linked to your account again.
• Dealer: a business account that flashes on customers' behalf and manages its own credits and ECUs.

The ownership limit

Each account can own a limited number of ECUs, and the default is five. The limit is checked when a new ECU is licensed or if you have an ECU transferred to your account from someone else. If you have reached the ECU 'Cap', free a slot first by returning an ECU to stock or transferring an ECU, then continue. Nizpro can raise the ECU limit for accounts that need more (for example an account with 6 or more engines).

Tunes, Flash to Stock, and Return to Stock

An ECU's calibration can change in three ways, and each one affects licensing differently:

• Flashing a tune: you pick a calibration and write it. The first tune on an ECU licenses it and uses a credit from the relevant category. Later tunes within that are free. Nizpro sometimes supplies a custom tune file for a specific engine, and a dealer writes it like any other tune file.
• Flash to Stock: returns the ECU to its stock calibration but keeps the licence. It's free, and the ECU stays licensed, so you can flash a tune again later at no extra cost within the pre-existing categories. This is typically used for back-to-back testing and validation.
• Return to Stock: returns the ECU to genuine factory condition and removes the licence. This frees an ownership slot, but re-licensing it later needs a new credit. Use it when you're finished with an ECU or selling an engine and need to remove the tune permanently. All coverage is permanently revoked.

For the steps, see Flashing a tune and Flash to Stock and Return to Stock.

Transferring ECUs

ECUs move between accounts as engine ownership changes:

• If you buy an engine with a Nizpro calibration, its ECU can be transferred onto your account. You inherit whatever coverage it already has, at no cost. Once you have an NCDS account, the seller can transfer the ECU out to you from the web portal or the desktop client. Or the ECU can be transferred in while it's connected and detected, using your own Nizpro programmer (DIY) or at a Nizpro dealer.
• If you sell or pass on an engine, you transfer its ECU out to the new owner.
• Some transfers are reviewed by Nizpro before they complete.

A transfer records who holds the ECU in the system. It is a tracking record, not a statement of legal ownership, and is used by Nizpro to contact owners when there is a calibration update or if there is other important information to communicate.

For the steps, see Transferring ECU ownership.

Authorised computers

Your account can run the desktop client on a limited number of computers, and the default is three. If you reach the limit on a new machine, sign in to the web portal, de-register a computer you no longer use to free a slot, then sign in on the new machine. The portal is always available in a browser, so this never locks you out. Nizpro can raise the limit where it is needed.

Sending things to Nizpro

Every flash is checked and verified automatically, so you never have to confirm that a flash worked. If a flash can't be verified, it is sent to Nizpro to resolve, and that ECU is paused for further changes until the issue is sorted (see Flashing a tune).

A few other things also go to Nizpro for review:

• An ECU the software doesn't recognise yet. The ECU file is sent to Nizpro so support can be added (see Detecting an ECU).
• A legacy Woolich / WRT ECU, so Nizpro can check its legacy licence and, if it's valid, grant a complimentary licence (see Detecting an ECU).
• A diagnostic read you send in as a health check (see ECU diagnostics).
• Your local flash log, when you choose to upload it. This is for diagnostic purposes and Nizpro will advise if this is needed (see ECU diagnostics).

While a review is open on an ECU, actions against that ECU may be paused until Nizpro resolves it.

Your account

Your email address is your account identity, so it can't be changed. If you need a different address, Nizpro moves your ECUs, credits, and devices to a new account for you. You can update your name yourself from the web portal without contacting Nizpro, and dealers can also update their business name. For an email address change contact sales@nizpromarine.com.

Getting help

The desktop client and the web portal show a message whenever something needs your attention, and most messages tell you what to do next. The guide for each task also explains the messages you're most likely to see.

If a message stops you and the guide doesn't cover it, contact sales@nizpromarine.com. Include a screenshot of the message and a short note of what you were doing.