Portable automobile diagnostic tool

A method for operating an automobile diagnostic tool, the method comprising:

• coupling the automobile diagnostic tool to an automotive computer of a vehicle under test;
• selecting an automobile make and model corresponding to said vehicle under test;
• finding an automobile coding stored in memory corresponding to said vehicle under test;
• decompressing said automobile coding corresponding to said selected automobile make and model;
• configuring the automobile diagnostic tool with said decompressed automobile coding to receive information from said automotive computer of said vehicle under test;
• and
• receiving information from said automotive computer of said vehicle under test.

An automobile diagnostic tool for receiving information from an automotive computer of a vehicle under test, the automobile diagnostic tool comprising:

• a microcontroller for interfacing with the automotive computer of the vehicle under test;
• a flash memory responsive to said microcontroller for storing automobile codings for a plurality of automobiles, said automobile codings being stored in a compressed format in said flash memory;
• a keypad coupled to said microcontroller for entering operations of the automobile diagnostic tool;
• a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) responsive to said microcontroller for storing data from said automobile computer of said vehicle under test;
• a battery backup circuit coupled to said SRAM for providing power to said SRAM when power is turned off to the automobile diagnostic tool;
• and
• a display for displaying information received from said automobile computer of said vehicle under test.