6. Opening and recognizing firmware

6.1. Formats

The import dialog lists *.bin, *.rom, *.mod and "All files".

On import the program determines the unit by itself and picks the description — there is no need to type identifiers or choose a catalog:

The file is read in the background, with a progress indicator.
The firmware is matched against the records of all available catalogs.
The unit's groups and maps appear in the tree; the "Identity" panel shows the "Source" group with the catalog name.
If the unit is described in several catalogs — see §4.4.
At a confidence below 80 % the "Identity" panel may open by itself with the banner "Identification confidence is below 80%. Verify the fields and basis table".

Without sign-in, import does not run: "Sign in to your account to open a firmware file".

View → Identity Panel (hidden by default). Fields:

Field	What it shows
Program ID, Calibration ID	The identifiers of the program and of the calibration set by which the unit was recognized
Make, ECU supplier, Family	The car and the unit manufacturer
HW, SW	Hardware and software versions of the unit
Image coverage, CVN	What the file holds: "Full image", "Without bootloader", "Calibration only" or "Incomplete image"; the check number of the calibrations
VIN	The vehicle identification number, if present in the firmware — masked, the last 4 characters visible
Confidence	Percentage; at a low value marked "(low)"
Source group	The catalog the unit was taken from
Basis (rules) table	Which fields and rules contributed to the recognition: Field / Rule / Weight / Note

The Copy all button copies the panel contents to the clipboard — handy for a support request.

Message / situation	What it means	Action
You do not have a single catalogue yet	Catalogs have not been bought or downloaded yet	§4.5–§4.6
The block was recognised, but access to the catalogue is not open	The description is in a catalog without access	Open the purchase catalogue (§4.5)
The block was not found in any catalogue	There is no description anywhere	Request support for this block
Access to the catalogue could not be checked	No connection to the server	Check again or work offline
Failed to determine software and block identifiers from the binary file	The file is damaged, truncated, or it is not a firmware	Check the file; confirm compatibility with the supplier
Failed to read the map catalog	The catalog file on disk cannot be read	Download again (§4.7)
Local map catalogue not found / unavailable	There is no local copy	Download in the "Map catalogues" window
Not mounted	The catalog did not open in this session	"Retry download" (§4.7)
Could not open the map "…": it parsed, and there is no map data	A defect in the map description in the catalog	Report to the supplier

Updated November 15, 2026 · for TCEPro 0.55.0