viper 5701 can't program

I have a viper 5701 system and I cannot get it into the program features mode. I have verified all wiring. The manual says to use the valet button and remote but I go through the procedure and nothing happens. It also says it can be done with a bitwriter 2.5 or higher. I borrowed a bitwriter 2.6 from someone but it just freezes at the "reading from unit" screen. DEI tech support will not help me b/c i'm not a dealer. The dealer local to me will not help me b/c it was not installed by them. Please help, this is very frustrating as my remote start will not work until I get into it and program it for automatic trans mode. Could it be a bad module?

Also to add, the keyless entry and alarm work fine.

After doing some more research it appears that the bitwriter I was using has new enough software v2.6 but has the older 998T IC chip... documents I found say it needs the newer 998M IC chip to program this unit. But what bothers me is that I am not able to program it manually. This system was sold to me as new so it should not have come locked. Is there a way to tell for sure that it's locked?

The Viper does not come from the factory locked.  The unit can be locked by the dealer that programmed it with the Bitwriter.

This is an excerpt from the Viper 5701 LE install guide, page 56, on programming transmitters.

The learn routine may be locked if previously programmed using the Bitwriter®.

If the siren generates one long chirp when attempting to program the unit,the learn routine is locked and must be unlocked using the Bitwriter® beforeproceeding.

Soldering is fun!

Make sure the green door trigger is either correctly wired or grounded on its own.

Well mine came locked... which makes me think maybe it was a refurb and not new or something like that I installed it and all wiring is correct

who did you buy it from?Kevin Gerry

Certified Electronics Technician

MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer

Classic Car Audio

since 1979

#.com But I got it working. The bitwriter needs two upgrade chips to support the new DEI systems. I got the chip and I can now program it with the bitwriter. I uploaded the upgrade instructions to the downloads section of this site, for anyone who may need it.

hooked on tronics dot com wth is with the # sign