emublog2mlv

Convert ECU Master EMU Black .emublog binary logs into a format MegaLogViewer HD can open — a MegaSquirt .msl (tab-delimited) or plain .csv.

The EMU Client stores logs in an undocumented gzip-compressed binary format that only its own software can open. This tool decodes that format directly, so you can analyse EMU logs in MegaLogViewer HD (overlay channels, histograms, VE/AFR analysis) instead of being locked into the EMU Client viewer.

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Three ways to use it

1. Standalone apps (no Python needed) — easiest

Download from the Releases page:

• emublog2mlv-gui.exe — double-click for a simple window: add one or many logs (or a whole folder), choose .msl/.csv, set the output folder or a custom name for a single file, then Convert. Best for batch/mass conversion.

• emublog2mlv.exe — command-line version. Drag a log onto it, or:

  emublog2mlv.exe yourlog.emublog       REM -> yourlog.msl
  emublog2mlv.exe *.emublog              REM batch convert
  

Open the resulting .msl in MegaLogViewer HD.

2. Python package (CLI + library)

pip install git+https://github.com/zazzn/emublog2mlv

emublog2mlv yourlog.emublog              # -> yourlog.msl
emublog2mlv yourlog.emublog --csv        # -> yourlog.csv
emublog2mlv *.emublog                     # batch convert
emublog2mlv yourlog.emublog --summary     # print channel ranges as JSON (no file written)

As a library:

from emublog2mlv import convert, summarize
convert("yourlog.emublog", fmt="msl")     # returns stats dict
summarize("yourlog.emublog")              # per-channel min/max/mean

3. MCP server (let an AI use it as a tool)

emublog2mlv ships an MCP server so an AI assistant (Claude Desktop / Claude Code, etc.) can convert and inspect logs for you.

pip install "emublog2mlv[mcp] @ git+https://github.com/zazzn/emublog2mlv"
claude mcp add emublog2mlv -- emublog2mlv-mcp

Tools exposed:

Tool	What it does
convert_emublog(input_path, output_format="msl", output_path=None)	Convert a log; returns stats
emublog_summary(input_path)	Per-channel min/max/mean/first/last (no file written)
list_channels()	The decoded channel map (offsets/scales)

Then just ask: "Convert C:\logs\drive.emublog and tell me where lambda goes lean."

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Output

A .msl file has a name row, a units row, then one row per 25 Hz sample, with a Time column in seconds. Time is anchored to the device's frameStamp clock, so it stays accurate even though the real sample rate (~25.18 Hz) jitters — a naïve index / 25 drifts ~0.7% over a few minutes.

Decoded channels

31 measured channels plus 2 derived (AFR, AFRTarget = λ × 14.7):

RPM, MAP, TPS, VE, IgnitionAngle, IgnFromTable, InjectorsPW, InjectorsDC, InjCalTime, ShortTermTrim, Lambda, LambdaTarget, IAT, ChargeTemp, CLT, OilTemp, OilPressure, FuelPressure, IATCorrection, Ethanol, AirFlow, CAM1valveDC, AccelEnrichment, AccelEnrichmentPW, KnockSensor, BatteryVoltage, BoostTarget, BoostDC, BoostDCFromTable, IdleTarget, FCustomCorrActive.

Still unmapped — each needs a drive that exercises it: knock level / ignition retard (a knock event), decel enrichment (overrun), warmup/afterstart (a cold start), boost PID correction (closed-loop boost), plus dwell, BARO, gear, vehicle speed, AFR2/Lambda2, and engine power/torque — they read flat in a gentle cruise. EGT is omitted (this car has no EGT sensor). See Contributing.

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How the format was reverse-engineered

ECU Master does not publish the .emublog layout. It was recovered by correlation:

1. The file is gzip-compressed. Decompressed, it is a 12-byte header followed by fixed 308-byte records, one per sample (records = (size − 12) / 308).
2. Export the same drive from EMU Client to CSV (it caps at 13 channels per export, so several exports are taken). These CSVs are row-aligned to the binary (sample N = record N).
3. For each known CSV channel, Pearson-correlate its series against a u16 (or u8) value read at every byte offset; the offset with |r| ≈ 1.0 is the channel, and the linear fit gives the scale.
4. Overlapping clusters (e.g. oil-pressure / oil-temp / fuel-pressure / coolant packed into bytes 111–115) were pinned by dumping raw bytes next to the CSV truth — temperatures turned out to be single-byte integers, pressures a dominant high byte.

Every decoded channel matches the EMU CSV export to the decimal. (The only discrepancies are ~0.8% of rows where EMU's own CSV export jitters ±1–2 frames against the binary — so this converter is actually more faithful than re-exporting CSV from the EMU Client.)

This was reverse-engineered for EMU Black V2 (firmware 2.169). EMU Black V3 writes a different .emublog3 layout, which is not supported.

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Contributing: add a channel

The channel map lives in src/emublog2mlv/core.py as the CHANNELS table: (name, unit, offset, kind, scale, extra). To map a new channel, get a log that exercises it (e.g. a boost pull for boost/knock/EGT), export it to CSV from EMU Client, correlate each byte offset against the CSV column, verify the decode against the CSV, then add a row. PRs welcome.

Run the tests:

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest -q

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License

MIT © 2026 Eric W