PV800 download problem

Hi All,

I am a very new AB user but recently started a project with a PV400 touchscreen. Using the CCW version 10 software I can download the program via Ethernet but it takes a very long time. After clicking Download it first says "Unloading application... System is busy" which takes over a minute. Then I click download again and it prompts with "A file with that name exists. Overwrite?" I click yes and 45 seconds later it finally says the download was successful. Then I have to power cycle the HMI (which takes another 25 seconds) for the new program to run. Are these steps really necessary to update the program? Maybe I'm being impatient but it seems like this process should take 10-20 seconds, not 2+ minutes. Are there other methods to download a new program to the PV800?

Thanks for your help.
Kevin

Thatas about right for me to, 1-2 minutes, all ways has

Allen Bradley makes great PLCs. I have no experience (and don't plan to) with the Micro8x0 series. I also avoid all of their HMI products and the reason is clearly illustrated by your post.

If you want an HMI that boots in 7 seconds and can be updated with changes in about half that time, try Red Lion. You might have to pay a little more for a Kadet (I have no idea what the Painelviews cost) but time is money and you will $ave plenty of time.

Plus, you can try it for free with the Crimson 3.0 emulator. Red Lion HMI products all use the same free software and support over 300 drivers most of which will work in the emulator. The emulator acts just like the real hardware (with a couple of limitations) and will let you develop your application before spending any money (except for your time).

Thanks a lot for the replies. It really seems like I don't have a configuration setting quite right. It has two USB ports on it so I'll research if it's possible to download through that instead. Does anyone know if it's necessary to power cycle the PV800 after downloading a new program to it?

Thanks,
Kevin

There are known issues with slow or timed out downloads to the PanelView 800 terminals using firmware revision 4.0011 & 4.0012. The next released firmware update is intended to resolve this issue.

Regards,
George

Thanks again for the help. Does anyone know when AB will be releasing new PV800 firmware to resolve this problem? Or maybe an email list to notify users when new firmware is available?

Thanks!
Kevin

KevinIowa said:

Thanks again for the help. Does anyone know when AB will be releasing new PV800 firmware to resolve this problem? Or maybe an email list to notify users when new firmware is available?

Thanks!
Kevin

Click to expand...

I don't know when the next firmware release is due for these terminals or whether it will still be major revision 4.x or incremented to major revision 5.x. Some firmware releases are intended to support new features in either a new Series of hardware or a new version of their related software products, such as CCW in this case. These can often increment the major revision level but their release date can be delayed due to pending hardware or software readiness. Other firmware releases are just created to correct known anomalies and will only tend to increment the minor revision level and will usually be released sooner rather than later. Which type of the above firmware releases is coming next and when, I cannot say, but you can keep yourself informed...

If you have a TechConnect Contract...

Rockwell said:

Stay Up-To-Date

As an added service to your existing TechConnect Support agreement, we provide an email titled "New Software/Firmware Releases Available for Download". We send these emails on a monthly basis to make it easy for you to stay up-to-date with the newest software/firmware releases. Using these emails to keep your software updated will help you prevent potential crises.

Click to expand...

Regards,
George

Couldn't you also copy the runtime to a SD memory card and load the file that way?

cncsparky said:

Couldn't you also copy the runtime to a SD memory card and load the file that way?

Click to expand...

Yes it looks like that is another option. I was hoping for a faster method than moving SD cards or waiting 2 minutes to download the program.

Thanks,
Kevin