Rockwell Product Safety Alert

I'd like to alert everyone to a Product Safety Alert issued by Rockwell on 2nd April 06. This concerns PLC5's when programmed with RSLogix5 version 6.3 or higher.
If you download a program to a PLC5, or do an online edit connecting to the PLC using a KTX(D), KT, PKTX(D) or PCMK Driver and using RSLinx version 2.50.00.20 (the version distributed with CPR7) There is a possibility that the PLC program can become corrupted. There is a patch avaialble (for the RSLinx Software) from the Rockwell Knowledgebase - search on Google for A149859552

I am still trying to find out if this affect SLC as well as PLC

Canmaker said:

Rockwell Product Safety Alert

Click to expand...

Maybe I am harsh, but in a different industry, wouldn't this be called a "product recall"

We had to upgrade to RSLinx 2.50 to program a new Micro 1100, only to find that we had to install hotfixes as well.....

There is a possibility that the PLC program can become corrupted.I wonder what that means. 6 months ago, I was working on a PLC5 and setting up BTR/BTW blocks. I thought I had done something really wrong and ALL of the outputs (5 modules worth) starting firing on and off really fast. Contactors were arcing and we ending up blowing 5 of them. It was kind of pretty with all of those blue arcs going off.

Mark Buskell said:

There is a possibility that the PLC program can become corrupted.I wonder what that means. 6 months ago, I was working on a PLC5 and setting up BTR/BTW blocks. I thought I had done something really wrong and ALL of the outputs (5 modules worth) starting firing on and off really fast. Contactors were arcing and we ending up blowing 5 of them. It was kind of pretty with all of those blue arcs going off.

Click to expand...

Doubt it. The corruption was evident by the processor having a major fault and shutting down. Rapid-firing of contactors while programming Block Transfers is more likely programmer error (wrong RGS).

If it were cars or cribs, it would be a product recall. In the world of high-level application programming, the strategy is - find a bug, and announce it after the patch is ready.

I asked our IT expert what they call it when Microsoft does this, but he said there isn't a word for the practice. Ergo -

We need to make one up!

Just as Horace Walpole coined the word "serendipity", meaning "finding or discovering something by accident". He got the word from an old fairy tale about Sri Lanka, called "The Three Princes of Serendip", where the princes were on a journey and constantly discovering things by accident.

So come on all you ingenious techies. If anyone is qualified to create this word, it's us. When we get enough suggestions, Casey can put up a poll and we'll vote, then submit it to webster's.

Definition - "To cover up or conceal a problem until a solution is prepared."


TM

I know , I know.

We can call it "US Government"

Darn, that is already taken.

We also better keep it to one word instead of two.

Mark Buskell said:

There is a possibility that the PLC program can become corrupted.I wonder what that means. 6 months ago, I was working on a PLC5 and setting up BTR/BTW blocks. I thought I had done something really wrong and ALL of the outputs (5 modules worth) starting firing on and off really fast. Contactors were arcing and we ending up blowing 5 of them. It was kind of pretty with all of those blue arcs going off.

Click to expand...

If all outputs in one module works strangely, then the cause is possibly a bad connection in the connector between the module and the chassis backplane (*).
If several modules are affected, then the error can be in the connector between the CPU and the chassis backplane (**).
This is a known weakness in the PLC5. The remedy is usually to remove and reinsert the modules or the CPU a couple of times. This gives the connector a "massage" and everything will work again, for a while at least.
Have experienced both of the above.

*: For a single module, then also look for wire strands or such for having entered thru the openings in top of the chassis/module. Once had a nasty error from a thin wire strand falling into a module, making all kinds of funny games.

**: For several modules, there is also the possibilty that the chassis is defective.

There is also the possibility that the cause was wrong programming of the block transfers so that the wrong module would be affected. However, I cannot see how this can affect several modules as a block transfer targets one particular module and not several.

All this has nothing to do with the thread starters post though. Sorry.

Hmm, it occurrs to me the definition is too broad. How about:

"To cover up or conceal a problem or defect in a consumer product until a solution is prepared."

I thought about pharmacy companies, for instance, "mercking", but the difference here is that the company actually plans to release a fix for the issue. Drug companies just hope statistics are with them and they never get caught. That's just a "cover-up".

TM

Since Enron has gone belly-up, that word is available, but the definition would more accurately be: "To cover up or conceal a problem until the insiders have made sure they won't be affected by it."

TimothyMoulder said:

Just as Horace Walpole coined the word "serendipity", meaning "finding or discovering something by accident". He got the word from an old fairy tale about Sri Lanka, called "The Three Princes of Serendip", where the princes were on a journey and constantly discovering things by accident. TM

Click to expand...

Tim,
You must be a logophile. Do you read the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) for fun?

Dan

The effect of the RSLinx 2.50 / PLC-5 DH+ bug was not malfunction or unintended operation of the PLC-5 program, but corruption and subsequent erasure of the application program. If the controller finds out during the once-per-scan checksum routine that the program edit wasn't made successfully, it faults and shuts down because it can no longer guarantee that the program will function as intended.

This bug didn't affect SLC-500 users. It didn't affect MicroLogix users. It didn't affect users of RSLinx 2.41, 2.42, or 2.43, nor users who access their PLC-5 controllers over Ethernet or ControlNet or via a ControlLogix bridge.

danw said:

Tim,
You must be a logophile. Do you read the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) for fun?

Dan

Click to expand...

No, but I did read Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary" cover to cover. I picked up a good bit of trivia - for instance, the art of "flaming" on the internet should properly be called "logomachy".

My personal favorite (warning - politically incorrect)

"witch", n., 1. An ugly old woman in a wicked league with the devil. 2. A beautiful young woman, in wickedness a league beyond the devil.

TM

My suggestions

"To cover up a problem until a solution is found..." : Iiby (from Ignorance Is Bliss)

"to create problems in order to generate future business providing support and solutions" : Redmondate (from a certain well known software company)

"to promote the incompetent to positions where they can't do any product damage" : This one is tough. I thought of the Peter Principle first. How about Corporify (similar to "Promoted to corporate headquarters.")


Thomas