Problem installing S7-PLCSIM 5.3/SP1

I have S7-PLCSIM 5.3/SP1 running on my desktop with Step 7 5.3/SP3. However, I am unable to install it on my development laptop. Both XP Pro/SP2.

At the end, the installation wizzard reports: "Setup has successfully installed and configured the software on your computer. You can find information in the "readme" file. Setup is finished."

However, it did not ask for the license, nothing was installed, no PLCSIM directory was created on the drive, no registry keys were created etc. No errors reported, nothing in the event log. Admin account used.

The same happens on a newly created virtual server on the laptop with Win 2000, SP4, and IE6, Step 7 5.3/SP3, nothing else.

I am beginning to suspect that it could be related to the fact that my desktop has a CP5613 and my laptop has no Profibus/MPI interface of any kind installed. There is no mention of this in the hardware requirements.

Has anyone ran into this before?

stplanken said:

I am beginning to suspect that it could be related to the fact that my desktop has a CP5613 and my laptop has no Profibus/MPI interface of any kind installed. There is no mention of this in the hardware requirements.

Click to expand...

I'm running PLCSIM 5.3+SP1 on my laptop (without any Profibus/MPI interface) with no problems...

in your Simatic Manager, is "Options|Simulate modules" grayed?

Yes, the option is grayed-out. I tried installing it on my laptop, on my laptop in a virtual server, and on another workstation without MPI/Profibus interface. It does not work. On my only workstation with a CP5613 it installs and runs fine.

In Set PG/PC Interface, I have the access point set to S7ONLINE (STEP 7), and interface parameter assignment to none (I believe these were the defaults). I tried different settings between installation atttempts but it does not make a difference so far.

For connection to PLCSIM you have to set S7ONLINE to MPI (via any available adapter). PLCSIM simulates MPI network, other access points are not supported. But if option is grayed it looks like PLCSIM is not properly installed.

Hi stplanken.

I have sometimes had the problem when installing Siemens software, that the installation utility gets confused.
The installation utility actually calls other setup programs.

I know the answer that Siemens Support will tell you.
"Please deinstall all Siemens software and reinstall it again".

In stead of starting the setup program from the root of the CD, try to go to \S7_PLCSIM\Disk1\ and select the setup program there.
There is a chance that it does the trick.

You dont need to install the other stuff on the CD, such as acrobat or the Automation License Manager.
You do have to transfer the license in the end. Use the Automation License Manager program that is allready installed on your PC.

I tried Jesper's suggestion, but it too failed to install. But I finally have it working. I manually copied the folders and registry keys from the engineering desktop where it was working and ran the setup again on the laptop. Setup detected the files and all checkboxes were unchecked. I re-checked the PLCSIM option and it installed fine. I also noticed that it DID create a log file yesterday c:\rasetupn.log (n=1..5) and it DID report a strange error in the beginning of the file:

Weitere Checks:
Environment found for TMP=C:\DOCUME~1\splanken\LOCALS~1\Temp
Temporary path C:\DOCUME~1\splanken\LOCALS~1\Temp already exists
<Error Message> 481 Invalid picture
In frmGradientBackground Sub LoadPictures
</Error Message>

Thanks to those who responded and apologies for wasting everybody's time.