AB Panelview "file not supported"

I am trying to replace a badly broken Panelview 600 color (2711-T6C2L1 SER A REV D FRN 4.20) with a new one (SER B REV F FRN 4.46)

The machine "sees" the program and begins to load it. It gets 5% through and says "FILE NOT SUPPORTED".

My suspicion is that this is a firmware incompatibility, but I can't tell for sure. I am using PanelBuilder32 3.18. I double checked that the firmware selected in the terminal setup menu is 4.1 - 4.XX.

Does upgrading to the latest PanelBuilder software have any hope of fixing the problem? My support contract just ran out, so I don't want to blow $$ on a pointless upgrade. It would seem a little rediculous if these people sell me a $2k panel without telling me "Oh yeah, it won't actually *work* with your software, so we're gonna charge you up the hee-haw for that, too!"

Any other ideas as to what the problem might be?

"The views, opinions, and judgements expressed in this message are solely those of the author. The message contents have not been reviewed or approved by CCSI"

Call your local distributor and see if he will come out there with the latest version and see if it works. If it does then time to renew that contract. If it doesn't then you don't have to renew that contract but I would still recommend it. Look at the EConnect option. I get the feeling that is the problem.

Thanks; I wouldn't have thought of that. I will try to get him out here ASAP. But for now I have to return to my two day old in the hospital. =D

I think that you can downgrade the PV firmware with the utility supplied on the Panelview32 CD.
That might be another escape.

Here is an except from an article I wrote

Obviously you have just made or are getting ready to purchase the PLC that the software programs. Go to your PLC distributor or the manufacturer and ask them for a loaner copy of the program. Most programs have some sort of copy protection that is required for the software to operate and when you are done with it the loaner activation can simply be removed.

​

So does it work? Yes, I can tell you from personal experience that it does. Now they are not going to loan it do you on a monthly basis, but for a first time use to make sure you like the product before you buy the software or for something you only need once a year, I think you will find most distributors and manufacturers we be eager to help you out.

​

Notice I said ask! Don't go in there demanding anything like it is owed to you. Just ask nicely​

Click to expand...

PS - I hope your child is ok

This is ver. 3.61 free download. You may have to login ( register its free)



http://www.software.rockwell.com/support/download/detail.cfm?ID=2604

Mickey said:

This is ver. 3.61 free download.

Click to expand...

Just a wild guess, but since his support has only just expired, I would say he's transposed numbers and actually has version 3.81 of PB32, not 3.18.

Only someone from down-under would see that.
You could be right, I don't even know if there was a ver. 3.18.

Just a note.

PBuilder is up to 3.82.01 and the only reason I know that is I have opened and saved a couple of files for people here on the site due to incompatibility issues.

Seems to fix the problems (thats probably why there is a version 3.82.01

Marc

Thank you all. On Monday I will try the firmware downgrade. I didn't know that was possible. If I downgrade, will it break anything else?

It *is* 3.81, good catch. last updated in '03.

I'm guessing from Marc's reply that an upgrade is in order if the firmware downgrade doesn't work. Thanks so much guys!

Baby boy and mom are doing fine.

CCSI guy,

Or send us the file, I'm not sure why opening and saving in the newest V. of PB32 works but it seems to. I would go that route before downgrading a new PV. JMHO

Marc

I just got off the phone with AB. The file loads just fine via DH485. So I guess it's something wrong with my CF cards. I know third party cards are not supported, but one of them used to work on another PV I installed a few months ago, but now it doesn't.

Even if it is the card, it's still very strange that it reads the file and gives the "file not supported" message. You would think it would say something was wrong with the card instead.

Anyway, I'm going to have to figure out how to get this darned PIC working or buy a UIC or an A-B CF card, i guess. Thanks for all your help.

Problem Solved

I finally figured it out. The card and/or file must have been corrupted or something. Perhaps when I moved the file from its backup location (NTFS) to the card (FAT16), something got messed up. Or maybe I forgot to "Eject" or "Disconnect" at some point.

Anyway, I saved FOO.PVA from another PV onto the card, and the PV could restore FOO.PVA just fine. This is when things got really weird. Now when I try to load BAR.PVA (the app giving me the problem in the first place), it snags a little bit at 5%, but loads the file. No more "File Not Supported." Instead I get a "corrupt file please verify and try again."

Back on my PC, I cannot see FOO.PVA, only BAR.PVA. Naturally I ran a check on the card. It found some corrupt sectors. A whole bunch of bytes with nothing but 0xAA on them. Rather than trying to us XP to format the card, I had the old PV format the card.

After that, everything worked fine. Thanks for all your help, guys.

Good news,


Battening dowwn the hatches for Nor'easter No#1 for the season here
Stay dry, I was out of power for 4 days last time and I have had the flu for the past 4 days. It is a biggun from what i see,

Marc

Thank goodness this thread was here!

Had the same problem using a PCMCIA Compact Flash Adapter.
I borrowed an AB Flash which was ok but had to go back to it's ownwer. While in my posession checked the 'format' (FAT) My PCMCIA+CF card was also FAT?

Anyway, then I FORMATTED my PCMCIA+CF unit using the PanelView.. Hey Presto!! everything now works fine!!

It still looks the same in properties when I view it on my laptop, so I dunno what's going on here!?

But "All's Well That Ends Well?!" (I think)

Thanks everyone.
Richard.

I'm now off to look for info on the dreaded 1747-pic RSLinx driver, can't get mine to work again, not sure how many times I've gone through this pain, I guess my memory cells must be failing me!!