Where to get ControlFlash

I'm trying to upgrade my ML1100 to the latest firmware revision (FRN 5). I downloaded the zip file and I now have a the firmware version 5 which apparently is a .msi file.

Here is the problem. Do I need a program call ControlFlash to use this file? I think I do. If so, I have searched all over the AB site and cannot find ControlFlash - I can find everything else but that.

Ok, the unzip program put the ControlFlash program on the desktop without telling me. I put the processor in program mode and there were no other applications open. I then ran ControlFlash, now it tells me that com 1 is in use even though nothing is using it. I'm sure I will eventually get it figured out. It just seems that I end up wasting a lot of time whenever I deal with an Allen Bradley product. Has anybody out there wasted a whole day on trying to do something with an AB product that shoould have been quick and simple?

WAG..Make sure Linx isn't running in the tool bar.

I rebooted the computer and nothing was running - at least in the toolbar. I talked to another engineer at work about this problem and he said that RSLinx has the tendency to "hijack" com1. He was right. I went into task manager and then looked at the processes. Lo and behold, RSLINX.EXE was shown as running but using 0 cpu time. I ended the process and that fixed the problem.

It turns out that RSLINX did the same thing to my desktop. Once it is run, RSLINX.EXE stays running as a process - even if you reboot the computer. The only way to kill RSLINX.EXE is to go into task manager and kill it. I am running the latest version of RSLINX on Windows XP. The engineer said it also happens on other versions of RSLinx and other operating systems.

This problem killed a couple hours of my time so I think I will make a seperate post about it give people a heads up.

The MSI installer is a simplification over the older Setup installer for ControlFlash, which was a flashier installation wizard that also launched the utility when it was done. Glad it's clear now.

For the MicroLogix 1100, ControlFlash uses its own internal serial driver instead of RSLinx, so very likely it is RSLinx itself that is using your COM port.

Go ahead and shut down RSLinx and try the ControlFlash utility again.

The normal operation of RSLinx is to run as a service, which starts up either when you boot Windows, or when an RSI program needs it.

There's a utility called the RSLinx Classic Launch Control Panel:

Programs -> Rockwell Software -> RSLinx -> RSLinx Classic Launch Control Panel.

You can turn the service on and off and configure its startup behavior from here.

This is not exotic stuff; any experienced A-B user like your local distributor specialist (not to mention A-B Technical Support) would have known this off the top of their head. You don't have to spend hours learning new things by experimentation.

I like to experiment and will usually struggle for hours trying to fix the problem before asking for help - that is good and bad. The sad thing is that AB's knowledge base does not mention this as a solution to the problem - there is really no excuse for that.

I guess I need to try flashing a MicroLogix controller to see what the problem was. I used Controlflash yesterday to flash a 1756-L55M13 ControlLogix processor via it's comm port. I used RSLinx to auto configure the DF-1 driver and then ran the Controlflash utility to and picked the processor from the RSWho and it ran fine other than taking about ten times longer than using an Ethernet driver.