Comm prob with RSView32 and SLC 5/03

Hi all,

This post will be long but I want to give you all details about my problem. First lets say that the application was running well but since monday no communication is working.

I have a SLC 5/03 connected to an Ethernet network via a NET-ENI card throught RS_232. This Ethernet network has about 20 other AB PLC and all of them are read bu a RSView32 application. The comm with all the other PLC are OK.

First I went to see the PLC and observed that the LED for RS-232 comm on PLC was not flashing. I unplugged the RS-232 cable from PLC and connected my PC, went online allright. So I supposed my RS232 port on PLC is ok.

Next I plugged my PC in the Ethernet switch and tried ping the NET-ENI ethernet address. Worked ok again.

Then I tried to upload NET-ENI config via serial port to my PC, that didn't work.

On the RSView32 side, in RSLinx v2.51, I can see the PLC ok. When I start the runtime, the first page is a menu for all the PLCs, and mine was ok because there is one value on the button that is displayed and it was ok. As soon as I clicked on the button to reach the detailed page, comm failed and wouldn't come back.

I also did a OPC Test Client, the quality was bad. I changed the NET-ENI for a new one, now with OPC Test Client, quality is good, but still the same problem with RSView32.

Also I have a trend on the detailed page and I can see that as long as I don't click on the button on the menu page, I get the analog values from PLC. But when I get to the detailed page... comm fails.

I called Rockwell support and they can't help me. So I wondered if maybe some of the experts here could give me some advice.

Thank you.

Marie

I have one particular NET-ENI that will occasionally lock up and require a power cycle to the NET-ENI module. I also have a spreadsheet with DDE links to this PLC through that module that, if open when the NET-ENI dies, will require that I delete the DDE topic and recreate it before comms can be restored to that spreadsheet.

I have RSLogix500 online with the machine most of the time from my office and know I am having trouble when I get kicked offline. This may happen as seldom as once a month or up to three times a day. Most times, I can go right back online, but periodically must go out to the machine and cycle power to the NET-ENI.

The last time I did this I found a poorly made up ethernet connector which is possibly the root cause in my case.

I don't know if any of this information is relevant to your problem, but thought I'd share it jsut in case. BTW, we have many other NET-ENI modules that never fail to communicate.

Hope this helps,
Paul

Hi,


Thanks for your answer but I don't think it applies to me because the moment the comm fails isn't random, it's always when I get the the detailed page of my RSView32. I never get "kicked off" when i'm online with RSLogix 500.

Anyone else?

Thanks

Marie

Marie , this happens to me in rsview SE once in a while and this is what i have to do.
Go to the place whe all the plc's are displayed in my case is communication tab, look for the address of the plc that has problem, what you will see is the Net_eni address, you will not see the plc itself. Create a new link (net eni related) for for the plc that has problem but use a different ip address, then delete the net-eni with the address that has the problem and inmediately modify the addresss you recently create a put the right ip addres. Then everything is back to normal.

I have seen a badly formatted tag in RSView32 lock up communications before. Usually from an invalid address. As a brute force test, create a duplicate of the offending page (keep for backup). Start deleting items from the offending page, one quadrant at a time. See if some combination keeps your comms going. Narrow it down to the offending tag.

Thanks for all your replies.

I found out that the new NET-ENI that the customer gave me isn't new so tomorrow i'm going on site to replace the NET-ENI with a new one. If it still doesn't work, then there might be a problem with the rsview32 application.

robertmee, since the page which has a problem is very big, is there another way to find the tag that causes the problem?

thanks

Marie

It shouldn't take long if you use the quadrant method. Divide the screen into 4 quadrants and delete everything from 1 quadrant. If the screen load still causes the comm to freeze then the offending tag would be in the remaining quadrants. If it doesn't freeze, you've identified the quadrant that's the problem. Recopy the backup and this time, delete everything but that quadrant. Divide that into quadrant's and repeat. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to identify the offending tag (if that's the problem).