Widows Vista and RSLogix 500

I am looking at getting a new computer and am wondering if there are any compatibility issues that anyone is having when using Windows Vista.
In addition, I have noticed that the serial port is starting to disappear on the newer computers and was wondering if anyone knows how else to connect to devices running the PIC drivers. I have tried a USB to serial port adapter but could not run the PIC.

Just got a new Dell with XP Pro installed which is what I would recommend. I think ver8 of RSLogix 500 is supposed to support Vista but I doubt if you will have much success with a PIC.

I was told by tech support that Linx v2.54 will work with Vista, but they will not support some of the older drivers such as the PIC. They will however support the UIC.

I'm in the same boat now. Try to avoid Vista if you can. Even new RSLogix 500 is made for Vista, rest of RS packages still require XP.

val_99 said:

I'm in the same boat now. Try to avoid Vista if you can. Even new RSLogix 500 is made for Vista, rest of RS packages still require XP.

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It is becoming increasingly difficult to get a new desktop PC that does not have vista. Laptops from DELL still come with a downgrade to XP, but the Dell PCs no longer are available with anything but Vista.

The only way is to find a computer depot that has oodles of XP OEM CDs. I had to do this to supply a new Dell with XP to support an Intouch 9.5 install. I bought the Dell from Best Buy and blew out the Vista and installed an OEM XP version

I am happily running Vista SP1 with Omron CX-One software. I have purchased a Dell Vostro with the 9300 processor and a 17" WUXGA screen - it is awesome and can fit lots of ladder across the screen. The laptop does not have a serial port at all and I am using an Omron USB-serial converetyr and have absolutely no drop outs. Previously I was using a Belkin F5 and drop outs used to occur regularly.

I fail to understand why PLC manufacturers do not fully support Vista. They have known that XP-Pro was going for some 12 months now. All my Omron stuff works fine with Vista.

Ther are some really good things in Vista - just a matter of finding them. If you have a problem with a program it is logged and the 'fault' file can be sent off to your supplier.

Have you tried Virtual Box? It is free from Sun Microsystems. I use that for all 'antiquated' software with great success.

Hmm... Good things in Vista? Are you working for Microsoft? Only good thing in Vista - it will also goes down some day.

As much as it pains me to do so, I would recommend contacting your AB-Rockwell rep. They (AB-Rockwell) have an 'aggrement' with Microsoft to sell display-less PCs with XP pre-loaded, and no Vista whatsoever. This is only good until September 30, 2008, so you better be quick about it.

In Rockwell speak, this is called the 'XP Endures' industrial computer incentive, and covers products in the 6155F and 6177R families.

I think he is wanting to buy a laptop, so I don't think the aggrement with Rockwell is relevant here. Besides, you can still buy a laptop from Dell with XP Pro installed. I just checked their website.

rta53 said:

I think he is wanting to buy a laptop, so I don't think the aggrement with Rockwell is relevant here. Besides, you can still buy a laptop from Dell with XP Pro installed. I just checked their website.

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I did get a D830 Latitude a week ago.
Vista ready but the option is XP downgrade.
It shipped running XP PRo.
Only issue so far, there's so much **** running in the background that I had to turn off manually.
There's also an error pop up, about an illegal program or whatever every time you shut it down.
Haven't had time to get to that yet but I will.
Other than that, you can still get a notebook with XP pro from Dell but it won't last forever (end of year I think is the cut).

Hmm... Good things in Vista? Are you working for Microsoft? Only good thing in Vista - it will also goes down some day.

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Don't knock it if you have not tried it. I was a doubting Thomas and decided to 'bite the bullet'. Waited till SP1 was out first. It is running very well on both my laptop and desktop. The desktop also has mirror RAID hard drives and is a rocket ship. The only software that has given me problems so far is Micsoft Office 2007 would you believe!! Even the nVidia driver is not causing problems - nVidia have been responsible for more Windows crashes in the past than you would like to poke a stick at.

bkottaras said:

I did get a D830 Latitude a week ago.
Vista ready but the option is XP downgrade.
It shipped running XP PRo.
Only issue so far, there's so much **** running in the background that I had to turn off manually.
There's also an error pop up, about an illegal program or whatever every time you shut it down.
Haven't had time to get to that yet but I will.
Other than that, you can still get a notebook with XP pro from Dell but it won't last forever (end of year I think is the cut).

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If at the end of the year Dell no longer provide laptops with XP and Microsoft have stopped supplying XP on CD, someone has to blink with all this Rockwell non-Vista certified software.

Rockwell and Microsoft have had a partnership, since who knows when, yet this in compatabilty still exists. Somehow I think there may be some internal finger pointing of blame between Rockwell and Microsoft.

To be fair, remember that some of the software you are talking about has to support 5, 10, maybe even 20 year old equipment along with every series and revision that has been made between now and then. Plus it should be able to read, open and convert programs originally created with DOS software and it needs to work on all of these different versions of Windows and their various service packs.

I'm not familiar with Omron or their CX-One series but I did a quick Google search and saw that CX-One was introduced a little over three years ago. Which puts it almost four years after XP was released. Again, I know nothing about Omron to know what they used before and whether CX-One supports products 5/10/20 years old.

RSLogix5000 for the Logix5000 came out nearly the same time Windows 2000 came out (late 1999, early 2000). Unlike the office and IT environment where 3+ years is the lifetime of most PCs and typically 5 years for an O/S, the equipment we use day to day has a much longer expected lifecycle. It is just inevitable that the IT world's lifecycle will outstrip the lifecycle of our beloved automation equipment.

Again, I don't mean to knock Omron at all. I have heard lots of good things about their products. I am just trying to make the case that maybe Rockwell has legacy issues that slow the adoption of new Operating Systems. And perhaps this is an issue that other vendors don't have to deal with with "younger" products.

OG

Oh, I am using Vista in a virtual machine and RSLogix5/500/5000 and RSLinx all run just fine.

Some of the really old Omron PLCs are not supported by CX-Programmer but stuff that was manufactured in the early 90s is fully supported. Some of the older stuff is supported for upload and download and, importantly, for conversion to newer PLCs.

There is no support for the really old C20 but really they should all be virtually dead now. That is the only PLC that was software programmabls that has absolutely no support these days in CX-Programmer as far as I know.

Like a lot of early DOS software, the Omron stuff was not very friendly. We all used to use CAPS - a third party software.

If I have ever needed to get to an old C20, I still have Syswin and it runs successfully inside Virtual Box so I have support for every Omron PLC that was programmbale with software that I can run on Vista or inside Virtual Box.

Operaghost said:

I'm not familiar with Omron or their CX-One series but I did a quick Google search and saw that CX-One was introduced a little over three years ago. Which puts it almost four years after XP was released. Again, I know nothing about Omron to know what they used before and whether CX-One supports products 5/10/20 years old.
OG

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Hello OG,
Just FYI (and anybody else who may be interested...),
CX-One is not a new software developement, it is (was) a new concept.
That from a single DVD, and using a single installation process, (under the 'umbrella' of CX-One), you are able to install pretty much all of Omrons software packages, as follows - CX-Programmer (this product is nearly 10 years old now, and did support Win98, WinNT, and even WinME - with the introduction of subsequent OSs, the whole package had to be re-confirmed as compatible - 2000, XP, and now Vista), CX-Integrator, CX-Simulator, CX-Designer, CX-Motion, CX-Motion-NCF, CX-Motion-MCH, CX-Position, CX-Protocol, CX-Process Tool, Face Plate Auto-Builder for NS, CX-Thermo, Switch Box, CX-Server, CX-Drive, CX-FLnet, NetworkConfigurator, ConfiguratorFDT, CX-Sensor, TrajeXia Tools.
This little lot will enable you to programme, set-up, configure and monitor just about every programmable device that Omron produce.
Hope this makes things a little clearer...