Compact Logix Bad Flash

I would like to recover a compact logix 1769-35E from a bad flash. I have been told that it can be done thru either removing or installing a jumper on the cpu. Does anyone know exactly how to do this without sending the PLC back to AB?

Depends on what you mean by "bad flash". I assume you are talking about a firmware flash? How were you flashing it? (serial, ethernet, compact flash)

Any solid red lights?

Here is what we have found. We almost always flash ours via Compact Flash card. With a brand new controller, it appears that the controller is loaded, then it reboots. After the reboot, the ethernet port is loaded. You really have to watch it after the reboot because it appears that it is done, but it is not since the Ethernet port is being loaded.

That being said, if the process is interrupted after the reboot, when the ethernet port is being loaded, it will goof up the ethernet port. We have had success recovering from this. The controller sat on our desk for a couple of days without the battery. Just for fun, we gave it one last shot before dumping it in the garbage and it recovered fine. Everything works.

Now if the process was interrupted during the main controller flash, I'm afraid you are out of luck. This would be indicated by a solid red OK light.

dmroeder said:

Depends on what you mean by "bad flash". I assume you are talking about a firmware flash? How were you flashing it? (serial, ethernet, compact flash)

Any solid red lights?

Here is what we have found. We almost always flash ours via Compact Flash card. With a brand new controller, it appears that the controller is loaded, then it reboots. After the reboot, the ethernet port is loaded. You really have to watch it after the reboot because it appears that it is done, but it is not since the Ethernet port is being loaded.

That being said, if the process is interrupted after the reboot, when the ethernet port is being loaded, it will goof up the ethernet port. We have had success recovering from this. The controller sat on our desk for a couple of days without the battery. Just for fun, we gave it one last shot before dumping it in the garbage and it recovered fine. Everything works.

Now if the process was interrupted during the main controller flash, I'm afraid you are out of luck. This would be indicated by a solid red OK light.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your response! We flashed from a compact flash card. I suspect that we did not give it enough time to complete the reboot process that you mentioned. The OK light is flashing red and we cannot get connected thru the ethernet port. Do you think disconnecting the battery as you mentioned will work? Thanks again!

It really is kind of deceiving when it reboots, it does appear to be done.

If you did in fact pull it after the controller firmware was complete, but before the Ethernet was complete, then I am pretty confident that you can recover it. We have recovered several. We even sacrificed a test controller that we had for science!

I bet the controller is fine. Have you connected through the serial port?

I don't know what the time frame would be for leaving the battery out, but I'm sure it will work. Before we successfully recovered our first one we had tried reloading the firmware several times without success. We even tried reloading a different version. A couple of days later (with the battery out) it was time to clean my desk and I was going to throw it away. Tried again and success.

I'm guessing that it didn't have to be out for days. It might only be hours, or who knows, minutes...

Yes, I have connected thru the serial port and even downloaded a base project into the plc thru the serial port. The battery has been out of the plc since yesterday afternoon. The ethernet port is the main problem that I am having.I will try and flash it thru the serial cable this evening. Thank you very much for your help!!

Oh dear lord, don't flash through serial. Use the compact flash again. You'll be there forever.

Bad Flash

I've had two CompactLogix's go bad in regard to the flash. On one the connection was interrupted during a firmware upgrade, and on the other, while it was running, the power supply came loose, and when reseated it screwed up the PLC. On both occasions we were not able to recover. The good news is that they were both under warranty and the A-B distributor that sold them to us replaced them with absolutely no questions asked (didn't even really want to know what happened).

Yeah, if the update fails during the controller portion, it's a brick. Luckily in his case, it's just the Ethernet port that is goofed.

Hey Rick, update this thread when you try recovering it. I'm curious how yours goes.

Lost 2 - Saved 1

My first loss during a firmware flash was during a SERIAL flash, power went off, unit was toast. No problem, jump in car and swap out at AB distributor with 20 miles.

Found out then, NEVER do Flash Firmware via serial, too much exposure time. We usually do Ethernet flash, UPS power is a benefit. Must be patient, found out that it is better to walk away, than sit there like a mother hen, and touch something because you don't think it is working.

My second loss was in Mexico. (No AB distributor, and no such thing as "next-day-air"), so I had nothing to lose. It was a 1769-L32E or a 1769-L35E. I disconnected the battery, and shorted the ternminals for a long time. I repowered and was able to get it to take a new flash session. Lucky me, or we would have wasted two days waiting for a replacement.

If you are on home turf, go through normal replacement channels, but if you are under time constraints, with limited resource, I would go for it.

Also, found out the hard way that no matter what method is used to flash any type of controller or card (ethernet, serial, controlnet, whatever) its best to have the system hooked up to a UPS. Had a flash in process and power went off for a seconds, ended up with a bricked L61 processor.

As for the initial question, if you can connect through serial port, what exactly is the problem with ethernet? Do you see link light come on when RJ45 is hooked up? Can you ping the IP address (I presume you have the IP address properly assigned)?

compactflash(cf) on the module

hello
i am using 1769-L31 series compact logix..our controller is indicating cf status as red.....and we are not using any flash card in our controller.....now we are not able to download the program.....can anyone tell me the flaut and ways to remove it..........

Take out the CF card if there's one present, take the battery out, let the controller sit for ten minutes.

Re-power the controller with the battery disconnected and the CF card removed. Then post the condition of the LEDs (all of them).

The 1769-L31, L32C, L32E, L35CR, and L35E controllers share the same protected boot code as the 1756-L6x controllers and are very difficult to permanently damage during flash upgrade.

Deepak may actually have a damaged for faulted controller and not be involved in a flash upgrade at all.

@KenRoach thanks this just Saved My Butt!!