Looking for firmware for 1747 L532

Good morning ladies, gentlemen, and potato chip bags,

First let me get this up front: I am not asking for anything pirated, unethical or illegal to download. If the only way to get what I need is to pay for it, then I'll make arrangements with my boss and go from there. That said, I've been digging around AB's website and having no luck. All I'm looking to do is download firmware for the 1747 L532 (SLC 5/03 CPU). Does anyone here know where I might find it? Apparently my Google-Fu is too weak for the task

Thanks!

IIRC, upgrading the firmware in your SLC is done by using a module that snaps in where the EPROM would normally reside. It is not a download, rather it is a package with chip(s) and instructions.

Which firmware is possible with your unit may depend on both the series and current firmware in the CPU. Please post those details if possible. I will try to hunt down the instructions which should tell us what upgrades your device may qualify for.

EDIT: First catch:
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/archive/index.php/t-9221.html
#2:
http://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/ci/fattach/get/15221/1214852840
#2.5
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=55797

Okie, First of all, I bow to your superior Search-Fu. This student has been humbled by a master

I just got off the phone with AB's support, and yeah, it's a kit that I have to order. It'll come with instructions and such, and I'm usually good at following instructions, so no worries there. I'm just kind of surprised that I cannot download the firmware.

It's just an architecture thing: the SLC-5/03 and 5/04 were designed in the early 1990s and use a very conventional EEPROM. The firmware kit transfers the operating system from the plug-in module to the onboard ROM, and can be re-used to update many controllers. You finally get to use the "Protect" jumper !

The SLC-5/05 firmware, by contrast, does use ControlFlash to download the firmware to the onboard ROM. It's still a purchased kit.

LOL Ken, this is all so new to me I wouldn't have realized that using the protect jumper was a rare occurrence. I'll be sure to celebrate with a bottle of bubbly. What champagne goes with troubleshooting electronics, I wonder...

But, I've got to ask...

WHY do you think you need to change the firmware? I've been in this business for 25 years and have NEVER needed to do it...

Quite honestly, I'm not sure that it needs to be done either, I think my boss was working from an abundance of caution. The unit I'm working with came from one of our other facilities and who knows what it's been through? I think if it had been a simple thing to download up to date firmware, he would have had me do it just to be on the safe side. Since it requires ordering a kit and all that, though, he's got me trying to get it to interface with my computer as is, and I suppose we'll see what we see.

Good reasons to get new firmware include:

1) The anomoly in the service advisory link above (if you're using the IIM instruction).
2) Get new instructions, like BTR, BTW, DEM, DEM, and EEM.

That's all I can think of. We did update firmware on some 5/04s once to avoid having to do block transfers to remote analog cards "the old fashioned way". Aside from that, I have not had the need either.

I'm in a situation that warrants a firmware upgrade I believe.

I have a 5/03 1747-532 with OS302 series B.
Document at
http://samplecode.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/in/1747-in009_-en-p.pdf
page 14 in the memory backup table says that with the new M13 memory module that OS302 must be series C or later.

I purchased a new M13 memory module, had a write protected one in there, at least I think it was, now I'm starting to wonder.
When I tried to write to the EEPROM, I get an error "Memory module not present, or not programmable, or write protected."

I know the EEPROM that was installed was working, it was also an M13. It must have come with the program already written on the EEPROM on a different system.

Bits S:1/10 and S1:12 are set.
If I cycle power, I get a fault-fault13h. If I clear S:1/10 and clear the fault, I can then go in to RUN mode. But once in Run mode, when I try to write to EEPROM, I get the error.

So how come I cannot write to the new M13? Do I need to upgrade my OS from series B to series C?

(This is my rookie post. Cheers to the forum, have gotten lots of good info, ideas, and fixes.)

Hi Fish, and welcome to the Forum !

Answer is basically: yes, you'll need a firmware upgrade.

You may find all the needed details in the following technote of the RA Knowledgebase:
http://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15983/kw/15983

There is also an answer for your wondering about the already inserted M13 working inside the controller...

[excerpt] Only 5/03 processors with OS302, Series C, FRN 3 or higher firmware can program "store to" M13 EEPROMs.
As long as the version of the program stored is compatible with the processor that the M13 is installed in, most all SLC 5/03 processor can read "load from" M13 EEPROMs.

- fuzzy logic