RSLinx cannot see SLC5/05, despite that it can be pinged.

Hi all.

I have a problem with a coworker overseas not being able to get RSLinx Classic to see an SLC5/05.

The SLC5/05 can be pinged from the PC.
The ethernet driver is setup, and the IP address of the SLC5/05 is added to the list of "Stations" fro the ethernet driver.
The ethernet driver says it is "RUNNING".

I am stumped.
Any ideas ?

NB. Anyone following my threads will notice that I am appearantly my companys lastditch support hotline at the moment. I am constantly answering phone calls from all over the world. Dont know why.

HOLD THE PRESS !!!
The news just came in that everything works now.
Turns out that said coworker had typed in the IP address in RSLinx without the ".", ie. "192168150" in stead of "192.168.1.50".
Q:What can be learned from this ?
A: Do not assume that the guy in the other end has even the most basic knowledge of anything, or intuition for that matter.

Incidentally, I just supported another guy in another country via Teamviewer. This was a much more complex problem that had to be sorted out. But with full access to the PC, it was fixed in a few minutes.
What a difference.

The A-B Ethernet driver can accept either an ordinary IP address, or a Host Name.

"192.168.1.50" is an IP address.
"192168150" is a host name.

It's possible that this remote site has a bizarre mechanism for translating between IP address ranges that involves using a Host File or DNS with host names that resemble a set of IP addresses.

It is possible that the SLC has run out of TCP connections and therefore cannot open a TCP connection to RSLinx to run the A-B protocol driver, but can still respond to low-level functions like PING.

I never assume that because PING works, I know that I'm PINGING the device I think I am. Use TCPing, or PING then check the ARP cache (arp -a at the command line) to verify that the device answering the PING is the correct MAC ID, or at least a 00:00:BC:xx:yy:zz MAC ID associated with Allen-Bradley.

Ken Roach said:

The A-B Ethernet driver can accept either an ordinary IP address, or a Host Name.

"192.168.1.50" is an IP address.
"192168150" is a host name.

Click to expand...

Yes I figured that much. Otherwise I would have ranted about "why dont RSLinx check that a valid IP is entered ".

Ken Roach said:

I never assume that because PING works, I know that I'm PINGING the device I think I am. Use TCPing, or PING then check the ARP cache (arp -a at the command line) to verify that the device answering the PING is the correct MAC ID, or at least a 00:00:BC:xx:yy:zz MAC ID associated with Allen-Bradley.

Click to expand...

That is a good tip. I will make a note of it. Thanks.

But the main problem was that there was a difference between what I though the other guy had understood, and what he actually had understood.

Incidentally, I just supported another guy in another country via Teamviewer. This was a much more complex problem that had to be sorted out. But with full access to the PC, it was fixed in a few minutes.
What a difference.

Click to expand...

As a partially relevant comment, we have been using www.join.me for our techs and customers to allow PC access. It's been great so far. Nothing to pre-install, just access to the internet.

bernie_carlton said:

As a partially relevant comment, we have been using www.join.me for our techs and customers to allow PC access. It's been great so far. Nothing to pre-install, just access to the internet.

Click to expand...

is this much better than teamviewer?