Cannot connect to ML1000

First of all I want to say that I have been trying to find an answer to my problem on this forum and am impressed and excited by all of the knowledge on here. Hopefully this will be quick and painless and as someone said in another thread, "the first time connecting to a plc can be frustrating."

Here's what I got:
ML1000 1761-L32AWA
1747 UIC usb to dh485 converter
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit on an HP
1761-CBL-PM02 cable

USB driver installed and on COM3
Device is set to SLC-CH0/Micro/Panelview
Baud rate is at 19200
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Station Number: 00
Error Checking: BCC
Protocol: Full Duplex

I select RS-232 DF1 devices as my driver, my converter is set to RS232 (DH485). I go to download the program and I get an error saying "No response from processor at selected path/node. Diagnostic status failed: 0x4"

I have 3 lights on my converter:
USB- Not lit, occasionally blinks once
OK- Solid light
DH485 - Blinking

I got the controller off of eBay so I do not know if it is fully functional. I want to try a different driver but for some reason I cannot figure out why I have a limited selection. I have attached (or at least attempted to) a screenshot of the available drivers.

I have experience writing programs for PLC's, but my knowledge is limited when it comes to setting them up. I understand that DH485 is a communication protocol used to communicate between PLC and PC, and that RS232/RS485 is how the cables are wired. I do not know what my serial port is for my ML1000, if the converter is good or bad, and I do not know if my cable is good or bad. I do know that I cannot autoconfigure my driver because I am using the USB converter.


Thanks for any help and insight to this.

Do you have an serial port on your computer? I've had luck in the past communication with an ML1500 I was working with that was defaulting to DF1 by plugging directly to the computer via 1761-CBL-PM02. Then I'd use a DF1 driver to establish the link via RSlinx and then changing the communication protocol to DH485 within RSlogix. I could then use the 1747-UIC (DH485)adapter. Just compared to what I have on my setup, it does seem like you are missing some drivers.

The MicroLogix 1000 can run either DF1 protocol or DH485 protocol. The default is DF1 Full Duplex, but it has the unique ability to automatically switch between protocols when it detects one of them on the network.

Detecting DH485 doesn't always work when you have just one other device on the network, though, because it depends on the MicroLogix 1000 hearing "token passing" traffic on the network, which won't exist unless there is another device there.

Also, your configuration is incorrect for a 1747-UIC. There should be a "1747-UIC" driver in any fairly recent version of RSLinx Classic... anything from 2.57 or higher, I think.

The default values for an SLC/MicroLogix will work with a UIC (19200, 8/N/1, CRC error checking) but you have to choose "1747-KE/KF3" as the device type. Those are old modules that the 1747-UIC emulates.

If it were my system, I would not try DH485 but rather get a general-purpose USB/RS232 converter and try DF1 Full Duplex, which is the default protocol on the MicroLogix 1000.

The Keyspan/Tripplite USA-19HS is particularly well regarded here on the Forum.

And lastly... RA used to not support Home editions of Windows. I don't know if that's still the case.

@CeeDee - I wish I had a serial port on my tower, that would make things less complicated. I might have to look into getting a laptop with a built in port.

@Ken - I forgot to mention that my RSLinx is 2.57. I cannot find the version of my RSLogix but I downloaded it from the Rockwell website yesterday.

I have a USB/RS232 converter cable (USB-1761-CBL-PM02) but when I plug in the USB nothing happens. Before I tried the 1747 UIC converter, I would plug in the USB/RS232 and I would try to install the driver but it would not install correctly. I used the same driver for the 1747 UIC and it installed, so maybe I had the wrong driver for the USB/RS232. I did download the driver from http://plccables.com/drivers.html and downloaded the usb driver for my cable. I am assuming the cable is bad.

As for the 17 47 - UIC driver, I will have try downloading RSLinx again to try and get all the drivers. Any idea why I have a limited selection of drivers?

Also, which OS is most compatible with RSLinx?

Thank you both for the input.

Any idea why I have a limited selection of drivers?

Click to expand...

You hit the sweet spot for incompatibility, unfortunately.

When the 1747-UIC was released, the instruction were simple; you just set it up like a 1747-KE/KF3 and left the other settings at their defaults.

But the temptation to fiddle with the other settings of the driver if the connection didn't work was too great for many users, so RA added a specific DH485-UIC driver whose only configuration option is the COM port number. Under the hood, it's exactly the same as before.

That DH485-UIC driver has a spotty history of inclusion with various releases of RSLinx. It was first included with RSLinx Classic 2.51 for 32 for 32-bit operating systems, but was not included until version 3.51 for 64-bit operating systems. And it was omitted from RSLinx 2.58 and 2.59 for 32-bit Windows, requiring you to go back to using the old RS-232 Devices driver.

In addition. RSLinx 2.57 doesn't support the 1747-UIC under 64-bit Windows with any driver.

To make your particular instance more fun, it sounds like you might have a third-party version of the 1747-UIC, not the A-B version.

If it were my system, I'd take a step back and work on getting the USB drivers for the general-purpose USB/RS232 device (the USB-1761-CBL-PM02) to work.

I have one of those USB-1761-CBL-PM02 cables and use it regularly. The principal glitch I've discovered is that if I close the lid of my PC and put it to sleep, when I re-open it I have to go back to the driver configuration in RSLinx and do an "Autoconfigure" to make it work again. I don't have to do that same step if I use my Keyspan USA-19HS.

Extra comment: unless you need it for Studio 5000 v21 or RSNetworx v21, I recommend not installing RSLinx 3.5x or 3.6x because of the change it makes to an SQL-based EDS file registration system. Stick with the tried and true RSLinx Classic 2.59, which is probably the most stable and widely installed version of RSLinx Classic worldwide.

Ken Roach said:

...I have one of those USB-1761-CBL-PM02 cables and use it regularly. The principal glitch I've discovered is that if I close the lid of my PC and put it to sleep, when I re-open it I have to go back to the driver configuration in RSLinx and do an "Autoconfigure" to make it work again. I don't have to do that same step if I use my Keyspan USA-19HS...

Click to expand...

Ken,

Try disabling USB power saving?...

117880 - Disable USB power savings mode in Windows XP or Windows 7
Access Level: Everyone

Neat idea, George ! I'll give a try for the sake of science.