Converting from v31 to v30

flecl · Apr 10, 2019

Hey everyone,

I'm working remotely for a client who wants us to use Rslogix v31 for his mill. However since we are still having some issues with v31 all our Plc are in v30.

I'm working and testing the Hmis and really just need a working list of tags inside the plc to test communication. Is there a way to convert v31 into v30 ? I have read many threads about exporting to .L5K but following the instructions gives me invalid line 14 errors. They're also all using older versions for reference.

I would prefer not flashing the plc to v31 since I am remote. We don't usually lose network but It would be an incredibly time consuming process remotely and because of that I feel the risk is too high considering the price of L84s.

Thanks a lot, I know it's a big question but I can't seem to figure it out.

ASF · Apr 10, 2019

Welcome to the forum!

First things first: I would never, ever, ever consider flashing firmware on a PLC remotely. The risk is far too high, and the consequences far too great. I mean, the risks are certainly reduced significantly by the method that the newer processors (including the L84) use to flash firmware, but I still wouldn't even entertain the idea.

Second: from what I hear, v30 has a lot of bugs and v31 addresses many of them. So if I had to choose, I'd be choosing v31. That's just my opinion, and you should read it with the understanding that I'm currently refusing to budge from v29 until there are some further improvements on both v30 and v31, so I'm perhaps not the most objective person to ask.

Third: exporting to L5K and editing with notepad++ or another IDE is the way to achieve what you're trying to achieve. It's very much a trial and error operation, since it's not an officially supported procedure, but with some careful attention to the error messages you should be able to make it work.

Export a blank v30 project and a v31 project, and when you run across errors, compare the two projects to see what has changed between the versions, and see what you might need to change in your v31 project to make it match the v30 format. If you get stuck, post up the error messages here, along with the offending lines of the L5K, and someone might be able to give you a push in the right direction.

Good luck!

jstolaruk · Apr 10, 2019

ASF said:
Welcome to the forum!

First things first: I would never, ever, ever consider flashing firmware on a PLC remotely. The risk is far too high, and the consequences far too great. I mean, the risks are certainly reduced significantly by the method that the newer processors (including the L84) use to flash firmware, but I still wouldn't even entertain the idea.

Second: from what I hear, v30 has a lot of bugs and v31 addresses many of them. So if I had to choose, I'd be choosing v31. That's just my opinion, and you should read it with the understanding that I'm currently refusing to budge from v29 until there are some further improvements on both v30 and v31, so I'm perhaps not the most objective person to ask.

Third: exporting to L5K and editing with notepad++ or another IDE is the way to achieve what you're trying to achieve. It's very much a trial and error operation, since it's not an officially supported procedure, but with some careful attention to the error messages you should be able to make it work.

Export a blank v30 project and a v31 project, and when you run across errors, compare the two projects to see what has changed between the versions, and see what you might need to change in your v31 project to make it match the v30 format. If you get stuck, post up the error messages here, along with the offending lines of the L5K, and someone might be able to give you a push in the right direction.

Good luck!

Save the project as a L5K image and rename the L5K file. Open this new L5K file with Studio and a dialog will open that allows you to change the destination project file name AND and in the lower left corner the version can be changed. That's it, done.

If you were to export a v30 to L5K format and a v31 to L5K format and compare them with a text editor, the relevant differences would be:

v30 - "IE_VER := 2.21;"
v31 - "IE_VER := 2.22;"

v30 - "Major := 30,"
v31 - "Major := 31,"

in the first 15 lines of text.

alive15 · Apr 11, 2019

jstolaruk said:
Save the project as a L5K image and rename the L5K file. Open this new L5K file with Studio and a dialog will open that allows you to change the destination project file name AND and in the lower left corner the version can be changed. That's it, done.

If you were to export a v30 to L5K format and a v31 to L5K format and compare them with a text editor, the relevant differences would be:

v30 - "IE_VER := 2.21;"
v31 - "IE_VER := 2.22;"

v30 - "Major := 30,"
v31 - "Major := 31,"

in the first 15 lines of text.

Do you have to change the numbers in the text editor beforehand or do those automatically change after you select the new version # in the bottom left hand corner? This trick seems really useful.

Ron Beaufort · Apr 11, 2019

I'm working and testing the Hmis and really just need a working list of tags inside the plc to test communication.

not sure whether or not this will be helpful – but here's a trick using RSLinx (as long as it is NOT the RSLinx "LITE" version) ...

first highlight the processor in RSLinx ... then from the top menu click "Station" ... then select "Data Monitor" from the popup menu ...

many (most?) people aren't aware that this feature even exists – but it can be very helpful in monitoring tag data values in an emergency – even when you don't have a working copy of RSLogix/Studio-5000 available to get online with a processor ...

maybe you can glean enough of the tagnames from this listing to meet your immediate needs ...

good luck with your project ...

jstolaruk · Apr 11, 2019

alive15 said:
Do you have to change the numbers in the text editor beforehand or do those automatically change after you select the new version # in the bottom left hand corner? This trick seems really useful.

The text edition portion was just to describe the differences and is NOT required.

Converting from v31 to v30

flecl

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ASF

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jstolaruk

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alive15

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Ron Beaufort

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jstolaruk

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