Connecting to a GE Fanuc 90-30

defcon.klaxon

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Hi all,

One of my clients has a GE Fanuc 90-30 that communicates to an RX3i via a Genius module. The original integration was done by someone other than me (let's call him programmer A), but since integration another programmer (programmer B) has done additional modifications. In fact, programmer B is the one who set up the Genius modules as they weren't a part of the original integration effort.

The problem is, programmer B is pretty much impossible to get ahold of despite multiple attempts. So I was able to get a copy of programmer A's code, but it doesn't have the Genius comms code as it's older.

So far as I understand from searching through the forums, if you connect to a 90-30 and "upload" the code from the controller to your PC, you'll get the ladder logic but no comments and register names. Since I have the programmer A code, does that mean if I try to connect to the PLC it'll show that the project doesn't match the code that's running, and if I upload I'll retain the existing code and the "new" code will be grabbed, but no comments or register names will come along with it?

I know this seems like a simple question, I just don't want to mess anything up by connecting to the PLC and unwittingly break something.
 
Make sure you back up the Programmer A project before you connect to the PLC and upload the logic as modified by Programmer B. You won't get any of the rung comments or variable names created by Programmer B, but you will still have the documentation created by Programmer A. However there is small chance that you might lose some or all of the rung comments created by Programmer A.


Comments in a 90-30 are actually separate rungs that use a "Comment" instruction. The text of the comment is not stored in the PLC, but the "Comment" instruction is. In rare cases, uploading a modified program will wipe out some of the comment text. I've had it happen to me and I've never gotten a bulletproof method to prevent it from happening, nor an explanation for the conditions that lead to it happening.
 
Thanks Steve!

Luckily the code from Programmer B is going to be pretty straightforward, so even if there aren't comments or register names I'll be able to figure out what's going on. Literally all I care about is how individual physical I/O and alarm bits have been packed into an INT for comms purposes, so it should be relatively easy to figure that out.

Thanks for the warning about the comments, I'll be sure to keep a backup of Programmer A's work separate.
 
There may not be any ladder logic involved in the Genius communications between the two PLCs. Everything could be done in hardware configuration. The Genius Bus Controller in the 90-30 can be configured to broadcast a block of data. The Rx3i's Genius Bus Controller's hardware configuration will define the variables where that data will be deposited. The same is true for data originating in the Rx3i and received in the 90-30.
The Genius protocol also supports directed datagrams that are controlled by ladder logic.
If you have any problems sorting it out, and if your client doesn't object, post the project files (or send them to me by email) and I can help explain the details.
 
Well I tried to connect to the PLC, but I couldn't get it to work. The client has a big pile of old 90-30 stuff and I found a 15 to 9 pin adapter, so I figured I'd connect to that with a Serial-To-USB adapter, but it didn't work. After doing some searching, it sounds like the 15 pin connector may be RS485, not 232 and adapters can sometimes need power supplies? Also found USB to 15 pin cables for SNP style 90-30 processors, could I use that? Checking the Target Parameters in the existing code, there is no SNP address assigned but there are settings for SNP.

The adapter I found is labeled he693snp232a SNT to RS232 Adapter Horner Electric Inc so I figured my setup would work and I verified baud rate and parity. I was using a NULL modem cable, maybe that was the issue?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks guys.
 
Last edited:
The null modem cable is the issue. The cable between the Horner and the COM port is straight through, Pin1 to Pin1, Pin2 to Pin2, etc. Two null modem cables should work if you can't or don't want to resolder.
The Horner RS232/485 adapter gets its power from the 15-pin port on the PLC power supply.
 
The null modem cable is the issue. The cable between the Horner and the COM port is straight through, Pin1 to Pin1, Pin2 to Pin2, etc. Two null modem cables should work if you can't or don't want to resolder.
The Horner RS232/485 adapter gets its power from the 15-pin port on the PLC power supply.

Ah, ok. Thanks Steve, I just found a datasheet on the adapter and lo and behold, the Tx and Rx are already swapped so that's my issue. A couple gender changers and a straight through cable should take care of things, thanks again.
 

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