RSLinx Not Running in Background (CPR9 SR5)

All,

I recently decided to install my Rockwell apps onto my windows 7 environment (previously running XP in a VM).

After I installed everything, I notice that when I log on to my computer, RSLinx does not start.

I do not want RSLinx to start as a service, but as an application. I can start the application just fine when using the RSLinx Control Panel, unchecking the "Always run as service" box, and Starting the application. The RSLinx icon then appears in the System tray and I can open and close the program without actually shutting down Linx.

However, if I do not use the Control Panel and just click on the RSLinx shortcut, the application will open with a Splash Screen, and then when I exit the program completely shuts down.

UAC is disabled.

How to I enable RSLinx to start up automatically as a background application?


The odd thing is, a co-worker on Windows 7 had absolutely no problems with this: he installed and Linx automatically starts in his system tray. I check the SERVICES.MSC for both our computers and RSLinx is not set to start up automatically (it is Manual), and MSCONFIG shows that RSLinx is not configured as a Start Up program.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

I had Win 7 and i put the all rockwell softeares to run " like windows XP" ..try this !

Have a nice day !

i believe the behavior you describe is normal. When i configure linx to run as a service, its always running in the system tray. When i configure it to run as an application, i have to launch it, and when i close it it closes completely.

swapped said:

i believe the behavior you describe is normal. When i configure linx to run as a service, its always running in the system tray. When i configure it to run as an application, i have to launch it, and when i close it it closes completely. When you click start in rslinx control panel, you are actually starting the service, even when "always run as service" is unchecked.

Click to expand...

I was going to say practically the same thing, but he says that when he closes RSLinx after starting it from a shortcut, it disappears from his tray and is no longer running at all.

In my case, I have "Always Run As Service" unchecked in the launch control panel, but when an application calls for it (like Who Active from RSLogix) or when I start it manually, it continues to run as a service and appear in my tray. Even when I open the GUI and hit the red X in the upper right corner, it minimizes to the tray and continues to run (as a service I assume). I am using Windows 7 on this machine. RSLinx behaves the same for me whether I start with the shortcut or the launch control panel...

Oh wait...no it doesn't...it does the same thing as described in the original thread. Started from the shortcut, I get no tray icon at all. I guess I rarely ever start it that way. I almost always start it by attempting to use RSLogix to "go online" or "who active" or with a Panelbuilder32 download...

But, I do think this is normal. In the past with older OS, I remember only getting the tray icon when running as a service, and when running as an application, closing said application really does close it.

Ok, so when I set everything to Win XP "Compatibility" it made things worse: this time when I used the control panel to launch RSLinx, it started the application with the Splash screen and completely exited the program when it closed!

In any case, I think I figured out what the issue is:

RSLinx will start automatically when I try and go online from RSLogix. I was under the impression from fellow co-workers that RSLinx started automatically with windows as an app: it doesn't by default.

However, once you manually open RSLinx via the launcher OR via RSLogix, RSLinx stays in the SysTray.

This is different from older operating systems (ie: Windows XP) where RSLinx would start as a service and run in the background, appearing on the system tray.

Incidentally, when I do run RSLinx as a Service in Win7, no tray icon appears.

no tray icon appears
I ran into this not to long ago using XP. I think it was a know issue with a version of Linx. I can't remember what fixed it but I will have a look.

From Services:
· Stop Harmony and set it to Manual.
· Stop RSLinx and set it to Manual


Open RSLinx Launch Controller, uncheck “run as service”, then Start.

I think this is the way it works under W7, at least until RA fixes it. If you run RSLinx Classic as a service, it runs, but you won't have access to the UI. I also discovered on a project that under W7, DDE won't work if it's a service.

This thread really helped me with my Windows 7 issue! I am currently doing DDE with Excel.

I wanted to make it so the computer WOULD start up with RS Linx in the system tray (application).

Just to let people know what I did to make it work in the way that I wanted, this is what I did:

1) Navigate through Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > RSLinx >

2) Click "RSLinx Classic Launch Control Panel", then click "Yes" if prompted by Windows (UAC)

3) Verify that the "Always Run As Service" box is NOT checked. If it is checked, then uncheck it. If it greyed out, then it is not letting you change the setting because the service is running. Just press the "Stop" button, then uncheck the box.

4) Press the red X to close the RSLinx Classic Launch Control Panel.

5) Navigate to Start > All Programs >

6) Right-click the Startup Folder and click "Open"

7) Hopefully you will know how to create a shortcut of RSLinx and copy it to this location. If you have one on the desktop, that is great to use, you can just copy it into here.

When I had done these things, RS Linx would start on my computer startup, but I didn't see the tray icon. So this is what I did (based off of reading some other forums questions about RS Linx).

8) Navigate to the new shortcut you made inside of the Startup folder (Start > All Programs > Startup >)

9) Right-click "RSLinx Classic" (or whatever you named it) and click "Properties"

10) You should see a "Target" field where the directory is provided for the application to run, it should look something like "C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSLinx\RSLINX.EXE"

11) At the very end in this field add "/service" to it (without quotations). This will go AFTER everything that was in there, including the quotations. It should look something like this ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSLinx\RSLINX.EXE" /service" (without the outermost set of quotation marks).

This is what worked for me, to get RSLinx to startup with Windows 7, with the tray icon in the bottom right. DDE works for me after doing this. I can't guarantee this will work for you, but I hope it does!

Which version of RSLinx?

jkerekes said:

Which version of RSLinx?

Click to expand...

My version of RS Linx is 3.60.00 CPR 9 SR 6.

It is pretty new, I got it about 3 weeks ago.

I tried the shortcut with the "/service" argument, but that started up Linx as a normal service (can't see tray icon in a 64-bit OS). One way I've found of creating a persistent Linx tray icon is to use the "-Embedding" argument in my startup folder shortcut:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSLinx\RSLINX.EXE" -Embedding

That allows me to have my Linx tray icon in Win 7 x64 and keep it there even if I close the Linx window with the "X".

I'm thinking that Rockwell has a bug in Linx when running as a service. I found some information here that seems to indicate that, though it may be an x32/x64 issue: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/95982