FTV ME Help

Hey All.

SO my FTV V9.0 has been giving me some trouble. Iv noticed it before but lately Iv been "trying" to do a few more projects with it and the problems just keep rolling in.

I upgraded to V10 as per Rockwells advice. The issues seemed to be "better" last week but so far this morning things are not working for me.



I was getting .NET framework errors last week before the upgrade, those have since not returned. Now what I'm still seeing are the following symptoms....

-Upon trying to "test" an application, it will often say "tag database not found" and stop at that point. Not every time, but consistently.

-upon trying to test an application, the computer will hang for extended periods requiring a ctl+alt+del to stop the application.

-after successfully opening a test project and then closing the test project, trying to test again will result in the error message "only one run time application may be open, please close open application before testing another"" this requires a computer restart to remedy.

-after setting up a working parameter file for a display, the parameter file will work until the FTV.ME project is closed. Once the project is reloaded, the parameter directed tags will say ex... :#1.OUTPUTCURRENT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE", one of these messages for each tag in the display. Manually directing the display to look at the "tag location" in the PLC and not through the parameter file, then directing it back to the parameter file, it will work. I have to do this for each tag in the display.... very annoying!!

-most recently trying to open the software this time, I am welcomed with the message. "
Failed to initialize the service: {3F883B87-2208-11D4-B0E7-001083022E04}"


I'm not sure what to do but I know I need this software to work as intended.

Any thoughts...

Thanks

I was recently working with a engineering firm and we ALL had the same issues. We had to close the software and restart it. I never did find out what the issue was, as one the other guys was going to follow up on the issue.

Rockwell suggested to me a possibility of 11 fixes. All dealing with doing registry stuff and deleting this file and updating that file. All things I don't know much about. Iv had troubles with ME ever since I got this computer a couple years ago. I simply want to use the software in its intended manner. Its to bad Rockwell cant say here, install this magic file and all your FTV.ME troubles will vanish..

Aside from these issues, this computer has flipped out on me on occasion and left me unable to even log in after the date suddenly changed to a crazy value like 2887 for the year. IT cant explain it and it always happens at crunch time. Its happened a few times now. Its also 10 years old. I think IT doesn't want to deal with it so they are talking about building me a new laptop.. Then it could be a fresh start.

iadapt said:

I was recently working with a engineering firm and we ALL had the same issues. We had to close the software and restart it. I never did find out what the issue was, as one the other guys was going to follow up on the issue.

Click to expand...

That's a hard way for an engineering firm to make money..... Spending all day re-booting your laptops...... Especially a room full of engineers re-booting laptops. (Could make a good Monty Python Skit) I wonder if that's what it looks like at Rockwell Support Center??
I know Iv wasted more than a few hours trying to fix this POS in the last couple weeks.
I'm hoping if I ignore it, it will go away.

Any chance the laptop has a bad CMOS battery?
(That might explain the sudden date change.)
Poet.

PLC Pie Guy said:

...Aside from these issues, this computer has flipped out on me on occasion and left me unable to even log in after the date suddenly changed to a crazy value like 2887 for the year. IT cant explain it and it always happens at crunch time. Its happened a few times now. Its also 10 years old. I think IT doesn't want to deal with it so they are talking about building me a new laptop.. Then it could be a fresh start.

Click to expand...

I would, in all honesty, strongly advise you to take the new laptop option. 10 years really is far too long to be holding onto a programming workstation and expecting it to keep going or keep up, especially when you are experiencing issues such as you've mentioned, and while throwing the latest versions of software at it. If going for a new laptop, just make sure it's adequately spec'd out.

I have a HP ProBook 6560b here that's circa 2009. It's running Windows 7 Pro x64. I use it for older stuff like PanelBuilder32, older RSLogix 500 and RSLogix 5000 versions, SICK CLV, Keyence IG Config. Also WireShark, 232Analyzer, putty, See It, Realterm and BOOTP. Some Schneider Vijeo Citect and Designer work, the odd bit of AS-i and countless other smaller and lesser used apps.

It has stood to me well but just over the weekend it started oozing a sticky residue out the back ventilation grill which is not good (not the battery). But it's still chugging along, bless its soul. I back it up regularly using Acronis True Image and did so again Monday morning, just in case. I have four other programming machines and two office machines, so I'm not stuck for options, but I will replace this one very soon. I really should have considered it a good while back when it was about 5 years in use. But I know, it can be hard to let go of your babies, especially when you've gotten so fond of them being around and they are so useful. Having a native serial port and DVD Multi drive are indispensable features for certain legacy work.

But in general, I do try to teach others under me to treat the PC hardware as most other tools - replaceable. The software, and more importantly, the applications and projects, configurations and backups, are the Gold. Keep them regularly backed up so if the tools go missing or fail, we can "simply" purchase a new tool and restore it to its predecessors former glory.

That's just some friendly advice based on my experience. You do what suits your needs best.

As for the multiple software issues you've been suffering...

At the very least, and if not already on Rockwell's top 10 list (or is that 11?), I would advise you to attempt a Repair of both FactoryTalk Services Platform and Microsoft .NET Framework. If still in trouble then a reinstall of one or both.

But, you have also not mentioned which Windows OS you are using? FTV ME v9 & v10 are relatively newer versions and are more intended for Windows 8 & 10. If you were using say Windows XP or Windows 7 on this somewhat older machine then that could also be a factor here. Also, which version of Microsoft .NET Framework you are using may be of importance?

But again, if all this grief is more related to things like CMOS failure or memory leaks, and all those wonderfully inexplicable errors that PCs like to "throw" at us (pun intended), then I would be more inclined to look at replacing the hardware here, first, and then see where you're at with the software. You might not eliminate everything by doing so, but there's a good chance you will reduce the current hit list.

Regards,
George