TIA Portal V11 S7...Flex and compatibility

Bedhes Putih

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Join Date
Jun 2016
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Malang
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Good day guys and girls - after a period of "retirement" I'm back on the plank with a programming job. I'm ex Siemens integrated solutions so the programming bit isn't an issue but OS and compatibility is.
To cut it short this job is a clone of a job done about 6 years back - S7 5.4, Flex 2008 and drives ES... all integrated nicely together.....however....there is also a new addition to the job....a win cc app to replace and iFix system.

I'm in a pickle.....I've always run my software on an XP pro Virtual machine running on my old trusty Sony brick running Vista and it works just fine, even the bridging of virtual LAN and physical LAN....but I thought I'd get up to date and foolishly started slinging siemens software on my other laptop running windows 7 - oh what a mess...completely pair shaped...serves me right for forgetting just what a pig the installation of siemens components is.

So..... I bit the bullet....found an old hard drive and installed XP SP3 Pro OEM....all good so far....ran driver pack and updated all the drivers...still good....and didn't even get as far as a installing a thing before BSOD popped up...yes W7 is compatible with the processor...but not the chipset...great, so go back to my old Sony...which I know doesn't have drivers available for XP (I only need the NIC but can't find it)

Soooo from personal experience what is the boards recommendation on a nice install of S7 and Flex, together with TIA?

I would run TIA standalone but I guess I need the other installed components to import an old project into TIA.

what's the best combination of OS...S7 and Flex versions together with TIA?
Or should I just stick with my old Virtual machine which whilst clunky....never goes pair shaped.

Many Thanks...Bedhes Putih
 
What version of each do you need to install?

I have the most recent version of each in Win 7 Pro with no issues, although I have a beast of a laptop.
 
Definitely go for Windows 7 64 bit.
You may need to upgrade STEP7 and WinCC Flex to the latest versions in order to install under 64 bit. You need a full install of these softwares for 64 bit. You cannot install an old version and the upgrade to the latest version.

I am running STEP7 classic and WinCC Flex on the same machine as TIA portal. And I am running this in a VMware guest with Win 7 64 bit. Runs OK.
 
Well the last projects were in 5.4 and flex 2008 SP2 HF3 ( i think that's right).

The issue is only that one part of this project is an almost direct clone of an old project... the factory wouldn't have an issue with just turning over to V13 for the lot except of course the old MP370 wouldn't be compatible and they also have a spare new panel which they are kindly throwing my way for the new line.

Obviously I'm looking at the cost of purchasing the latest versions of S7 and flex, especially when I only need them installed just for the conversion process.
The more I think about it i'll stick with my trusty VM ware image and just install V13 TIA on a virgin install of W7 for the rest of the project.

I'm actually a little disappointed with W7 32 bit....it's very easy to get it to fall over.
 
I should add that the VMware image has been just fine...sure it's a little slow, but the Siemens install actually went without a hitch.... everything nicely integrated...even all the iMap stuff.
If I'm going to bite the bullet again...the I guess it's a new 64 bit laptop...W7 ultimate and the latest siemens
@Jesper , just what versions do you run of everything?
 
I run the latest versions of everything (!).

With or without VMware, TIA needs a machine with an SSD drive and plenty RAM.
If you have that, it will run acceptably if not blisteringly fast.
 
Thanks indeed for your advice - I think with what you've said I'll stick with what I have and standalone winCC for the SCADA app. With the timescale and the cost I really can't justify the outlay.
I'm guessing from the Siemens website that Flex 2008 and S7 5.5 are the latest standalone versions, together with TIA V13.
I would have no problem purchasing V13 if it had built in compatibility for older MP's, but seeing as it doesn't.....then standalone for now it shall be
 
Thanks indeed for your advice - I think with what you've said I'll stick with what I have and standalone winCC for the SCADA app. With the timescale and the cost I really can't justify the outlay.
I'm guessing from the Siemens website that Flex 2008 and S7 5.5 are the latest standalone versions, together with TIA V13.
I would have no problem purchasing V13 if it had built in compatibility for older MP's, but seeing as it doesn't.....then standalone for now it shall be

Flex 2008 SP3 is the most recent. It adds support for 64 bit, but removes a few things (protool migration and custom objects) that were legacy code and supposedly couldn't be migrated to 64-bit.

I've always been told that Portal theoretically supports any hardware that was active product on Oct 1 2007. This is more true on the HMI side than the PLC side, which has a lot of exceptions (400H, 300T, etc). You are correct, for the very old MPs you need WinCC Flex.

I definitely 2nd JesperMP's suggestion of an SSD. It is pretty much mandatory for VMs or for Portal, and definitely for both.

If you customer has specific versions of software that they want you to use, then obviously you need to use those versions. On the upside, if your Portal licenses are up to date, they should allow you to use the old versions, too, and ALM can be set up to share licenses between VMs (although only one can use the license at a time). I have a variety of VMs with different versions installed, that match different customer's installs. Simatic Manager was pretty forgiving about editing programs in different versions, but Portal is very version centric.
 
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Ahhh so does Portal support the MP370 then? I'm driven to drink trying to find the answer from Siemens website - all I want is a simple compatibility matrix but can I find it? heeeemmm

I'm being to cheap I know.... but since I'm being given a big lump of hardware for this job including a 315 2dp/pn and an MP370... all new....I'd really like to use it.
If V13 will support MP's the i'll give it a go
 
No TIA does not support the MP370 panel.

I would think twice about using the MP370 panel or any old panels for a new project.
These panels are discontinued from Siemens, and even though you can still order a spare panel, the prices are being hiked up into the stratosphere.

Using old panels, no money to upgrade, bla bla bla. This is a song I hear frequently. The truth is that is costs a lot in the long run to save a little here and now.
 
No TIA does not support the MP370 panel.

I would think twice about using the MP370 panel or any old panels for a new project.
These panels are discontinued from Siemens, and even though you can still order a spare panel, the prices are being hiked up into the stratosphere.

Using old panels, no money to upgrade, bla bla bla. This is a song I hear frequently. The truth is that is costs a lot in the long run to save a little here and now.

Oh have no fear,,,,they've plenty of money to upgrade....I can assure you they've plenty of dough but no local experience to deal with multiple software platforms.

I've set them up in the past with projects that are as fully integrated as you can get - if a hardware item fails they have step by step simple instructions of how to replace and download software/configs and be up and running as quickly as possible.

They will have to effectively identical machines running on differing programming platforms, and then there is the rest of the equipment on site to be considered - ideally it would all be imported and networked under TIA13.

These guys have a siemens PG running S7 5.4 and Flex 2008....it would end up redundant (it's not a particularly high end PG...well only the price is high end).
They haven't ordered a software package to go with the equipment, as the assumption is that everything will remain as is...and indeed it can since I get the gift of a new MP370.
Such a shame that siemens didn't choose to add support for the MP range of panels to TIA
 
I should also add that I'm also looking for a solution that will see me running for a couple of years a piece - it's clear that a 64 bit laptop and W7 is the only way forward and I'm guessing that a fresh install of S7 5.5, DrivesES and Flex 2008 followed by TIA V13 should be about as good as it gets.
 
Just FYI, I decided to keep STEP 7 V5.5 and WinCC 2008 on a separate Virtualbox virtual PC from TIA V13. STEP 7 V5.5 is Windows 7 32-bit, and TIA v13 is Windows 7 64-bit.

No problem with that...in fact my intention ....but how do you import/convert an old project (S7 5.4 and Flex 2008 with Drives integrated) ?
From my brief attempt at project import...the S7 imported, but V11 required that Flex was installed.
 
Ahhh so does Portal support the MP370 then? I'm driven to drink trying to find the answer from Siemens website - all I want is a simple compatibility matrix but can I find it? heeeemmm

I'm being to cheap I know.... but since I'm being given a big lump of hardware for this job including a 315 2dp/pn and an MP370... all new....I'd really like to use it.
If V13 will support MP's the i'll give it a go


Hmm, I must have my dates wrong then. I hadn't realized the MP370 series stuck around so long; I thought they had transitioned to the 377 before then.

Anyway, the Siemens SOFTWARE compatibility tool is here, but it doesn't include most of the hardware:

https://www.siemens.com/kompatool
 

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