Panelview Config Screen (Topic 1 of 3)

I’ve been saving some questions for a rainy day, hoping to keep you guys on your toes when things got slow. But, after discussing some of my questions with another user (Thanks, Tom!), I was convinced that I shouldn’t sit on these much longer. I had to break them up by category, so please see my other posts from today.

My first question is about downloading to a Panelview touchscreen:

1) Is there a way to put most (or all) types of Panelviews into config mode without putting a “Goto Config Screen” button on the screen? The Panelview 1400e has a key switch, so this must be a question that relates only to the standard terminals.

2) If there is no one standard trick, how do I download a new configuration if I forget the button?

An Allen-Bradley guru (this guy subscribes to their magazine!) told me that I should press and hold the upper left(?) corner of the screen as I apply power. But, when I tried this trick on a PanelView 1400 (I think), the screen got real mad at me and stopped responding until I rebooted it.

When the touchscreen is booting up, there appears a white box in the lower right corner. Touching that gets to the config menu (after bootup).

Of course, you can have a "Go to Config" button that doesn't look like a "Go to Config" button.

What I do is have on one screen a bit of text object that is actually the "Go to Config" button. I try to aviod putting it at the top of the screen, because if there's a communications error, the panelview puts up the blue message on the top, and disables any push object under it.

But if the "button" has some standard bit of text (like /*D*/ /*T*/?), and the background color is the same as the screen background, and it doesn't look like it should be pressed, who is going to find it?

But the "backdoor" can sure be handy.

C'mon this one's a softball !

Reboot the PanelView by cycling power, and during the Boot Firmware startup (the screen will display "TESTING, VERIFICANDO, etc" and a sequence of numbers will increment onscreen) a white square will appear at the lower-right corner of the screen. Press and hold the touch cell over that square and the terminal will start up in Configuration Mode.

On keypad PanelViews it's even easier; simultaneously press the left and right arrow keys at any time and the terminal will change into Configuration Mode.

Since screen passwords were added to PanelView a couple of versions ago, the Configuration Screen can be limited to authorized operator access using a password.

Do you want to know the secret keystrokes to clear application memory if somebody locks you out of the Configuration Screen ?

Ken Roach said:

Do you want to know the secret keystrokes to clear application memory if somebody locks you out of the Configuration Screen ?

Click to expand...

You're joking, right!?!

Go right ahead and spill the beans.

AK

Do you want to know the secret keystrokes to clear application memory if somebody locks you out of the Configuration Screen ?

Click to expand...

I have had to use this "secret" which was freely told to me by AB tech support when I downloaded an ap that Panelbuilder verified as ok but a glitch in the hardware thought was bogus thus locking everything up...

But I won't spoil Ken's fun. I'll wait for him to shout it out.

how do I download a new configuration if I forget the button?

Click to expand...

You don't need to put the PV in config mode to do a download.

He may be using a pcmcia card to download, then you do. Or is there a way around this too?

Please, Norm, go ahead. It's not a secret, but it's not in the user manual either.

I found that the new PV550T Series B (and maybe others) has a little "Reset" button on the PC board, that you can access with a toothpick or a paper clip. It has the same effect as a power cycle, so you don't have to include a local circuit breaker or disconnect the power wires (important in hazardous environments, I guess).

I pushed it once with the end of a meter probe and was rewarded with a permanent blue screen ! Cycling power did no good, the terminal just came up with two white lines across a blank blue screen !

I took apart the terminal and found that my pointed meter probe had tucked the soft rubber of the button underneath the rim of it's case and left the button perpetually closed. A quick tap freed it up and we were back to normal. The moral of the story; use something blunt and nonconductive to press recessed buttons !

Please, Norm, go ahead. It's not a secret, but it's not in the user manual either.

Click to expand...

Alright, I can't say for touch only screens as I've only used keypad only versions but the way to dump all the memory is to power up the unit; after the test 32 (or maybe 33) which is the keyboard test, press and hold the lower leftmost and upper rightmost keys simultaneously. Eventually you will get a message telling you hoe much memory the unit has and everything will be wiped clean (just the application, no the firmware).

I did have to do it a couple times to get it to work (maybe I wasn't hitting the keys close enought thgether?)

If you don't wait until after the keyboard test, you get an error that a key is stuck and no erasing takes place.

The thing in my application that locked up the PV 1000 (DH+) was that I had a reference to a variable in an alarm message. (Don't remember the type of reference). Panelbuilder verified everything OK but when the PV would reset after download I'd get an error number (sorry, don't remember that either) and the whole thing would be locked up.

Maybe someone else will chime in on how to dump the application on a touch only screen.

ndzied1 said:

Maybe someone else will chime in on how to dump the application on a touch only screen.

Click to expand...

I just did this on a PanelView touchscreen only and it is the same procedure. Press the lower left and upper right squares of the screen right about when you see the 32 or so and or the normal config access light at the lower right side appear. It does take a few times but I just cleared 3 refurbished screens we had recieved with passwords on the config screen.

Outstanding!

This is a post to subscribe to. Which I just did by replying, the easy way.
Much obliged to previous posters.

I almost didn't read this thread b/c I thought, "Naaaa, I already know the answer to this question".....glad I decided against it and read on.

I always learn something when I log into this site.

Good info on clearing the memory!

How to enter password when configuration screen is secured

How does one go about entering the password for the config screen if the "Configuration Screen Secured" option has been checked and there is no Goto Cfg button in the application?

I was trying to use the "Press Lower Right during startup" technique to get to the config screen, but it won't work if the cofing screen is secured and it didn't give me a password entry screen, it just loaded the application.

Does the selection of Security Mode (Screen, Login, etc.) affect this?

Just my $0.02, but I think the manual needs to be clearer about this fact, ie that if the screen is secured in the application configuration then the hardware bypass during startup will not work...I'm used to hardware bypasses always working, I didn't think the application was even loaded at that point, so how could an application setting affect that function.

Any info appreciated,

Greg

You can't use the hardware trick to bypass security (unless Ken knows another secret keyboard trick). Securing the config screen and not putting a button to get to it pretty much makes it source protected. Some programmers like to have a way to completely lock down their work, so that is probably the reason.

It is definitely something that should be explained clearly with warnings in the manual.

Do you have a copy of the application?