GE 90-30 upload/downlad on 374 cpu

Hello, I'm a newbie here and a newbie to PLC's... other than a two day training course, I attended recently.

I have several CPU 374's that i would like to upload programs from, in several different positions, on a machine here at work. All of these programs are different. I would like to upload them all to have on file to download to a spare blank cpu kept here in house, in the event of a failure.

My GE 90-30 equipent:
5 slot rack
331 hi capacity PS
374 cpu
different positions have different modules
Proficy machine edition
laptop with serial cable through docking station.

in a nutshell here is the method:


I have opened a blank project, configured the rack, power supply and cpu. uploaded program from cpu in place. saved it.

I then go to the spare cpu in the shop, use a spare rack and PS, open the project previously saved in proficy. check the rack, cpu, and power supply, go online, clear the fault tables for good measure. I then download the program to the spare cpu. go offline. Take to machine install, and won't get a run light. Proficy shows fault stopped. I looked at fault tables and only see the battery fault. this rack doesn't use a battery. would this fault stop the controller from going into run? Is there something i need to change that didn't come with the program upload?

I would say that few, if any, racks have batteries, but most PLCs do.

Check the battery in the PLC? If it's bad, you will have no program in the PLC and will likely not go into RUN.

But, then, I could be wrong ...

There is a battery that maintains RAM memory when power is removed. The fault indicates a low battery. The battery is physically located on the power supply module, so when you move the CPU from the bench rack to the machine, you lose connection with the battery and that generates the fault. Depending on how long it takes you to move the CPU module from the bench to the machine, you may not lose the program because there is a large capacitor on the CPU module that will hold RAM for a few minutes, but you have to clear the fault before the PLC will go into RUN mode.

I haven't tried it myself, but if you configure the keyswitch on the CPU as RUN/STOP, you may be able to get to RUN without having to clear the fault table. It's worth a try.

EDIT:
I just looked at a CPU363. It has a place where you can plug in a battery to the CPU. You have to remove the front cover to see it. I expect the CPU374 will have the same feature.

just a while ago i tried putting a battery on the spare rack, then was able to clear the fault. went into both I/O and controller tables and cleared (had missing modules on I/o that i didn't have on the test rack, so i know what that was about).

So i powered down and waited till the machine was down for set up on another portion, for job change. Powered down this section of machine, installed the spare CPU. Installed the backup battery as well. powered up. Immediately when online with Proficy, cleared both fault tables, run light won't come on.

They had some hot jobs ready to go, so i swapped it back out with not much t-shoot. Machine working fine with original cpu swapped back in. not much opportunity to play with machine as it must produce.

Should I be uploading with CPU on machine, shut down, install cpu on machine, powering back up, download on machine, clear tables .and then key on? would that avoid the above scenarios?

And thank you for the responses!

By the way fault tables were clear and i wasn't getting a fault stop at the end of the above scenario... no run though...

The CPU374 has equal amount of Flash memory and RAM. You can set the CPU's configuration to always load 'Logic and Config' from "PROM"/Flash also I suggest setting it to always power up in "Run" instead of the default "Last".
Now when you download to the CPU check the box to "Write to Flash" and you will never lose the program in that CPU. However it must be used in a rack with an exact same rack layout that you download to it or you will get a config mismatch fault on power up.

Russ, thanks for the reply.

I went through some steps and found some additionanl trouobles. But now i se your last post about the run, memory, and installation on intended rack while download. I need to change my method then.

a couple things i found also

This application at this particular cpu location uses Ethernet. i checked the Ethernet address and found the last digits were .41 instead of .21. i have changed that and saved.

Also i found that somewhere in this scenario, my rack changed to 10 slot, and had extra modules by default.not sure when that happened or why. I changed the rack back to a 5 slot, verified module types, edited the appropriate modules and deleted the extra one.

I found the config you mentioned, and they are already set at run and prom.

Should i Upload the program from the cpu in the machine again to this project before download to the cpu *in the machine* this time? (I don't have enough spare to duplicate the entire rack in the machine on the bench.)

EDIT: the attachments titled ipaddress is where i found the hardware config issues i mentioned above. the corrected, shows what i changed it to and saved as.

Was the RUN LED lit in the spare CPU when you powered it down before you moved it to the machine? The default CPU configuration is to power up in the same state as it was in when it powered down. Check the hardware configuration in your Machine Edition project to determine what yours is configured for. While you're looking, check what the keyswitch is configured to do. It could be set up for RUN/STOP or Memory Protect ON/OFF.

EDIT: You posted your modifications while I was typing.

Steve Bailey said:

Was the RUN LED lit in the spare CPU when you powered it down before you moved it to the machine? The default CPU configuration is to power up in the same state as it was in when it powered down. Check the hardware configuration in your Machine Edition project to determine what yours is configured for. While you're looking, check what the key switch is configured to do. It could be set up for RUN/STOP or Memory Protect ON/OFF.

EDIT: You posted your modifications while I was typing.

Click to expand...

Steve, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I believe the run was lit and no fault before last install attempt. It is configured to run on power up, as shown in my attachments above. Here are the key config settings in the attachment below. Is this correct?

OK, sorry for the delay, did have time to post before leaving last night.

Last night i made an attempt with the above corrections. I achieved the run light. the reject station i was trying this on, ran for a while and did a majority of the things it was supposed to do. then had some unexplained errors. We then repeated the process with another questionable CPU. then had similar but different errors. put the original CPU back in and everything was fine. My Lead has located a less questionable CPU in our stash and will try again at lunch. We do have another known good CPU, but it is programmed and ready for a critical position. I'm not ready to give that one up till i have my process down pat.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Success!

Here is a list of items that were important to this, some i was doing before, some not.


1. Don't check third box of forced values on upload, nor download.(this was the very last issue i was having problems with, causing errors in the machine)
2. write to flash memory (check box when asked on download)
3. Put CPU key in 'off" position will upload and download.
4. Put CPU in intended rack then download to it.
5. Go through hardware config before download. It will have changed when you go online with the CPU to be programmed. Even if it was already programmed for position you are programming for (i have no idea why Proficy does this). Config EVERY module including the rack itself. Delete any modules in unused slots.
6. Configure to run on power up (right click on CPU and let click on config, in nav pane). set logic/config to prom.
7. Clear both fault tables before downloading to CPU.
8. This application at this particular CPU location uses Ethernet. check the Ethernet address against the original CPU config.

Now i am at a different location. This one has a 10 slot rack and a 5 slot expansion rack, with an HMI occupying the serial port. I take it i should be able to plug into the second serial port on the 5 slot expansion? i tried with machine stopped, to unplug the HMI and plug in the serial for the laptop. it said "another program is using the communications port" error 8502.

also, do i need to config the HMI hardware on the upload? I haven't done one of these yet.

not having any luck finding these items on GE support site

The 15-pin port on the power supply for the expansion rack can't be used for programmer communications. Is the HMI using the power supply port on the main rack? Is this a CPU model that has serial ports or are you limited to the power supply port?

You don't need to configure the HMI target to be able to upload the PLC program.

Try to stop the HMI before unplugging the cable. GE Quick panels run Windows CE as their OS and the HMI is an application that launches on bootup. However, If have run into instances where I continued to get error 8502 long after the internal flag in the PLC should have timed out. The only recovery was to cycle power to the PLC.

Steve, yes the Panel is using the 15 pin on the power supply on the main rack. The 374 CPU only has Ethernet ports, but I don't know the Ethernet address, and haven't attempted Ethernet communications other than briefly on a rx7i in training last month. Two other differently positioned CPU's have same address except for the second to last digit. it may not be hard to find this one by process of elimination. might be able to ping and watch the light?

Could i shut down power to everything (EDIT:not a way i know of to shut off the panel itself, other than getting into the case), disconnect the panel from the port, connect the PC, THEN power up? i didn't have much time, ops were in between set ups. if they get done early to day, i may have some time to play with it.

Will I need to config hardware in Proficy for the HMI on down load though? I need to open up the case the panel is housed in, to figure out which panel type it is if so. For the moment I am trying to get upload when i get opportunities on the machine. I would have to try the spare CPU and download another day.

I'm sorry. The condition I described generated a different error. In that case I was able to connect to the PLC , but I couldn't get out of monitor mode.

Error 8502 indicates that some other application is using the same COM port that Proficy wants to use to communicate with the PLC. RSLinx is one of the usual suspects. Even if you're not running RSLogix, RSLinx doesn't relinquish the port. If you use RSLogix on the same PC, open RSLinx and stop it. If you're using a USB/serial converter, make sure you configure Proficy to use the same COM port that the converter gets installed at.

Also, you do not have to have the HMI target configured in your Proficy project to be able to upload from or download to the PLC.