Multiple versions of Logix 5000

[Rob.Hill]

Hi - I have a nice easy question!

I had trouble years ago with different versions of FTView seemingly either conflicting with different versions of itself and/ or conflicting with Logix 5000. Hence I read some advice on here - to always keep versions separate.

I still stick with this for FTView as it still seems a little 'fragile' at times - but what about logix 5000? I currently have v30, but our company has finally decided to get a technet contract, which means I can upgrade to 35.

I could create more virtual machines - but if people are finding multiple versions on the same machine without issue (which I do find with siemens TIA portal), then obviously its less work.

Also what about the versions between 30-35 - if our company hasn't got PLCs with these versions in the field (which it hasn't) - I take it theres no benefit to installing v31-34, but rather jump straight to v35 for our next project?

Thanks
Rob

[plvlce]

I have a dozen different versions installed with v13 being the lowest and v35 the highest. I've never had issues with multiple versions of 5000 coexisting aside from an installation issue a few years ago caused by Rockwell's incompetence with their installers.

There is no benefit I'm aware of to installing versions you don't expect to actually support.

[Operaghost]

If you are traveling to different sites where they could be using any versions, then install them all. Showing up at a site and not having the right version is incredibly frustrating. But if you know you only need specific versions, then I would only install those versions. You can always add other versions if/when you need them.

I keep my FT View versions on different VMs, but Logix versions all gets thrown in together.

OG

[joseph_e2]

Originally Posted by Operaghost

If you are traveling to different sites where they could be using any versions, then install them all. Showing up at a site and not having the right version is incredibly frustrating. But if you know you only need specific versions, then I would only install those versions. You can always add other versions if/when you need them.

I keep my FT View versions on different VMs, but Logix versions all gets thrown in together.

OG

I'm with OG here. I've been trucking along fine until I stumble across a heretofore unknown PLC that has a version I skipped installing. I'm in the habit now of downloading a bunch of versions, even if I don't install them right away. It's faster to dig out an external hard drive than to find a good internet connection and try to download something when it's a crisis.


I keep my FTView versions each on their own VM, separate from Logix (and everything else) because FTView is a delicate snowflake that will just break if you think about looking at it cross-eyed...


(I may be a *little* bitter about past experiences back in the day)


I also keep older versions of Logix5k/Studio5k on VMs with older versions of Windows, because I've had issues going online with older processors even if the software seems to work offline. Right now, my Win10 VM has versions 24 and 28-34 installed and working. My older Win7 VM ran beautifully until I installed v30-something at which point it started bogging down and taking forever to open RSLinx, RSLogix 5000, or Studio 5000. Once it's been booted a while, it works fine. None of the fixes suggested in a number of KB articles fixed it, nor did removing the offending version of Logix Designer, so I just suspend it instead of turning it off. Versions 15-30 or so seem to work fine on that one. For versions older than 15, I use an old Windows XP VM. Thankfully, I haven't had to go older than v20 more than a couple times in several years.

[Rob.Hill]

Thanks very much for the responses guys.

Allows me to confidently go ahead and install the newer versions on the existing VM. Saves me time in creating additional VMs that aren't required.

Thanks again
Rob

[joseph_e2]

I would make a backup of the VM before installing each new version to make sure it doesn't break like mine did...

[CapinWinky]

Logix Designer/Studio 5000 doesn't self-conflict, so you can have multiple versions in use.

I would actively avoid v31 and v32 and personally disliked the dated user interface of v30. v33 was solid, but so are v34 and v35. I see no compelling technical reason to not use v35.

Also, many of the historical issues, such as conflicting minor revisions of v20 are resolved and Rockwell has specified various signpost versions for support of old equipment.

View Studio does self conflict, you can only have one version installed at a time. Additionally, Rockwell dragged their feet for literally decades when it came to keeping pace with Microsoft long-term support timelines and put themselves in a very ridiculous and damaging position. The highlights are that new HMIs come with Windows IoT on them instead of CE6 and this forced transition was why PanelViews were so hard to get for several months, not hardware/chip supply issues. v13 is out and you have to install a patch roll-up after installing it or it won't work; it was a rush job to beat a deadline for ActiveX support (as in IE and ActiveX are officially dead now). Installing v13 updates some ActiveX controls and since these are shared files, this is not reverted by uninstalling v13. This then makes any HMI that uses an ActiveX control that is opened on a computer that once had v13, even if it was uninstalled and replaced with v12 or something, incompatible with any computer that has never had v13 installed.

Long story short, the most stable View Studio setup for now is to use v13 to build v12 MER files for Windows IoT Panelviews. OR to use v12 to build v12 MER files for Windows CE6 Panelviews. So we have a v12 VM for the rare non-series B Panelview without Windows IoT, but all the new stuff we get is mostly Series B/Windows IoT, so we run v13 on the host.

RsLinx vs FTLinx also seems to cause issues if you have both open or even multiple instances of the same one open, but everything is fine if you have only one instance of one of them running. Have to be careful about that during firmware updates mostly.