Siemens S7, how many ways can you download and upload?

twu026

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Jan 2008
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I need clarification on a few points in Siemens S7 regarding downloading and uploading to the PLC. More

specificially a ET200S IM151-7 CPU with a memory card (MC).

I don't have the hardware with me in the office, I need to do some minor modifications to this PLC at a clients site. Obviously, I want to backup the existing program and then download my modiciations. Yes, I do have a copy of the S7 project - but I am not sure if it is the latest code (hence the need to backup what is actually running on the PLC).

Ok, with regards to downloading, I can't figure out the specific difference of all the options under Simatic

Manager -> PLC menu:

1) Download
2) Compile and Download
3) Copy RAM to ROM
4) Download User Program to Memory Card
5) Save to Memory Card

So far, I been selecting 'Blocks' and clicking the 'Download' option. Then I would go to HWConfig program and then doing another 'Download'.

I am curious to know what all these other download options are.

Should I be using the 'Compile and Download' instead? Or maybe the 'Download User Program to Memory Card'?

A colleague of mine says that the 'Download' option ONLY downloads to the RAM of the PLC. If this is true (for

the ET200S IM151-7), then that raises a couple of concerns / question:

- Could the PLC potentially have 2 different programs - 1 which is running in RAM (Program A) and 1 stored in

the MC (Program B)?
- If the above point is true, what happens upon a power cycle? Do you lose Program A and end up with Program B

running?
- Does 'Copy RAM to ROM' copy the program running in RAM to the memory card? If so, does this operation also copy the HWConfig?
- Is the HWConfig also known as the 'System data' (in the 'Blocks' list)?

And lastly, what is 'Save to Memory Card' about? Is this for downloading pdf manuals etc?

Ok, that is a bunch of download questions. No doubt, some of the options have overlapping functions and some of them are only applicable to certain PLC models.

I also have a question regarding uploading / backing up the PLC program - specifically backing up a ET200S which has a MC. There seems to be the following options available:

In Simatic Manager

1) Upload to PG / Upload Station to PG
2) Retrieve from Memory card

Using the Siemens 'MMC Card Read Write' program.

I got a bunch of questions related to these options too:

- Does the 'Upload to PG' option upload from RAM or MC, or is there no difference? Are comments uploaded as well? I would say probably not, so should I upload to an existing project or a new project?
- Retrieve from Memory card, is this an option to retreive all the files on the MC?
- What is the difference between using 'MMC Card Read Write' program compared to using 'Save to' & 'Retrieve from' option in Simatic manager?

I understand the 'MMC Card Read Write' only reads and write '.S7img' image files. Is this purely a backup & deploring tool?


Any help on the above questions would be helpful.
 
I'll tell you what I do. It always works for me.

1. At customer site establish communication with the PLC. Then right-click Blocks and select "Compare Blocks". Compare offline to online. Select "Date Timestamp Only" because if you don't then data values will be flagged if they have changed.
2. If your Compare blocks does not reveal any problems you have the current program. But you may or may not have the current data - the setpoints set from the HMI currently in use.
3. To get the data first make a backup of your project in case something goes wrong.
4. Back in Simatic Manager open your offline project and then click the online toolbar to open the online project.
5. In the online project window highlight all DB's and then drag and drop them onto the offline project window. This uploads all DB's (with DATA!!!) to your offline project.
6. Open every single DB and be sure you don't get the dreaded timestamp conflict. Check that the symbol information is there.
7. At this point you have a complete backup of all blocks, with data.

If you have timestamp issues they should be resolved. That is outside the scope of this post.

To make offline changes to blocks to be downloaded at a later date:
1. Edit your blocks as you see fit.
2. At the customer site switch to details view in Simatic Manager and sort by "Last Modified". If this column is not available use the Options menu to enable it.
3. Download the blocks that have been changed.
4. You can use compare blocks to determine if you have downloaded everything.
5. Be advised if you change a data block then what you are downloading is the saved data values from when you made your backup. It might be advisable to create a new data block to avoid this, your choice.
 
To address some of your specific questions:

The way I download is to select the blocks I want to download, right-click PLC - Download. Or just hit CTRL + L.

When you upload a station it creates a new station in Simatic Manager. You don't want this. You'd only do this if you don't have the program.

Use a test PLC rack to practice on and you will figure out what the options do without disturbing a running process.

With S7 plc's I don't know why you would copy ram to rom. The methods I describe in the post above have worked for me since 1999.

Program documentation can be saved to the MMC. For example any file you want to store there.

I hope others will continue to address your specific questions - they are well thought out and pertinent. I hope to learn from others. Great thread!
 
Add a setpoint to an existing Data Block while the machine is running (Example for DB2)
1. Open DB2 to be sure there is not already a problem with the symbol annotation. There should be no error messages.
2. Copy & paste the data block to make a backup copy of it. For DB2, rename the copy DB1002.
3. Open an online window and drag & drop the online DB2 into your offline folder. Yes – overwrite the existing DB2. At this point you have an exact copy of the online Data Block – the current setpoint values.
4. Open the offline DB2 and there should be no error messages. If you lose the symbol annotation it is because the offline/online date/time stamps are different.
5. If there are no error messages you should delete your backup data block DB1002.
6. Add your data and download. You will "lose" whatever changed in the meantime. For setpoints from an HMI this is usually not an issue.

Fix a Data Block that has lost its symbol annotation
Obviously this only works if you have a copy of the block with annotation.
1. Open the offline copy of the Data Block
2. Open the online copy of the Data Block
3. Switch both blocks to DATA VIEW and manually enter the current running values into the offline Data Block
4. Your goal is to create an exact copy of the online Data Block. Add new entries if needed by changing back to Declaration View.
5. When done, download the offline Data Block. Yes – overwrite the one in the PLC.
 
Thanks Paul for your helpful points. Especially with regards to comparing code & data as well as uploading data. That is going to be very handy when I go to site.

Been so busy with work that I haven't had a chance to replay until now.
 
I know this is an old thread now but I've just come accross it after asking a question regarding Backups. I'm concerened our backup procedure is poor in our plant. So some good info here, a belated thanks.

@PaulB I hope you are still around, I'd like to just clarify how you do this part here. Do you "Save As" a new project? Do you use the Archive function?

I'll tell you what I do. It always works for me.

3. To get the data first make a backup of your project in case something goes wrong.

Thanks,

Mark
 
Always fun to see an old thread come back to life. :)

To make a backup before I do something where I might make a mistake, I archive the project from within Simatic Manager. First close everything because you cannot archive an open project. Sometimes you have to exit Simatic Manager and restart it. Then File - Archive and choose your project.

To make the archives easier to follow I append the file name with a number and keep the most recent x number of archives. For example if my project's name is "saw" then I would have saw_01.zip, saw_02.zip, etc. I do this because Simatic Manager does not like long file names when you archive. I have a job where I am on archive #192, been adding and modifying the program since 2004.

Adding a date stamp can be done later via Windows Explorer. For example I would navigate to the folder with the archive in Windows Explorer, then rename the archive "saw_02.zip" to "saw_2015-07-08". That preserves the date in the file name. This is optional.
 
Always fun to see an old thread come back to life. :)

To make a backup before I do something where I might make a mistake, I archive the project from within Simatic Manager. First close everything because you cannot archive an open project. Sometimes you have to exit Simatic Manager and restart it. Then File - Archive and choose your project.

To make the archives easier to follow I append the file name with a number and keep the most recent x number of archives. For example if my project's name is "saw" then I would have saw_01.zip, saw_02.zip, etc. I do this because Simatic Manager does not like long file names when you archive. I have a job where I am on archive #192, been adding and modifying the program since 2004.

Adding a date stamp can be done later via Windows Explorer. For example I would navigate to the folder with the archive in Windows Explorer, then rename the archive "saw_02.zip" to "saw_2015-07-08". That preserves the date in the file name. This is optional.

Thank you Paul! Much appreciated! This gives me some great information now for ensuring we (well I at least) have good backups of our systems.
 
Just wanted to say that this is a great post. I'm a Rockwell girl that is learning Siemens and I have these exact same questions. I really wish there were more answers!

I need clarification on a few points in Siemens S7 regarding downloading and uploading to the PLC. More

specificially a ET200S IM151-7 CPU with a memory card (MC).

I don't have the hardware with me in the office, I need to do some minor modifications to this PLC at a clients site. Obviously, I want to backup the existing program and then download my modiciations. Yes, I do have a copy of the S7 project - but I am not sure if it is the latest code (hence the need to backup what is actually running on the PLC).

Ok, with regards to downloading, I can't figure out the specific difference of all the options under Simatic

Manager -> PLC menu:

1) Download
2) Compile and Download
3) Copy RAM to ROM
4) Download User Program to Memory Card
5) Save to Memory Card

So far, I been selecting 'Blocks' and clicking the 'Download' option. Then I would go to HWConfig program and then doing another 'Download'.

I am curious to know what all these other download options are.

Should I be using the 'Compile and Download' instead? Or maybe the 'Download User Program to Memory Card'?

A colleague of mine says that the 'Download' option ONLY downloads to the RAM of the PLC. If this is true (for

the ET200S IM151-7), then that raises a couple of concerns / question:

- Could the PLC potentially have 2 different programs - 1 which is running in RAM (Program A) and 1 stored in

the MC (Program B)?
- If the above point is true, what happens upon a power cycle? Do you lose Program A and end up with Program B

running?
- Does 'Copy RAM to ROM' copy the program running in RAM to the memory card? If so, does this operation also copy the HWConfig?
- Is the HWConfig also known as the 'System data' (in the 'Blocks' list)?

And lastly, what is 'Save to Memory Card' about? Is this for downloading pdf manuals etc?

Ok, that is a bunch of download questions. No doubt, some of the options have overlapping functions and some of them are only applicable to certain PLC models.

I also have a question regarding uploading / backing up the PLC program - specifically backing up a ET200S which has a MC. There seems to be the following options available:

In Simatic Manager

1) Upload to PG / Upload Station to PG
2) Retrieve from Memory card

Using the Siemens 'MMC Card Read Write' program.

I got a bunch of questions related to these options too:

- Does the 'Upload to PG' option upload from RAM or MC, or is there no difference? Are comments uploaded as well? I would say probably not, so should I upload to an existing project or a new project?
- Retrieve from Memory card, is this an option to retreive all the files on the MC?
- What is the difference between using 'MMC Card Read Write' program compared to using 'Save to' & 'Retrieve from' option in Simatic manager?

I understand the 'MMC Card Read Write' only reads and write '.S7img' image files. Is this purely a backup & deploring tool?


Any help on the above questions would be helpful.
 
Last edited:
When I started with Siemens, I attended a system course a. In this course they go over this, it would be definitely be worth the effort if you want to know the basics.

I think Siemens nowadays offer these courses on-line. You could contact your local REP to see what they can do for you.

Otherwise, please feel free to ask any questions here!
 
Regarding some point.

Comparing datablocks (DB's) does NOT always work correct, has to do with the structure/length of the DB. So I always open the offline DB and go online (the glasse icon). If its able to go online you are safe to download the online block to the offline project.
If you are not able to go online and you download the block, you will lose all symbolic names in that DB. This is because the symbolic names are not stored in the PLC.
 
Last edited:

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