LM Ignorance

marinovedder

Member
Join Date
May 2020
Location
Punta Cana
Posts
7
Hi, guys.


I am what you would call the Lord of Newbies regarding this. So, please bare with me.


I work in an airport handling company in the Dominican Republic (I'm just an IT guy here). We have devices like loaders and trucks that have GE Fanuc 90-30 PLC here. Notice that I don't really know what I am talking about. I'm trying to be as honest as possible. I specify that because apparently I understand more than the actual people that use those devices.


That aside, there was a guy who worked here and he had a personal laptop with the LM90 software. He connected to the PLC's "apparently" simply to switch them from on or off when needed. That's how its been explained to me. He is not working with us now, so of course we have an issue.


I have tried to understand this and find a solution. I got to download the LM90_XP software. I installed it in a XP trial VM. The software opens but I never got to connect to the PLC's even though I am supposedly using the correct cable and "correctly" configured the comm ports according to a guide I found and what not.


So, I am trying to get some clarification. I need to find a solution that is healthy for all. I assumed that the most logical thing was to find a software that works for this that isn't limited to WinXP. But I don't have the slightest idea if Proficy would work for this, "simply" connecting to a PLC and doing that on and off switch. Also, I don't know HOW that's done, and neither does the people who are supposed to do it here in the office.


I would love your input guys. What would you guys do?


Thanks,


Marino
 
The most likely explanation for lack of connectivity is because you are trying to connect via the wrong COM port. You'll have to check the bridging between the COM port number on the host machine and the COM port number on the virtual machine.
If possible try to contact your predecessor to learn what his role was. Don't take the word of people who really didn't know what he was doing. He could have been connecting to read the PLC's fault tables for clues about a problem. Or he could have been monitoring the operation of the program in the PLC to find out what missing signal was preventing normal operation. Furthermore, any documentation of what each rung of logic is supposed to be doing isn't stored in the PLC. Once you have managed to connect and retrieve the program from the PLC all you'll see is the ladder logic and associated addresses, nothing about what physical devices those addresses represent. For your sake, if you are able to talk to him, I hope your predecessor left the company on good terms and will be willing to help you.
 
the new Proficy will work. If you look around here, there are a lot of info on connecting to the 90-30 PLC. I would say though, it's going to be hard talking serially through a VM. Proficy will work in trial format for 30 days, I believe so maybe you can get a local distributor to loan you a trial copy.

Since you are honest about being an IT guy, what's your intention? Getting connection to the PLC is still many steps away from able to read electrical prints and troubleshoot a problem.
 
Steve, the terms aren't good at the moment. Covid suspensions are not being handled well, plus he's avoiding communication and selling himself indispensable. Maybe he is, but not my place to get in the middle of that. I verified the configuration of LM90, specifying comm1 in the modem setup and software setup. The VM also had the proper comm port enabled. I didn't have the chance to verify the configuration on the other laptop that was working, but according to my coworkers, the guy simply connected the cable and opened the software and voila, the status was shown as online. As I don't have the slightest idea of how any of this works, I chose to not confront this.
 
the new Proficy will work. If you look around here, there are a lot of info on connecting to the 90-30 PLC. I would say though, it's going to be hard talking serially through a VM. Proficy will work in trial format for 30 days, I believe so maybe you can get a local distributor to loan you a trial copy.

Since you are honest about being an IT guy, what's your intention? Getting connection to the PLC is still many steps away from able to read electrical prints and troubleshoot a problem.
Tim, in my case, what I am trying to do is at least to set up an environment in which my coworkers can connect to the devices and go from there. I assume more problems will come, but I can't refute them saying that they only turn something on or off via the software. When those problems arrive, I will be called to help probably and I will try to. Basically since my understanding of tech is fair, and so is my english, they are relying in me, since these two things are almost none existent within the team. We are more of a "get things done because we do them daily" than "we get things done because we know how they work" at least regarding these PLC thingies.
 
but according to my coworkers, the guy simply connected the cable and opened the software and voila, the status was shown as online.
That was a feature of LM90. Launch the software with the cable connected and it will interrogate the PLC for its program name. If it finds a stored program with the same name it will select that project and go online in monitor mode.
 
Hi guys, I got a demo of the Proficy ME 9.5 version from a website in Mexico. Could you point me in the right direction into using it to connect to the 90-30 PLC?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to assume your only option is serial communications. That assumption is based on the apparent age of your system given that your predecessor was using Logicmaster.
The fifteen pin port of the power supply module is a programming port. It is RS485, so you will probably need a RS485/RS232 converter at that end. I say probably because you will also probably need a USB/serial converter on the PC side of the cable. The most common USB/serial converters are USB/RS232 but it is also relatively easy to find USB/RS485.
You will need to create a 90-30 PLC target in Proficy. You will need to modify the CPU model because Proficy defaults to CPU374. Once you've done that, make sure you've set Proficy up to communicate serially through the COM port assigned to your USB/serial converter and go online with the target. Then extract the program and hardware configuration from the PLC. Note that Proficy calls this transfer "upload". Many people consider "upload" to be the opposite direction, so be careful when choosing between upload and download.
 
Actually the guy who used the software already used a usb adapter for the serial cable he had. I have both things. I am going to try tomorrow and connect to one of the devices and go from there. Thanks for clarifying the upload/download situation. Will take that into account. I'll write again when I have more news.
 
Guys, first of all. Thanks for your help. Whenever you come to the Dominican Republic, Presidente's (our local beer) are on me.


I could connect without a problem. At first I got a connection error, and switched the comm port of the usb serial adapter to COM1 and I could connect without a problem.


So the basics of what my guys needed are covered. We can connect and Run or Stop the programs of the PLC's.


I connected to another PLC, and was given a message that it was in a FAULT state. According to my coworkers (remember, it shows that we run here on seeing what someone who knows used to do) we just needed to download to the device the program of a similar PLC that was working correctly. So, I connected to a device that was working fine, uploaded it's program to my laptop and went to the faulty PLC. When I tried to download the program, I got an error code 8513 (access level 1 not allowed for that step, apparently)


I read a bit about this so it doesn't seem that I am asking everything here without doing at least an effort, and got to change the access level to level 2. It asked for a password that I could find. But apparently doing the upload requires AL 3 o 4. For those I don't have any passwords.


How does this passwords thing work? Can they be reset in case I don't have them? Are there master passwords I could try? Am I effing things up by doing things I don't understand?
 
You need to know the current password to be able to change it. There are no backdoor passwords. New projects without a password assigned are at level 4. That level allows yo complete control, do anything you want. If passwords are in place it means that someone has assigned them. Best bet is to ask your predecessor for the passwords.
As to the PLC in the faulted state, you should look at PLC and I/O fault tables and see if you can clear the fault and then restart the program. The act of downloading a new program will clear the fault tables, but that's not the only way to get restarted. Also, the fault tables will give you information about what caused the fault in the first place so you can correct the problem.
Also, its odd to have a system controlled by a PLC set up so that you have to start the PLC before you can operate the machine it controls. Most systems are set up so the PLC starts running its program when you power it up.
 
Sounds to me that the original guy was making himself indispensable. I have come across this a number of times, One guy who left a place in the lurch, two systems he upgraded he put passwords in did not leave the master files and when we finally got into the software we found he had put in a bit of code that on x number of E-stops and at 2:30 in the morning, it called some code that would create a divide by zero & stop the PLC. This according to the engineering manager did on occasions happen, they had to call him in on a min of 8 hour callout at double time.
 
Steve, again, thanks for your help. Basically as you said, by resetting the faults, we could get the device to start.


It still speaks a lot of how little we know. The device we connected and showed faults even shows those faults dating to the year 2000 or something. So I'm assuming nobody even verifies that information as correct or not, of course.


Another thing, were would be the correct place to purchase the software? Via Emerson's website, I don't find anything, and me, living in the Dominican Republic, don't get any results in their website about providers near me.
 

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