RSLinx Fatal Error

RexIR

Member
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Ahmedabad
Posts
24
I am trying to connect my laptop to Panelview PV300 in order to download the application file using WinPFT. For this I require to have Device driver PIC/AIC running. But whenever I open the RSLinx I get the error message "Fatal Error Initializing PIC Device Driver!"

On configuring the driver it shows as STOPPED. And driver diagnostics for the driver shows "Communication Errors with Kernel Driver" status to be 1 on the general Tab.

When I check the device manager on my Laptop it shows the driver "AB PIC/AIC+ Port(COM1). Its enabled and its properties window shows it to be working properly.

Has anyone faced such an issue in RSLinx? What can be the possible reason? I could not find any help in the manuals or online search. Any advice in this regards will be highly appreciated.
 
Os

OS is WIn-XP. this reminds me mof something that has changed. It was a SP-2 windows XP and I recently updated to SP-3. Can that be a reason?

RSLinx version is 2.50

Nothing else is using the com port.
 
By the compatibility matrix in Rockwell Automation Technote
42682, RSLinx 2.50 is not supported with XP SP3.

The earliest release compatible with XP SP3 is 2.55.
 
Do you have a real serial port on your PC? You need one for the 1747-PIC/AIC+ driver.

What is the complete catalog number of your PV?

See text below for a SP3 fix.
 
Last edited:
Mickey, I really don't advise changing Windows SYSTEM files, when upgrading to the proper version of an applications program would fix the problem.

SERENUM.SYS is the post NT (Win2K and above) serial device enumerator driver, and many things rely on it, including power management.
 
Mickey, I really don't advise changing Windows SYSTEM files, when upgrading to the proper version of an applications program would fix the problem.

SERENUM.SYS is the post NT (Win2K and above) serial device enumerator driver, and many things rely on it, including power management.

I have not used this trick as I won't upgrade to SP3. I'm just passing along what others have done with apparent success.

Your point is well taken though.
 
We've noticed that SP3 breaks the PIC driver, we didn't upgrade our tech's laptops from SP2 until they all got 1747-UICs. The UIC is a handy thing to have anyway.
 
Windows XP SP3 does break the PIC/AIC+ driver. I recently tried to replace the serenum.sys file on a machine that was purchased with SP3 and had zero success. As soon as I replaced the file, the windows file protection system would fix it back for me...within two seconds...every time.

I did some reading about ways to disable the file protection system, but I did not take it that far.

We still require the PIC driver for a couple of machines, so we have made sure that our laptops don't get updated to SP3 until we can eliminate that need.

As far as I know, even the newest version of RSLinx will not help the PIC driver to work with SP3.

Even one old laptop with SP2 sometimes barks at me with the "Fatal Error..." when I try to set up a PIC driver. Sometimes I end up shutting down and restarting RSLinx to get it to "take", but most of the time it works as expected with SP2.

It is my understanding that Rockwell doesn't intend to change the PIC driver to work with newer versions of windows, so the USB devices are their preferred solutions.
 
Thanx

Thank you everyone for your inputs. I am wiser now because of the enlightenment about the compatibility of PIC with SP3. I guess the only option left to me now is to get RSLinx installed on a Laptop with SP2 and proceed with my download.

Everytime I've come to this forum with a problem I have always had satisfactory answers. You guys ROCK.
 
The PIC came out in what.....1991? It's been band-aided multiple times to get it working in all the various flavors of Windows. I actually have it working on a spare laptop running XP SP3 without any issues. These days I'm happy just to see the thing power up.

Never even attempted Vista or Win7. Can't imagine it ever will support those O/S particularly considering the UIC is available.

OG
 
According to The Allen-Bradley tech rep. the pic driver does not work at all with Windows XP Service pack 3. If anyone has managed to do this I would also like to know how.
 
Last edited:

Similar Topics

I need to support some old data collection that is running on Excel, but I need to get it running on LibreOffice. The following statement works...
Replies
0
Views
58
Hey All, I am sorry to ask this, but i still gotta do it. What happens if I close RS linx? Will it cause network interruption and PLCs will lose...
Replies
5
Views
111
I was reading about the ability to add a name to an RSLinx Config so that it displayed in the tree, and further read that that functionality was...
Replies
5
Views
176
Hello Everyone, I am using an Ethernet Driver and have added the IP addresses manually. There are a few IPs that I can ping in command...
Replies
7
Views
334
I'm running into a problem when trying to use the RSLinx Backup Restore Utility where it throws an error when it tries to restore a backup. The...
Replies
6
Views
453
Back
Top Bottom