Trouble setting up NPORT express with SLC 5/04. PLEASE HELP!

wlemst88

Member
Join Date
Apr 2003
Posts
39
Hello all,

I recently picked up a MOXA Nport Express DE-311 so that I could try putting a SLC 5/04 on an ethernet network. Apparently what I am trying to do works, but I can't for the life of me figure out how do do it.

Basically, I have the ethernet end of the nport hooked up to my laptop via a crossover cable. I can telnet into the nport over the ehternet so I know that I have that part working right.

I am hooked into the SLC over DH+ so that I can modify the Serial settings in the processor, and am telnetting into the nport device so that I can modify the nport's serial settings.

Basically I am looking for a pass-through from serial to ethernet so that it basically looks like a connection to a SLC 5/05 over ethernet.

Anyone out there who can help me?

Thanks In advance
Wes Lemstra
 
not cls 5/05

I looked at this device. It is the same device that is manufactured by
Lantronix and remarketed by Omega, Newport and Moxa and possibly others.
For help with SLC 5/04 hook up and troubleshooting go to www.lantronix.com
I would like to make something perfectly clear to you and perhaps to others. This device will not make 5/04 into 5/05! Far from it.
This device is a simple Ethernet tunneling device.
You will only have one AB type connection at a time.
SLC 5/05 I think supports up to 12 connections.
You will not be able to do messaging between PLC's. You will not have local DF1 protocol implementation. Meaning that there will not be local ACK NAK ENQ handshaking between the device' RS-232 port and PLC's RS-232 port.
You will not be able to use AB's "Ethernet Devices" driver, instead you will have to use a driver which uses a virtual comm port and
a DF1 driver. This may not be a problem though since it could actually speed up your communication. DF1 header is simpler than
Ethernet/IP header.

Bottom line though is that this is a device of limited use, less
reliable (no local handshaking) and of low cost.
 
ENET module

AB does make a module that u can hook up to a DF1 port and sucessfully message between PLCs. However, it is limited to 4 conncetions (2 in and 2 out), and is also limited by the DF1 baud rate. Ives used them with micrologix plcs before.

Matt
 
Thanks for the replies,

Jiri, I guess I have a few questions for you. I talked to the MOXA tech support, and apparently they think that I can do this. ie turn a SLC 5/04 to a SLC 5/05. (I only need one connection). I don't need the ability to message, I just want to be able to pull up the Data table through RSLinx. How do you know that it can only be done with virtual ports on the PC?
 
I don't want to talk for Jiri but I see you are here and he is not so I thought I'd jump in here.
I don't have experience with the exact device you are using but I do have limited experience with simlar devices.
When Jiri said you couldn't make a 5/04 into a 5/05 what he meant was there are Ethernet transfer function related to the 5/05 and the Ethernet driver in RSLinx that you will not be able to take advantage of. I'm sure he didn't mean that you couldn't use the device to talk to a 5/04 over Ethernet. The issue is in how the device fools the PC and the plc into thinking they are connected over the serial link. The Ethernet comm protocol and the DF1 serial protocol in RSLinx are two differnet protocols. That you MOXO software is doing is capturing the serial protocol transfer from RSLinx, encapsulating it in a data packet and sending it across Ethernet to the DE-311. The DE-311 is stripping off the Ethernet packet header and running everything else out the serial port. The same thing happens in a serial transfer in the other direction, this the roles between PC and DE-311 reversed.
The kicker is the DF1 serial protocol needs to be routed to a serial port. So your two choices are to put a DE-311 on the PC side and the plc side and connect the two DE-311s together or use a piece of software on your PC to route calls to a specific serial port out the Ethernet port and to the DE-311. The second option is the most economical nad flexible so that's what I would recommend. Just remember it is still a DF1 serial transfer to RSLinx and the serial port used in RSLinx must match the serial port captured by the MOXA software.

I hope this helps.

Keith
 
Well that is disappointing.

But right now, I would be happy with that. I can't for the life of me get this stupid thing to work. I know that I need the settings to be the same for both serial ports. I can go from the laptop to the Nport device, and from the SLC to the laptop, but for some reason I can't get the SLC to talk to the NPort. I have the virtual com port installed on my laptop, I know that my ethernet side is working fine. I can have my serial cable connected to my laptop and then just swap between the NPORT and the SLC, so I'm pretty sure that my serial settings are the same. WHAT AM I MISSING!!! Anyone???

EDIT: I have my MOXA comm port mapped to com 3, and so I map my RSLinx driver to comm 3, still no joy. I Think my problem is still communication between the SLC and the NPort

Wes
 
Last edited:
Are you guys sure? This picture from MOXA's website looks like you can do it through the virtual com port way, but also through the TCP packet way. Are you sure I can't use the RSLinx ethernet driver?

EDIT: And yes, I have tried putting the TCP socket to 2222

nport_express_access.gif
 
I don't think you can use the TCP socket method in this case since you are sending a very specific protocol. To use the Ethernet driver you would end up sending the Ethernet communication packets out to the 5/04. When that data is sent to the 5/04 the 5/04 won't know how to interpret it. So to talk to the 5/04 using RSLinx you will need to use the RS232 DF1 driver. And if you use this driver you must specify a comm port. So fundamentally from a DE-311 standpoint you could use the socket modes, RSLinx wouldn't correctly support it.

Now this is kind of a base question but I have to ask. Are you using a null modem between your DE-311 and the 5/04? The AB serial cable for 5/04 connection is a null modem cable. With the DE-311 set up for data transfer mode with all switches off, it acts like a PC serial port. So to connect to the 5/04 you need a null modem.

Keith
 
I set up the Lantronix CoBox-DR1 for this kind of application a couple of years ago before the 1761-NET-ENI came out.

I am absolutely certain that you cannot use TCP Socket mode to communicate between RSLinx and the SLC-5/04 DF1 port. You must use Host Based/Driver mode.

In the Lantronix device (I think these are similar but not identical) the crucial clue was a TCP port number you had to set in the device (via Telnet and a menu) that required an offset to be added to it. After that, the "COM Port Redirector" effectively captured calls from RSLinx to COM3 and directed them to the TCP/Serial gateway device.

The RSLinx driver was good old DF1, but of course didn't support automatic detection of the RS232 settings so you had to be certain about those from the start.

Have you set up a breakout box or dumb terminal to find out if there's any RS232 action at all at the DE-311's serial port ?
 
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What precise settings do you have in the host based/driver mode configuration window ?

I'm curious if you have anything under the Delimiter or the Force Transmit entries.

Mostly you have to find out of there's any traffic at all coming out of the DE311 serial port (that proves the software and DE-311 configuration) then you can work on the SLC serial port connection.

I searched through the big historical database at A-B Tech Support and didn't find any reference to this specific brand and model.
 
Well, since you're absolutely certain!!! :)

Now I'm trying to get it to work as a virtual com port. Here are screenshots of my current settings: (Obviously Some of the images are cropped

nport_collage.jpg
 
Ken Roach said:
In the Lantronix device (I think these are similar but not identical) the crucial clue was a TCP port number you had to set in the device (via Telnet and a menu) that required an offset to be added to it. After that, the "COM Port Redirector" effectively captured calls from RSLinx to COM3 and directed them to the TCP/Serial gateway device.

I did put the TCP port number to 2222 while trying to do the TCP mode

Have you set up a breakout box or dumb terminal to find out if there's any RS232 action at all at the DE-311's serial port ? [/B]

I know that I am using the right cable because when I change settings in the SLC I can see the Line Status change in my telnet session. I can get it so that DTR, DSR, RTS, and CTS are all on (Uppercase) but never can I get the DCD signal to come on (DCD is the signal pin, so its important)
 
I see that you are setup for ASCII (user) on the SLC side.
If you want to use DF1 you need to be on "System".
Also the RTS/CTS selection should be disabled on both sides.
Leave EMBEDDED RESPONSES on Auto detect.
Match CRC selection on both ends. Match all other selections
Parity, stop bits, Baud rate.
I am not sure about the TCP socket set-up and how it supposed to work
but in order to port DF1 into the device you will need to use the virtual com port I am pretty sure of that.
Lantronix has some app notes regarding the AB on their web site, MOXA is just a reseller who may or may not have made minor modifications to the device. Lantronix offers C tool kit for some devices.
 
What Cable are u using from the SLC to Nport? I believe you should be using a CP3, because the nport works just like a virtual serial port you would use what you normally would use at your serial port. Try connecting to the SLC via serial port 1 using CP3, make sure that works, then the only difference would be changing the com port in RSLinx to whatever port you have mapped to the nport.
 
Guest said:
What Cable are u using from the SLC to Nport? I believe you should be using a CP3, because the nport works just like a virtual serial port you would use what you normally would use at your serial port. Try connecting to the SLC via serial port 1 using CP3, make sure that works, then the only difference would be changing the com port in RSLinx to whatever port you have mapped to the nport.

Yeah, you'd think so wouldn't you. Here's what I have done: I had it connected from my laptop to the slc over a serial cable with a null modem. I Could go online over it and everything. So then I take that cable and plug it into the nport. I make sure all the settings (baud, parity, stop bit, etc) are the same. I change the RSLinx DF1 driver from com1 to com 3 ( That's the com port the virtual com port software is supposed to be directing it to). No Go. Very frustrating. Just for kicks I take out the null modem. Still doesn't work.

BTW, what is a CP3? Com Port 3?

Wes
 

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