OK, No TechConnect...
The date code on the Base Unit's sticker is not very obvious to the casual eye. It is encoded into a series of digits under the barcode. There should be 2 asterisks characters (**) either side of two alphabetical characters in the middle of the barcode indentifier string. Incidentally, these alphabetical characters represent the Base Unit's Hardware Series and Firmware Revision. After the second set of astericks there should be some remaining digits. The first four digits after the asterisks represent the date code. Two for the week and two for the year...
Example:
4*24AWA**BA**
42040195
This would be week 42 in 2004.
The affected date range is inclusively week 31 in 2004 (3104) to week 12 in 2005 (1205). So this example date code would fall within that range and would warrant further inspection of the oscillator IC inside.
lowlaywei87 said:
...I came across some friendly advices of ticking the Ignore Configuration Errors...
With regards to the friendly advice you have received; here is some more...
I am sure that if Rockwell thought that this failure would not affect potentially critical I/O communications, then they would have suggested users do as the friendly advice has suggested i.e. ignore the warnings. But, as this is a hardware component failure, they, I, and I'm sure many others, would strongly advise you to have the Base Unit replaced. The oscillator IC chip is critical to the timing of the I/O update to the processor. If it is not operating as expected, then it could yield unpredictable and potentially dangerous results. At the very least the application may not function reliably or as intended.
But, that is if you can ignore the warnings?...
The "Ignore Configuration Error" feature is more intended to be used when the I/O module hardware is not physically present while developing and testing a project with just the Base Unit. The ignored "slot" is expected to be physically empty. It then allows you to Download and Run the processor without faulting on I/O Configuration Error. It would then be unchecked when the modules are physically present. It is a temporary measure and is not intended to be left enabled on a running application.
If you will note how the error message is reporting a mismatch between the I/O image words configured in the user program and the image size in the expansion I/O module. The IC chip is potentially creating this error condition. This could also be the case if a different module is added to a slot in the program to the actual module in that slot.
In either case, setting the Ignore Configuration Error will not ignore this mismatch error. The processor will still fault with Error 188h - Expansion I/O Module Configuration Error. The slot must be empty or the I/O image must match.
If you are potentially affected by this component failure, then be fully aware of the fact that this is a hardware failure which cannot really be ignored, either in software or in reality.
I would check that date code first before making any other considerations.
Regards,
George
