AB Software question

[kamenges]

Bernie inadvertently muddied the water there a little bit.

The license thing only applies to the OEM toolkit. This is a little simplistic but think of the OEM toolkit kind of like the music services you can sign up for. For your monthly fee you get access to 2 million songs. You can download anything you want but if you stop paying your fee your songs won't play after a month or so.

Same thing with the toolkit. For your yearly fee you get access to about every piece of Rockwell software there is. Use it as you see fit. But you own nothing. you stop paying, the software doesn't work anymore.

The old ala carte software purchase structure is still in place. The toolkit idea is a relatively new offering.

Keith

 

[dwilson]

Hi All! I am trying to do some programming for a customer of ours that has AB plcs.

Snip!

When I tried to load it, It said that the software does not support XP home version.

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Curious. I have RSLogix500 ver 8.1 (vintage last fall, approx) running on Win XP Home as we speak. SP2 I believe. It's at work, so I can't double check the version(s)...

DW

 

[JeffKiper]

I think RA should still be providing software patches and supoort for the PLC 3 for FREE. I don't see why they actually have to pay all those people who write the software and keep it working with all the other stuff that is needed to make all these software packages work together.

I counted 16 different rockwell softwares on my PC.

Yea it is costly to get software.
What does your annual insurance cost? How much money does it allow you to make? I would guess that most of us don't have as much concern over the cost that we pay year after year.

No I don't work for RA. I work for myself and this is just part of the cost of doing business.

 

[prallen01]

These are great replies. Question is this. The Rockwell Tech support and their website said that they do not support 64 bit software packages. I am running 64 bit vista on my laptop which started the problem. Before I purchased it, My AB rep said that MOST versions of vista (apparently not mine) were supported. Does Vista have a mode in it that will simulate a XP system or Do I need to go to the windows 7 system. I have been shopping around for a new laptop with XP on it, but windows 7 units are just about all thats out there. I was not aware that the win 7 units had the xp simulation mode. Will that solve the 32/64 bit problem when using a newer computer?
Thanks again for the great help.

 

[prallen01]

You are doing control stuff yet have 64bit OS computer?

Am I missing something?

Honestly I didnt know there was a difference in the OS from 32 bit to 64 bit.I just had my old laptop get damaged and upgraded to a newer machine, which just happens to be a 64 bit machine. I program all the time with automation direct software and have never had an issue.I loaded it on my new laptop and it works great. I have it loaded on several different machines,and have never had a performance issue. This is what makes me so suprised and aggrivated with the AB software. I have read on here that a lot of folks think the AB is the cadillac of automation equipment and software, (and I have had that opinion myself)and that the reason you have to pay so much for it is because of the hundreds of engineers that are always working on it to keep it state of the art and cutting edge. Then to lay out the money for it and find out that they do not support the new OS platforms is crazy in my opinion esp. when the AD software is half the price.

 

[PLC]

"Hundreds of engineers"...... Now that's funny. More like a dozen guys in India

 

[Bobbias]

The difference between 32 bit and 64 bit is a bit bigger than people assume. Technically, 32bit software can work on a 64 bit processor. BUT from my understanding, it takes some work to get it in the right mode, and that would screw up the other 64 bit programs running, so you need ways to wrap the program in something else that makes the program think it's running in a 32 bit environment that translates everything the program does to 64 bit... More or less.

I've done some computer programming, so that's where the bulk of my knowledge comes from, but I've never specifically dealt with 64 bit stuff, so most of what I know is gleaned off of things mentioning 64 bit and such.

As for prallen01, have you tried running it in xp compatibility mode? http://filext.com/faq/run_old_program_xp.php shows you have to do it.

 

[blamb]

You can check Rockwell's website to see what operating systems are supported by their software. Your local distributor should be able to get you a definitive answer on compatibility as well. When ordering software tell your distributor exactly what OS you are running and make sure they tell you that it is compatible with the software you are about the purchase. I work for an integrator and we still use Dell laptops running XP SP2, mainly because that is the latest OS that supports most, if not all, of the Rockwell Software.

There's nothing wrong with XP, and for programming purposes I'm not sure why the big rush to go out and upgrade to Vista or 7. Not to knock the new operating systems but I'd say just stay with what works. Rockwell needs time to test all of their software on the new operating systems to ensure their compatibility.

It's funny how everyone complains about the price of Rockwell, yet it seems they all still want to use the PLC's and software. If you don't think it's worth the price then why spend so much time complaining? Pick another PLC to use and move on...

 

[Bobbias]

There is nothing wrong with XP, aside from everything that has been improved in Vista and 7....

But you'd be hard pressed to buy a new laptop and get XP on it, since microsoft has officially phased it out.

Personally, I think that Rockwell needs to get with the times and make an effort to make their software work on new computers. There is NO excuse not to be able to make their software work. So it takes a bit of work to get it to run in Vista and 7... That's what they pay the damn software designers to do. It's not that much effort.

 

[blamb]

There is nothing wrong with XP, aside from everything that has been improved in Vista and 7....

But you'd be hard pressed to buy a new laptop and get XP on it, since microsoft has officially phased it out.

Personally, I think that Rockwell needs to get with the times and make an effort to make their software work on new computers. There is NO excuse not to be able to make their software work. So it takes a bit of work to get it to run in Vista and 7... That's what they pay the damn software designers to do. It's not that much effort.

I agree that it is tough to get a new laptop with XP SP2. You can still get some machines from Dell that allow you to choose XP when placing an order, although now they usually ship with SP3 meaning an OS re-install is required to revert back to SP2.

It would be nice if Rockwell could speed up their software compatability to keep up with the newer operating systems. I don't know how much time / effort is involved as I'm sure they need to work closely with Microsoft in doing so.

Bottom line: know the OS / hardware compatability of the software package you're buying before you make the purchase.

 

[todster]

xp-sp3 to xp-sp2

You should be able to get away with simply inserting any xp-sp2 cd and do a repair. You will still use YOUR original sp3 key when prompted. No pre-installed programs or personal files should be affected by this. Home version to pro version is a reg edit that makes it think its pro unless you want the EFS or to join a domain.

 

[mer]

awsome!!! information have you installed XP mode and ran the older versions of rs logixs..thanks dave..