Allen Bradley CompactLogix controller firmware

[thehoneybadger]

Hi, this is my very first thread. I am a PLC enthusiest and am setting up an AB compactlogix 1769-L35E controller with some relays at home to play with.

I bought the controller second hand from ebay, and have installed some hardware and have started the communication process.

I am able to communicate with the PLC successfully using an RS232 cable, (not successful using ethernet, but this subject is for another future thread).

I wrote a quick program using RSLogix5000, just to confirm the ability to communicate and download a routine.

This is where i have come unstuck. The firmware in the PLC is V13, and the RSLogix5000 requires V16 or over. I believe i am currently running V16.3 in the RSLogix.

Due to the compactlogix range being retired by AB, i am no longer able to download the firmware from the AB website.

So my questions:

Is there anywhere else i can source this firmware?

Does anyone out there have a V16 file you can send me?

Or can i set my RSLogix5000 to operate in a lower setting. So instead of V16, set to operate in V13?

I have some screenshots of error messages i can upload if anyone is interested.

Cheers

 

[thehoneybadger]

pics

a pic of my rig, and a pic of the relevant error message

 

[Lewis Stultz]

If you use control flash software which you can download from the Rockwell website you should be able to flash the 1769-L35E to v16.

 

[thehoneybadger]

Hi Lewis. Thank you for the reply. I do not fully understand the part about the control flash software. Maybe i am not using this software. Would you mind please elaborating?

Regarding what i am using, i use RSLogix 5000. I attempt to download the routine into the PLC. The error message advises me that i need to update the firmware.

My next step was to go onto the allen bradley website to download the firmware version i need, but the firmware is not available because this line of hardware is no longer supported by AB.

The control flash software you are referring to, is this something i can download from the allen bradley website?

 

[Oceansoul]

Control flash should have been installed along with logix5000. Open that up and most likely will have the firmware for V16 of 1769-L35E in there already.

 

[Lewis Stultz]

If you don't have it for some reason, you go to the find download page of the Rockwell website and search for ControlFLASH it will give you option to download the software. This software will allow you to flash the plc to the correct firmware.

 

[thehoneybadger]

Thanks again lewis. AB is like an onion of difficulties.

I installed controlFlash like you recommended. when i opened the program, it asked me for my factory talk username and password.

This would not usually be an issue, but i set up my system years ago. to be honest, i have no idea what my factory talk username and password is.

I know how tempramental RSLogix and RSview are, and how they are interlaced with factorytalk. So i am very hesitent to change any username and passwords in case i then lock myself out of RSLogix and RSview. Seeing as this took me a very long time to get right, i really do not want to lock myself out now.. thoughts?

 

[thehoneybadger]

Hi Ocean. I installed this software like 7 years ago. I do not know the entire history, but it is possible FlashControl was released after my Logix5000 version. I am guessing of course.

Hey Lewis. I had no problem downloading the flashcontrol like you recommended. It is when i opened flashcontrol that i was faced with login issues. I can see from the second image you sent that i am a stones throw away from my goal, so i will install factory talk and flashcontrol into a test computer to see if factory talk has a fit or something. If it does not, i will at least try and use the same factorytalk credentials to open the flashcontrol on my "real" computer.

Here's hoping my computer does not explode...

 

[thehoneybadger]

So i am inching closer. I deleted previous installations and started the process again. Installed a different version of controlflash with factory talk. This got me further.

I am now able to open factory talk, but the PLC selection i have are limited. The selection is only within the 1756 range. the controller i use is the 1769-L35E. It is out of range. (Image attached)

Lewis, i can see from your screenshot that you have a much greater range in your firmware release inventory. Should i install an additional file in order to expand my inventory? Or is this inventory already in the system, i just do not know where to look?

 

[Maxkling]

You should install ControlFlash+. This will take care of having to find the individual firmware files which is an issue when ControlFlash.

 

[thehoneybadger]

Thanks Max. I will try Controlflash+

 

[thehoneybadger]

Hey All. I honestly do not know if i am still stepping forward with this, or if i have started stepping backwards.

After succeeding in installing ControlFlash, i found i did not have much in my firmware release inventory. I could not find the firmware i needed to update my PLC. I do not know where to find this firmware seeing as the 1769 series is no longer supported by AB, so i cannot download from their website.

It was suggested by Max to install ControlFlash+. ControlFlash+ also seemed like it did not have the firmware i needed. In fact, it had the exact same firmware release inventory as i had available to me in the ControlFlash; 1756.

I found this a little suspicious. It was as if controlflash needs to be communicating with my PLC to offer me the updates i need.

I confirmed through RSLinx that i was communicating with my PLC, but this was using my RS232 port. Not ethernet.

It almost seems like i need to configure my ethernet port so that ControlFlash can "see" my PLC.

This brings me back to one of my original problems. I was not able to configure my ethernet port. Is it possible i need to configure my ethernet port first before i can update the firmware? FYI, i attempted this, but most of the ethernetIP details, such as IPv4 address, subnet mask, default gateway was greyed out. So far, i figured i needed to update my firmware to resolve this, but maybe i am wrong...?

Any advise on getting over these hurdles would be appreciated.

1. How can i find the ControlFlash firmware releases i need to update my firmware release inventory.

2. How can i configure my ethernet IPv4 address to match my network?

3. Can i update my firmware using an RS232 port?

4. Must i configure my ethernet before i can update my firmware?

Cheers all and thank you for your help .

 

[dmroeder]

It's been a while since I've installed v16, but most installers have came with firmware kits. Try re-running your v16 installer, see if there is an option to do a custom install look for "firmware kits" checkbox or something like that. I think you can install just the firmware kits, hopefully it will include more than ControlLogix.

One thing I've found, at least with the newer versions is that the installer will sometimes skip the firmware kits and I have to re-run the install to install them.

How you update the firmware (Ethernet vs serial) has nothing to do with the fact that you don't have the firmware already installed. I would not recommend flashing the firmware via RS232, it takes an eternity.

 

[Lewis Stultz]

You can reinstall rslogix5000 and the correct firmware kit should be included. You should also be able to download each individual firmware kit off of the Rockwell site.

 

[thehoneybadger]

Hey all, you were right. The firmware is downloadable from the ab.com website.

Every time i searched for the firmware downloads, i repeatedly searched for my device, then selected the files in red. Because the only other options, (grey), seemed "greyed out".

But today, in desperation, i just tried opening random files, and boom, they were in the "grey" files... Of course they were! Where else would they be?

Rockwell, Your hardware and software are awesome. Your website sucks.

Thanks Lewis for prodding me along there. I almost gave up on the website until i saw your last post confirming the firmware was there. So i gave it another shot today and finally found it.