Bricked 1756-L71

[msommars]

Two days ago I used Control Flash Plus to upgrade the firmware on a 1756-L71 controller from v20.13 to V35.12. The upgrade aborted soon after it started and before any blocks were transferred. Now the controller displays CHRG on its status display and it does not appear in the web browser or in RSLinx. It just shows up as an empty slot.

I referenced https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/450803 and tried the following to communicate with it:

1. Removed the Energy Stored Module (ESM) while controller powered on.
2. Powered off controller.
3. Reinstalled ESM.
4. Powered on controller.
5. Moved controller to empty slot in same rack.
6. Moved controller to completely different rack.
7. Connected directly to controller with USB cable (does not appear in RSLinx).

The controller has been in service since 2016. Rockwell Tech Support says it's very difficult to brick L7x controllers (also L8x) and this is the first time they've heard of one being bricked.

Question: Is an L71 repairable when bricked?

 

[tlf30]

Did you wait a full two minutes between steps 2 and 3?
Also, did you take the SD card out prior to step 1?
It is recommended to only put the SD card back in once the module is fully booted, at which point attempt a reflash if you can communicate with it.

EDIT: Looking at Rockwell's tech note, the only part they seemed to miss was waiting two minutes. This is important and I have made the mistake before of not waiting long enough.

 

[L33er]

Congratulation to being the first to brick it.
At least, it will make you feel special.

 

[msommars]

Did you wait a full two minutes between steps 2 and 3?
Also, did you take the SD card out prior to step 1?
It is recommended to only put the SD card back in once the module is fully booted, at which point attempt a reflash if you can communicate with it.

EDIT: Looking at Rockwell's tech note, the only part they seemed to miss was waiting two minutes. This is important and I have made the mistake before of not waiting long enough.

Not sure about the 2-minute delay because I was walking a maintenance guy through it remotely (plant is in a different city).

Update: Based on Rockwell's recommendation, we swapped a brand new ESM module (from a new L71 we just purchased) into the old controller, and the L71 still showed CHRG on the status display. It did not go through its normal boot up steps. Ended up putting the new ESM back into the new L71 and everything is working again. This time the flash from v1.xx to v35.12 was successful.

 

[KuulKuum]

Just curious, what was the reason you decided to upgrade your L71 controller from v20.13 to V35.12?

 

[msommars]

Just curious, what was the reason you decided to upgrade your L71 controller from v20.13 to V35.12?

We learned of a critical vulnerability (see https://www.tenable.com/blog/cve-20...mation-controllogix-vulnerabilities-disclosed) related to all EN2Tx, EN3Tx, and EN4Tx modules and decided after updating all of these communication modules that we wanted to update all of the Rockwell hardware throughout the company. It's a daunting task because we have 454 Rockwell devices to update. We're very behind on a lot of revisions and just decided it's time, mostly because of our increased cybersecurity awareness.

 

[KuulKuum]

We learned of a critical vulnerability...
It's a daunting task because we have 454 Rockwell devices to update. We're very behind on a lot of revisions and just decided it's time, mostly because of our increased cybersecurity awareness.

OUCH! + $$$$

Our site decided to only do what's necessary. (most are not an issue because they are air-gapped and/or controllers are keyed to RUN position)

 

[msommars]

OUCH! + $$$$

Our site decided to only do what's necessary. (most are not an issue because they are air-gapped and/or controllers are keyed to RUN position)

Yeah, it's a tough call. We've actually eliminated some troublesome faults on PowerFlex 70 EC drives by updating their firmware to the latest version. So far, I've been squeezing in updates on weekends when the plants aren't running. Everything was going great until this problem with the L71. It was an expensive one too!

The way I look at, firmware updates are created for three reasons: one, to add new features, two, to fix bugs and, three, to fix security issues.

 

[KuulKuum]

It was an expensive one too!

The way I look at, firmware updates are created for three reasons: one, to add new features, two, to fix bugs and, three, to fix security issues.

I'm sorry to say this, LOL, but there is a fourth reason (looking at you RA/AB)
Updating is not possible (your *****'s to old) or incompatible, and in your case bricking the hardware, etc. RA/AB makes $$$$ on failed updates.