Steve Bailey
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
It looks like a mismatch of either the baud rate or the number of stop bits.
Ge-9030 pcm301 barcode application issues
- Thread starter Byron
- Start date
danatomega
Lifetime Supporting Member
Again, the links I provided are Operating Tips (http://support.ge-ip.com/support/re...ontent/live/KB/8000/KB8729/en_US/fax02901.pdf)
and the User's Manual (http://www.*********.com/pdfs/ic693pcm301.pdf)
both of which have valuable information!!
I can find the answer in those files but so can you.
It appears that a hard reset sets the port to 19200, ODD parity, 1 stop bit, 8 data bits.
Saving a file may compile it or crunch it and garble it - read the manual.
and the User's Manual (http://www.*********.com/pdfs/ic693pcm301.pdf)
both of which have valuable information!!
I can find the answer in those files but so can you.
It appears that a hard reset sets the port to 19200, ODD parity, 1 stop bit, 8 data bits.
Saving a file may compile it or crunch it and garble it - read the manual.
UPDATE: I went back to my earlier success, which is: I have stored three files to the PCM, and I am running them on the PCM by using MegaBasic on my laptop... LOAD and then RUN. The barcode scans show up in Proficy on the CPU REGISTERS. I am using PCOP from a DOS prompt in DOSBOX. Please see the attached PDF showing screenshots and a couple of questions.
QUESTIONS: (please be patient with this old mind...)
Now how do alter the setup I just did (the easiest way) which will make this SCANNER.PGM file auto run on a cycle of power?
Within DOSBOX (see the PDF) I am getting the "warning tried to activate FIFO" message... I USED LM90 AND THE REGULAR DOS PROMPT BEFORE AND WAS GETTING HUNG UP AND GARBLING... I REMEMBER SOME WARNING IN PCOP ABOUT MEMORY... now in DOSBOX this memory warning. I can't remember what I did before to make this warning go away when I was using the DOS software for SLC-150. Obviously, I THINK, the PCM-301 MODULE must be okay. I came real close to ordering another one on eBay, but decided to wait. I have a spare in place onsite at the client's location and hope to go there Tuesday and make this all work and barely meet their deadline of 01.01.2015 Thanks for any input from y'all. I'm a slow learner but when I get it, I get it. I have to document everything I do so I can remember what I did the next time. I record all my phone calls for the same reason... oh to be 16 again... it's not the Years, it's the Mileage ;-)
QUESTIONS: (please be patient with this old mind...)
Now how do alter the setup I just did (the easiest way) which will make this SCANNER.PGM file auto run on a cycle of power?
Within DOSBOX (see the PDF) I am getting the "warning tried to activate FIFO" message... I USED LM90 AND THE REGULAR DOS PROMPT BEFORE AND WAS GETTING HUNG UP AND GARBLING... I REMEMBER SOME WARNING IN PCOP ABOUT MEMORY... now in DOSBOX this memory warning. I can't remember what I did before to make this warning go away when I was using the DOS software for SLC-150. Obviously, I THINK, the PCM-301 MODULE must be okay. I came real close to ordering another one on eBay, but decided to wait. I have a spare in place onsite at the client's location and hope to go there Tuesday and make this all work and barely meet their deadline of 01.01.2015 Thanks for any input from y'all. I'm a slow learner but when I get it, I get it. I have to document everything I do so I can remember what I did the next time. I record all my phone calls for the same reason... oh to be 16 again... it's not the Years, it's the Mileage ;-)
I basically hung it up Wednesday night and did other things yesterday... took a breather from the stress. Today, could not remember how I actually put the files onto the PCM. I think I used TERMF but NOT in LM90. I don't know if all the hanging up and garbling and such was memory issues or what. (computer memory, not necessarily my memory, but that doesn't help either... I screenshot everything and paste into Visio files so I can remember what I did and how to revert if I have too) I do remember that when in LM90>PCOP>UTILS... getting not enough memory errors when I tried to download files or configs or ??? I thought it was talking about DOS memory (?) perhaps the PCM memory not configured right?? Anyway, I'm staring at the screens here with a working barcode system BUT MY LAPTOP is making it work.
Steve Bailey
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
Remember back at the beginning of this thread when I said I always use "Basic.PGM" as my default PCM program name?
Here's the deal. When the PCM module is fresh out of the box and in Logicmaster or Proficy hardware configuration you set it up for "Basic", it will run a program called "Basic.pgm on soft reset. If you want something other than that you need to use PCOP to set up. If you stick with Basic.PGM, you don't need to use PCOP. You can do everything with any terminal emulator program. TERMF is a terminal emulator program. PCOP uses it to communicate with the PCM module, but you can also launch it from a DOS prompt.
Take a look at the PCOP configuration for the module. Once you go online with PCOP that's F1 (Configure the PCM) followed by F3 (Edit MegaBasic configuration). In the field labeled "Program to run at Reset" you will see the name of the program that starts with a soft reset. If that program is Basic.PGM then you should rename your program as Basic.PGM. If the name is something else, you need to make sure that the something else is your program name or, if it is a .bat file, the .bat file must include a command to run the program you want.
It is significantly easier to use Basic.PGM as your default name and to name your program Basic.PGM.
Here's the deal. When the PCM module is fresh out of the box and in Logicmaster or Proficy hardware configuration you set it up for "Basic", it will run a program called "Basic.pgm on soft reset. If you want something other than that you need to use PCOP to set up. If you stick with Basic.PGM, you don't need to use PCOP. You can do everything with any terminal emulator program. TERMF is a terminal emulator program. PCOP uses it to communicate with the PCM module, but you can also launch it from a DOS prompt.
Take a look at the PCOP configuration for the module. Once you go online with PCOP that's F1 (Configure the PCM) followed by F3 (Edit MegaBasic configuration). In the field labeled "Program to run at Reset" you will see the name of the program that starts with a soft reset. If that program is Basic.PGM then you should rename your program as Basic.PGM. If the name is something else, you need to make sure that the something else is your program name or, if it is a .bat file, the .bat file must include a command to run the program you want.
It is significantly easier to use Basic.PGM as your default name and to name your program Basic.PGM.
Last edited:
Steve, I did what you said in the last post and I got it working without my laptop. The BASIC.PGM runs on soft reset and on power cycle. I am able to connect with the program running using TERMF at a DOS prompt. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! This is literally an answer to prayer. I am documenting everything so I can upload a PDF that might help others in the future. At least now (months later) I know what I'm doing. Thanks to ALL the guys on this forum that have helped me through the years, even though I might have only been lurking... thank you all.
The big thing that threw me before: even though the COM PORT shows it is BUSY, TERMF still connects to the PCM for MONITORING.
The big thing that threw me before: even though the COM PORT shows it is BUSY, TERMF still connects to the PCM for MONITORING.
Steve Bailey
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
At the risk of confusing things even further, Appendix B of the PCM manual (GFK-0255) gives an example of ladder logic that can command either a soft or hard reset of the PCM module. It can come in handy if you don't want to open the door of the electrical enclosure to push the magic button on the module. Of course you would need an HMI in the system or a spare input point you could use to trigger the command.
Thanks for this tip as well. This system starts running on power cycle. See the attached .jpg of a screenshot I just did. I had TERMF monitoring, went offline with PROFICY, cycled power, TERMF picked up where it left off monitoring, went back online with PROFICY, SCANNER WORKS.... NUMBERS in the REGISTERS. Is this due to the HARDEXEC.BAT that the PCM created on my first cycle of power? The line of code is: R BASIC.EXE /D1 e848
Steve Bailey
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
Cycling power to the PLC generates a soft reset of the PCM. A soft reset triggers a run command to the default program on the PCM module. All of those lines following the copyright notice are generated by PRINT statements within the Basic.PGM program.
The PCM module is a small computer on its own. It runs its own operating system called VTOS (Virtual Terminal Operating System I think).
PCOP is programming software for the PCM module that lets you take advantage of the full feature set of the module, but it is not necessary as long as you have a program called Basic.PGM resident on the PCM module. It is a DOS application that is generally called from Logicmaster.
If you are willing to call your program Basic.PGM all you need to program the module is a terminal emulator program such as Termf or HyperTerminal.
It's always good to hear from another person out there on the leading edge of obsolete technology. Good luck at the customer site.
The PCM module is a small computer on its own. It runs its own operating system called VTOS (Virtual Terminal Operating System I think).
PCOP is programming software for the PCM module that lets you take advantage of the full feature set of the module, but it is not necessary as long as you have a program called Basic.PGM resident on the PCM module. It is a DOS application that is generally called from Logicmaster.
If you are willing to call your program Basic.PGM all you need to program the module is a terminal emulator program such as Termf or HyperTerminal.
It's always good to hear from another person out there on the leading edge of obsolete technology. Good luck at the customer site.
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