Need to make Existing Wonderware Intouch talk to my s7-300 PLC Simulator

[astrobody]

Yes. STEP7 always is a socalled "PG" connection. When you are online with STEP7, try to go the CPU Module Information - Communication tab. You can see what connection resources are available and what are already used. Because you are online with STEP7 there will be one PG connection in use. All the other connection types will be listed under that information dialog as "S7" connections.

Try to connect the test PC to one of the "real" PLCs.
That will tell you if the problem is with the PC or the simulation PLC.

I actually did that the first day. We had an HMI out on a rig, working fine, that we swapped out with another (after blowing out dirt, etc) and I brought it back to the office and plugged it into my simulator. I got the pings, but no connectivity from anything else. It was this event that sent me in motion of trying to figure out what was misconfigured on the PLCs. Unfortunately, I can't regularly perform this test as the closest Rig is 3 hours from here.

Do you know what connection Wonderware would use? I thought maybe I could check the available connections on my PLC to see if that connection is available.

 

[JesperMP]

There is no guarantee a simulator will give you HMI connectivity. Alot of PLC simulators are simply for testing code, for for comms.

He calls a his test rig a simulator.
Agreed that Siemens PLCSIM software cannot be used to test communication, but that is another matter.

 

[astrobody]

All a ping means is theres a physical connection and the IP addresses are in the same subnet.

Agreed that a successful ping only gets you 10% of the way there.

There is no guarantee a simulator will give you HMI connectivity. Alot of PLC simulators are simply for testing code, for for comms.

Did you mean 'not for comms' or 'and for comms'?

If they are not used to test comms, then that is going to stink. Comms was the whole reason I got it. I was told by reps from our reseller that I could do this (I know... big mistake listening to salesmen...)

 

[astrobody]

He calls a his test rig a simulator.
Agreed that Siemens PLCSIM software cannot be used to test communication, but that is another matter.

Yeah, I already found that out the hard way... I have a copy of PLCSim on my desk right now collecting dust for this very reason. It probably didn't help matters that I didn't use the right terminology to convey what I needed to do...

Literally, I have 4 physical PLCs and necessary ethernet modules sitting in a rack on my desk, which I am using to 'simulate' what we have on a rig.

 

[SLC_Integrator]

Ok that makes it a little clearer.

I'll have to do some digging and see if I have an app that uses S7-300 and WW.

 

[JesperMP]

I actually did that the first day. We had an HMI out on a rig, working fine, that we swapped out with another (after blowing out dirt, etc) and I brought it back to the office and plugged it into my simulator. I got the pings, but no connectivity from anything else.

Aha. Yes you are right that this points to that the simulator PLC isnt configured 100% as one of the "real" PLCs.

Try to do a complete upload from one of the "real" PLCs. Not just the program blocks (use "Upload station to PG"). Then download that to the simulator PLC.
If it then works, then it looks like there is configured a specified connection (as opposed to an unspecified connection) in the PLC.

 

[astrobody]

Aha. Yes you are right that this points to that the simulator PLC isnt configured 100% as one of the "real" PLCs.

Try to do a complete upload from one of the "real" PLCs. Not just the program blocks (use "Upload station to PG"). Then download that to the simulator PLC.
If it then works, then it looks like there is configured a specified connection (as opposed to an unspecified connection) in the PLC.

One of our field engineers did a complete upload from one of the real ones and he gave the zip file to me to use for my project. He said it was complete. Is there something I could look for in the project that would show me whether it is complete or not?

I can remotely get the info from the PLC via our satellite connection, but I'm leary about messing with a live rig given that I was told that I was using the right code from the field.

 

[JesperMP]

The problem with an uploaded project is that you cannot see the configured connections (at least I think so). It is in there somewhere, but I dont know where to find it. Maybe you could ask Siemens to take a look at the uploaded project.

Another option would be to contact the original supplier.

I would get a new complete upload and download that to the simulator PLC, if only to clarify if this points to the solution or not.
If it does not, I am lost as to what can be the cause of the problem.

 

[astrobody]

The problem with an uploaded project is that you cannot see the configured connections (at least I think so). It is in there somewhere, but I dont know where to find it. Maybe you could ask Siemens to take a look at the uploaded project.

Another option would be to contact the original supplier.

I would get a new complete upload and download that to the simulator PLC, if only to clarify if this points to the solution or not.
If it does not, I am lost as to what can be the cause of the problem.

I don't think contacting the supplier is an option I can take.
I will try to get a copy of the project from the rig though and send to Siemens if possible.

I appreciate the help, Jesper

 

[astrobody]

Well, I finally got something to happen with my simulator. I changed all the configuration stuff on the test HMI from Industrial Ethernet to TCP/IP and everything fired up. I went from having 177 errors posted to 2.

So, it is most likely that my project lost it's Industrial Ethernet config. Does anybody know any reason why I should use Industrial Ethernet over TCP/IP? If there is a good reason, do you know how to put an Industrial Ethernet client into an S7 program somehow?

Thanks!

 

[JesperMP]

ISO and TCP protocols are different in a number of ways. I shall see if I can locate a comparison chart somewhere.

Anyway, ISO used to be more popular in the past, and that seems go with that you have an old version of Simatic Net. What PLC and CP type are you using ?

This almost proves that the backup that you received was not a complete backup.

 

[astrobody]

I spoke with my Siemens rep. It would seem that the 343 module that I purchased doesn't support ISO (He is checking into this to confirm). We bought the 343-Lean and the 343-IT that we use in the field does support it. So, it looks like it was hardware all along. So much for me thinking that the sim was totally identical to the one in the field.

 

[JesperMP]

I can tell you already that the Lean model do not support ISO.

OK, I assumed that the HW was identical.
The IT and the Lean modules are so different that you can impossibly have downloaded the HW config from the field PLC into the simulation PLC without getting a hardware fault.
I am guessing that you only have the code blocks from the field PLC. The HW config you did yourself.

 

[astrobody]

The Siemens guy was here in the office. He must have 'made it work' as I didn't know enough to do what you were saying. It's all greek to me...

Do you know of a way to clear out the memory card on a PLC? my 2nd PLC isn't replacing settings/code that I am downloading despite saying that it is successful. And, now I can't ping it like I was able to before. Its weird.

 

[JesperMP]

Which PLC type exactly ?

I would complain to the Siemens guy - or his boss. This is a major oversight if you ask me. More so because as you are going to use the test rig for communication tests, the HW has to be exactly the same - as you have found out.