PanelView 1200, 2711-TC1, download problems

[wa5yom]

I have a PanelView 1200, 2711-TC1 Firmware #5.13.01

I have a 2711-NC1 cable.....

2711-NM12 PCMCIA card.......

I cannot get the NM12 card to work (need driver for PC)...and the tPanelView does not recognize the card.

Cannot download.....I get a download error

I have checked the serial port settings and the PanelView is in the Upload/downlod screen with the key in the configure mode...

The file type is a *.pvd.

Have tried a different laptop...with no luck...

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Ken Roach]

A trip to the dusty corridors of memory....

The 2711-NM12 isn't going to be recognizable by an ordinary PC; these were "linear flash" cards from back before laptops had standard PCMCIA slots. Virtually all modern PCMCIA slots are "ATA" style and won't support Linear Flash. Back in the day we had external drives from a company called DataBook to run these cards. The PanelView Classic never did support modern ATA type cards, and if the 2711-NM12 also isn't recognized by your PanelView then it's probably damaged.

The v5 PanelView Classics could be edited using PanelBuilder for DOS or PanelBuilder for Windows. I don't remember of there was a separate download utility. Which one are you using ?

What OS are you running on the modern PC ? Do you have a built-in serial port that enumerates as COM1, or are you using a USB/RS232 converter ?

The Knowledgebase flatly says that no emulated DOS environments will work for PanelBuilder for DOS; ME, XP, and Vista are all explicitly excluded. DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT should all work. Another Knowledgebase document is equivocal about PanelBuilder for Windows, saying XP might work but is not supported.

There have been reports on this Forum of using VirtualBox and DOS for this sort of thing, though I don't know how serial drivers could survive the trip through multiple layers of abstraction.

 

[wa5yom]

The new Computer has XP......with a port expander....and I have used it before.

The older computer has also XP with a built in port

 

[wa5yom]

I am using Version 5.15 400E software......It has a builtin transfer utility...

 

[Ken Roach]

Well if you've used the same computer before, and the same terminal before, and they worked before, then something in the middle is new, changed, or defective.

The cable is one possibility, and maybe the XP boxes got Service Pack 3 installed (it broke even RSLinx Classic serial drivers) ?.

Another Knowledgebase document suggests creating a bootable DOS floppy and loading the configuration file and transfer utility onto it, then booting your PC with the boot floppy.

 

[wa5yom]

No..the terminal is new....and I have never used the new computer to transfer the file and I am not sure if the older computer was ever used to transfer the file before....

 

[wa5yom]

My transfer utility is not a DOS utility.....

 

[Ken Roach]

I just downloaded PanelBuilder 1200 for Windows and I can't even get it to install on my XP laptop, but that's probably a Symantec issue.

Meanwhile I'm loading VirtualBox onto an Ubuntu server in the back room.

I think I need to get a job.

 

[wa5yom]

Well.....I am using PanelBuilder 1400E...

 

[Ken Roach]

D'oh!

I should have seen that back when you described the file name. Like I said, it's been a while.

The PanelView name has been used by Allen-Bradley for a very long time to describe several different product families.

PanelView 1200 = PanelView "Classic"
Uses PanelBuilder for DOS and PanelBuilder for Windows (v5 firmware only).

PanelView 1000e, 1200e, 1400e = PanelView "Enhanced".
Uses PanelBuilder 1400e for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98/NT.

PanelView 300 micro/300/550/600/900/1000/1400 Standard = PanelView "Standard".
Uses PanelBuilder32, for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. Current release is 3.83.

PanelView Plus 400/600/700/1000/1250/1500 = PanelView "Plus" and "Plus CE".
Uses FactoryTalk View Studio for Windows XP/Vista/7. Current release is 6.0.

The part number you gave is for a PanelView Classic, so the PanelBuilder 1400e software won't work on it.

You need PanelBuilder 1200 for Windows. It's in the RA Knowledgebase as document 21356.

 

[Ken Roach]

The deal I offered my customers who were trying to resuscitate or extend the lives of PanelView Standards was that I would help them in exchange for the source projects for the other PV Classics in their plant.

If you have a local Rockwell Automation office with field service engineers who are familiar with the PanelView Classic product, they might offer a similar deal. The handful of times I did it, it always led to more involvement at the plant analyzing and troubleshooting aging RIO and DH+ networks and old PLC-2, 3, and 5 installations.

 

[wa5yom]

The original file name was a *.pwb...
The 1400E software recognized it and made the conversion to a *.pvc. I saved it as a terminal file *.pvd

 

[Mickey]

.Pwb or .PBW ?

 

[wa5yom]

Actually it is a *.pwb.....

Well....After trying the Panelbuilder 1200 software ...I was able to download the *.pwb file to the terminal...but now I need a key to put it in the run mode...

Almost there...

 

[Ken Roach]

Those keys are, I think, the A126 key that's used on the PLC-5 CPU. Every distributor and A-B office should have a drawer full of them.