Panelview 600 bad data count

[jaydee]

Greetings. We have two panelview 600s that we are trying to backup the old panelview programs before installing updates via flashcards. I can get on line with both using the AIC+ PIC driver in RSLinx (we have the AIC+ modules tying the panelviews to Micrologix 1500 PLC's). When uploading in Panelbuilder32 one Panelview uploads fine, the other always gives a bad data count error at the very end of every upload attempt. The byte??? numbers do not seem to match. We are using version 3.82.0 of Panelbuilder32.

Any ideas on how to get the program backed up in the stubborn panelview?

 

[Ken Roach]

Somewhere in the process of uploading from the PanelView over the DH485 network through the 1747-PIC driver in RSLinx, some packets are being lost. When the PanelView sends an "end of file" signal to the WinPFT utility, the utility thinks there are more bytes yet to be sent, thus the error.

You can try upgrading your RSLinx version if it's lower than version 2.50, or try isolating the PanelView from the controllers to reduce the amount of traffic on the network. You should also check out the length and termination jumpers on the DH485 network.

The simplest thing to do would be to use your flash card to upload the program out of the terminal.

 

[jaydee]

Thanks Ken.

I'll try your pointers tonight.

Any links to online documentation for using the flash cards? I've never used them before, have done all up and downloading from a laptop. They came from the OEM with no documentation for useage. Is it safe to plug them in with the panelview powered up? I powered the PV down, inserted the card, and then powered up. The PV seemed to detect the card and automatically load from it. After the new program was loaded in the first Panelview and created problems, we wanted to make sure we had both of the old programs backed up. No one here has ever been able to get online with these before so they've never been backed up. I assume the original program is then erased and no longer retrievable? Do you use the configuration menu for saving to the flash card? I know you press and hold the little square in the lower right corner during power up. Any other way to access the configuration menu without powering down?

Lot's of questions, I know I'm getting big brownie points with a new employer for just getting online, well I had to fix thier laptop first

I tried searching the AB knowledge base, but could not find what I needed. Thier search function gives you mountains of irrelevant material IMHO.

Thanks again.

Jim

 

[Ken Roach]

A quick call to RA Tech Support and all would be made clear. The PanelView Standard User Manual is also quite enlightening on the subject.

If these are PV600 terminals, they probably have v3 or later firmware that supports "ATA Flash" cards. Plug the card into a laptop PC and you should be able to read and write the files onboard. In PanelView Standard terminals, the *.PVA application files are all stored in the root directory. If there are other files, they may be firmware update files.

PanelView Standards can only hold one application file in internal memory. You can put many application files on a removable storage card, but they have to be manually loaded into the terminal memory using the configuration menu.

You can plug and unplug the memory cards with power on; no problem.

I have not seen an application file automatically load on powerup. Maybe the function is there, but I haven't used them in a while and don't remember. Firmware updates do occur on powerup.

The "white square in the corner" is the only way to get to the configuration screen on a touchscreen-only terminal. On keypad terminals, you press the left and right arrows simultaneously.

If you're concerned about inadvertently over-writing your existing configuration file, get an A-B distributor or RA Tech Support to help or walk you through it.

 

[jaydee]

Okie. Both panelviews updated and running fine. I watched closely and both did auto-load on powerup. I believe there is a configuration setting that will cause the PV to do this or not, in the powerup tab, Memory card, Always load from card.


The problem why the first one did not operate correctly was because my boss handed me the two modules, one at a time, saying "This is for press line 1 and this is for press line 5". I wrote the press lines on them while he was standing there. I finally loaded press 5 into press line 1, and vice versa and everything worked great

Some of the tag addresses on press line 5 do not exist in the SLC on line 1, which were causing an error "631 Required network node(s) not found". As usual for AB not very good error messaging, imho.

Thanks again.

jim