Panelview + problems downloading runtime program

[Shawn Cassidy]

Thanks.
I really appreciate your help. I think this might solve my problem.

 

[Operaghost]

Ok, I have to admit I only skimmed this thread when I saw the IP address range of 169.254.x.x.

That is a problem in and of itself. I'm sure you have this solved now but I wanted to add that that range is what is called "Automatic Private IP Addressing".

This means that the device, in this case the PV+, is requesting an IP address from a DHCP (or BootP) server but did not receive a response. The device has picked, on it's own, a random APIPA range address. The device can randomly choose a different address each time power is cycled so it would not be wise to plan on using this range. It is possible to manually select this range if private addresses are desired. But in general "169.254.x.x" usually means "no connection to DHCP server".

OG

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

Do you have a solution to this problem? I haven't tried the previous solutions as of yet and won't try them until Wednesday. Any additional ideas would be appreciated to solve this issue.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Myles]

Hi,
I'm working on a Panelview Plus 700 and I've run into a problem downloading the runtime program to the PV+. I've connected my PC to the screen using a standard Ethernet cable. When I click on the "communications" tab I see the RSLinx Enterprise tree. It shows my Ethernet connection and it is browsing. For some reason I am unable to upload or download to the PV+. In the "application" tree there is an area in the project for RSLinx Enterprise, communication setup. I click on the target and it opens the RSLinx tree that shows my Ethernet connection and specifically the PV+ and it's IP address. How do I set-up the driver on the PV+ to match? I had a friend download some changes I made a few days ago and he had serious problem establishing a connection to download. He finally was able to, but I since attempted again with no luck. Is anyone else having similar issues? I'm using RSView ME 4.00 (CPR7) to do the modifications. Also, I'm having another issue with doing backups. Sometime when I try and do a file backup I get a warning telling me to close the current project before trying to save?? It is closed. Strange stuff. Any help would be much appreciated. Can I just save the archived file or will this be useless to open on another PC?

just a quick note, you say you are using a standard ethernet cable to connect the PV+ to your PC? it should be a crossover cable if you do not have a switch/hub in the circuit. could be part of the problem!

cheers

myles

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

Myles,
Thanks for the info. I'll get a crossover cable and give that a try. Does anyone have any documentation from AB that directly addresses this type of problem. I looked in their knowledgebase and found nothing.

 

[bkottaras]

When you get to the PV configuration screen set up the IP as you wish.
Also setup the Subnet to match your current settings.
Plus, DISABLE the DHCP option, so the PV will not use the DHCP to browse for an available address.
Accept all the changes prior to exiting the configuration screen.
The PV will reboot and your comms should be set.
Try the Transfer utility and it should work unless you do have any other outstanding issues that will prevent the download.
Example:
PV IP=192.168.100.100
PV Subnet= 255.255.0.0

PC IP=102.168.100.250
PC Subnet=255.255.0.0

The subnet must match (use the same) both the PV and your PC.

As mentioned, if you do not use a hub/switch you should use a cross-over cable.

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

Great. I will get the cable and input the proper communication settings. I'm going to the customer tomorrow. I'll post the results.
Thanks to everyone that helped.
Shawn

 

[Chris S]

You need to right click on the little computer looking icons on your task bar, that will bring up another box and you need to select status. Then when that window opens up click on properties. Then yet another box opens up. You need to scroll down that list of stuff until you find the TCP/IP selection. Select that and and hit properties. Then you can modify your IP settings. You just need to worry about the Subnet and the IP address.

If you dont have anything on the network besides the PLC and the Panelview you just need to use 169.254.196.10 for the IP and 255.255.255.0 for the Subnet. That should be all clear and free. Then all you have to do is open up the transfer thing and choose the file you want to download and the location to download and hit Download. If you cant find the location sometimes you have to manually enter it in RSLinx on that tab in the RSVIEW. Sometimes its like that. You just need to right click on the eithernet driver and add device. Then select your panelview and set the ip address. Then see if it communicates that way. If all else fails I'll check back in the morning when I get back to work and try to help again.

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

Turns out it was the subnet mask. It was set to 255.255.255.0 in the PV+ and I was using 255.255.0.0. on my PC. Once I did the proper setup on my PC everything worked.

The problem I was having with backing up the file was also solved. Turns out the software will allow you to rename applications with more than 32 characters(spaces count), but when you try to do a backup or copy later it gives you a warning that there is not enough space in the destination folder. Strange stuff. I found the info for that on AB's knowledgebase. I had to rename the application with a shorter name, had to try several times though. For some reason a name that started with "s" was the only thing that would work..... don't ask why.... only the software engineer at AB knows.... or maybe he doesn't....

Thanks to everyone that help!

 

[parky]

I have found it easier to buy a SD card, create the correct directories & put them in there, just plug the card in, copy to the PV+ then set the startup for that app..
Note it is best to delete all log files when updating a pv+ app as they often will not start up.
It also means that if the apps are stored on the card, then if a pv+ goes down just plug in the backup card in your spare & copy the correct app. this is useful for maintenance engineers who are not well enough trained to use linx & all the connection problems.

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

My customer has asked for me to do this for them. I to believe it is the best approach to avoid the communication issues. Now that it is all working things seem so much easier.... isn't it always that way. I tried to use a usb flash memory still and I could not transfer the mer or apa file. It saw the memory card, but the files were not visible. Has anyone transferred the files this way?

 

[parky]

The memory card is not supplied, you plug it in the slot, you cannot see the directories via pv+ (I think) it goes to the default directory, when you transfer the mer file to the memory card you first create a directory (can't remember now what it is) but it's something like Rockwell Software\xxx\.

 

[Shawn Cassidy]

That would make sense. I'll need to look into that closer. It would make my customers life easier since they are machine builders and need to download the screen applications often.

 

[floresv]

You must use a crossover cable if you try to download directly from the Pc or laptop, if you want to use a standart ethernet cable you must use a switch.

 

[SwiftRun]

I'm running RSLinx Classic 2.50. How do you see the version of RSLinx Enterprise??? I can't find it my programs tree? Shouldn't it be in the Rockwell Software folder? Does it use RSLinx Classic to do the communications?

On installation of RSView or RsLinx it will ask you if you want to install RSview Enterprise communications, I had the same problem until I re-installed the software.

good luck