Panelview Upgrade

[bubbleship]

I have a customer in the field that have an older panelview plus that I programmed in 2011. I was told that one of the worker accidently hit it with the forklift (fork it in the screen). They need me to program a new panelview plus touch screen. Here is the problem; I have the program but its Factory Talk View Studio 5.10. I can’t open the program with my 64 bit laptop. I must use the Legacy Tag Database Conversion utility that I could never get to work. Is there any other way to convert this program to a higher version of Factory Talk?

 

[Ken Roach]

The only solutions I can see are to either install a legacy copy of FTView Studio 5.10, or you can use the conversion utility.

Hopefully the *.MER includes the information necessary to re-create the Project; that was optional in version 5.10.

Since you're having trouble with the conversion utility, the simplest thing is to look for somebody else with a working setup to do the conversion. RA could help, your distributor could help, or this Forum could even help.

 

[rdrast]

Send it to Rockwell tech support and have them convert it.
Or have your distributor do it.
Rockwell created the problem, let them deal with it.

 

[bubbleship]

Thank you both for the advice. I'll see if Rockwell Tech will convert it!
thanks again

 

[nhatsen]

I have a customer in the field that have an older panelview plus that I programmed in 2011. I was told that one of the worker accidently hit it with the forklift (fork it in the screen). They need me to program a new panelview plus touch screen.

Do you need to modify the application? Or you just need to deploy the old application into the new Panel View?

 

[bubbleship]

nhatsen I need to convert the program (version 5.1) to a newer version (7.0 or higher) so I can download it to a new PanelView

 

[nhatsen]

It's posssible to run an old mer file in a PVP6. Just copy the mer file into the PVP6 using a USB stick. But you'll need a backup of the mer file or get the file from the old panel view.

If you used ActiveX controls in the application you will need to register them in the new PVP6.

UPDATE

TN505407 - PanelView Plus to PanelView Plus 6: Converting an Existing application (Access Level: TechConnect)

 

[bubbleship]

I try it!! Question will I be able to go on line with say version 7.0?

 

[nhatsen]

Copying the old mer file into the new PV is just a quick solution to get the system working in a short time, without using FTV. Since you're not re-creating the project or upgrading it, you won't be able to edit it in a newer version.

If you need to edit the application, take the Rockwell Tech path.

 

[rdrast]

Copying the old mer file into the new PV is just a quick solution to get the system working in a short time, without using FTV. Since you're not re-creating the project or upgrading it, you won't be able to edit it in a newer version.

If you need to edit the application, take the Rockwell Tech path.

That can work, if the PanelView OS is the same version as the app, otherwise, it will choke. Might have to downgrade the PV if possible.

 

[bubbleship]

after a long chat with Rockwell Tech.............. they are going to convert it
Thanks PLCS.NET for the help

 

[arlenjacobs]

That can work, if the PanelView OS is the same version as the app, otherwise, it will choke. Might have to downgrade the PV if possible.

No, not true.
A brand new PanelView Plus (ver.8) can run projects built all the way back to version 3.2; unmodified, no firmware downgrades. Just copy the *.mer project file over and run it on the new PanelView.

PanelView Plus compatible files


No other vendor does that.

 

[bubbleship]

Rockwell Tech convert it over for me today.
arlenjacobs thanks ..........very interesting. you would think Rockwell would of told me that!!

Thanks for all the information

 

[Ken Roach]

The principal exception to that forward compatibility is that pre-v6 ActiveX objects and pre-v6 KEPServer data servers won't run on post-v6 firmware.

There could be a hardware issue as well because of the obsolescence of the DeviceNet and RIO hardware.

But I agree that disaster recovery with existing *.MER files is one of the reasons we choose PV+ for simple, heavy-duty HMI applications for customers with long-term support and durability needs. Very old *.MER files will simply open and run in modern terminals.

Most of the PV+ that I've had to actually replace have been shattered, drowned, or burned, and in most cases I've simply grabbed the *.MER from our archives and loaded it onto a new terminal.

 

[ASF]

Most of the PV+ that I've had to actually replace have been shattered, drowned, or burned, and in most cases I've simply grabbed the *.MER from our archives and loaded it onto a new terminal.

I too have dealt with shattered and drowned PVP's, but how did you manage to burn one? That sounds like a good story.