RSView32 Works won't start

[Joho]

Hello all,

I'm new to the site, but thankful it's here! I just installed RSView32 on my computer for the first time. I have never run any RSView project (new or existing) on my computer. Yet when I try to create a new project or load the sample project I already get an error and RSView won't fully open.

If i try to start a new project I get this error:
Project creation failed.
Cause: Unable to create tag database.
Unable to register ODBC data source".

If I try to open the sample project I get this:
Fails to update Source DSN! and then:
ODBC--connection to 'H0TESTSR' failed.

I would appreciate any advice. The other posts related to ODBC errors seemed to involve pre-existing projects, of which I have none.

Thanks
John

 

[jkerekes]

OK. We need more specific information. What version of RSView32 and what OS on the computer?

 

[Joho]

OS, version

Oops.

The OS is Windows 7, Home Premium, 64-bit.

RSView32 Works OEM version.
Release 7.60.00.

Thanks
John

 

[jkerekes]

Well, according to the RA compatibility matrix, RSView32 ver. 7.6 is not supported on any flavor of Windows 7 Home Edition. Doesn't mean it won't work, but it isn't officially supported. I don't know because I use the Pro versions.

Actually, I think the problem is that it's 64 bit. The DB inside of RSView32 doesn't support 64 bit. That's why on FTView they changed the DB from Watcom to SQL Server Express.

 

[Joho]

Thanks!

I just got the same answer from Rockwell Support. In case it helps anyone else, I'll post here what they said as options to fix this problem:

1. Wipe hard disk and start all over with Win 7 Pro, 32bit (not really agreeable to me)

2. Use another computer with Win 7 pro, 32 bit.

3. Use VMWARE (which is officially "endorsed" by Rockwell) to make a virtual machine (VM) that runs Win 7 pro, 32 bit. Then run RSView from this VM.

I'm going to give VMware a try... if I can figure out which of their products is appropriate. Unfortunately I think this may mean I have to buy another license of Windows. If I get a fix working, I'll try to post a more detailed solution.

Thanks again,
John

 

[jlash]

you can install a virtual winXP session on your computer and can then run the RSVIEW, that's how i have done it on my engineering laptop.

 

[colepv]

Resurrecting and somewhat hijacking this thread because it's one of the best results when you google "RSView32 on 64-bit machine" or something similar and I spent far too much time trying to figure this out to not post it to save some other poor soul some time out there.

We encountered a scenario where we needed to rehost RSView32 on a new machine. We ordered them and realized modern Intel processors don't allow BIOS legacy boot mode, which in turn did not allow booting into a 32-bit operating system. Thus we couldn't run RSView32 on these new machines out-of-the-box. Due to a variety of factors we did not have the time or ability to upgrade to a more modern flavor of a Rockwell HMI program. A 32-bit virtual machine was not an option either because of some connected device drivers that behaved touchy when VMs were used.

Thanks to the constraints outlined above, I spent more time than I am willing to admit trying to game RSView32 so it works on a 64-bit, Windows 10 machine. Eventually I got it as stable as you can get RSView32. It runs very fast on 64-bit!

It's been a few weeks so my memory is hazy but RSView32 on 64-bit gives an error about some H0TESTSR ODBC driver, as presented in this thread. I believe the source of this error is that the RSView32 installer runs a 16-bit component to complete the installation of the WATCOM 4.0 SQL database, which builds this H0TESTSR driver. Since 16-bit programs cannot run on a 64-bit machine, that part of the installer silently fails. The steps to fix this essentially finishes the job of the installer. I've listed the steps I took below.

Keep in mind that while this fixes the issue, RSView32 is still unstable and will still crash occasionally, requiring a full system reboot. Obviously it is preferable to move to a better, more reliable HMI system, but I am posting this in case anyone else is unfortunate enough to need to use this dinosaur software.

This was done for RSView32 7.60.00 on Windows 10 64-bit:

• Run the installer normally.
• In the installation directory, navigate to "~\7.60.00-RSView32-DVD\Disk1_\Redist\SyBase\WATCOM"
• Copy and paste the contents of the WATCOM directory to C:\Windows\SysWOW64
  • You do not need to copy the WSQLODBC help file.
• Open the Windows registry editor. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI
• Under "ODBC Drivers", verify that Watcom SQL 4.0 has "Installed" string.
• Under "ODBC Translators", verify that "Watcom SQL 4.0 Translator" has "Installed" string.
• Verify that the "Watcom SQL 4.0 Translator" key exists in ODBCINST.INI and has the following values:
  • "Setup": "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wtr40t.dll"
  • "Translator": "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wtr40t.dll"
• Right-click ODBCINST.INI and select "New > Key"
• Name the new key "Watcom SQL 4.0"
• Create the following string values in the new key:
  • "Driver": "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wod40t20.dll"
  • "Setup": "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wod40t20.dll"
• Restart the machine for good measure.

Now, load an RSView32 program. It should load without error. If it does not, you may have something else wrong with your installation.

If one of those issues involves loading until about 70% or 80% and crashing without error (then leaving so many "orphan-like" processes running and accessing the same resources that its easier to just restart instead of trying to manually track them down and kill them), then you probably need to install some patches. We installed the 21.Jun.2018 patch roll-up (specifically from the 05.Dec.2023 patch release) to get past this error.

I hope this post saves someone some time out there.