Diagnosing ethernet-based fieldbuses.

[JesperMP]

Hi all.

We are slowly moving away from Profibus towards Profinet.
What I worry about now, is how to diagnose basic hardware faults with Profinet.
With Profinet Topology we can have a detailed error diagnosis telling us that there is a problem with a specific module or port on a module. But how to pinpoint problems relating to noise, earthing, bad cables, etc.

With Profibus we have had our share of problems, and a profibus tester has helped us on occasion. Like this one:
http://www.procentec.com/profitrace2/

Does something similar exist for ethernet/Profinet ?
What do people do ?

 

[nwboson]

I'm partial to my Fluke NetTool Network Tester. Expensive. Portable. Very easy to understand and run: can learn it in just a few minutes. Has TDR to diagnose breaks in wires. Has easy-to-understand diagnosis and display of network activity. Can be placed directly in-line with a 'hot' circuit or used to test new, not-yet-lit-up wires. I've run many miles of CAT5E and this has been invaluable in verifying every wire to full gigabit standards.

You'll find a number of Wireshark fans on this website too. Free. Just runs as an app on your laptop.

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

We use wireshark

To get accurate timing we have a PC card made by Hilsher that records the packets and forwards the captured data to wireshark.

 

[JesperMP]

Thanks nwboson, what does 'expensive' mean ? Just an approximate price.

Thanks Peter, but I am not after analysing the packets. I expect the diagnostics that is integrated into Profinet to pinpoint problems like that for me automatically.

I want to test the cables themselves, if there are grounding problems, if there is noise, stuff like that.