1747-PIC ALLEN BRADLEY ERROR

From: "CTG" Newsgroups: sci.engr.control Subject: Re: 1747-PIC ALLEN BRADLEY ERROR Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 22:19:41 -0800

Sounds like Linx is okay but RSLogix is looking for another driver. Check the communications tab for the CPU config and see what driver Logix is looking for. Click on the drop-down menu and select PIC if necessary.

I believe the current driver is listed at the top left menu bar when you open the offline file.

CTG

The fact that you see the PIC on who rules out a lot of stuff.

Here is some stuff I have had happen with PIC boxes over the years:

#1 is failure of the cable that goes from the PIC to the PLC. #2 is dirt/gease/gunk/water/chips on either end of said cable causes corrosion and failure.

Baud rate may be wrong in the PIC driver. Try both baud rates. Sometimes switching say from 9600 to 19200 then back to 9600 will get the thing going. Strange but true.

Another program may be using the serial port. (Printer driver,another rslinx driver,etc.)

The PIC may have just quit. Call up B&B electronics and buy their version of the PIC box. It's about the same price and when the cables fail you need a $5 RJ45 instead of an $80 weirdassed connector.

I have tried two different PIC boxes and cables with the same result. I will try the Baud Rate trick.

Thanks

Steve Cothran wrote:

driver,another

BG,

Are you trying to go online from Who Active or RSLogix? As another poster pointed out, if the RSLogix program was saved with another driver Logix could be trying to use that driver instead...

The baud rate thing has also worked for me on occasion, but if you're getting a processor icon in Who, that should mean Linx is seeing the token being passed and communication is possible. Make sure your serial port is not conflicted with some other damn Windows thing, though.

Jake

Don't forget that the RSLinx and RSLogix use the same configuration information, but you can have them selected differently. Unless You only use the 1747-PIC. Have you tried the "Who Active go online", from within RSlogix?

I hate the 1747-PIC (ma>I have tried two different PIC boxes and cables with the same result.

Thanks to all. I have tried many...many things. I finally got it by reinstalling RSLinx. As you pointed out...some damn Windows program probably interfered with Linx.

Thanks Again.

The thing that drives me f-ing nuts with the PIC is that I can have it hooked up to the same PLC all dadgum day, and all of a sudden after I make an edit and try to download, I get a "Can not get processor ownership!" message. It's the same thing I've been doing all day. Powering down the PLC usually fixes it, but it's a PITA.

We need to convince everyone to go ENET and get away from this BS.... Hey, AB's cost is only a few thousand for a C'Logix bridge.

It works great but it needs to be a lot more reasonable. Imagine all the SLC's < 5/04 and Micros we could hook up then. Maybe we'd even be persuaded to buy more copies RSView if everything was talking (-;.

Jake

Yep. AB...you can buy better, but you'll never pay more.

What I would like to see is 1 cable to hookup every PLC in the world. You know, a "PLC Jack", standardized like a 120v outlet. Don't care what it is, just the same one on every PLC. I am a small shop and support AB,Omron,AutomationDirect,Keyence, and IDEC. My software and cables bill for a year is breathtaking. And in the truck, all the cables are in a large suitcase.

What processor do you recommend?

I prefer the 5/04 series, you can connect with a "standard" serial cable (custom connection in the manual).

You can also c>What processor do you recommend?

the thing that drive ME nuts is how "fragile" DH485 communication seems to be! I'll plug into the front of a processor, and at various times I'll lose communication for no apparent reason. I can sit there in RSWho and watch the PLC come and go, working one minute and a big red X over it the next.

Sometimes the problem seems to be aggravated by a longer communication run.. If the programming port is at the end of a C20 cable and through a panelview, I might never be able to connect. If I go in the panel and plug right into the front of the processor, it'll work. At other times I can't stay connected for more than a few minutes at a time even when I'm plugged right into the front. I've tried this with a PIC, an aftermarket PIC, and a PCMK/PCM4. Sometimes I'll have better luck with one, sometimes with the other. It is very hard to predict.

Any of you guys have problems like this with DH485 SLCs? We've got a few 5/04s and DH+ works reliable every time on those.

Daggone, Kevin... I haven't seen those problems so much....

I have several customers running 12+ node -485's and connected to RSView via Linx Professional, and they never lose comms.

Seems like I do remember a nutty situation once in a certain version of Logix and Linx lite, but cannot remember the specifics. Are you sure this isn't a Windows problem with handling the serial port... Windows is well known, in some variations (particularly 98 original and ME) of causing problems with communications. I don't even think Rockwell will support you on ME at all.

Feel free to email me if you have more specifics... node numbers, diagnostic data, etc.

Jake

A not-so-secret secret is that the PIC was really designed to work with DOS. It bumbled along OK on Win95 and went downhill from there. Originally it was not supported and would not work under Win2K, but some new drivers were released which makes it almost work. The connections still appear to come and go, however. The PIC is not supported in WinXP at all.

Toss the PIC. The new USB version (1747-UIC?) works well and is supported.

The PCMK should not be a problem. If you are using the PCMK with the correct drivers and still have problems I would suspect wiring/hardware/cable issues. Be sure you are using the AIC link couplers where needed and are not just paralleling multiple DH485 ports.

Exactly what versions/flavors of RSLinx and RSLogix are you using?

Best idea is to abandon DH485 altogether, if you need any networking at all. It works, but all it really does is take an already slow 19,200 connection and share it 32 ways.

communication

supported.

connection

Thanks for the replies, all. (except for that nasty web page I hope never to find again!) I'm currently using Logix 6.20.10 and Linx 2.42 in W98. I have had this problem throughout the years with earlier versions of software, and on other notebooks with other operating systems however. It just seems like at some times, on some machines, I just can't maintain a reliable connection to save my life. I've got a PCMK/PCM4 cable and also an aftermarket PIC module that I use for DH485. Sometimes I can connect with one, sometimes the other. I generally have a better chance of staying connected when I plug right in to the processor than when I attempt to plug into the extra port on the panelview. This gets pretty annoying since there are many times when I would want to have the panelview and notebook running at the same time!

It happens on different machines, built by different people, in different plants. I can't believe they're all wired improperly. The only common thread I can follow is they're all DH485 SLCs. It isn't much fun, but I've learned to live wiith it.

connection

I'd love to, but I've got to live with machines built in years past, and will probably be around for several years to come. And then there's the cost issue, since the 5/04 is still much more expensive than the 5/03. Hard to justify the increased cost on something that isn't networked at all (not counting the panelview) and doesn't need the extra memory!