Steve Bailey

I believe that a soft reset causes the PCM to look for a default program to run. Unles otherwise configured, I think that the name of the default program is BASIC.PGM Were you supposed to rename one of the files when saving it to the PCM? Were you supposed to run either hardexec.bat or pcmexec.bat (or both) before doing the soft reset?

While you may eventually find a way to get it do what you want it to, I think you should treat it as a puzzle to be solved in your spare time. If you need the tools you mentioned, you'll be better off getting them through more conventional channels, especially if you assign any value to your time. Remember, the Viewstation was designed to prevent you from doing what you're trying to do. While GE Fanuc wanted to give customers the ability to make information about their process available over the internet, they don't want to let the third shift control room operator spend the playing solitaire or overwriting archived production data with jpg files from spankmebigboy.com.

I don't think it's necessarily trying to communicate with your desktop, just that it's trying to communicate serially. I expect it's really trying to connect to a PLC, most likely a GE Fanuc using the SNP protocol. Does an HMI application get launched when you power it up?

Let me say up front that my knowledge of CE is very limited. The Viewstation is designed to be an operator interface to a machine or process. It can run applications developed with GE's Proficy Machine Edition View software. Your observation that "whoever put this together was very VERY careful not to allow any other software on it" is right on the money. I think you will have to get your hands on another implementation of CE and install it in place of GE Fanuc's CE that's currently on the Viewstation. The CE equivalent of reformatting your hard drive.

Pinouts for the PCM ports can be found in the manual GFK-0255. Sorry, but I can't help you with the Gefran 2308. I don't know anything about that product.

If the PCM can be in charge of the data transfer, you won't need any additional ladder logic. In your MegaBasic program in the PCM, use the SYSLINK command to link a BASIC variable with a PLC address. Then use the SYSREAD command to read data from the PLC into the BASIC variable, and the SYSWRITE command to write from the BASIC variable to the PLC. If you need the PLC to control when to read and write between ladder logic and the PCM, then you will need to use the COMREQ function in ladder logic.

I believe that the bitbus CPU was made by either Horner Electric or Facts Engineering. Horner still makes modules for GE Fanuc. Facts Engineering still makes modules for Automation Direct. Back when GE Fanuc was marketing the Series One, Horner Electric and Facts Engineering had a tight relationship, but when GE Fanuc and Koyo parted company, so did Horner and Facts. The bitbus CPU could be programmed in RLL or Basic, and there was talk about a C compiler. There was a DOS software package for programming it. If you're interested in using that bitbus CPU, you might try calling Facts Engineering directly to see if anybody there still remembers the product. Bitbus was supposed to be an open architecture, non-proprietary communications standard, similar to Profibus or DeviceNet.

I just tried uploading a program that I know was created with Proficy ME to Logicmaster. The configuration uploaded OK, but not the program. When I tried to upload the program I got same message that you got. To me, that is evidence that the program in your PLC was created with either Control, VersaPro, or Proficy ME. The only way you're going to be able to view it is to get the newer software. If you don't care about the program that's currently in the PLC, and just want to use it for another project, then go ahead and clear the memory and use Logicmaster to create a brand-new folder. You'll be able to download it without any trouble.

The field to the right of the text "ENTER PASSWORD TO CHANGE ACCESS LEVEL" is for moving between levels. It isn't obvious that there are other fields to move to, but use the up or down cursor keys to move to the field to the right of the access level whose password you want to change. Then type in the new password and hit <ENTER>. You will be asked if you want to write the password to the PLC. You must be ONLINE to enter a new password. It can't be done while you're in OFFLINE or MONITOR. Is this the same PLC as in your other thread? You mentioned software version 9.05. Is that the PLC version (from the Logicmaster 90 Status screen) or the Logicmaster 90-30 version?

To change the password for any level, you must be in Logicmaster configuration. From Logicmaster programmer, all you can do is enter a password to change your access level. If you are already at Level 4 access without having to enter a password, there is no higher level to get to. Furthermore, once you set a password, the password becomes part of the Logicmaster file. If you clear the PLC memory and then download the same program file, the act of downloading will reestablish the password.

I think you may be misinterpreting what you see. The X next to Level 4 means that you are at that level of access. Level 4 allows you to do anything to the PLC, including changing the password. If you got to level 4 without having to enter a password, then there is no password. Don't confuse the configuration setting that says passwords are enabled. All 90-30s come out of the box with passwords enabled, but no passwords are set. If you are sure that you never want to use passwords, then you can configure the PLC for passwords disabled.

File Name: GE Fanuc Series One Plus Manual File Submitter: Steve Bailey File Submitted: 11 Aug 2005 File Category: Manuals, Tutorials Just what the title says. The Series One Plus is the same animal as the TI305 and the Automation Direct DL305. Click here to download this file

Your local distributor would be a good place to start. They should have an Automation Specialist available to help you ride the learning curve. The 'latest and greatest' software is called Proficy Machine Edition Logic Developer PLC. Your distributor can get you a CD and a 30-day trial license. All manuals are available for download from the GE Fanuc website. There are only two protocols for using the programming software, one for serial communications, another for Ethernet. Every 90-30 ever made can connect serially through the port on the power supply in the baseplate that houses the CPU. The power supply port is RS485, so you need a converter if you have a computer with an RS232 serial port. The converter and cable part number is HE693SNPCBL, also available as GE part number IC690ACC901. The HE693 number is a Horner Electric product. The IC690 number is the same thing with a GE Fanuc label on it. You should be able to get either one from your distributor. There are a couple of CPU models with a built-in ehternet port, as well as an ethernet communications module. Again, your best bet would be to get in touch with your distributor. Their specialist should be able to spend a little time with you to get you started. Depending on where you're located, there may be more than one distributor available to you, so if you're not satisfied with one, you can shop around. Russ B, who sometimes posts here and on Phil's site is a specialist for a distributor in Michigan. I used to be a specialist for a distributor in Connecticut. Just be fair with the distributor person. The specialist's salary is paid out of the distributor's margin on the products they sell. If you expect the specialist to spend a lot of time with you, you need to purchase enough stuff from them to justify that time.

http://www.plccenter.com/Detail_New2.asp?P...TON+CORPORATION

The PCM711 is not the best choice of communications module for connection to a Datapanel. The CMM711 module would be a better chioce. The only 'built-in' protocol on the PCM711 is CCM. If you want Modbus RTU you will either have to write a Megabasic program to do it or find a freeware implementation that will run on the PCM. I don't know whether or not GE Fanuc offers a Modbus slave in Megabasic. I simply suggested that you browse around their website to see if one exists. My suggestion to you is to forget about trying to use the PCM711 with the Datapanel. Try to exchange the PCM711 for a CMM711. You will get communications established much more quickly. If you can't exchange the PCM711 for a CMM711, then set up the Datapanel to use the CCM protocol.

Sorry, I got a little cofused between the PCM711 module and the CMM711 module. The only 'native' protocol available on the PCM711 is CCM. Configure the PCM711 module in one of the modes that includes CCM (CCM Only, BASIC/CCM, etc). If you want to use any other protocol you will need to write your own driver for it in MegaBasic. You could check the GE Fanuc website to see if there are any MegaBasic SNPX slaves or RTU (Modbus) slaves available for download. If you use CCM protocol, be aware that you can only access %R, %I, and %Q addresses directly. RS485 cabling looks to be: Pin 10 on the Datapanel to pin 13 on the PCM711 Pin 11 on the Datapanel to pin 25 on the PCM711 The above should be one twisted pair. Pin 12 on the Datapanel to pin 9 on the PCM711 Pin 13 on the Datapanel to pin 21 on the PCM711 The above should be another twisted pair. Be sure that when you configure the PCM711 you selct RS485 communications. The default selection is RS232.

There is only a limited amount of control that the PLC can have over the Datapanel. Normally the Datapanel is the master of communications. It tells the PLC when and how often to report the data it requires. It writes data to the PLC when it needs to. About all you can do on the PLC side is to command the Datapanel to display a different screen. But to do that, you have to set a 'page change' register in the Datapanel. Once that's done, when your PLC program puts a page number into the page change register, the Datapanel displays that page. The jump is triggered by a change in the value in the page change register. That's the way it generally works in HMIs that support page change registers. It has been quite a while sinc I worked with a Datapanel, but I'm pretty sure that they follow that model. Edit: I just took a quick look at the old WINCFG software for the Datapanel and it looks like they don't support page changes driven by the PLC. When you ask how to "get control of the Datapanel", are you asking about how to create and edit the screens on the Datapanel. If that is your question, you need to purchase Data Designer software, part number IC752DDZ000. It supports Datapanel models 30, 50, 150, 160, and 240. For older Datapanels, you need Wincfg software, IC752WNC000.

If you're using the PCM711 simply to give you two additional serial ports on your PLC, then just configure one of the ports as an SNP slave and set up the Datapanel for the same protocol and port settings. The Datapanel will control all communications and you won't need any ladder logic to support it. Be careful though. The PCM711 is a BASIC language module. If it is running a program that requires the use of the serial ports, your addition of the Datapanel might disrupt the operation. One potential problem that I can think of: The Datapanel probably uses SNPX protocol. You may need to be at a particular revision level of the PCM711 firmware for it to be able to handle SNPX. I suggest you spend some time at the GE Fanuc website and download the datasheets and release notes for the PCM711 to be sure. SNPX is a stripped-down version of the SNP protocol. Earlier versions of the PCM711 did not include SNPX support.

I think your approach is fine. Just create all your variables in the PLC target rather than in the Genius NIU targets. The only reason you will need Genius NIU target is for configuration details. If it turns out that you can use default settings for all of the I/O modules used with a particular Genius NIU, then you can allow it to autoconfigure. In that case you don't need to include a Genius NIU target in the project.

The only way for the data from the Genius NIUs to get into the PLC is through the Genius Bus Controller. The configuration for the Bus Controller maps the I/O from each SBA to address space or variables in the PLC. What kind of redundancy are you trying to achieve? Redundant processor? Redundant I/O? Redundant bus cable? If you're trying to have redundant I/O, remember that you can't have two devices on a Genius network with the same SBA.

Why are you assigning variables to the Genius I/O drops? If I understand your system correctly, they are simply remote I/O drops with no logic associated with them. The only thing that can be downloaded to the VersaMax NIU is the configuration. In fact, if you don't change any settings for any of the modules, you can use autoconfiguration and you won't need to include the drops as tragets in the project. If you feel the need to identify a particular input or output point as belonging to a Genius drop, you can do so in the description of the variable.

I didn't download your project folder, but I expect that it is set for VersaMax hardware instead of Series 90. Set up VersaPro to default to Series 90 hardware and create a new folder. Then copy the logic from the old folder to the new one.

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I'm going to start with Logicmaster because that appears to be closest to allowing you to program this PLC. I'm interpreting this to mean that Logicmaster is showing that you're in either 'Online' or 'Monitor' mode and the message is "Stop/Fault". If this is the case, first make sure Logimaster is online. If you're in Monitor mode, hit ALT + M once to get to Online. Next hit F3 (Status), then F3 again (PLCFLT) to get to the PLC fault table. Then hit F9 to clear the table. Do the same thing for the IO fault table. Then you should be able to put the PLC into RUN. If I've misinterpreted what you've described, and you have really managed to download the wrong firmware for your CPU model, I'd suggest calling tech support. I know that you have to carefully follow the steps outlined in the instructions when you're upgrading firmware. I also know that the instructions cover a recovery procedure if the upgrade sequence is interrupted, so you may not be completely out of luck.