Communicating with Micrologix (or not)

[stickman47 0]

Since the untimely demise of my laptop I have been forced to use a Laitiude X1 with a screen the size of a postage stamp. This little cutie doesn't have any ports, except 2 USB 2.0's and an ethernet. I have a USB to serial adapter cable and have used it successfully on our many SCL500's, using RSLinx Professional to Auto-Configure a DF-1 driver. I haven't had as much success with Micrologix though. I can get to my 1400 as it has a regular DF-1 port and an Ethernet port, but I can't get on with anything lower, 1000, 1100, or 1200. At best I get an error during the CRC/BCC test, but usually it goes through all the settings and can't configure the port. Anybody got any alternative comm. suggestions? I have a program change to do saturday night and I might have to temporarily transfer RS500, and the activation, to another computer that has a serial port. I'm sure RA will appreciate that...

[tushar.matrix 1]

Hello stickman47, I have compaq laptop and only USB ports and E-Net port. I used the same for communication with Micrologix 1000. i have USB to Serial Converter . Please see the port no in device maneger ---Ports(COM& LTP)---COM (xx).-Shows USB to Serial Driver name in front. This COM xx is the port configured by automatically USB to Serial Converter automatically when you connect it to USB port & installed driver for it. Now for communication trhough RS linx , Add DF1 driver., In window of Autoconfigure Assign COM Port : COMxx--------> this is port you see in COM & LTP . Device:SLC-CH0/Micro/PanelView Now Auto configure. Then check for who active . Best Luck

[stickman47 0]

[Ken Roach 194]

Thanks for posting your followup information, and I'm sure glad to hear you got communications working to your MicroLogix controllers. In my experience, devices using the FTDI chipset (like my favored Keyspan) work better with short messages than devices using the Prolific chipset. Because DF1 Full Duplex Autoconfigure performs very short (2 byte) messages with different framing, it's better with FTDI chipsets. I have a Prolific-based USB/RS232 converter from ATEN that I keep around just to prove it doesn't work with Autoconfigure under any OS or RSLinx version I try.

[stickman47 0]

I still find it strange that the Prolific cable worked with the SCL500, with the DB9 port, but not with the ML Din port...

[Ken Roach 194]

My guess is that the MicroLogix responded faster to the echo command than the SLC controllers did, and the USB/RS232 converter hadn't properly configured its receive buffer yet. This is just a guess. I've done Autoconfigure with a serial analyzer attached a lot of times and I've never seen any protocol difference between controllers.

[tushar.matrix 1]

Hello Everyone , Grettings ! This is the USB to Serial Converter that i used and got autoconfigure With DF1 http://www.bafo.com/products_bf-810_F.asp This is very inexpensive , In india RS 475. ie 9 -10 $ along with driver CD. Have A Great Time Thanks Tushar

[RobertL 1]

You should be able to communicate with all AB Micrologix family and SLC 500 5/01, 5/02 with a USB to RS 232 converter without any problem, now you will need a serial port to communicate with SLC 5/3, 5/04, 5/05. You problem could be the port assigned to the computer, if you have a dedicated port for a spefic application delete it and assign a new port to the controller, then open RSLinx, sould RS232, click on add, should DF-1 driver, use 9200 baud, CRC, None parity, then click on Autoconfigure. Check the attached file. If you need a good used computer with Serial Port at an afordable price check Item Number 180391979941 in ebay. H—3 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 H.2 The A-B serial driver uses what is called the DF1 protocol to provide PC to PLC, point to point, communications. The keys to being able to implement a serial connection from your programming PC to the PLC are; 1. Having a PLC capable of serial communication 2. Having a properly configured cable to connect the serial port of the programming PC to the serial port of the processor. A-B PLCs capable of direct serial communication include; • All Enhanced PLC-5 processors. Channel 0 is a 25 pin serial port. • SLC-5/03, 5/04, and 5/04 processors. Channel 0 is a 9 pin serial port. • ControlLogix 5550 processor. Channel 0 is a 9 pin serial port. • Micrologix processors have a Mini-Din serial port. H.2.1 nouts The serial communication cable is the other critical piece of the puzzle. All of the proper cables can be purchased directly from A-B or made based on the following configurations. SLC 5/03, 5/04, 5/05 and ControlLogix Serial cable pinouts PLC-5 Enhanced Processor Serial Cable Pinouts $ %&!#'" () %&(+$*, 2&-/$.13 0 $ ()()252546 7 #8 *9"9() %&! '3$ %2&&$ ,09 (-+/$. 469$ (())22 2&:;8C<=D0?B>>9EGF+H9@A?A?IB9F > 8J?H9CQKD BL?MNERF?F?O)H92PA?F?IO=FD AI Figure H-1 slc500.dsf (S)%&7T' " $ %&()25,* !-/.134 $ (2)&25$06 (+$'> '*9()$ %&%& 049$ (-)/2 . 69"9 ()!2 ,3 (2+&$$ '?CU0:;CQ<=D B09ERF?@?H9A?B/A?I>F 8J?H9CQKD BL?MNERF?F?O)H92PA?F?IO=FD AI Figure H-2 plc-5 serial.dsf At this time I do not have the pinout configuration for the MicroLogix processors. Furthermore, the Mini-Din connector that they use is much more difficult to find. So I would recommend purchasing the cable for the MicroLogix from A-B. H—4 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 H.2.2 RSLinx ; Once a physical serial connection is in place between our programming PC and the PLC the next step is setting up RSLinx to use the serial connection. Start up RSLinx and the following screen or one similar should appear. The only driver currently configured in RSLinx is the default driver the Linx Gateways, Ethernet driver. This driver is always present and cannot be removed. This driver is used to communicate over Linx Gateways to other communication networks. a- To add the Serial driver select the menu and the following list of options will appear; To add the Serial driver select the menu choice and the Configure Drivers window will open. H—5 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 The Configure Drivers window is where all new communication interfaces are added, and where existing drivers are configured or reconfigured. In addition, the status of existing drivers can be verified from this window. The Configure Drivers window is initially empty and looks like the following; To begin the process of adding a serial driver the first thing to do is click on the drop down arrow for the Available Driver Types list box. This will open the available drivers list box showing all of the possible available drivers. H—6 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 The serial driver is the RS-232 DF1 Devices choice in the list box. Select the RS-232 DF1 Devices choice by clicking on it with the mouse8 . The RS-232 DF1 Devices entry should now appear in the list box as shown below; Click on the button and the Add New RSLinx Driver dialog box will appear prompting you to enter a name for the driver. b- The default name will be AB_DF1-1. This name is perfectly fine but if you want to change the name, you can enter any name up to 15 characters in length into the dialog box. To accept the name click on the button. The Configure Allen-Bradley DF1 Communications Device window will now appear. H—7 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 The Configure DF1 Communications Device window is where all of the critical communication configuration information is entered pertaining to the serial port settings on the Programming PC. The first two (2) entries, Comm Port, and Device refer to hardware. • Comm Port: - refers to the serial communication port being used on the Programming PC. Most modern PCs only have 1 or maybe 2 serial ports. If the serial cable from the Programing PC to the PLC is plugged into the first serial port then the default choice of COM1 is correct. If the serial cable is plugged into a serial port other than COM1 then click the drop down arrow next to COM1 and choose the correct COM port. • Device: - refers to the type and model of the PLC that the other end of the serial cable is plugged in to. There is a fairly extensive list of choices here . The following table cross references the listed devices with the real world device. Device Listed Real Device PLC-CH0 Enhanced PLC-5 processor SLC-CH0/Micro/PanelView SLC-5/03, 5/04, or 5/05 processor Logix-5550 Serial Port ControlLogix 5550 Processor serial port This example is going to use the PLC-5 processor so the correct choice is PLC-CH0. The Auto-Configure button will normally determine what the device is at the other end of the cable. However, if Auto-Configure does not sense the device properly you may have to manually change this setting. The bottom section of the Configure DF1 Communications Device window pertains to the settings of the serial port on our Programming PC. The most important thing about these serial port settings is that they have to exactly match what the serial port settings on the PLC. If the settings do not match exactly it will be impossible to establish communications between the Programming PC and the PLC. Furthermore, it is almost a given that the default settings shown will not work. H—8 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 Thankfully the RSLinx software can interrogate the serial port settings on the PLC and change the RSLinx software settings to match. To perform the interrogation, , click on the button. The RSLinx software will now attempt to establish communication with the Processor. In the window next to the button appears status information about the progress of the Auto-Configure. When the auto-configuration process completes the results will appear in this window . H—9 A- - November 2000 Ó "!#$&%' ()'!'"*"%+()*,+-,., –2000 5 /10 0"1# $&%' 23"2! ""4 %,#264"*"7,86)'869" :";!,0 6*,#"4<9)434=' !#:,7'"4 In this case auto-configuration was successful and the Baud Rate was found to be 2400. If auto-configuration is successful it will now be possible to establish communication with the PLC. Click the button and the new DF1 driver will appear in the Configure Drivers window as a Configured Driver with a Status of Running; If the configuration ever needs to be changed, such as changing baud rate, come back to this screen select the DF1 driver by clicking on it with the mouse8 and click the button. The driver can also be started, stopped, deleted, and its startup mode changed from this window. c- Success With the DF1 driver now running and seemingly working correctly click the button and the Configure Drivers Window will close and we will be back to the RSLinx window with the new driver showing below the Linx Gateways Ethernet driver. Edited 5 Aug 2009 by RobertL

[Mickey 71]

Is it just me or is anyone else having problems seeing RobertL's pictures? Nice write up RobertL. I will take issue with the SLC5/01 and SLC5/02's using a USB to RS232 converter though. They are DH485 controllers and you will need a 1747-UIC ( USB to DH485) or an old PIC with a real serial port, to talk to them. Edited 5 Aug 2009 by Mickey

[scadametrics 0]

I don't know if this information applies to this particular PLC question, but I've found (the hard way) that some USB-Serial converters don't support anything except 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity. The one I was trying to use in a control application allowed me to specify even or odd parity (without complaining), but it just didn't implement it.

[ormunozh 0]

In my micrologix 1200 I had pressed the button to restore the communication parameters to default, but after I can't connected with RSlinx, I've checked the port configuration and think is fine (Baud Rate 19200, No parity, bit Stop 1).

But when I pressed autoconfigure it can't find connection.

I hope someone could help me

Thanks  

[Mickey 71]

What driver are you trying to use in RSLinx? DF1 is the default protocol for a ML1200's serial port.

 

If you are using a USB to serial adapter they may not work with autoconfigure. Some do, some don't.

 

Try configuring RSLinx manually, see pdf for its default configuration.

default.pdf

[Mickey 71]

Also what cable(s) are you using?