Password

[Guest jorge]

I have a Micrologix 1500 PLC with password and i don´t know if i cant avoid it

[Ken Roach 194]

The best thing to do is to clear the memory and re-load the program without the password. There are instructions about how to disconnect the RAM backup battery in the user manual and the A-B knowledgebase. If you're trolling for a way to circumvent the password that has been intentionally put in to keep you out of the controller program, you won't find that here.

[navillusi 2]

A method of discovering the password in SLC's is in the downloads section on this forum Downloads I know it is for SLC but it works the same on Micrologix, if you cant get Comlite to work, I would suggest the HDD Serial monitor ( www.hhdsoftware.com )

[Eddie Willers 2]

... unless, of course, Ian Sullivan is around. Ian's work is a relatively elegant bit of hacking and I respect it as an intellectual exercise. But I still object to it's promotion, as it is promoting the defeating of a protective feature of those controllers.

[Chris Elston 78]

I guess I have two view points. Jorge, Is this YOUR PLC and YOUR software and did you forget the password or something? Then I don't see any harm trying to find out your own password. But I have to admit, if it was my PLC I would have the programmed backed up and just reset the memory and reload the PLC. If this is someone's elses PLC, then your really pressing your luck because you are hacking into someone elses code. Now really my take is that most companies don't copyright PLC code, but still your doing something you shouldn't do. Just keep that in the back of your mind.

[navillusi 2]

The password retrieval method was designed as a work around when you are left with a PLC, which your company has paid for (and the IPR that goes with it) and the original software supplier has gone out of business. This has happened on a couple of systems that I have been involved with, the software supplier does not get paid by the main contractor which forces them out of business. The other scenario is where the software supplier tries to hold the customer over a barrel by ensuring that they are the only contractor able to work on the system, often at largely inflated rates. Years later the end user (us) is left in a corner where we either pay over the odds for a complete re-write of the PLC code or do a little work to find out how the passwords are stored. At the end of the day, it is a work around, aimed at helping the user (i.e. most people in this forum) save money and time on a PLC which their company has paid for. Regards