RSLogix/Logix Designer slow to open

[Joe E. 259]

I posted this on the Rockwell forum as well.

Symptoms are very much as described in KB#114274, except that the suggested workaround doesn't work.

System particulars:

Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64 host running VMWare VM, also Win7 x64.  The host laptop is a Dell M4800 (with EIST turned off per KB#635965) with 32GB of RAM.  I can provide further technical details if needed.

Licenses are tied to the host.  Both host and VM are running FT Activation Manager 3.62.11.  We have to have the licenses on the host because we need to support ControlLogix processors that range from v11 all the way to v24 and they can't all coexist.  I have 2 VMs for RSLogix (one XP, the other W7) and several others for other software packages.

The only network adapter currently on the VM is a host-only network I established solely for the purpose of licensing.  FT Activation Manager in the VM connects to the host server and lists the available licenses with zero problem.  Even with the Activation Manager window open and showing available licenses, RSLogix/Logix Designer takes about 2min 40sec to open with the network connected.  With the network disconnected, it takes about 10 seconds (of course it's in grace period then).  In the XP VM, opening the same project file takes 45sec with the network, about 10sec without.

Opening a second project file takes the same amount of time as the first.

Chat support says that, since the software does activate, it's not an activation support issue and we would have to pay for a higher level of support to get their help with it. 

I have attached a Wireshark capture of the host-only network traffic while the software is opening, after applying the workaround described in KB#114274.

If the attachment doesn't work, PM me and I'll send you a Dropbox link.

 

Any insights?

20160127_003

[Jayman 0]

Hi Joe

I know this may seem counter initiative, But I was advised to change some settings in my internet explorer options. Mainly the security options.  I did them as instructed and noticed a huge difference in loading time. I cant give you an exact reason why it works. perhaps it has something to do with authentication or searching for the activation. 

I have attached screenshots of my current settings, to get to them, open your internet explorer, click on the cog (tools) at the top right corner of the browser window, navigate to the options selection and click on it. Than in the window click on the "Advanced" tab.

I am currently running this on a VM with no internet access, therefor I am not concerned about any security risk at this moment. I have been to busy to be able to research on why these settings would effect any RS programs.

Hope this helps

[Joe E. 259]

I'll scroll through mine and see where they differ from yours.  Do you remember which options helped?

 

The KB article that perfectly matches my symptoms has two of those to un-check, where it looks for the revocation of security certificates.  That didn't help. 

[Joe E. 259]

Ok, I screenshotted my settings and then mirrored them to what you have.  Some required a reboot to take effect.  The software opening time is exactly the same as before.  Never having timed it before now, I didn't realize how predictable it is. It's almost exactly 2min 40sec every single time.  That tells me that there's some timeout thing that's happening.  Since the XP machine opens reliably in 40-45sec, I wonder if there's something somewhere with a 2 minute timeout.  How would I find it?

[kaiser_will 65]

A core requirement of VMWare Workstation is hyperthreading.  Do you have hyperthreading enabled in the CPU BIOS?  Dell refers to it as TurboBoost.

[Joe E. 259]

Hyperthreading is (and was) enabled.  The VM itself performs very well.  It's just that Logix5k takes a long time to open whenever any network is connected.

[Jayman 0]

On 1/11/2016 at 5:37 PM, BobLfoot said:

PLC LAWS 2016 Edition

View File

---

The 10 Year Anniversary Edition of a community guide on what to do and what not to do in the world of Automation.  Thanks to the members of MRPLC for submitting such humorous anecdotes.

---

• Submitter
  BobLfoot
• Submitted
  01/11/16
• Category
  Tutorials and Guides

 

[Jayman 0]

http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?/topic/7828-logix-500-loading-verrrrryyyyyyy-slow/

[Joe E. 259]

The CHECKDRIVES thing is covered in one of the first KB articles I found and it's the first thing I tried.  No change at all.  Which is NOT surprising since my activations are NOT on my hard drive and that it only loads slowly when a network is connected.

[Joe E. 259]

As a further test, I copied the VM to another computer, a Panasonic Toughbook C53, Win7 x64, 16GB RAM.  Same exact result with the v24 project, it took 2min 45sec to open.

[Joe E. 259]

Here's a screenshot showing Process Explorer during the opening process.  The flurry of CPU activity about a third of the way in is when I double-clicked on the project file to open it.  The spike at the end is as the window finally displayed itself.  Once the window finished displaying and the project opened up, the CPU dropped back down.

[Donovanr 0]

How many cpu processes have you assigned in your Win7 VM setup? 

 

I have a fresh Win7 64Bit VM running with Studio 5000 v21,V24 and it opens the project file in up to 45secs. It has 2 processes assigned in the VM settings and 4GB ram. All of the latest windows updates have been installed as of a week ago.

 

[Joe E. 259]

I didn't even realize that was an option.  It has 1.  I'll try 2 and see what happens.

 

ETA:  No change in opening time.  I may just have to learn to live with it...

Edited 3 Feb 2016 by Joe E.

[Alcho 0]

Hello, 

I know that thread is a little bit old, but the problem is still actual :o),

I have the same problem and actually testing with a RAM Drive. I have Windows 10 64 bits, 24 Gig of Ram, and an I7 Intel core 3630QM. What I did is to point the temporary folder to the RAM drive of 3 gig. Ok, the program is quite big (15 Mo), but I saw a difference.

 

 

 

[Joe E. 259]

Hmmm.....

I noticed something interesting.  I have 3 network adapters set up in the VM configuration: Host-only for licenses, NAT, and Bridged.  I added the NAT adapter as an experiment one time but normally use Bridged so that the host and VM can be manually configured to different IP addresses. The host is normally auto-configured.  Today, I needed to access a machine that requires a DHCP IP address to get to, and our network security won't issue IP addresses to my VMs any more, so I disconnected the Bridged interface and connected the NAT interface.  The RSLogix files open almost instantly now. 

It looks like changing from Bridged to NAT has solved another issue that AB tech support couldn't fix properly: I couldn't convert a program from RSLogix 5000 to Logix Designer (from v<20 to v24) without exporting to L5K and importing into v24.  I tried it just now and it works from within the "Change Controller" dialog the way it's supposed to.

Further experimentation is in order, I think.