phuz

Trouble with firmware update L18-ERM

12 posts in this topic

I have this CompactLogix L18-ERM-BB1B with version 20.001.36 and I am not able to upload or download to it. Logix5000 tells me the offline version file is not compatible with the controller revision. So I try ControlFlash to bring it up to 20.12 or 21.11 and it fails telling me it received an unknown error code. Here's the error in the log file: 12/17/14 14:22:24 [FAILURE] Transfer: Error #11001: Unknown General Status error code received. GS=0x1E 12/17/14 14:22:24 [FAILURE] Transfer: File = C:\Program Files (x86)\ControlFLASH\0001\000E\009B\PN-156514.der, Block = 1. Edited by phuz

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
So I just had this happen in version 21.01...and what I found out was this.. I had version 21.01 installed on my laptop and my co-worker upgraded his version 21 to 21.03. After he downloaded the PLC program and offline program, I could not open, go online or anything with the PLC nor the offline copy until I upgraded my software to the same as his. I had to ask him what version he had and put two and two together to figure that one out. Do you have an "evil" co-worker too with a newer version of 20?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The problem is the controller, according to control flash is 20.001.36. According to logix, its 20.01. I am not sure which is right. If I open my RSLogix5000 "about" page, it says I am on 20.01. So I shouldn't be having this issue. I don't even know how to acquire 20.001.36.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
OR....could someone send me all the files from the SD card (assuming you have auto restore firmware on power up enabled)? Then I can just copy them to my SD card and see what happens at power up. I think it's my only chance to get this controller back to life.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The (minor) revision of your controller firmware and the version of your RSLogix5000 software do NOT* have to match exactly*, and in fact almost never will. As long as you have the same MAJOR revision, you should* be fine. So the fact that your software is 20.01 and your PLC firmware is 20.001.36 is not* an issue: generally* version 18.anything software will talk fine* to version 18.anything firmware, etc. *Except Rockwell have made a mess of the minor revisions on v20 and v21. Here's an article that explains it fairly well: http://www.theautomationblog.com/what-you-need-to-know-before-upgrading-to-rslogix-5000-version-20-03/ Edited by ASForrest

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  Exactly. The minors shouldn't matter. I don't know what to make of this situation. Rockwell provided ZERO help. After about 10 minutes of obvious troubleshooting and requesting that I try v19 firmware (yes, they actually suggested I try v19 in a L18ERM), she said there was nothing else they could do to resolve it. Edited by phuz

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Are you serious? They said that...wow...More the reason, I never call and just assume figure it out myself. Do you have local AB distributor? They seem to can help a lot better in my town.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yes, and I am friends with one of the local guys. I already reached out to him this afternoon before I called Rockwell. He might be able to help me get some files on an SD card tomorrow if someone doesn't email them to me tonight. Yes, my jaw dropped when she said that. I have always been more successful with resolutions from these forums vs. calling RA. In fact, one time I was troubleshooting a DeviceNet VFD issue, and the tech said "Here, I found something on that..." and they were referring to MY thread on a forum. I thought maybe they were referring to a knowledgebase article or something similar, but he was actually searching the internet. But I digress.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It depends who you get really. I had an issue for which I rang the AB help desk, I made the mistake of mentioning that there was a third party device involved and he lost absolutely all interest. Even though I DIDN'T ACTUALLY WANT HELP WITH THE THIRD PARTY DEVICE PART OF IT. Didn't even feign an attempt to try. I rang back and got a different guy, who immediately confessed that he was fairly new to the job and it was a bit out of his league, but he'd take the details, run a few searches for me, and then escalate it. However, escalation wasn't necessary - this new kid on the block, by running a few searches, solved my problem in 3 minutes. Which just goes to show how hard the other guy tried.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Managed to go over to the local distributor, who has an L18ERM series A, so I created an SD card with firmware and set the appropriate settings. Brought it back and powered up this unit. SD card light was flashing, as if it were being read, then both OK and SD were flashing, then it rebooted, and now I am left with a solid RED OK light. I am sure the unit is toast, but might I have any last ditch efforts to kick this out of its current state? I was almost optimistic when I saw it reading the card. The unit I mirrored was identical, except for the serial number, which I changed on the flash card.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hi guys i have a same issue and look for solution every where i bought a L24ER for my school project from ebay and did not touch it for a while and then tried to accomplish my project so i went online with plc but before that rs5k asked me to firmware update due to existing version 1.003 on plc so no problem so far i picked version 20 every thing seems to be perfect but after update gets done right before it shows green note as update finished successfully i get this message "Error #11001: Unknown General Status error code received"

i did update on many ab plc's never had such a thing so after that i tried all version from 20 to 29 whatever firmware version Allen Bradley made so far but no luck yet

i was wondered if any one had same situation that can help me

any help is highly appreciated  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The minor revisions of v20 DO matter.  I think they matter in v21 as well (I know there's a second major revision where they matter, I can't remember if it's 19 or 21).  They are the only 2 major revisions where the minor matters this much.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now