Steve Bailey

The configuration file is telling the CPU to expect three racks of I/O. (Rack 0 is the the one with the CPU, racks 1 and 2 are additional). When the PLC powers up, there appears to be a communications problem with Rack 2. The fault location of 2.0 indicates rack 2, slot zero. I would have expected the fault message to be "Missing rack" instead of what you're seeing, but the message still indicates a problem with the rack. Open your hardware configuration file and see what the CPU is expecting and compare that with what is actually in place. Have you downloaded the program from a PC running the programming software to the PLC recently? Perhaps because the battery was dead when power was turned off. If so, did you download hardware configuration at the same time? Make sure the interconnect cable to Rack 2 is still in place and hasn't been dislodged. Check for the presence of a terminating resistor on rack 2, especially if the cable was fabricated by the machine builder. It's also possible that the dip switches in Rack 2 have gotten changed.

Michael, please elaborate. I can assure you that I have applied C-More HMIs to GE PLCs and never had any problems writing to individual %M bits.

GE and Fanuc parted ways a couple of years ago. Your best bet for data sheets would be to go to Fanuc. That being said, Fanuc and GE Fanuc were never big on end-user support. Their support was geared toward the machine tool OEMs. You might have better luck getting information from the machine tool builder.

My apologies. I just re-read the details of your post #6. The PLC port should be set as a slave, not as a master. The C-More is the SNP master.

19200 baud, odd parity are GE default settings, but they can be changed in the hardware configuration file. When you check the GE hardware configuration to make sure it matches the C-More, make sure you are setting the correct port. The RJ-45 is port 1. In the C-More port configuration, make sure you have selected "No" for "Select RS-485". What version of C-More software are you using? My version (2.73) lists the VersaMax Micro. The complete description of the protocol is: "GE SNPX (90/30 90/70 Micro90 VersaMaxMicro)"

Double check your port settings. I just remembered the annoying fact that the C-More's default settings for the GE SNPX protocol (9600 baud, no parity) don't match GE's default settings (19200 baud, odd parity).

At the PLC end, configure your port for SNP. At the C-More, there is only one choice for GE. The 90-30 SNPX selection for the PLC CPU will work for the VersaMax, although the 90-30 permits a wider address range than the VersaMax. As long as the addresses you assign to tags in the C-More fall within the limits of the VersaMax, you'll be OK. An address out of range will generate a PLC-499 error code. You should look at the details of the communications error on the C-More. Touch and hold the upper left hand corner of the C-More screen to get access to the setup menu where you will be able to view the error log. That will tell youexactly what PLC address the C-More was trying to access when the error occurred. Given that, you can figure out which C-More tag was involved. If your problem is an invalid PLC address assigned to a tag, you will be able to correct it. Which PLC port are you using? Did you purchase a cable or make your own? Look at the LEDs on the C-More port. They indicate traffic on the port. Are both of them blinking or only the "TX" LED?

The PLC-499 error indicates something related to the driver you're using to communicate with the PLC. However, the C-More help file for the GE SNPX driver doesn't list 0x0000 as one of the returned codes. At any rate, the PLC doesn't like something about a request from the C-More. Try going to the C_More setup menu (touch and hold the upper LH corner of the screen) to see if you can get additional information from the error log.

The password will be included in the EPROM.

Starting additional threads is unlikely to get more or better responses. When did you switch from Proficy Machine Edition to VersaPro? That' really moving in the wrong direction.

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=70636

The C-More HMI can communicate with a GE VersaMax PLC, but you must create the screens for the C-More using Automation Direct's C-More software. You can not create an application for a C-More HMI using GE's Proficy Machine Edition software.

Proficy Machine Edition is for GE products. C-More is an Automation Direct product. You'll need to purchase C-More software from Automation Direct.

If you don't have anything available to help you interpret the old program, then get a detailed description of how the machine is supposed to work and use that as your guide.

The two ports are independent of each other, and could be set up differently.

I've always had a soft spot for Walter Miller's "A Canticle for Liebowitz". In three individual vignettes, spaced 400 years apart, it traces the redevelopment of technology following a nuclear war. My favorite scene is in the middle vignette, when the chief geek of his era suddenly realizes that whatever breakthroughs he may make, they will only be a rediscovery of something that was common knowledge 1000 years previously and then lost.

Cimplicity Machine Edition v5.0 will work with the VersaMax Micro, but it's a very old version of the software. The current version is 7.0 and I can count at least seven and possibly more revisions between yours and the current version. Cimplicity Machine Edition is now called Proficy Machine Edition.

By VersaMax modular I mean the VersaMax I/O modules and CPUs rather than the "brick" VersaMax Micro.

The part number for Proficy Machine Edition for the VersaMax Micro is IC646MPM001. I don't have list price for it anymore, but it is the least expensive of the three Machine edition options. Eight years ago its list price was $100. The next level up is IC646MPS001 which adds the VersaMax modular and 90-30 platforms. The most expensive is IC646MPP001 which adds the Rx3i, Rx7i, and 90-70 platforms.

If humans had three fingers and a thumb on each hand we'd count in base eight instead of base ten and be more in agreement with our silicon servants.

It depends on how you're going to communicate with the Series Six. The Workmaster from GE had a parallel interface card for programming the Series Six through the 37-pin port on the CPU rack. using the parallel version of Logicmaster Six software. There is also a serial version of Logicmaster Six that only requires a serial port on the PC, but it also requires a serial communications module in the PLC. If the serial communications module is located in the proper slot (#5 I think) of the CPU rack, you need only match the port setups on the PC and the module. If the module is located anywhere else in the PLC, there must be logic in the PLC program to support the communications. I have successfully communicated serially with a Series Six from my Windows XP laptop running Logicmaster in a DOSbox.

I'm glad to hear you got it resolved. I hope my misunderstanding of what devices you were referring to didn't slow down the process.

This sounds a little like a machine I worked on a couple of years ago. That was a National Acme screw machine with operator panels on each side of the machine. There were selector switches on each operator panel to activate the controls on that side and lock out the controls on the opposite side. If one side works and the other doesn't, that sounds more like an issue with the cable between the ASCII/BASIC module and the operator panel on one side. If the PLC can't confirm communications with the operator panel, it won't allow you to activate the hardwired control devices on that side of the machine. Check the cable and possibly the serial port on the operator panel. Also take a look at the "REC" and "TRANS" LEDs on the ASCII/BASIC module. They flash to indicate traffic on the ports. Normal operation will generally be continuous blinking on both the REC and TRANS LEDs. If you see only the TRANS LED blinking occasionally, that's an indication that the ASCII/BASIC module is trying to talk to the operator panel but not getting a response. Is the "RUN" LED on the arithmetic module lit? If not, the PLC is not running its program, and your idea about an internal fault bit has merit. If cycling the keyswitch or cycling power doesn't get it back into the RUN state, you may need to go online with Logicmaster 6 software to figure out why.

What device is showing the error? Is it an operator interface or a computer running Logicmaster 6 software?

If I'm not mistaken, selecting LREAL in the QP will work OK.