Control Logix Firmware problem

[Duffanator 1]

Hey all, I'm not very familiar with Allen-Bradley, I'm mostly involved with Mitsubishi. We refer to AB as "The Dark Side" but I do have a question: We have a machine at our plant that uses a Control Logix 1756-L61 processor. We have a spare CPU that had revision 1.9 firmware in it. I put the spare CPU in the machine and flashed it with what I thought was the newest version firmware (16.2) and tried to download the program to it via flash card. However, instead of the program downloading to the CPU I get an error instead. RSLogix 5000 says that the problem is the version firmware in the flash card and the version firmware in the processor are not the same. I checked the version on the flash card and it is version 16.7. I put the old CPU in and checked the firmware version on that and it is 16.7. Where do you get firmware version 16.7? I can't find any kind of information anywhere about that version of firmware. Allen Bradley hasn't been very helpful so far so I thought I'd put the question out there and see if anyone here knew the answer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

[OkiePC 14]

I have a 1756-L61 with firmware version 16.7 also. I went to the firmware download site at ab.com and don't see it listed though. I know that some of the printed docs refer to it as 16.07. There were issues with early revision levels of firmware version 16, and I have read at least one that recommends updating to 16.20 or greater. Maybe that is why 16.7 is no longer available for download. It is confusing that v16.21 is newer than v16.7, since that is how v16.07 appears when you look in RSLogix5000. AB should take the decimal number system a little more seriously in their software and documentation...those missing zeros are very important...at least to me. http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/i...rn016_-en-e.pdf If I were you, I would update both CPUs and your compactflash card to 16.21 which appears to the latest and greatest. Paul

[Duffanator 1]

Thanks OkiePC, I downloaded the program to the controller with version 16.21 and then reprogrammed the flash card to that version and it worked fine. You were correct that version 16.21 is newer than 16.7, that is kind of annoying. I guess you're supposed to magically know to add a decimal place there. Thanks for the info, very helpful!

[BobLfoot 302]

Since you definitely succeeded in flashing an AB CPU I will now lend you a warning for in the future. Always make sure your PC Power Save and Screen Save functions are turned off when flashing. An interruption of the flash procedure can leave you with an unusable PC. "Experts" with AB ControlLogix call it "Bricking the PLC". If your Rockwell rep is worth anything they'll exchanged a bricked plc for a no-fee replacement. But you will have the hassle and lost time of waiting.

[OkiePC 14]

Have you (or anyone else) heard of any possible failures during a compactflash firmware upgrade? I have at least one, possibly two CPUs to flash as soom as the non-volatile storage card arrives for my 1756-L61. It will go from 16.07 to 16.21. I am planning to put the files on the 1784-CF64 card first, then initiate the transfer with a power cycle (after setting up the load from CF card config using E-Net and a laptop.). I would imagine the chance of interrupting that quick transfer is the least risky, since it should be the fastest, and no cables or winderz are involved. Also, any 1st hand experience with the actual time required to flash the processor from a 1784-CF64? My RTFM-ing has told me IIRC "a few seconds"... Just curious where "few" falls on the number line between 3 and 60, since the book left me wondering... Also, any anecdotes about using a CF card to restore following a brain dump of the CPU with the proper bits set to load when corruption detected? I have seen examples of this failing to function properly in a SLC (had to yank battery and short cap...) I want to be sure and keep the downtime to a minimum if say, the battery should die or a severe runtime fault should occur. This unit has only wiped itself once in six months, but downtime on the machine it controls costs the equivalent of about 18 industrial CF* cards per hour, and we lost 3 hours last Friday since I was 8 miles away when the floor techs gave up and called me back in. *figured at $100 per card... Thanks in advance! Paul

[Duffanator 1]

Yeah, I've had experience "Bricking" things in the past *cough*Xbox*cough*, so I'm well aware of what happens when you're interupted while flashing any kind of firmware or BIOS. I appreciate the warning though, I'd rather not have a $1300 paper weight that looks like a Control Logix processor. Thank you everyone for the information, I appreciate it!

[Nathan 7]

lol - I bricked my high end NAS recently. Enough to really frustrate and tick you off...