Point I/O and RSLINX

[Buckaroo 0]

Please bear with the following if it seems long winded. I am going to attempt to explain our company network and an issue I am having. The company IT network is addressed as follows: 192.168.1.xxx I have a network in progress where PLC's are addressed as 192.168.3.xxx Call this PRODUCTION network. Right now I believe (as I have been told) the networks are seperated by individulal NIC cards in a computer. There is a computer running among other things a RSVIEW 32 project that is connected to the PRODUCTION network. Everything is working fine here. I only provide this as a pointer to reference. I have a desktop computer on the company network that is running RSLINX CLASSIC GATEWAY version 2.55 with an ethernet driver configured. From this driver I can communicate to the PRODUCTION network and go online with my 2 processers and 1 Controllogix gateway setup from ethernet to DH+. All this has been in place and operational for some time. I recently have a need to add some Point I/O where I have the ethernet comm module and 4 relay output cards. Right out of the box if I set the thumbwheels to 245 which makes the IP address 192.168.1.245, and plug a network cable to it and the switch I have here at my desk, I can open RSLINX, add the IP addresss under my driver and see the Point I/O chassis and cards with no issues. I now want to place the Point I/O somewhere on my PRODUCTION network. Backing up just a bit, under the module configuration for the 1756-ENBT/A the port configuration is configured the IP address and a gateway address of 192.168.3.x. I am not sure if this is relevant or not but I will provide it anyway. I change the IP address of the Point I/O ethernet comm module by placing the thumbwheels to an invalid IP address of 999 and programming it to 192.168.3.xxx. I have also used the above gateway address in the configuraton as there was the option to use this. Keeping in mind that i did this at my desktop, I cylced power to the Point I/O to get it to use the new configuration. I now open RSLINX and check. It appears as if the new configuration has been accepted as I can no longer see the Point I/O under the 192.168.1.xxx address. I move the Point I/O to the PRODUCTION network and all status lights are green. I open RSLINX and add the new IP address which is now 192.168.3.xxx. The issue is that I can not "see" it here. It shows up as an unrecognized device with the question mark and red x. I am lost as to why I can see the other processers on the PRODUCTION network from my desktop but not the Point I/O. Also remember back to the computer running the RSVIEW32 project. If I open RSLINX on this computer I am able to add the IP address of the Point I/O and see it perfectly. I am really struggling with this as it seems to not make sense to me. Anyone have an idea as to what I am missing here? If any more informatin is needed let me know. Thanks in advance Tom

[PLCMentor.com 60]

Never apologize for being long winded. Rarely do we see too much information here generally the opposite. I do want to clarify something you mentioned. When you say you entered the gateway address in the point I/O, are you saying that you entered the same address there in the point I/O that you saw in the ENBT card configuration? That sounds right. Maybe you should check with IT to make sure that this is really the address of the router separating the areas. The first time I read it I wondered if you were talking about the address of the computer running the RSLinx gateway. Have you checked your subnets? Usually they are 255.255.255.0, but there are times when they are configured differently and it is easy to miss that when adding a device. Can you drill into the ENBT card and back out and see the I/O? I think that would work in the instance you have given.

[Buckaroo 0]

Well this will be my third attempt at replying to this. I keep hitting the wrong button. All subnets are set to 255.255.255.0 The gateway addresss I entered in the Point I/O is the same as I found in the ENBT module. Originally we had one big network. I know cue big eye roll here. About a year ago it was seperated into the 2 networks. This was done by an out side person. I think this is when the ENBT gateway address was put in. Communication through the ENBT to my 2 DH+ networks is fine and no issues. I can not drill into the ENBT and then out to the remote i/o. I think it may have to do with not having a processer in this chassis. The only things in the controllogix chassis are the ENBT and DH+ comm modules. The reason for my madness is I am attempting to install some remote I/O and tie it to a RSVIEW32 project. According to AB tech note you can access remote Point I/O on etherenet via OPC without the need for a processer. I do not have tech note off hand. I am trying to do this at my computer first to work out any issues before I program into the project. Thanks Tom

[PLCMentor.com 60]

Well at least you can access the device from the computer that you eventually want to. Have you tried pinging the device from your desktop?

[Buckaroo 0]

When I try to ping the IP address of the Point I/O when it is on it is on the production network I get no response. As for accessing the I/O yes I can do it now when it is on the same network ( 192.168.1.xxx) as my desk top but it will eventually be on the 192.168.3.xxx network. I am trying to acess it while it is on the .3 network now for testing purposes. More information regarding the bigger picture: The RSVIEW 32 project right now is not "usable" so to speak. It was developed by an outside vendor. The company I work for decided to take ownership of the project and purchased the software to expand on it. Eventually the project will be moved to a different computer and tied to the production (.3) network. I have no doubt that once I get this new computer up and running with all the correct software I will be able to see everything on the network. That is somewhere down the road a couple of weeks. I am trying to use the time untill then to work out how everything is going to come together. This is why I am trying to communicate to my production network I/O. Thanks Tom

[paulengr 44]

This is one of the HUGE problems with trying to maintain physical separate networks. In my honest opinion, it's better and simpler to simply live with an integrated architecture and make darned sure that you watch what you are doing closely. It should easily be possible for instance if you truly have a router to talk to your production network directly as long as you configure manual routing in RS-Linx. That's not what you have. First, verify that everything is working correctly. Go fetch your Point IO. Unplug your PC from the corporate network. Either plug both into a crossover cable, or better yet, into a switch. Temporarily reconfigure your PC's IP address with a "production network" IP. Make sure that you can ping, talk to it with RS-Linx, etc. If this is true then so far so good. If not then something went wrong in configuring it. At this point you need to figure out where it went. Configure the Ethernet/IP driver and use the autodiscovery function that it provides to go find your Point IO. First try with the same setup. Then try with an "IT" address. Basically, "it has to be around there somewhere." If you can't get things working with a 2-node network with no routers, switches, etc., then you have 0.0% chance of getting it to work in a more complicated network. Second, go on over to your production network and plug in there if you can. If not, don't worry because at this point you've verified that everything is configured correctly. Alternatively, attempt to ping it from your gateway machine which is ultimately what you need to get working anyway. At this point you should have at least verified that Ethernet is working correctly. Still got to get RS-Linx working. If you can't reach the device via PING then don't even bother with RS-Linx. Third, and this is where I suspect you have a problem. Be sure that your gateway RS-Linx has the proper EDS files to recognize the Point IO. If not, that is most likely where the problem lies.

[Buckaroo 0]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try them later today as things settle down and I get time. Tom

[Buckaroo 0]

I fetched my Point IO and did as you suggested. I put in a PRODUCTION network IP address on my desk top, plugged it and the IO into a switch and opened RSLINX. I can see the Point IO under this setup. Your second suggestion is a bit confusing. Are you suggesting I take the IO and desktop computer to the production network and plug into it and try? Or are you saying to take just the IO to the production network? I do not think the problem is with the EDS files as I downloaded and installed it before I started most of this. Also it shows up in RSLINX correctly as I tried above and also when the desktop computer is plugged into corporate network and I have the IO set to a corporate IP address and on that network. As for the Ethernet working I would say I don't think there is any problems but I am no expert. Just to restate: On my desktop which is tied to corporate network, I can open RSLINX and see everything on my production network except the Point IO. Is it possible that something is on the nework that is blocking this IP address from the Point IO? I don't know, I'm confused. Thanks for your help Tom

[PLCMentor.com 60]

Tom, I think Paul missed the fact that you are able to access the I/O with the RSLinx that is on the RSView station that is sitting on the production network. Your point I/O is up working and accessible at that station unless I missed something. You cant ping the I/O block from your desktop and as Paul mentioned, if you cant ping it then there is no need to try anything else. I think you have an IT problem with the Router. You need to talk with whoever setup the Router and work with them to enable your I/O to talk across it. I am somewhat a dummy on professional routers where ip tables have to be configured, but it may be as simple as your new point I/O not being configured to talk through the Router. Check with IT. Russell

[Buckaroo 0]

Russell, I wanted to be sure I tried Paul's suggestion to see if I missed something. Your idea of it being a router problem is the direction I am headed in. I really have no knowledge of routers and such except for my home network. I will try the IT department but I won't hold my breath as they are a somewhat different group to work with, and by that I mean difficult. They are in their own little world and sometimes do not play well with others. I will keep everyone informed as to what I come up with Thanks Tom

[lostcontrol 23]

I think that is something they learn on their 1st day, if something resembles a computer, or is a computer running some software, then no-one else knows anything about it. If they want to use our infrastructure, then we know best. This would be one of the reasons that so many automation systems now have their own physical infrastructure, that are managed my the integrator, not IT.

[PLCMentor.com 60]

Yeah I think most of us are lacking in the IT arena. Their world is a little like ours in that it takes time to keep up with the constant changes. I think if you mention adding the device and checking the router tables they will have somewhere to start. IT and controls guys traditionally bump heads, but in this environment where our two worlds are combining and crossing over so much it pays to develop that relationship to get you through problems such as this. Good luck and I look forward to hearing what the solution is. Russell

[Buckaroo 0]

It seems the issues is related to IT's magic box. I was pretty much told that access is not going to happen. I either have to wait a week or so for the new computer on the production network and install the RSVIEW 32 software or I just bring the Point IO here to my desk and play with it that way. I will go with the latter for now. Thanks for all the help. Tom

[paulengr 44]

I am specifically referring to the GATEWAY. In your original post you pointed out that you don't have a direct connection to the production network, but that you link to it through a gateway. RS-Linx has it's own protocol that is not the same as the underlying networks (though it is undocumented). So it's not just a "passthrough" (which is what a bridge does). It is a true gateway and you have to be sure that the gateway PC itself can communicate with the Point IO before working on the desktop/gateway communication issue (or nonissue, since obviously you've used that connection before). If you are not using a gateway then you'll have to work on the Ethernet communication (how the PC is resolving IP interfaces to decide which port to use).