Factory Talk HMI server tag updating...?

[speakerman 4]

Hey everyone; I've been looking through the manuals and KB and cannot find any solution, or reason, for a problem we're having with Factory Talk View Studio SE 5.00 and the historian server. We have one 1756 processor on the network and all of a sudden tags we are entering into it are not showing up on the server. We've been doing upgrades for some time, and any tags created in the controller are always available when we proceed to the HMI to add them to the displays. Nothing has changed, but the tags stopped updating to the server and we can't find the latest tags made hours ago. We've confirmed they are active, and working properly in the PLC, there are no spelling errors, or data type mismatches - everything is identical to tags we'd used successfully before. We can't find them browsing from a display object, and refreshing the online folder does nothing. We've saved the PLC project a couple of times, and tried shutting down the factory talk editing software in case it needs to update. Shutting down the server is not exactly done, unless there's a tragic reason to do so, as the plant runs pretty much 24/7. Is there a random amount of time between tag creation in the PLC and their arrival at the HMI server? Is there some way we can get the server to grab them from the PLC without shutting it down? I hope someone knows of a way to fix this, it stopped our upgrades cold. Thanks, speakerman.

[dmargineau 6]

Been there, done that... I think the cause is the firmware+software revisions(releases) concoction; the days spent on the phone with RA TechConnect Support brought back slight hints, however, our conclusion was mostly experimental. Firstly, I would upgrade the FactoryTalk Services + RSLinx Enterprise to the latest revision/release; while you are there, upgrade the FTVS to 6.1 (or at least 6.0). FTVS 5.0 is notorious for not being able to browse a direct tag database, either Offline or Online. 6.0 is a lot more "cooperative", however, I think 6.1 is the ultimate "fix" since it's a MS SQL afterall!... ...I think RA finally gave up on trying to upgrade a flawed concept and went with a rugged and tested "operating system" (SQL). Both 6.0 and 6.1 are compatible with firmware as low as 2.0 I believe. Then you might have to bite the bullet and look into upgrading the Logix firmware revisions. We went straight from 15 and 16 to 19 and, even it included Motion, SCADA and redundant CNet applications, the process was mostly painless and with minimum downtime. Latest revisions firmware/software are a lot more efficient when it comes to data transfer; a sluggish LAN will definitely not become "light speed", however, it might just get the job done if the "users" are of a newer release.

[speakerman 4]

Thanks for the quick reply dmargineau. I'm not surprised to hear this is systemic. Unfortunately it will be some time before we can upgrade anything. Do you know of a way we can get these tags to show up now? How did you resolve the problem before the opportunity to upgrade? Thanks, speakerman.

[dmargineau 6]

I don't know what to tell you... What revision firmware are you running on the Logix CPUs and what revision RSLinx Enterprise you are using on the FT Directory Server and FT Historian Server? Also, what Windows OS are you running on the FT Directory Server and FT Historian Server machines?

[speakerman 4]

Hey dmargineau; CPU is rev 17.4 I don't have the revision handy for the RSLinx Enterprise. It was purchased about three years ago, if that helps. I am not the architect of this system, but am coming in after the fact to try and make it better. The system itself is poorly put together, the logic is enormously overdone, and the network was so slow they had to turn off the historian or there was a huge lag to the HMI. I take it your resolution to the problems you had was to upgrade then? The tags remained hidden until the upgrade was performed? Looks like a stalemate here for now. I will see if this plant has a tech support contract with Rockwell, and contact them. Thanks, speakerman

[speakerman 4]

Hey everyone; We finally had a down day to reboot the HMI server, and the tags have all magically appeared. Takes the pressure off for now. I'll look into updating FactoryTalk to 6.1 and hopefully that will stop this intermittent performance. Happy programming! speakerman.