Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Guest JDS

Ge Fanuc Series 90 Micro

6 posts in this topic

Great site! About a year ago I purchased a Series 90 Micro PLC on Ebay. I thought it might be good to run the outdoor lights at home or something. It turns out there is an OEM password in it and I can only view on line, not edit. I tossed it on the bench and forgot about it until now. The unit appears to be new and there is no program installed. I am using Logicmaster 9.02 software, and I have programmed many 90-30 Plcs. Does anyone know how to get around this? It is otherwise an interesting paperweight.:*-(

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
With the flash memory on the Series 90 Micro, this could be tricky. I'm assuming that you don't care about the program that's in the unit. If that's true, then try disconnecting the battery and leaving it disconnected for several hours. That will clear everything in RAM, including the configuration. When you reapply power, it will read the program from flash memory, but maybe not the configuration. I'm pretty sure that passwords are stored in the configuration. The tricky part is that the unit can be set up to read its configuration from flash memory on power-up. BTW, if you can see the ladder logic, it's not an OEM password you're dealing with. With OEM passwords, all the user can see is the configuration. If all else fails, here's what I did when faced with the same problem. I created a macro with Logicmaster that tries all 65536 possible passwords. When you record a macro, the resulting file can be edited with notepad. I recorded the keystrokes for the first few permutations and then did a lot of cut and paste and find and replace operations with notepad.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thanks Steve, You are correct I don't care what is in there now. It is an OEM password. I am not allowed to even read the config. (Function unavailable when OEM protection enabled). I can't even change the run status to stop. I have never used a macro in GE so I guess I will try to unsolder the battery. Thanks for your advise, It is much appreciated.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Before you heat up the soldering iron, there is one more possibility. If you can lay your hands on a Hand-held programmer (IC693PRG300), connect it to the PLC, and hold down the 'CLR' and the 'M/T' keys while you power up the PLC. That will restore the unit to its out-of-the-box configuration.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thanks Steve, If that is the same hand held used to program genius blocks (90-30 remote I/O) then I know where I can get my hands on one of them. Wish me Luck.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Sorry to burst your bubble, but its not the Genius handheld. The Genius handheld monitor (IC660HHM501) is a totally different animal. What you're looking for is the 90-30 handheld programmer (IC693PRG300). Back when the 90-30 first came out as a replacement for the Series One line, a lot of people were used to programming the S1 with a handheld, so they felt they needed to offer one for the 90-30. As a programming tool, it was woefully inadequate. It only showed one IL instruction at a time instead of showing a rung of ladder logic, and it had no provision for documentation or printing. Logicmaster software did infinitely more and cost less. However, there were two things you could do with the handheld that you couldn't do with software. One was the 'clear memory' procedure that I mentioned in my previous post. The other was that the handheld will set itself to the proper baud rate and parity when it attaches to the PLC. One other possibility, admittedly a long shot. Fanuc CNCs use the same handheld with a different keyboard mask. In the CNC world, the handheld is called a DPL/MDI. I'm not sure what the initials are supposed to mean, but if you happen to have machine tools with Fanuc CNC controllers, then your maintenance technicians might have the handheld for them. If you find one, I can point out which keys you need to press.

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
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0