PLC Firmware Revision Compatibility Issue

[LuisGonzalez 0]

Hello everyone,

I'm facing an issue while trying to go online with a PLC. The firmware revision of the controller is 34.011, but the offline project I have is showing a firmware revision of 33.xx. Due to this mismatch, I'm unable to establish a connection.

I'm relatively new to this company and recently learned that the program on my computer may have been modified by a contractor company, which might explain the version difference. I suspect they may have used a higher version of RsLogix when making the changes.

I'm looking for guidance on how to proceed in this situation. Is there a way to update the offline project's firmware revision to match the controller's firmware revision? Or is there another solution to resolve this compatibility issue?

Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[pturmel 160]

It is offering to update the firmware (downgrade in this case) as the only way forward before downloading.  The other solution is to change the controller definition in the project to the newer firmware and then download.

[LuisGonzalez 0]

In this case, I'd like to inquire about the safety of downgrading the firmware. If I proceed with the firmware update (downgrade), is there any risk of losing the program that is currently stored in the controller? I want to ensure that the program remains intact during this process.

Thank you very much

[pturmel 160]

You will certainly lose the existing program when changing firmware.

If you must maintain it, save a copy of your offline file to another location, upgrade the current file to version 34, upload the file from the processor, and compare.  If the offline file represents new work by a contractor, then they must have downgraded and you probably have a cluster-[expletive].

[pturmel 160]

If the contractor did a firmware upgrade from v33 to v34 newer than your current file, they should have supplied a new file.  Consider looking for that.  (You might want to find out why the upgraded the firmware, too.)

[LuisGonzalez 0]

Thank you very much for your advice

[Joe E. 259]

It's likely that the reason they upgraded the firmware is just that they happened to have v34 on their PC and not v33.

Do you have v34? The first thing I would try is open Logix Designer and create a new project "from upload" and upload the project from the PLC. If the contractor was kind, you'll have the whole project, including documentation. If not, at least you'll have something to compare to your offline file.