Reboot-itis

[RFurey 0]

As the various control systems in my plant have become more sophisticated I have noticed a virtual epidemic of what I would call Reboot-itis. In particular are the systems which incorporate RSView32 and Ethernet IP. They frequently crash (like once a week) and the only remedy seems to be to reboot the RSView computer. I have also had the Compactlogix Ethernet cards 'crash' on occasion and even device-net and the new Panelview Plus. Again, the 'solution' that eventually worked was to completely remove power from the system and turn it back on. Frankly, I consider this reboot thing to be for the birds. I have had to evaluate each of my reboot-centric applications and determine the worse case scenario if (when) the system were to suddenly lose it's controls. Presently, I have no hazardous situations (however the product can become scrap) but I can see some future apps where the loss of an operator interface at the wrong time could be a big concern. All my apps have a primary hard-wired EM-stop but I can see the need for more than that in future apps. It sort of neutralizes the justification of a communication network when a significant portion of it has to be duplicated with redundant buttons and wires to essential discrete IO and analog stuff. I'm wondering how wide spread this sort of problem is and how did other people address it.

[TimWilborne 108]

Panelview Plus and RsView - Infected Devicenet and Ethernet with devices like Compactlogix - Never seen this before, Can you give some more details on what they are communication with and how?

[Guest HalBishop]

I have not seen these problems with the Ethernet comm cards on out CLX installations. I have not used any CompactLogix systems or I/O. I am not sure I want to use any either. I must agree PanelviewPlus and RsView are self-generating viruses. The Panelview plus is nowhere near ready for prime time.

[TimWilborne 108]

I mostly use Controllogix too but I have Compactlogix and have never had a single communications problem. That is why I am curious how he is communcating with them

[Chris Elston 79]

Agreed here to..PanelView Plus has some issues. We have to keep launching the runtime over and over and over and over and over to get it to even run sometimes....sigh....

[OkiePC 14]

My distributor brought me some PVPlus literature the other day. I happened to be programming a PanelMate 3000 when he walked into my office, and he made some remark about getting rid of that old junk and putting in some of his new cutting (bleeding) edge stuff. I remembered all the stuff I've read here about the panelview plus and promply threw his brochures in the trash as I explained to him that I have been using PanelMate 3000 for ten years with no major quirks or glitches, and would continue to do so. I have RSView32 (V 6.3 i think) on two machines, and it is flaky. I have made some progresss using rockwell technotes to make it more stable, but I still reboot one of the machines ate least once a month. It does not require the machine to stop, but prevents some adjustements during the reboot. For some reason, this application quits updating the Alarm list. There will be alarms present, but none show up on the alarm screen. Restarting the app won't fix it. Shutting down RSView32 will fix it. Sometmes, when closing RSView32, the tag server does not shut down, and the whole PC must be rebooted. A real pain in the butt, but it's something I always expect when dealing with a windows based software package. RSView32 is extremely useful and powerful, and on these two machines, the trade-off in reliability is well worth it. I had to remove some controls, and modify some others to deal with the "stuck button" syndrome and avoid some other safety concerns, but for the most part, I am pleased with RSView. Paul

[oldgearhead 0]

Interesting..I've noticed something similar but different: __1 - RSView PC (Ethernet to SLC5/05, with local only subnet) = It looses the LInx Driver about every 4th main power failure. __2x - RSView PC (Ethernet to SLC5/05, local only subnet) = 'Fault 4170' if power cycles on/off rapidly. The three units above are separate systems with hubs. However, they are not connected to anything else __2x - PanelView Plus (Ethernet to SLC5/05 to company-wide intrarnet) = Experienced no problems at all since installation. Seems to be every bit as stable as our older SLC5/04/DH+ networks. Strange, maybe our unplanned power fail re-boots are responsible for the PV+ stability. Now that we have the power fail problem fixed, do you think I'll see PV+ problems? btw - Most of our Ethernet/SLC systems require a manual re-start after a power failure. Do yours?

[TimWilborne 108]

We have never had to manually restart our SLCs after a power loss. The resume communications after a power loss and after being reconnected to the network. We do use the 1761-NET-ENIs and not the SLC 5/05 though. Which one are you using?

[robh 12]

RSView 32 and the PanelView Plus---poopie! Anybody need a 2711P-RN3? Its the neat little device that snaps on to the back of a PanelView Plus 600 to make it a DH-485 device. Or so I was told and encouraged to buy. My sales guy told me to that ethernet was the way to go...but this would work, no prob. Have alot of MicroLogix 1000 & 1200 with a Net-AIC and PanelView Standards working just fine as stand alone systems. So why not a PanelView Plus? Well 2 techs from our vendor and 2 AB techs still can't tell me why. They claimed it was my hardware, till they brought their own out and still couldn't make it work. Ended up paying an outside integrator to help. Spent 6 hours going into the bowels of RSView 32 (mind you that I ditched the DH485 and bought a Net-ENI for the MicroLogix 1500 I was using and went to ethernet, cuz that was the problem!) and alot of brain hurting. We made it work and to this day I still can't explain what was wrong! Lucky this was on an R & D project not a production machine. Not for along time will I try to use a PanelView Plus or RSView 32 in anything important. Rockwell should be paying us or giving us HUGE discounts for finding all the bugs in their not ready for primetime units. Sorry kinda got off on a rampage there! Edited 15 Feb 2006 by robh