jimdirwu

February 24th, 2017, 06:02 PM

I am new here. I just find the PLC forum site these days. I have some problem when we upgrade our
equipment from PLC5 to RSLogix 5000 V20.014.

Our current SCADA is ifix3.0 base. The RSLinx is V2.43. The SCADA can read the data from Allen Bradley
ControlLogix 5000 V13.03.00 plc. But the SCADA can not read data from newer AB ControlLogix 5000
V20 PLC.

We try to upgrade RSLinx to V2.59.01 CPR9 SR5. RSLinx can communicate with both ControlLogix 5000
V13.03.00 PLC and ControlLogix 5000 V20.01.00 CPR9 SR5.

But the SCADA can not communicate with both PLCs with newer RSLinx Version 2.59.02

The SCADA we use is ifix 3.0. The ABR power tool in ifix 3.0 is "ABRdrv OLE automatic I/O drive version
7.29g". Do I need to upgrade ABR power tool? or some other one?

I appreciate if someone who experts in ifix 3.0, ABR power tool and ControlLogix 5.0 can help on this
issue. :wish:

harryting

February 24th, 2017, 06:39 PM

Probably time to upgrade your iFix. Having said that, let's see what we can do here. I'm not that familiar
anymore with iFix 4.5 or prior but the com haven't changed much.

First, figure out what is your communnication driver, you mention RSLinx and also ABRdrv, you also
mentioned "RSLinx can communicate with both". So I'm confused.

- what is your flavor of RSLinx, I don't mean version # but rather OEM, Single Node, Lite, or Gateway.

- What's the device field looks like for a typical tag? It should be in the format of
Driver:Channel:Device:Tag or similar.

- fire up the SCU, under SCADA configuration, what drivers are configured?

jimdirwu

February 27th, 2017, 10:55 AM

Thanks for the information. Our facility has 16 ifix 3.0 SCADAs. I wish I can upgrade them in the future.

I am not familiar with how ABR work with PLC. I don't know which is the communication driver. I think
ABR in SCADA might connect to RSLinx server to communicate with PLC and get I/O data. When I install
newer RSLongix 5000, I need to upgrade RSLinx server to in order to see newer PLC. Do I need to install
newer ABR to connect to RSLinx? What ABR version is good for ifix 3.0.

Please see attached for more details.

harryting

February 27th, 2017, 11:08 AM

Someone who is still running V 3.0 and got access to iFix's Electrionic Book might be of more help. Until
someone else shows up.. let's try a few things.

You are likely correct, that "ABR" works with RSLinx. It looks you got LInx Profession which should be
fine. What's I'm not sure about is how ABR works, exactly. Does it require OPC or DDE part of RSLinx? I
would say that's most likely.

I like to see what shows up when you click on the "Configure" Button in the SCADA Configuration Menu,
make sure ABR is selected.

ETA: read a bit into Powertool, it's a OPC Client that iFix uses. The new iFix no longer need this extra
annoying step. Anyway, I would click the + in front of ABR in Powertool to expand it out and see what
OPC topic it is expecting then check in RSLinx under Menu item DDE/OPC-Topic Configuration to see if
the PLCs are still correctly pointed at.

jimdirwu

February 27th, 2017, 12:49 PM

I did not know how ABR works, either. It looks like ABR can't run in the power tool. I just notice it stop at
power tool. When I hit the run icon. it shows the error"Unable to start driver due to incompatible DLL
versions". I don't know what it means. See attached the request.

harryting

February 27th, 2017, 01:53 PM

Ok, it seems that this PC gets its data from an OPC server on another PC named "PC2" according to
IMG_1797. How were you able to get to this screen?

One curious aspect is that it seems you are using a remote data-server. What happens when you tried to
ping PC2? Do you have a logical diagram of your HMI/PLC setup?

Another avenue of troubleshooting is to get a OPC test client to see if you can see PLC data from the
OPC server. If so, then you at least can eliminate one of the potential problem.

A typical data path goes like this:

PLC > OPC Server > OPC Client

most of the time, OPC server and OPC client are on the same machine but not always. We know with
some certainty in your case that the OPC Server is RSLinx and the OPC Client is Powertool.
PLC upgrade

I am new here. I just

find the PLC forum site
these days. I have
some problem when we
upgrade our equipment
from PLC5 to RSLogix
5000 V20.014.
Our current SCADA is
ifix3.0 base. The
RSLinx is V2.43. The
SCADA can read the
data from Allen Bradley
ControlLogix 5000
V13.03.00 plc. But the
SCADA can not read
data from newer AB
ControlLogix 5000 V20
PLC.
We try to upgrade
RSLinx to V2.59.01
CPR9 SR5. RSLinx can
communicate with both
ControlLogix 5000
V13.03.00 PLC and
ControlLogix 5000
V20.01.00 CPR9 SR5.
But the SCADA can not
communicate with both
PLCs with newer RSLinx
Version 2.59.02
The SCADA we use is
ifix 3.0. The ABR power
tool in ifix 3.0 is
"ABRdrv OLE automatic
I/O drive version
7.29g". Do I need to
upgrade ABR power
tool? or some other
one?
I appreciate if someone
who experts in ifix 3.0,
ABR power tool and
ControlLogix 5.0 can
help on this issue.

February 24th, 2017, 06:39

#2
PM
harryting Probably time to upgrade your iFix. Having said that, let's see
Lifetime Supporting what we can do here. I'm not that familiar anymore with iFix
Member 4.5 or prior but the com haven't changed much.

First, figure out what is your communnication driver, you

mention RSLinx and also ABRdrv, you also mentioned "RSLinx
can communicate with both". So I'm confused.

- what is your flavor of RSLinx, I don't mean version # but

rather OEM, Single Node, Lite, or Gateway.
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 1,733
- What's the device field looks like for a typical tag? It should be
in the format of Driver:Channel evice:Tag or similar.

- fire up the SCU, under SCADA configuration, what drivers are

configured?

Last edited by harryting; February 24th, 2017 at 06:47 PM.

February 27th, 2017, 10:55 AM #3

jimdirwu Plc upgrade

Member
Thanks for the information. Our facility has 16 ifix 3.0 SCADAs.
I wish I can upgrade them in the future.
I am not familiar with how ABR work with PLC. I don't know
which is the communication driver. I think ABR in SCADA might
Join Date: Feb 2017 connect to RSLinx server to communicate with PLC and get I/O
Location: U.S.A data. When I install newer RSLongix 5000, I need to upgrade
Posts: 3 RSLinx server to in order to see newer PLC. Do I need to install
newer ABR to connect to RSLinx? What ABR version is good for
ifix 3.0.
Please see attached for more details.
Attached Images
IMG_1793.jpg (73.6 KB, 12 views)
IMG_1794.jpg (47.5 KB, 6 views)
IMG_1795.jpg (62.4 KB, 5 views)
IMG_1796.jpg (55.7 KB, 5 views)

February 27th, 2017, 11:08 AM #4

harryting Someone who is still running V 3.0 and got access to iFix's
Lifetime Supporting Electrionic Book might be of more help. Until someone else
Member shows up.. let's try a few things.

You are likely correct, that "ABR" works with RSLinx. It looks
you got LInx Profession which should be fine. What's I'm not
sure about is how ABR works, exactly. Does it require OPC or
DDE part of RSLinx? I would say that's most likely.
 I like to see what shows up when you click on the "Configure"
Button in the SCADA Configuration Menu, make sure ABR is
selected.
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 1,733 ETA: read a bit into Powertool, it's a OPC Client that iFix uses.
The new iFix no longer need this extra annoying step. Anyway,
I would click the + in front of ABR in Powertool to expand it out
and see what OPC topic it is expecting then check in RSLinx
under Menu item DDE/OPC-Topic Configuration to see if the
PLCs are still correctly pointed at.

Last edited by harryting; February 27th, 2017 at 11:26 AM.

February 27th, 2017, 12:49 PM #5

jimdirwu Plc upgrade

Member
I did not know how ABR works, either. It looks like ABR can't
run in the power tool. I just notice it stop at power tool. When I
hit the run icon. it shows the error"Unable to start driver due to
incompatible DLL versions". I don't know what it means. See
Join Date: Feb 2017 attached the request.
Location: U.S.A Attached Images
Posts: 3 IMG_1797.jpg (56.4 KB, 5 views)
IMG_1798.jpg (45.8 KB, 3 views)
IMG_1799.jpg (44.6 KB, 4 views)

February 27th, 2017, 01:53 PM #6

harryting Ok, it seems that this PC gets its data from an OPC server on
Lifetime Supporting another PC named "PC2" according to IMG_1797. How were
Member you able to get to this screen?

One curious aspect is that it seems you are using a remote

data-server. What happens when you tried to ping PC2? Do you
have a logical diagram of your HMI/PLC setup?

Another avenue of troubleshooting is to get a OPC test client to

see if you can see PLC data from the OPC server. If so, then
Join Date: May 2002 you at least can eliminate one of the potential problem.
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 1,733
A typical data path goes like this:

PLC > OPC Server > OPC Client

most of the time, OPC server and OPC client are on the same
machine but not always. We know with some certainty in your
case that the OPC Server is RSLinx and the OPC Client is
Powertool.

Let's take a step back, when exactly did the HMI stopped
working and what was the last thing changed?