NOTE: Check out the new version of this article HERE.

PanelView Plus 700I still run into clients who are just beginning to use the PanelView Plus, even though it was released a decade ago.

So for all everyone out there who is new to the PanelView Plus, here are seven things you need to know:

1) PanelView Plus hardware features:

PanelView Plus 700-1500
PanelView Plus 700 – 1500

The original PanelView Plus came in four different versions, all of which support upto firmware version 5.1.

Note: PanelView Plus models loaded with newer firmware do support older runtime projects, all the way back to v3.0. This means there is no need to downgrade the panel’s firmware to gain legacy support. In fact, some newer panel can not be downgraded to older firmware.

All terminals include (at a minimum) a CompactFlash Card slot, a USB Port, and a DB9 Serial Port. Most terminals also came in Touchscreen only, Keypad only, and Touchscreen/Keypad combination units.

  • PanelView Plus 700, 1000, 1250, 1500 (7″ to 15″ displays)
    • The original and standard PanelView Plus with replaceable bezels and modular construction.
  • VersaView CE / PanelView Plus CE 700, 1000, 1250, 1500 (7″ to 15″ displays)
    • Identical to the PanelView Plus, but with more memory and the Windows CE OS exposed
  • PanelView Plus 400 and 600 (4″ and 6″ displays)
    • A smaller, all plastic version of the PanelView Plus
  • PanelView Plus Compact
    • Lower cost, DC only versions of the 4″, 6″, and 10″ PanelView Plus.
    • Reduced software functionality includes one PLC, 25 display, and 200 alarm limits.
    • None of these units support add-on communications modules.

2) PanelView Plus 6 hardware features:

PanelView Plus 400 and 600
PanelView Plus 6, 400 & 600

The new PanelView Plus 6 comes in four different versions as well, and most support firmware versions 6.0 – 7.0.

However, one big difference is none of these units support IO networks. Specifically, PanelView Plus 6 terminals do not support RIO, DeviceNet, and scheduled ControlNet.

PanelView Plus 6 models do support all runtime file versions back to 3.2. That is, as long as the runtime is using a supported communication path (see note above.)

These units include (at a minimum) an SD Card slot, a USB Port, and a DB9 Serial Port. Most terminals also come in Touchscreen only, Keypad only, and Touchscreen/Keypad combination units.

  • PanelView Plus 6 (standard) 700, 1000, 1250, 1500 (7″ to 15″)
    • Like the original, but with more horsepower, memory, and Window CE.
  • PanelView Plus 6 Enhanced 700, 1000, 1250, 1500 (7″ to 15″)
    • Identical to the PanelView Plus 6 (standard) but with Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office viewers
  • PanelView Plus 6 400 and 600 (4″ and 6″)
    • Similar to the original but with some of the added PanelView Plus 6 features
    • Unlike the original, none of these units support add-on communications modules.
  • PanelView Plus 6 Compact
    • Same restrictions as the PVPlus Compact, but with some of the new features of the PanelView Plus 6.
    • Currently only available in 4″ and 6″ models.

3) Every PanelView Plus comes preloaded with FactoryTalk View Machine Edition Runtime software and license.

Every PanelView Plus has a licensed copy of the ViewME runtime software pre-installed. This software runs “.mer” runtime project files created on a PC using the FactoryTalk ViewStudio development software (formerly RSViewStudio.)

RSLinx Enterprise in ViewStudio Project4) Communications from ViewStudio to the PanelView Plus and Allen-Bradley programmable controllers requires RSLinx Enterprise

Communications from FactoryTalk ViewStudio to the PanelView Plus, and from the PanelViewPlus or ViewStudio to an Allen-Bradley programmable controller, requires RSLinx Enterprise. FactoryTalk ViewStudio comes with RSLinx Enterprise and it’s highly recommended you install it along with ViewStudio.

5) RSLinx Communications setup consists of two configurations: Local and Target

For the ViewStudio project components (graphic displays, alarms, trends, etc) to communicate with an A-B programmable controller, you’ll need to configure the RSLinx Enterprise communications setup. This setup consists of two sections:

  • The Local/Development tab is for the communications from ViewStudio to an A-B programmable controller, as well as from the Transfer Utility to the PanelView Plus.
  • The Target/Runtime tab is for communications from the PanelView Plus to an A-B programmable controller.

RSLinx Enterprise Communications Setup Window

6) After adding or changing tags, be sure to “refresh all folders.”

After you change or add to your HMI tags, programmable controller tags, or RSLinx Enterprise communications setup, be sure to right click in the tag browser and “Refresh all folders” in order to browse for new tags in ViewStudio.

ViewStudio Tag Browser Refresh All Folders

7) Be sure to check “run on startup” and “replace communications” when using the Transfer Utility to download to the PanelView Plus.

You can transfer your ViewStudio ME .mer runtime file through RSLinx Enterprise to your PanelViewPlus using the included Transfer Utility. However, be sure to check the “run on start-up” and “replace communications” checkboxes. This insures your project starts when the PanelView Plus starts, and that your project’s communication settings replace the previous terminal settings.

Transfer Utility BannerI hope you’ve found these seven tips for using the PanelView Plus helpful.

If you’d like to add your own tips to this list just reply to this post using the “post a comment or question” link below.

Until next time, Peace ✌️ 

If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.

Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator

Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.

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91 COMMENTS

  2. Did you embed Windows Media Player on a Graphic Display, or are you “launching” Media Player?

    If you embedded it on the Display, did you set the Display’s X and Y to be off the visual display area? Have you tried displaying an empty popup off the visible display area? Did you test on your PC, and did it work?

    Shawn

  3. Working with a panelview plus 7 performance series B and want to run music and sound effects in the background depending on what alarms or buttons are active. I have it playing on MS edge but is there a way to have that play in the background?

      • Hey Shawn, thanks for the reply! Yes, I’m running it off the windows 10 USB driver connected to an amplifier, connected to speakers. It works great but it would be nice to have a playlist that I can point to specific audio over an active X command and have it play in the background without popping up over the runtime. If you find a way to do this it would be a game-changer for me.

  4. would you check replace communications if you were only modifying an existing program by added some screens and tags, etc?

    I ran into an issue where i keep getting the warning Unsupported Comm. Protocol after I modified and downloaded the program vs transfer utility. The program runs ok if you press continue but the warning pops up every time the screen is powered down or when you enter config mode from the running program

    • Good morning Todd,

      Personally, I have always check “replace communications” and “run on startup.” Has saved me a lot of headaches over the years.

      I’m not sure what the cause of the error you were seeing is – best thing to do in that case is to look up the comm settings in the PVP Config Menu to see why it’s throwing the error…

      Sincerely,

      Shawn Tierney,
      Instructor at http://www.TheAutomationSchool.com

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  6. I just get error 25, everything stops.
    I sell old obsolete AB Panelviews.
    I have a 2711-K6C9 on hand, the customer needs a 2711-K6C16.
    I want to convert the K6C9 to K6C16.
    Do you know anybody who might know how to do that?
    AB Engineers are excellent with the new products, not the old units.
    Call me if you can, 405.201.3362.
    Thank you.

  8. Hello shawn, great work you’re doing, big ups to you, please I wanna connect a Siemens Simatic CPU300 with panelview plus 700 via the MPI interface, turns out that there isnt too many people talking about that and there are almost no video tutorials on youtube for this purpose, could you please guide on how to acheive this and the world would be enternally grateful, generations to come if you could put up a videon tutorial for this. Thanks

    • Good morning Patrick,

      I have seen programmers add custom messages to the PanelView Plus to notify operators when the PLC battery is near dead, but this sounds like the built-in message from the PanelView Plus which does mean the internal battery is nearly dead (it maintains the internal clock when the unit is powered off.)

      Hope this helps,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  10. I have a panel view plus 600 HMI it is communicating with ultraware 3000 servo drive through kepserver. existing HMI failed. so If I communicate the HMI with ultraware 3000 servo drive is not working properly. (original backup has been loaded in HMI). Is there any other procedure?
    please let me know.

    • Good morning Ramesh,

      You didn’t provide many details, however if I had to guess I would say it sounds like the Kepware communications is not working because you didn’t load the kepware driver onto the new PVPlus (via firmware flashing)

      The best place to start troubleshooting issues like this is to research the error messages you’re seeing in the diagnostic popup list on the PVPlus. Anytime the PVPlus can’t communicate to a tag or something goes wrong it will display that popup (unless it has been disabled in the application, and if it has you should re-enable it so you can see the error messages related to the problem)

      If you’re new to the PVPlus, you may find my video training course helpful – https://theautomationschool.com/courses/pvp-basics-course/.

      Sincerely,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

      • I have a panelview plus that i am trying to get to talk to a few devices view kepserver that is hosted on a remote desktop. when i set it up and run it on my laptop everything shows up with no issues. but when i download it to the panelview i get “the item is no longer available”. any suggestions?

        • Good morning Trey,

          I have used Kepware drivers installed on the PanelView Plus itself, but never have attempted to have the PVPlus connect to a remote Kepware server, nor have I seen that it was supported.

          Your best bet may be to call Rockwell Tech Support,

          Sincerely,

          Shawn Tierney

          • well i installed factory talk on the computer with kepserver and i still get the same issue. when i run a test on the computer itself i get data but when i download to the panelview it says the item is no longer available

  11. Hello Shawn,

    I have what should be a simple task that has been all but simple.

    I have a Versaview CE 1000 and I need to change the IP address and the Enterprise Communications link to the PLC.

    I have went into the configuration screen and changed the IP address, Mask, and Gateway with no problem. Can reset the panel and the changes stay.

    The problem is the Enterprise communication. I can go in and change the IP address so enterprise is going to look at the PLC. Once I reset the panel or power the panel down it reverts back to the old enterprise IP address.

    I have went to the start options and tried checking both yes and no to replace the enterprise communications and each way still brings up the old IP address.

    Is there something I am missing? Like a step or the wrong order….

    Thanks in Advance for your time!

    Jeff

    • Good afternoon Jeff,

      Hmm… you seem to be doing everything right!

      That in mind, I just broke out my HMI and chose Terminal Settings, Net and Comms, RSLinx E and changed the PLC IP address my shortcut pointed to.

      Then, I backed out by pressing Enter, OK, Close, Close.

      NOTE – It’s amazing how many people press esc or cancel not realizing that erases their change!

      Then I went into Startup options, Run Options, and set Replace RSLinx to No, then exited by pressing OK, OK, Close, Close

      (again, I’ve seen people hit “Cancel” by accident to many times too count!)

      Then I went back into both settings to verify they stayed set, and then reset my terminal.

      When it booted back up I had found my HMI kept my NEW address, and did not load the old RSLinx settings when it loaded and ran the .MER file.

      So maybe you just need to update to the latest minor version of firmware for your HMI?

      Note – In your comment you mentioned changing the VersaView’s IP address in RSLinx Enterprise…

      However, since you can’t assign a shortcut to a PanelView Plus or VersaView CE, while the HMI may be present in RSLinx Enterprise it’s not used for anything…

      It’s likely only there because, when the project was developed the HMI was on the local network, and the developer copied the local config to the target config.

      That seems to be exactly what I did with my test app, so even though the HMI has no reason to be in the target / runtime tab of RSLinx (or in the .MER file / RSLinx settings in the HMI) I went ahead and changed the HMI’s address in RSLinx too, and when I rebooted it also remained at the new address.

      So, assuming you aren’t accidentally backing out of the settings by pressing “cancel” or “esc,” I would guess you just need a firmware update, and typically I recommend starting with the newest minor firmware rev for the major rev you already have.

      But, since shortcuts can only point to PLCs and not HMIs, leaving the VersaView at the wrong address wouldn’t effect your project in any way.

      However I have seen large numbers of non-existent devices cause the PanelView Plus or VersaView CE to take a very long time to boot:

      https://theautomationblog.com/why-does-it-take-my-panelview-plus-several-minutes-to-boot/

      Hope this helps,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  12. Hi, I have a PanelView 800 HMI and I am using Real Data type Tags to read variables from a GE Multilin L90 relay. Communications are working OK between the the HMI and the relay.

    The L90 relay uses FLOATING_POINT IEEE FLOATING POINT (32 bits) for the variables that i need to read, in a range of 0 to 999999.999

    However when reading from the PanelView 800 HMI, the readings are no were close the true readings coming from the relay.

    Can any one help me, how i can program the HMI tags or any other suggestion?

    Thank you.

    • Good morning orlando,

      If both your HMI and Device are set to IEEE 32bit Single Precision Float, then like you I would imagine it would be working. However, I’ve run into many instances where manufacturers do strange things like swap bytes, words, etc, that cause compatibility issues, so your best bet might be contacting the vendor.

      Best of luck,

      Shawn Tierney

  13. I am replacing an old Panel View with a new PVP 7 1000. The program uses 2 device short cuts to 2 separate PLC’s. The new PVP 7 1000 states that it can have one device short cut. Is there any way around this limitation?

  15. I have a PanelView C400. The unit was “new” in the package 3 years ago when I bought four units. I ended up not using but two of them but now have a project I want to use a unit on but the unit won’t power up. I am applying 24VDC. The unit shows the green LED lit but that’s all. Any ideas?

    • Good morning Michael,

      That’s odd. You may want to check with your distributor to see if there was a Rockwell PSA or PN on that batch your unit is from.

      In the mean time, I would suggest attempting to connect to the PVc 400 via USB, and through a web browser see if you can access the configuration and either adjust the brightness or upgrade the firmware to see if either resolves the issue.

      Sincerely,

      Shawn Tierney

  16. I am trying to remote download the MER file to a Panelview Plus 6 via a cellular gateway. I can see and download to my Compactlogix PLC in RSLinx using the Ethernet Driver, but am unable to see the HMI. I have forwarded ports 5900, 2224 (2222), 44819(44818) for both the PLC and (HMI). ANy insight would be greatly appreciated.

    • Good morning whiplash,

      Can you ping the PVPlus 6?

      Sometimes the auto-browsing of RSLinx Enterprise doesn’t find PanelView Plus HMI’s even when you can ping them.

      To get around this you can open ViewStudio (no need to load a project) and on the bottom left choose the communications tab and right click on the Ethernet driver and manually add your PVPlus.

      Then go back to the Transfer utility, select the newly added PVPlus and try to download to it.

      NOTE: Some PVP6 Compact models require v7.02 and v6 won’t find them – more info in this article:

      https://theautomationblog.com/panelview-plus-6-compact-requires-me-transfer-utility-version-7-0-2/

      More about Cell Gateways:

      I know some cellular gateways, like the Prosoft model, can only connect to a single IP address at a time, and must be reconfigured and rebooted to connect to a different address.

      However, if you are using a gateway that acts like a bridge, then the issue may be the default gateway address in the PVPlus – i.e. if the gateway does not put your PC on the same subnet as the PVP6.

      But, if your gateway acts like a VPN, it should give you an IP address on the local network and therefore the default gateway is not relevant, and I would recommend pinging the PVP6, and if that works then try adding it manually as I describe above.

      Hope this helps,

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  17. hello Shawn,

    i have PVP 1500 and it has old HP inkjet driver on it which i have to change out the ink toners more often. so i want to install a Xerox phaser 3260. how hard to install printer driver on this PVP 1500? if possible could you give me some instructions?

    thank you
    John J

  18. Can a dynamic user list be displayed on the PVP 7? I’ve seen this on older PanelView 1000’s, where an admin can go in and see the users configured on the unit. Seems odd that this ability would be removed on these newer units.

  19. Hello Shawn:

    I have a customer that replaced an old PV and it was forced to migrate to a PanelView plus 600.
    Now the graphics are distorted and the terminal works but is hard to read values since all the information displayed looks like is coming from a monitor from 1970, very poor definition.
    Is there an easy way to configure the graphics display or is it needed to retrieve the project, modify it outside with FactoryTalk or RSView studio and send it back?

    I’ll buy you a cup of coffee if you help me on this one.

    Regards,

    Carlos

    • Good afternoon Carlos,

      I’ve converted quite a few old PV’s to PVP’s and ran into this issue whenever someone moves from a larger size screen to a smaller size (say a 7″ to 6″)

      A couple of work arounds include:

      (1) Importing the PV project into ViewStudio without scaling the screens (good solution for small screen count and not very busy screens.)

      This does leave many objects off the visible area of the screen, but often times the screens have so much empty space that it’s easy to move things around to get everything back on the screen.

      (2) Changing all the font sizes back to at least 7, but I recommend 8.

      Scaling a big screen down to a small screen often results in font sizes 6 and below, which honestly can’t be read on the PVP 400 and 600 (or any screen that has a resolution of 320×240)

      I’ve even found Font size 7 pushes it, but sometimes you just need the space.

      There are a number of ways to change all font sizes in a project, but my favorite when I have a ton of screens with a lot of text is to export all the screens to XML, then search all text in all the files at once using Notepad+++, and replacing the old font size with the new one, then reimporting the xml screen files overwriting the old ones. Note – always make a backup first 🙂

      Of course, some objects will still need to be made bigger to fit the now larger font size, so test running the project to find those occurrences helps.

      That said, I’m not sure if I solved your problem or if this was helpful, but I have worked up a pretty big thirst for another cup of coffee 😀

      Have a great weekend,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  21. Hello Shawn
    I am working on a project where I am sending fault messages to a PC using RSLinx and excel. I can easily send the message string from my compact logix plc to excel but can not find a way to send the fault message from my panel view plus 700 to a tag (string) in my plc. Do you know if it is possible to write from the panel view to the plc?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks
    Rene

    • Good morning Rene,

      When I think of PVPlus fault messages, I typically think of alarms displayed on the PVPlus, and those messages are typically triggered from PLC tags.

      So if you want the text of the alarm message sent to a PLC tag, you can enable this in ViewME using the “Message to Tag” check box in the alarm messages setup.

      When you check this box it will send the text of the alarm to the message tag specified on the trigger’s setup.

      But in case you were referring to Diagnostic messages, I checked there too but the only external option I found was to send those messages to an ODBC database.

      Hope this helps,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  22. Hi Shawn,

    Thank you for your post!

    I am working with a PVP700 for a research project and I am wondering if there is a way to configure one of the free ports to log data from the display onto a USB storage device or compact Flash card.
    Thanks,

    Jacob

  23. Hi Shawn,

    Also fairly new to the PV Plus. Used the old panelviews for years then worked almost exclusively with Siemens for the past 5 or 6 years. I uploaded a couple a .mer files that were pre 5.0, so they could not be converted to an application. I happened to find a copy of the app on the company server, so luckily I was able to open it and modify it as necessary. However, I’m not sure of the firmware version of the PV Plus I need to download to. I know its earlier than 5.0, but I don’t see anything on the PV that would indicate firmware. Is there an easier way do identify the firmware version from the .mer file that I uploaded?

    Thanks,

    Danny

    • Good afternoon Danny,

      There’s no easy way I know of to tell what version a .mer or .apa file is as the file itself doesn’t have this information listed in it’s properties.

      So if the software doesn’t tell you when you attempt to run or open the file, then the easiest way to tell is look it up on the PVPlus itself.

      If the PanelView Plus isn’t near you could also just make .mer files for v3.1, 3.2, and 4.0 so you’re prepared no matted which Pre-5 version it is. (fw 4.0 PVP’s will run v3.1 & 3.2 mers)

      PS – If memory serves me correctly, when you restore and open an old .apa you’ll get a popup stating it’s version if it’s older than the ViewStudio you have installed.

      Hope this helps,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

    • Good afternoon Jason,

      Sounds like you have a PanelView Component C600 and Micro830.

      These are typically connected serially via RS232 using a 1761-CBL-PM02 – is that what you have?

      Also, have you flashed them both to a recent firmware? Early firmware revs had some painful limitations.

      If you have the PM02 cable, CCW7 or 8, and recent firmware, by setting both to CIP Serial and the same serial settings they should communicate?

      Hope this helps,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  26. hello shawn Tierney
    i have an old panel view 550 (which is not working now) connected with ML1200 and a dot matrix printer is connected with PV550 (serial Port RS232), which prints some data after every 1 minute, i want to migrate it with pv plus, can suggest me which pv plus model will be suitable with this type of application??

  28. Hello Shawn Tierney,

    I’m a student and I really need help.

    Well, I have a Micro830 and a PV Plus 600 to work together. I’ve programed the Micro830 by Connected Components Workbench and it’s working perfectly. Now what I need to do is to develop and link the HMI program with the Micro830, so then I have to transfer my work into the PV Plus 600 and make them both the Micro830 and the PV Plus 600 to work together.

    The problem is: I have NO IDEA from where I should start. Should I connect the PV Plus 600 and the Micro830 into my computer at the same time ?

    Can you please help me giving me some directions ?

    Thanks a lot for your attention and have a nice day!

    • Good morning Robson,

      You can connect your PVPlus 600 to your Micro830 via the serial port.

      Set your Micro830’s serial port up for DF1 (aka CIP Serial), 19.2K, and make note of the other settings.

      Connect your Micro 830 to your PC’s serial port using the 1761-CBL-PM02 (the PanelView Plus uses a different 2711 serial cable, or the same 1761 cable with a null modem adaptor)

      In your FT View Studio project, under RSLinx Enterprise – Communications Setup, add a shortcut and then under the local tab add a serial driver and match the settings of your Micro 830.

      Then RSLinx should browse your serial port and find the Micro 830, and from there on out you should be able to browse tags in the Micro 830.

      I don’t have any examples of doing this with the 830, but you may still find these videos of using FT View Studio with other PLC’s helpful:

      These Rockwell tech notes may also help:

      https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/504870
      https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/607499
      https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/592812

      Hope this helps,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

          • Hello Shawn Tierney,

            I hope you are doing well.

            Well, I’ve gotten an issue with my project. Once I connect my Micro830 with my PV Plus 600, do I have to navigate through the PV screen in order to browse for the Micro830 ? Because when I connect them by the serial cable, the PV does not show any new connection or any connected device. Am I missing something ?

            Thanks a lot and sorry if I just asked a dumb question..

            Have a nice day,

            Robson.

            • Good afternoon Robson,

              To help, I’ll need some more info:
              – Are you using FTView 8.0 and RSLinx Enterprise 5.6?
              – Is the Micro830 setup for DF1? What is the parity, baud rate, and error checking?
              – In RSLinx E, is the parity, error checking, and baud rate the same as the Micro? Is Autobaud disabled?
              – Did you test this on your PC?
              – What cable are you using with the PC, or with the PanelView?

              Shawn Tierney

              Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

          • Good afternoon Shawn,

            Thanks for replying. I really appreciate it.

            So I’ll answer each one of all the topics you asked, and I really hope I can get through this.

            – Is the Micro830 setup for DF1? What is the parity and baud rate?

            R: Yes. The Micro830 is setup for DF1. The parity is none and the baud rate is 19200.

            – Are you using FTView 8.0 and RSLinx Enterprise 5.6?

            R: Yes. We’re using the FTView 8.0 and RsLinx Enterprise 5.6. Our College just upgraded it for us.

            – In RSLinx E, is the parity and baud rate the same as the Micro? Is Autobaud turned off?

            R: Yes. All the configurations are the same both side.

            – Did you test this on your PC?

            R: I did not understand this question. Are you asking about the HMI application ?

            – What cable are you using with the PC, or with the
            PanelView?

            The cable I’m using is the 1761-CBL-PM02 one to communicate the Micro830 with the computer. And I’m using a crossover cable to communicate the PVPlus with the PC.

            Thanks for your help,

            Robson

            • Robson,

              Thanks for confirming all that for me.

              I suggest testing the project on your PC / Laptop first (if you have a serial port or usb to serial port adaptor) by setting up the Local tab of RSLinx Enterprise with the DF1 driver (note – RSLinx Classic can’t be trying to use the same port at the same time.) and use the PM02 cable between your laptop and the Micro830.

              Hope this helps!

              Shawn Tierney

              Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

          • Hello Shawn,

            I just noticed that there is a message on the bottom of my FTView, which says: “Select a different path- Serial-DF1.Micro830 cannot be used.” .

            Do I have to do anything on RSLinx before I go to FTView ?

            I find myself completely lost now 🙁

            Thanks,

            Robson

            • Robson,

              If you can get the PC / Laptop working, then copy the RSLinx local tab config to the Runtime tab, and add a Null Modem adaptor to the PM02 before connecting it to the PVPlus.

              I say add a null modem adaptor because the PC and Micro are both DTE serial devices, but the PVPlus is a DCE serial device, so I think you’ll need the null modem adaptor for the PVPlus (the PVc and PV800 are also DTE so don’t need a null modem adaptor.) Or, there is another 2711 cable with the mini din connector you can purchase that doesn’t require the null modem adaptor.

              Shawn Tierney

              Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

  30. If your are editing over Ethernet to an Ethernet cabled PVP6/7, then you want to check “Replace communications” when downloading a new “MER” file to a PVP6/7.
    You don’t always want to check “Replace communications” when downloading a new “MER” file to a PVP6/7, if the network drivers are different, i.e. FTV SE Studio using Ethernet and the PVP6/7 is using ControlNET communications. If you are editing a ControlNET PVP6/7 by accessing it over Ethernet – through the back plane – to the ControlNET network, replacing communications will in fact restart the PVP6 using the RSLinx Enterprise Ethernet driver (RSLinxNG). The result is the PVP6/7 will restart with communication error because the PVP6/7 is cabled using ControlNET, not Ethernet. All screens will be blank. If this happens, you will have to go locally, access the setup menu, and re-select the previous communication shortcut, then restart the terminal.

    • Good morning Bruce,

      Thank you very much for your comment, but I think something else is going on in your situation.

      I’m sure you’ll agree the connection to the PanelView Plus (PVP) via the transfer utility on a PC typically requires matching RSLinx Enterprise (RSLE) drivers running on the PC and PVPlus.

      So if I want to download to the PVPlus via Ethernet, I have to have the RSLE Ethernet driver setup in RSLE on my laptop as well as in the PVPlus. Fortunately, both Ethernet drivers are added by default, so using Ethernet is usually just a matter of giving the PVP an IP address on a subnet the PC can connect to.

      The same is true if I wanted to download via Serial – the RSLE DF1P2P driver would need to be running on the PC and PVP (and the baud rate, parity, etc would need to be the same.)

      Now, I agree it’s not this straight forward when you go through a network bridge, as I believe in your case you stated you have a PVP on Controlnet but you download from your laptop via Ethernet through a Ethernet to Controlnet bridge.

      But that aside, for the PVP to communicate to the PLC via RSLE, a shortcut needs only be correctly configured to point to the PLC via a valid communications path. This is typically setup in the “target” tab of the project’s RSLE configuration downloaded to the PVP, but it can also be edited right on the PVP itself.

      So in summary, while I may have the Ethernet or Serial driver in the “target” tab configuration solely for use with the Transfer Utility, I can also have other drivers like Controlnet or DH+ in the “target” tab for use with my PLC shortcut.

      However, when you check the “replace communications” checkbox in the transfer utility, you are in fact just telling the PanelView Plus to use the communications drivers from the RSLE “target” tab of the .MER you are downloading, and to discard the previous RSLE communications settings.

      This is a necessary step in an existing application where the PLC’s node address is later changed. In order for the PVP to find the PLC at the new address, the RSLE “target” tab should be updated, and a new MER should be created and downloaded to the PVP with the “replace communications” checkbox checked to insure the RSLE config from the new MER is used in place of the old RSLE config.

      Yes, as an alternative you could edit the shortcut path to the PLC right on the PVP, but then you wouldn’t be sure you have the correct settings in your FTViewME project’s RSLE config on your PC, as well as in your archived MER file.

      So I always recommend checking the replace communications checkbox if you know the RSLE “target” tab communications configuration is correct in your FTViewME project.

      Now with that above said, I would guess the reason checking the “replace communications” tab causes the result you’re seeing is due to the fact that the correct communications path in your PVP is not the same path you’ll find in your FTViewME project’s RSLE “target” tab on your PC. If that’s case, I would expect exactly what you state to happen.

      To find out, you would need to compare the shortcut config on your PVP to the config found in the FTViewME RSLE target tab in your project – I suspect they differ.

      If you find they do match, and you create a new MER and download it with “replace communications” checked, if the PVP then reboots with some totally different communications path that is not correct and not the one from FTViewME’s RSLE “target” tab or previously on the PVP, then I would not only be very surprised (where is this new incorrect RSLE config coming from?) but I would also suggest reporting this to Rockwell as bug so it can be fixed.

      ————————————–
      For anyone wondering how to find your shortcut path on your PVP, I’ve documented this in the below article:

      http://www.theautomationblog.com/how-to-check-your-rslinx-enterprise-shortcut-on-a-panelview-plus/
      ————————————–

      Sincerely,

      Shawn Tierney

      Join my free community to follow along! You can also become a member and support our work at: Automation.Locals.com

      • Realize, the PVP only uses ControlNET comm’s through the 1756-CNB via the backplane to the controller – no Ethernet channel in the field.

        I now am using a remote Ethernet workstation (desktop or laptop). I am now developing using (Design-Local) Ethernet (1756-ENBT) via the backplane to the controller – not ControlNET at this time. If you match your (Runtime-Target) to the (Design-Local) as you stated by selecting the “Copy from Design to Runtime” tab via RSLE communication set up, you have now changed the previous (Runtime-Target) shortcut path from ControlNET to Ethernet at this time.

        If you now create a new “MER” (runtime file), then download to the PVP using the “download transfer utility” and check the “replace the communications” box, the PVP shortcut will now use an Ethernet connection via the 1756 chassis backplane to the controller, thus replacing the previous ControlNET connection via the 1756 chassis backplane to the controller.

        If no Ethernet cable is connected to the PVP through an existing Ethernet switch, through the 1756-ENBT via the 1756 chassis backplane to the controller, the PVP Ethernet shortcut change made above, will not be able to connect to the controller.

        In this case, as I stated, do not select match your (Runtime-Target) to the (Design-Local). Also, do not check the “replace the communications” box. Check the “Run application at startup” box. The PVP will now restart using the existing ControlNET PVP shortcut (the same PVP RSLE shortcut), communications from the PVP using ControlNET through the 1756-CNB via the chassis backplane to the controller will be established.

        This is the way it works.