Cannot read tag in S7-400 PLC

Bit of a strange situation, but Ignition is refusing to read a tag on a PLC that definitely exists. The full tag path is "[SIG01]DB5000,X0.0" (boolean tag).

Background:

I recently changed the structure of DB5000, after this Ignition refuses to read any tags inside of the DB. It always gives the error: [null, Bad("Bad_ConfigurationError: There is a problem with the configuration that affects the usefulness of the value."), Thu Apr 30 12:00:51 CEST 2026 (1777543251357)]. There are other tags also being read on the PLC (other DB's as well) and they work fine.

What I have tried:

  • Restarting the OPC-UA module
  • Removing the OPC Device and re-adding it (using same name)
  • Connecting to PLC via Kepware to confirm PLC side - This works
  • Added device 'test' in Ignition OPC using the same connection settings and adding the DB5000 tag - This works
  • Exporting tags as JSON and deleting them from the designer, then importing them again
  • Creating a seperate tag with the same DB5000 address
  • Deleting the DB from PLC and moving to DB5001 - This works (but we need this to be DB5000)
  • Going online and Deleting DB5000, then downloading it back to the PLC - This doesn't work
  • Exported all tags in the gateway and searcing for [SIG01]DB5000 tags to ensure there are no duplicate tags

Details:

  • Programmed in Simatic Manager
  • Connected using S7-400 driver
  • Port 102
  • CPU slot nr 3 (S7-400 CPU with CP card)
  • Ignition 8.1.37 (b2024013011)
  • Siemens Comfort Panel accessing the same tags

I am hoping there is some kind of cache that is causing this issue, a cache that can be wipe without causing issues to other devices since this is a production system.

Tag export:

{
  "name": "JDESI",
  "typeId": "JDESI",
  "tagType": "UdtInstance",
  "tags": [
    {
      "name": "Control",
      "tagType": "Folder",
      "tags": [
        {
          "name": "ic_ReqManual",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_Planned",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_ReqAckAlarms",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_ReqAuto",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_ReqStop",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "valueSource": "opc",
          "opcItemPath": "[SIG01]DB5000,X0.0",
          "dataType": "Boolean",
          "historyEnabled": false,
          "name": "ic_Interlock",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_Warning",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_ReqStart",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ic_ReqReset",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Status",
      "tagType": "Folder",
      "tags": [
        {
          "valueSource": "opc",
          "opcItemPath": "[SIG01]Mx151.2",
          "name": "ps_Running",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_Consumables",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_Stopped",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "valueSource": "opc",
          "opcItemPath": "[SIG01]Mx10000.6",
          "opcServer": "Ignition OPC UA Server",
          "name": "ps_Heartbeat",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_Ready",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "valueSource": "derived",
          "deriveExpressionGetter": "{source}\u003d\u0027Connected\u0027",
          "deriveExpressionSetter": "",
          "sourceTagPath": "[System]Gateway/Devices/SIG01/Status",
          "name": "ps_Connected",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_Idle",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "valueSource": "derived",
          "deriveExpressionGetter": "!{source}",
          "deriveExpressionSetter": "!{value}",
          "sourceTagPath": "[.]ps_ModeManual",
          "name": "ps_ModeAuto",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_MaintAM",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_LineDelay",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "name": "ps_MaintPM",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "valueSource": "opc",
          "opcItemPath": "[SIG01]DB5000,X0.1",
          "historyEnabled": false,
          "opcServer": "Ignition OPC UA Server",
          "name": "ps_BypassInterlock",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        },
        {
          "valueSource": "opc",
          "opcItemPath": "[SIG01]Mx139.0",
          "name": "ps_ModeManual",
          "tagType": "AtomicTag"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Do you have any other tags pointing within that DB, that may have been broken by the change that you made?

Currently, no. The DB shrank down from a list of tags to a remaining 2 tags (both booleans) with a few spare tags to fill the required word size. Thus, only the 2 tags that are giving an error still exist.