Connecting to an AB Slick 5/04 via a Dell XP and Card Reader?

General Discussion
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I know this isn’t Ignition related hence the general discussion tag but this also just happens seems to me to be the most popular forum talks about plcs that is usable and modern (plcs.net is a pain and the search feature is broken).

I’ve been asked to finally start doing ladder logic stuff on an Allen Bradley Slick 5/04. It’s been fun, I been finding the ladder logic stuff is pretty simple to understand and kind of “pure” in a way that python isn’t, this bit triggers that bits tickles my brain in a nice way.

However, what isn’t nice, is to actually connect to this PLC is I was given a Dell Latitude with a card reader and a Allen-Bradley PMCIA Card that goes into the card reader. This flimsy wire then connects the card to the PLC. I have used old laptops before to connect to a Series 5 via a serial port so I get that sometimes you just need these things, but surely there must be a better way? Or is this standard practice? Is there really now way to use a modern Linux (or other) OS that can connect with this hardware and be capable of connecting with other older PLC’s given it had the right hardware installed? For this example I figure I would still have to use this PMCIA card, but I am hoping I don’t need a decade old Dell Latitude running windows XP to use it.

I’m new to this part of the field and work at a tiny-ish company so I don’t know if this is standard or if this could be something we improve upon.

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A 5/04 has a serial port, no?

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It does have rs-232 (think that’s the right term? still new to the hardware stuff) but that is being used to a prosoft to connect to a panelview via ethernet so I have to use DH+ for this instance.

This is still a development stage so I supposed I could disconnect the HMI and try connecting that way but my question of “do companies keep old laptops around to connect to older devices or is this not the best way” is really the main thing I am curious about. Is this just how things are or is this something specific to my company?

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It’s been a while but the last time I had to do DH+ I used 1784-U2DHP (I think that was the model)

Adding a switch between ProSoft and HMI would be my choice if it’s possible, then the HMI would still function.

Also, from memory (poor) there wasn’t a way to use PCMK and VMWare, however I think U2DHP could.

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5

Yes, you definitely want to use the 1784-U2DHP. It works just fine in my Linux KVM virtual machines, too.

To connect from Ignition, I recommend a 1756-DHRIO module paired with an EN2T or better in a Logix chassis. (Can coexist with other stuff there.)

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Yes that is what we are doing. Slick 5/04 → ProSoft → PanelView 7. Their old PanelView was connected directly to DH+ but that broke and so the newer model replacement which does not have DH+ needed the Prosoft in between.

Ah I see there are cables like that, and wow are they pricey. Thanks for the input. Right now I’m just having trouble with the drivers for this PMCIA Card, and all forum posts I find are from 2006-2009 with dead links so I was hoping for a newer alternative.

I will look around the office maybe we have one somewhere, though I have a feeling if we did, we wouldn’t be using this PMCIA Card Reader in a Dell Latitude to do this.

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Great point, forgot about that as an option.

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I don’t think that is correct, the newer PV+ do not support RIO, but still allow DH+ with the module on the back.

To add, I am pretty sure about this for PV+6, but not so much about PV+7.

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Oh, one more thing: Many of the “newer” DH+ products can be switched or configured to run at 230k instead of ~57k, the original speed. For the 5/04, you’d have to do that with a temporary connection through the serial port. Running at 4x speed is much nicer.

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Turned out it was not anything I was doing wrong, the card itself was broke and luckily we have a few backups. Ordering some more from eBay. I was pulling my hair out earlier trying to get this working.

I do see the 230k rate but that would NOT work through the DH+ connection you’re saying?

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Yes, it is DH+. But all participants on the bus must be manually configured to use the same speed. So it is difficult to successfully configure it through DH+ port on the processor.

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I would have thrown a 5/05 controller in this so fast it isn't even funny, but then I also have some just laying around for just such occasions, as the equipment waits to "eventually" be upgraded.

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I hope its ok to ask this here. I have an account at plctalks.net but I’m not allowed to post. If there’s another PLC centered The AB Slick5/04 I have is connected to a Prosoft PLX41-DF1-ENI and that is how my PanelView Plus 7 Standard is connected to the PLC, via ethernet via the ProSoft.

I have my HMI with my program on it and my PLC has the program I worked on it. The panelview seems to somewhat be communicating right - changing an I7 integer I know is somewhere on the screen does change to what I changed it to in RS Logix 500.

The issue I am having is that my HMI keeps giving me an errors at top like Local PCCC error 0x20 reading B3:6-B3:8 from SLC At 192.168.1.100. It makes navigating the HMI a hassle as every button press seems to trigger it.

One thing I read seems to say that this is a network issue, that it’s on a busy network. Is that the only issue? Is there a way to fix this or suppress this error if its not important? I have things setup on my local office network so there is other traffic. I don’t know if that is what’s causing it or what. Any insight or alternative forum to look to would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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DF1 through the serial port is brutally slow. You might just be overloading it.

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