Some updates for April

I has been 3 weeks since my last blog. I guess that means I owe you at least 3 items of interest. Here is the latest.

1. A problem has been uncovered involving USB download/upload communications. It has nothing to do with the software or firmware. You can rest easy on that. It has to do with power supplies and ground loops when the HMI, PLC, and PC are all connected.

Each one has its own power supply. The HMI power supply is isolated so it is not the problem. The problem occurs when the PLC is connected to the HMI and the USB cable is connected to the HMI. If the PLC ground is floating or offset from the PC's ground, then problems begin to happen that could damage the PLC or the PC (or both). For this reason we now recommend that you disconnect the PLC from the HMI before connecting the USB cable.

Here is a link the FAQ. (See Step 5) It also includes USB cable information.

2. A customer reported that the GE Fanuc SNP-X driver had trouble writing to M_bits with addresses greater than 256. If you were experiencing this problem, we apologize for the inconvenience.

Here is a link to the new driver. Simply unzip the file. This yields a folder named "driver". Copy the driver folder into the EB8000 folder on your PC. It willask if you want to replace files. Of course, you select Yes.

3. I know EB8000 version 3.42 was announced last blog, but now an even better version should be up for testing, V3.44. I hope to have this up on my website by Tuesday April 12th.

The new version fixes the bugs found during testing and adds a new feature that allows support for lower baud rate devices. Baud rates 2400 and 1200 are now supported. Beware of slow updates with objects that use information from these slower devices.