Host Engineering Forum
General Category => Do-more CPUs and Do-more Designer Software => Topic started by: plcnut on January 03, 2013, 10:44:33 AM
-
I have a problem with data view locking up, and not updating. If I turn Status off and then back on it will be fine, but usually does not update reliably for more than a few seconds. I thought that maybe it was my bogged down computer, but I just bought a brand new laptop with an i7 processor and 8gb of ram with win7 professional, and I have the same problem. I also occasionally get an error(I believe it is a timeout error but can't remember for sure) when trying to download an update to the plc.
Do I just need to change a setting somewhere? Any advice is appreciated.
-
Are you getting any comm errors (click on the Link Info pane on the status bar, where the link name and user name are shown, e.g. Online/Default User/MySim). This will bring up a dialog with any logged comm errors.
Also what version of Designer do you have (Help->About)?
Make sure you have the latest display driver updates for your laptop (many times this is the issue, if it's not due to comm failures)
-
I'm running version 1.0.2, and all firmware is up to date with the latest Live update.
Here's a screenshot of the error screen:
-
Turn all status OFF (see No Status button in line tool bar).
Open up a data view and enter something for it to monitor where the value is changing (e.g. $ScanCounter in RUN mode or $Now in Program mode). Then turn status ON for JUST the Data View (right click on the Data View and check Status On at the bottom of the context menu).
Then do a screen shot of the Link Info page (like you just did). Save that screen shot to a file. Then once the Data View status quits updating (i.e. you see the bug), do another screen shot of the Link Info page and save that to another file.
Post both of those screen shots to this forum.
FYI, 1.0.2 is the latest Designer version, so you're okay.
-
Apparently I am overloading Data view. I did as you said, and opened 1 data view with only one item ($Scancounter) and made sure it was the only status enabled. I did not have any problems with it updating. When I went back and looked, all of the other data views I was using had about 50 items each. I was only using one of them at a time, but when I watched the transaction count in the link monitor, it was moving 180 transactions a second and 800 item transfer rate per second. after a little while of running it slows down and stops updating but there are no errors when it happens.
-
When it messes up the transfer rate drops to about 23 transfers a second and 26 items per second.
-
Whoa! Yeah, there is definitely some bandwidth limitations when doing comm, even if your processor can do an infinite loop in 6 seconds ;D.
What do you mean "one at a time"? Are you disabling status on all views, and then enabling status on only the one view? Or???
There is a work-around to throttle down Data View requests, if you want. The default update rate for Data Views are 50ms. Those can be slowed down if you need to have a TON of data points at one time. However, you must tweak the DmDesigner.ini file to do it. Let me know if you need this info.
-
"one at a time" = disable all status, then turn the status on for one data only (click the data view header to focus, then slick the status icon).
I did not realize that I had so many items in my data view :/ I just kept adding things here and there as I went, and it added up...
I may throttle back the update time if I end up needing to view that much at once, but for now I'll just work with a few less items in my data views.
It would appear that if a data view ever gets behind, it never tries to recover, it just freezes and waits to be turned off and back on. Maybe there could be an automatic retry?
-
It would appear that if a data view ever gets behind, it never tries to recover, it just freezes and waits to be turned off and back on. Maybe there could be an automatic retry?
It never stops trying. There is something far more fundamental at work here, probably something OS related....memory, video...something. The PC is somehow getting constipated. The 'Session failed' error in the list is when the session handle goes bad and attempts to restore it fail. It will only go bad when there are no successful comms for 30 seconds. Something bad has happened for us to be unable to talk for 30 seconds.
I'm wondering if it is some kind of power management thing, where the OS is attempting to dial back a bit, causing things to get backed up...
-
If you ever need to throttle it back (this is typically only needed for older, slower PCs), in the Applications panel of the Launch Pad dockable/floatable view in Designer, click on the DmDesigner.ini file and hit the RUN button in the panel. This will open the .INI file in Notepad.
Scroll down to the [SETUP] section and look for the entry with a semicolon in front ;DataViewInterval=50. The semicolon is a "comment" character, so just delete the semicolon and then change the value from 50 to 100 (or 150 or 200). This is the update time in milliseconds for items in the Data View. If the line is missing, just add it by hand under the [SETUP] group.
So you should end up with something like
[SETUP]
...
DataViewInterval=100
...
in your DmDesigner.ini file.
Save and close Notepad, then shut down all instances of Do-more Designer and then re-run it, and your Data Views should no longer "fall behind".
-
BobO,
The "session Failed" is where I powered down the PLC while working in the panel.
I opened up a data view after Franji1 posted earlier with the %Scancounter as the only item and it has not missed a beat since, but I did open up another data view with approximately 50 items in it including quite a few String elements, and it varies in how long, but it will stop updating after a few seconds to a few minutes. Once it stops updating, it will not restart until I turn status off and back on again.
-
Open Task Manager. Please tell me what CSMainDm.exe and DmDesigner.exe are doing (memory and CPU load) when it's working and when it fails.
-
Oh yeah...and what is your PLC scan time and the port you are talking to on the DM1?
-
TaskMan1 is while it is working,TaskMan2 is when it is stopped.
Scan times: Min 723us Avg 1.9ms Max 8.7ms
Talking on the Ethernet port through a switch with a c-more.
-
I've had a data view full of strings (100-ish) for a while now. About 175 xfers per second, and about 2500 items per second...no retries, no errors.
Given that your tasks don't get slow or get bloated, comm just starts slowing down, I'm wondering about the switch or some other Windows process that is getting backed up.
In your Task Manager, sort by CPU and see if anything is taking 12%. Barring that, I'm thinking switch...
-
CPU is running 9 to 11% total, the switch is an un-managed 8 port switch from AD. If it was the switch wouldn't it stop all the data views from updating instead of only the big one?
-
You said the comm rate slowed down. That is at the Comm Server level and has nothing to do with displays. Also given the comm errors, it's pointing to something comm side. Given that the processes are remaining very stable, it doesn't suggest that DmD or the Comm Server are at fault. The only thing left is something in the system dragging butt or the hose to the PLC. Since it works, then slows down until you stop status, and then recovers, it points to something somewhere getting backed up.
When you read large numbers of strings, your packet sizes are going to about 1k. I'm just wondering if the large number of large packets is causing something in the comm pathway to fall behind.
Is the C-more running at the same time? If so, does disconnecting it alter the behavior?
-
Is the C-more running at the same time? If so, does disconnecting it alter the behavior?
I'll do some more testing...
-
I think I'm just overworking the network, Here are two screenshots, one as I turn the second data view on, and the next when it freezes.
-
I felt kind of dumb when I looked at the screenshots I posted ::), I did not realize that the network graph was auto scaling, so it does not look like I was hitting the network so hard after all. Anyway, as long as I keep my data views of reasonable size they are fine.
Thanks again.
-
Yeah, I knew that...but it is a very easy mistake to make. :-[
I wish we had a better answer than 'don't do that' however...
-
It's probably something to do with Win7.
I hated to make the leap from XP, it had finally got to be a decent OS(for a PC), but my old laptop was about finished.
I went with Win 7 professional, and the best processor and memory that I could afford hoping it would keep up...
I wish my computer was as simple as the DoMore :)
-
I have another small problem with dataview: I have element and nicknames checked in dataview options, and whenever I do an edit to the Do-more memory editor, (like adding a new block) and save it to the PLC, all of the items in my dataview that have nicknames are now broken, and I have to re-enter them.
-
I have another small problem with dataview: I have element and nicknames checked in dataview options, and whenever I do an edit to the Do-more memory editor, (like adding a new block) and save it to the PLC, all of the items in my dataview that have nicknames are now broken, and I have to re-enter them.
Yes. Sorry about that. :-[ That's on our "to do" list to fix.
-
Thanks, 8) I wasn't complaining, just passing on what I find...
-
Thanks, 8) I wasn't complaining, just passing on what I find...
No, no no! We don't take those as complaints. We're embarassed that you, our customers, have to FIND those in our products. We WANT YOU TO REPORT THEM.
We want what you want - a good product that's easy to use, THAT JUST WORKS.
-
I don't know much about it, but is there a way to enable smooth scrolling for the horizontal in dataview? It is a pain to change sizes on the cell width when it automatically places the cell edge on the edge of the screen.
-
I don't know much about it, but is there a way to enable smooth scrolling for the horizontal in dataview? It is a pain to change sizes on the cell width when it automatically places the cell edge on the edge of the screen.
Sorry, no. Just whole columns :-\.
-
I have another small problem with dataview: I have element and nicknames checked in dataview options, and whenever I do an edit to the Do-more memory editor, (like adding a new block) and save it to the PLC, all of the items in my dataview that have nicknames are now broken, and I have to re-enter them.
Just fixed this one. It will be in the next Designer update.
-
Feature request: A fill down button for dataview.
When monitoring a range of user defined memory, it seems like a huge waste of time when I have to go through typing them all out, or, going through pasting and then editing the index...
-
Feature request: A fill down button for dataview.
When monitoring a range of user defined memory, it seems like a huge waste of time when I have to go through typing them all out, or, going through pasting and then editing the index...
Just enter the FIRST element of the range, then hit CTRL+ENTER on that cell. Continue to hit CTRL+ENTER to get a bunch of elements in a range. This feature is also in DirectSOFT's Data View.
You can also go to the next STRUCTURE FIELD (e.g. T0.Acc, then T0.Done, then T0.Zero, then T0.Timing, etc.) by hitting CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER. You can also EXPAND all the key STRUCTURE FIELDs of a Structure element by hitting the same CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER on a structure ELEMENT (e.g. T0 will then expand to T0.Acc, T0.Done, T0.Zero, T0.Timing, and T0.Reset).
To learn all this cool stuff in a Data View, RIGHT CLICK on an element/cell to see the context menu for THAT element. This includes these short cuts, but also creating Trend View from the contents of THAT Data View, sorting, exporting, et. al.
Right Click is very powerful feature in Do-more Designer, like in various nodes of the Module Browser and various instructions and elements in the Ladder View.
-
OK... so I feel a little dumb for missing that... :-\
But Thanks! that saves a lot of time :)
-
But Thanks! that saves a lot of time :)
Trust me, don't feel bad. There's so many things in DirectSOFT and Designer that long time users do not know is there (e.g. various hot keys, F9 for seeing what elements are valid in any element field, right click menus, ...).
We tried very hard to point out many "hidden" operations be listed in the right-click context menus. Hence why I highlighted using right click in most of the various views - just right-click anywhere to see any possible features in THAT context.