T1H-DM1 unable to attach my computer

[rickshea1]

Hello

I have a T1H-DM1 SN:00 00 1C 00 00 67 and it has a problem somewhere. There are times when I go to attach to the CPU and my computer says "unknown device" and you can not attach to it. You have to power down / up the system and maybe it will attach to the computer. It always attach's after a third attempt. Today I noticed the operator interface could not change modes. That's very odd since it's worked all day. When I went to attach I got the "unknown device" again. After cycling the power again I could attach and the operator interface worked. Is there a problem with the early Do Mores. It only seems to be this CPU.
OS = 1.3.2
Booter = 1.0.2
FPGA = 1.2
Hardware = 3a

[ADC Product Engineer]

Since your Operator Interface is also having issues, you might want to check your grounding.  What you are describing is a pretty common issue when there is a poor ground connection to the PLC.  Measure Neutral to Ground, the voltage should be less than 0.1VAC.

[rickshea1]

Thank you. I'll check that out this morning.

[rickshea1]

Here is an update on the "Neutral to Ground" voltage. On the AC side I didn't see any or the tester I used couldn't pick any up. Most of our systems are DC including the racks or power supplies so as a test I checked the 0vdc and ground. there was a difference of 0.14 - 0.18 volts. I grounded out the 0vdc line and now read nothing. I will continue to attach and detach my computer for the next couple of days and see if that helped with the CPU comm ports and the interface communications.

Thanks  

[BobO]

DC supplies are frequently troublesome with serial comm ports and it seems like it is always grounding issues.

[rickshea1]

Well it's not the power supply or the grounding. I just tried to attach to the CPU (T1H-DM1) and this is what I got. "USB DEVISE NOT RECOGNIZED. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned and windows does not recognize it.". This time I tried to reboot my computer and see what happens. Same response. I cycle the power on the CPU and it works. Something in the CPU is being jazzed up and it takes a reboot to fix it? any ideas. This machine is shipping out to California soon. When I talk to Automation Direct they say they have never heard of this happening. Anyone know how I can get a hold of HOST directly? I've already tried to reload the drivers. Twice. Same thing.

[MikeS]

Do-more Designer does not ship and USB drivers for communication with the do-more CPU, it uses a driver that is shipped with the Windows OS. So which drivers are you trying to reload ?

Let me make sure I understand the hardware setup you have:

the terminator power supply you are using is the a T1K-01DC ? and is the DC power coming from a transformer ? or a generator ?

Is the computer running Do-more Designer a laptop ? if so, does it help if you run the laptop off of it's battery ?

Are there other comm devices plugged into the T1H-DM1E cpu ? do they get power from a different source ?

[rickshea1]

Hello

Yes the terminators power supply is DC and the power is coming from a transformer with a line conditioner. The computer is a lap top and I've run it both ways with AC and with the battery. I will get the same response. There is an operator interface attached and it shares the same power supply as the PLC's power supply.

It's been awhile I believe I did a windows driver re-install and I've re-installed the Do more software at least once maybe a month ago on the advise of Automation Direct. Note: the software is up to date. The odd thing is this is the only CPU I have trouble with. What throws me is that I can attach - detach and it's good or when I go to attach again I might get this fault. It only goes away when I power down and up the CPU. The fault will go away. I wouldn't be so concerned if it wasn't for the fact the interface couldn't make a change until I recycle the CPU. It did not loose communications it just could change anything. I am in "term" mode.

Rick   

[rickshea1]

Today and Tuesday I'm going to continue to attach and detach using my personal computer. This should narrow down the "USB DEVISE NOT RECOGNIZED" problem.

[rickshea1]

I switched computers for two days (I used my personal computer) to attach and It did not fail. I then looked at the drivers in my programming computer and found a "USB Virtual Driver" listed among the drivers. My personal computer did not have that driver so I deleted it from my programming computer. I tried to attach my programming computer to the CPU this morning 6 times using different ports and It did not fail. Unfortunately we had to start to break it down for shipping. Perhaps that "USB Virtual Driver" was causing a problem. Thanks for all your help.

[BobO]

Entirely possible. There are other examples (looking at you, Dell Stage) of applications that mess us up on USB.

[ADC Product Engineer]

"USB Virtual Driver" is generally used for Virtual Machines such as the XP virtual machine that can be installed in Windows 7.  It is basically a way to redirect a USB driver to another operating system than the main one that boots.  It certainly can cause the issues that you were describing.