I am wondering if someone who knows/remembers the old PP100 series hardware and related software could help me out with this problem.
If someone has a link for AR V2.87 at the B&R site or elsewhere, please kindly share it wit me.
My goal is to setup the 4PP120.0571-01 device to work in Terminal mode (without any CF card).
I have followed the link to the PP100 series AR in this post but I was not able to find V2.87 or a any similar2.8x versions
Also, I am quite experienced with Automation Studio V3.09.x and V4.x, but I’m not very familiar with V2.7 or earlier versions.
IF I get the required or similar upgrade file, can I work with it using the AS V3.09.x or do I absolutely need to go with AS V2.7.x or even V2.6.x?
Finally, can someone clarify if the PP100 series targets SG4 or SG3 type?
I could not find the exactV2.87 (V0287) version of AR for PP100 series on the B&R site.
But I found several 2.9x versions and I hope that would be OK for my needs.
However, I’m having troubles connecting to my 4PP120.0571-01 device (without any CF card, but with Onboard AR T2.96).
The device boots OK to the point where it says the following: Initiating terminal mode. booting, please wait... Loading startup module...
Then, it stops there. But, I guess, that should be expected since there is no CF card to boot from.
So, I tried to use Automation Studio V3.0.90 to connect to my device via a direct Ethernet cable and a standard RS232 cross (null-modem) cable.
But the AS V3.09 does not see the device. Then, I tried to use a PIL script in Runtime Utility Center (RUC) and got connected to the device via the Serial link!
(using the same RS232 cable and Default 57600 bps, Even parity parameters).
Can you (or anyone else reading this thread) please provide me with more information on How to establish connection from AS and Download the AR to the Onboard storage of the PP120 device? Also, is AS V3.00.90 good enough, of do I have to use AS V2.7 or even earlier version?
there’s a difference between the onboard AR and the “runtime / CF” AR.
The onboard AR is installed directly on a chip in the PP100, and is not a full-featured AR - it just boots the hardware, provides the bootloader (e.g. for transferring a “runtime” AR to a CF card), and has (hardware-dependent) some more restricted functionality like the terminal mode if running a PP without CF (that are exactly the messages you see when booting the PP100 without a CF card).
Upgrading the onboard AR means, you need exactly that version Jaroslav mentioned.
Such onboard upgrades of this old legacy hardware were not done by Automation Studio (independent of the versions), but by a dedicated tool installer called “Onboard AR Upgrade” (based on PVITransfer) that was provided by B&R many years ago.
So it’s normal that you can’t connect with Automation Studio for a normal download, and you can’t download any AR version.
Unfortunately I can’t find this legacy tool on the website.
So I strongly recommend to contact your local B&R support: they have to check, if they can provide the setup for “Onboard AR Upgrade” (from a very old conversation on my PC, I found the version information “Onboard AR Upgrade Version 2.5.28006” → I think that was the last version including Onboard AR 2.87 for PP100 … please ask your local B&R support for that version).
Big thanks for your detailed explanation and advice!
In fact, I found this Onboard AR Upgrade page at the B&R site.
It seems like that is the software (and the version) that you are referring to. Can you please take a look and confirm?
I have downloaded and installed the sofrware, but have not tried to use it yet.
I run the Onboard AR Upgrade software and after solving some initial troubles with RS232 connection,
I have successfully upgraded the Onboard AR to V2.87! Now, the last several lines displayed on the booting screen of the device are:
Initiating terminal mode... Searching Terminal Server
Unfortunately, I’m unable to test with a real VC4 Terminal Server at the moment. So, I will have to take my PP120 device onsite for final testing.
Thank you very much to you and Jaroslav for very helpful info!