Upgrade of software verions

[Meeg]

Hi

I have several "old" systems running on software 1.25.56 and now I want to upgrade these systems to 1.35.277.

Can this cause any problems? The hardware is from 2017-2019?

The reason I want to do this is to avoid having to many versions and also it seems that the new software have the very useful possibility to save retained tags to the SD-card.

Except from this the PLC program are more or less the same. 

 

[kvlada]

I've always updated Unitronics PLCs to newest firmware (both U90, Vision and UniStream) as soon as it's released.

Never had any problems.

But always take precautions:

1. Make sure you have the correct ladder program (user app). Upgrading OS might sometimes wipe the user app, so you must download it again after the OS update is over.

2. Before doing anything, make a backup of the PLC memory (retained tags) and data tables.

3. If you have access UniApps (a.k.a. Info Mode on Vision), go there and make a complete backup of program & retained memory to SD card.

4. If PLC doesn't have an SD card, buy a 16 - 32GB card and load it into the PLC. They're pretty cheap nowadays. Perform the upgrade by telling Unilogic to save the new OS files to SD card (that's how I do it), instead to your memory stick. That way you don't need to worry about faulty or unsupported USB flash drives connected to the USB port. And next time you upgrade the OS, you don't even need to open the panel, because the SD card is already there.

5. For compatibility, your USB flash or SD card must be formatted to FAT32, and not larger than 32GB. Otherwise UniStream might not be able to recognize it.

6. OS update will take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, mostly depending on the speed of your media. I've found that SD cards are somewhat faster than USB sticks. Make sure you're allowed to halt the PLC for this duration of time.

[Ausman]

5 hours ago, kvlada said:

as soon as it's released.

Don't get me wrong, but I'm curious as to why?  If the system is working ok, then isn't it simply "busy work"?  Or are you trying to keep everything you work with on the same version?  If the latter and you deal with lots of different sites, you are going to end up with a very, very big headache.

Although it's for Vision, have a look at this:

https://forum.unitronics.com/topic/7245-dont-update-just-because-you-can/

cheers, Aus

[Flex727]

23 hours ago, kvlada said:

I've always updated Unitronics PLCs to newest firmware (both U90, Vision and UniStream) as soon as it's released.

Personally, I believe this to be a huge mistake. PLCs are not like Windows computers & software. Sometimes there is a specific reason for upgrading (important and needed new feature being added, internet security, bug causing your particular installation problems being fixed, etc), but routine upgrading just because a new version is out - no.

[kvlada]

19 hours ago, Ausman said:

Don't get me wrong, but I'm curious as to why?  If the system is working ok, then isn't it simply "busy work"?

Reason is that VisiLogic doesn't allow you to download a ladder application if the PLC OS is not the same as one in VisiLogic. What happens when I have to make some changes to an app which was made with an older version of VL?

Of course, I could have many virtual machines with different VisiLogic / UniLogic versions, or use Version Swapper, but these are just complicated band-aids. Sometimes you need the new versions for new features, and they might even be mandatory due to security issues (introducing PCOM Passwords for example).

I've never encountered an issue that old program doesn't work with a newer firmware, and I've done OS upgrades of some apps that I've made in 2008-2009 time. That's why I believe Unitronics will be consistent in never breaking things in the future, as opposed to IT where "move fast and break things" is the norm.

Another reason is that I never know when the factory process is able to completely halt due to PLC being in stop mode. Sometimes the process or a machine can't stop for days. So, I like to keep downtimes at minimum, and upgrade as soon as possible. Once the OS is newest, I can later download a new ladder app without hitting a brick wall of having to shutdown everything for half an hour or so.

I understand your concerns... I just like to keep things simple and tidy, and not worry about OS.

[Ausman]

OK, I get all that.  It sounds like you are just in one factory?  

[kvlada]

8 hours ago, Ausman said:

OK, I get all that.  It sounds like you are just in one factory?  

I've got about 10 different plants I manage on per call basis, plus around 5 new one-time plants per year which I just automate and forget.

Out of them there's 2 which are in 24/7 operation. When a software patch is needed, I can't simply shut down the PLC running the process. That's why it's important to update OS at downtime, so when the patching time comes, I can download the new app without restarting the PLC.

[Flex727]

15 hours ago, kvlada said:

Reason is that VisiLogic doesn't allow you to download a ladder application if the PLC OS is not the same as one in VisiLogic. What happens when I have to make some changes to an app which was made with an older version of VL?

Of course, I could have many virtual machines with different VisiLogic / UniLogic versions, or use Version Swapper, but these are just complicated band-aids.

Nothing complicated about it. UniLogic allows as many different versions installed simultaneously as you wish. Just select the correct shortcut when starting up the software. VisiLogic has one extra step (running Version Swapper), but still you don't need anything like separate "virtual machines".