Comms between LabVIEW 8.5 & Siemens S7-314

[Paulh4700]

Hi - I'm trying to set up comms between LabVIEW 8.5 and a Siemens S7-314 PLC. I hope to use Labview DSC shared variables via NI OPC Server to read from/write to the PLC.

I hope to use MPI to communicate as the PLC has MPI comms already installed. On the hardware side does anyone know:

• If I still need to use the Siemens S7 PC adapter (6ES7 972-0CA23-0XA0) when I use the S7 MPI driver in NI OPC Server to connect to the PLC?
• Do I connect directly into the CPU or do I need to use a comms. card?

On the software side 

• Will NI OPC Servers allow me to pull all of the tags from the CPU or do I need to manually set them up. (I have the tags so this isn't a big issue)

Any help would be appreciated - college project due in 3 months & starting to get nervous!!

[unclebump]

Sounds like you will need the MPI adapter. See here for some info on OPC with Siemens S7.

http://www.kepware.com/Spec_Sheets/Siemens_S7_MPI.html

[Paulh4700]

Thanks unclebump - manged to get the PLC side sorted but there's a bigger problem. When I use OPC quick client (or any client for that matter) to open comms through OPC server  it crashes my laptop completely i.e. the blue screen of death!

Any ideas? I've matched the com port settings to the channel settings in OPC server and to the device settings in Measurement & Automation explorer, I'm using a USB to serial converter and it appears to be working OK according to device manager. I downloaded NI-Serial also but it doesn't smme to have any effect?

Any help / suggestions appreciated!

[Jeremy_T]

Hi Paul

I've been taking a look into this issue but as of yet I've not been able to find any history of similar occurances. Is the laptop crashing the moment communication begins or is it after a brief while that it stops working? What manufacturer of laptop are you using? Have you had the opportunity to note down the error code when when the blue screen of death appears?

Also, you could take a look at some general trouble-shooting tips for OPC servers here:

Troubleshooting OPC Client I/O Servers (DSC Module)

Kind Regards

[Paulh4700]

Thanks Geremy - I've been putting some time into this over the last few weeks & have made some progress.

• I've moved from a Laptop (Dell Vostro 1000 Vista Home Basic) to a Lenovo desktop with XP Pro
• Used Siemens S7 to confirure the PG/PC interface (S7 uses even parity - OPC uses odd, which meant changing over the COM port settings each time)
• Used a bespoke comms cable (RS232 pins 2x3, 7x8 1-4-6, and 5) to connect

So far I've been able to establish comms from OPC quick client via OPC server to the PLC next for the DSC module, I've already completed the LabVIEW part off-line so in theory...........................