Updating the XGB PLC OS - LS Electric XGB PLC from AutomationDirect

In any electronic device, updates are inevitable. Sometimes there is a bug that needs to be fixed. Sometimes there is a better feature available for the hardware. Whatever the reason, there are times when updating the OS of our XGB PLC hardware becomes necessary. For the XGB PLC the OS is similar to firmware in other PLCs. OS updates for the XGB PLC series will either use the “Flash Download” utility or the XG5000 software. The CPU and a few other modules will use “Flash Download” whereas most expansion modules will use the XG5000 software. The “Flash Download” software, as well as current OS files may be found at AutomationDirect.com. Let’s start by using “Flash Download” to update the OS revision on our CPU. For the CPU in our example, we are using the XEM-DN32HP. Please note that it is important to get the most recent version of the OS, and not just the version we are using in this video. As we look at the software interface, we see several fields that need to be populated. We are flashing the OS to a PLC from the XGB series, and it is the main unit. For the target type we will select XEM. For the “OS” area we will click the “browse” button and then browse to the download folder where we have the current version of the OS saved. We select it and click “Open.” We will connect to the CPU using USB and the CPU must be in Stop mode. It isn’t possible to update the OS over Ethernet. Now that we have all of our fields setup correctly, are physically plugged into the CPU from our PC, and the CPU is in stop mode, we are ready to download. If we click “Download” we see a progress bar pop up, and when the download is complete, we get a positive confirmation that it downloaded successfully. If there was an issue preventing the download, such as the PLC being in run mode, we would get a different message indicating what the issue was. Now that we have updated the OS, we will need to cycle power to get back online with the CPU. This same process can be used to flash an older OS version to the CPU. Let’s verify the CPU is running the OS we want it to. Once XG5000 is back online with the CPU, we can go to Online>System Diagnostics>PLC Information, and under the CPU tab we can look at the CPU version number. We see it matches our OS file revision number of 2.31. We can now rewrite our program to the CPU. Certain non-CPU modules, such as high-speed counters, also use the “Flash Download” utility for updating their OS. The process is almost identical, but we will select a different “Kind,” “Target,” and “OS” to match our module. We will also need to select the correct slot number the module is located at. It is very important this slot number matches the XG5000 slot numbering. Do not just count how many modules are attached. Some CPUs, like ours, use the integrated motion controller as slot 1, so our counter module is in slot 5, even though it is the 4th connected expansion module. To verify the OS revision for special modules we will go to “Communication Module Setting and Diagnosis>System Diagnosis.” This opens the “LSPLC” tab in the main window. Here we can right-click on our specialty module, in this case a high-speed counter, and click “Special Module Information.” Some modules, such as the XBL-EIPT EtherNet/IP communication expansion module, use the XG5000 software to update their OS instead. To perform this update in the software we first must put the hardware into boot mode. To do this we need to record the current station number dial positions for x10 and x1. Then put them to 91. We then need to power cycle the PLC rack and wait for the LED lights on the XBL-EIPT card to blink in a rotating pattern indicating boot mode. In the software we can go online with the CPU and go to “Online Menu>Communication Module Setting and Diagnosis> OS Upload/Download. It opens the pop-up window “OS Download/Upload,” And we see that our EIPT card is in slot 2. When we select that, and choose the file type of OS, we can then click “Download.” This will open a new window asking us to select the binary file for the updated OS. We have this in our downloads folder as well, and once we select it, we can click “Open.” The bottom of the OS Download/Upload screen becomes a status bar showing the progress of the OS download. Once the download completes, we will get a confirmation message, and we can then put the rotary dial switches back to their original positions and cycle power. Let’s verify that the OS has been updated. We go online with the CPU once again and then go to “Communication Module Setting and Diagnosis>System Diagnosis.” We can then right-click on our EIPT module and go to “Detailed Module Information.” This opens the module information for the XBL-EIPT module, and we can see the OS version matches the binary file.