Factory Link 6.6

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Thread Starter

Vernon Rocco

Having avoided using Factory Link for many years due to stability problems, I've just implemented a control system using Release 6.6 several months ago. I am having the same problem we've always had with Factory Link; the system runs fine for about 24 to 48 hours, then locks up the computer. The application I've developed runs under Windows NT and employs about 4000 digital tags. The application includes 15 graphic screens, alarm monitoring, an ODBC historian, interpreted math and logic, as well as, a bit of visual basic in the annimation. The application uses an SA85 card to talk with the PLC via Modbus Plus. I have a smaller system that runs along side of this one, that uses about 100 analog tags, and it runs for weeks on end with no problem. I'd appreciate any input from others using Monitor Pro/Factory Link. Thanks, Vernon Rocco Manager Of Engineering Norment Security Group, Northeast http://www.normentsecurity.com
 
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Glass, Philip

You have 4,000 digital tags and only 15 graphics screens? That's what... some 270 tags per screen? Must have a lot of alarms. Anyway, I have used FL in the past, many times and I've not had a problem with my computer locking up. But you've only stated that your computer locks up. You didn't say why it locks up. Are you looking for someone to tell you why your computer freezes? That can be any number of causes; both hardware and software. If you can't determine for yourself why this is happening, it would be very difficult for someone else to tell you how to fix it. I would suggest examining your NT event logs and running perfmon to see if a process is going awry. See if you can rule out either software or hardware. For example, a CPU overheating will yield similar results. Or a bad power supply. The fact that applications have been developed by by numerous other people, myself included, that didn't experience this kind of problem leads me to believe that the FL software can't be entirely buggy. Good luck with your troubleshooting. Tech support might be able to offer some insight also. Could be compatibility issues somewhere. Philip L. Glass Brown and Caldwell
 
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Ranjan Acharya

Are you using WebClient? Did you apply Service Pack 1 for FL ECS 6.6.0? We had problems with FactoryLink 6.6.0 until we applied SP1 to both the Server and all the WebClients. Using WebClient is always a problem even with SP1. Also, what kind of lock-up are you experiencing --a BSOD or just a system freeze with no error logs et cetera? Right now, my only problem a recent FL ECS 6.6.0 site is the size limits of dBASE IV Historian files (e.g., index file size and so on). The system is fine other than that. RJ
 
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Robert Nickel

To that end also, make sure that your box doesn't have any trash services running also. Eliminate no brainers like the sound card, any overkill on your video (like true color mode) and make sure that your using quality video (read: not Trident) since Flink's graph.exe has issues with the drivers for some video cards. Also, contact your support person and get SP1. <rant> USData is absolutely terrible about letting their users know that there is a support pack available (read: you have to ask before anyone says anything) and they've distanced themselves from their users by not allowing downloads from their website by other than their 'Tier 1' support folks. Bah! </rant> Robert Nickel City of Fresno Water Division
 
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George Dulik

*** Exit Lurk Mode..... I have to concur with Bob Nickel's comments. Unfortunately / especially the posture US Data takes toward end users. We run a multi-node FLINK 6.6 system here to monitor the mechanical utilities at our site. The system has about 18,000 tags distributed across eight nodes. We experience NO (as in zero) "unexplained" system crashes. Our nodes routinely are on line and up for 30 to 45 days without glitches. The only limiting factor is the need to do PM (clean fans, filters, prune log files, etc.) on the hardware. Things that help: 1.) Make all your hardware identical. 2) Develop 1 (one) software setup & configuration and zealously install and maintain it across all nodes. 3) Strip out ALL unneeded services, drivers, and applications, or set them so that only administrators can access or run them. 4) Stay one step back from the bleeding edge on Service Packs. 5) Remove web browsers and games (Solitaire, Netscape, Internet Explorer, Doom & such) from "open" machines. 6) Disable CD-ROM and Floppys in your production logon / runtime profile. (you'd be surprised what gets "inserted" into open media slots off shift) Mike Dulik Maintenance Supervisor Industrial Electronics Shop Plant Engineering Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory *** Reenter Lurk Mode
 
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Ranjan Acharya

I am glad that some ranting has occurred at the expense of USData. Their intransigence on support is horrible. The support patches for 6.5.0 are haphazard at best and no longer available on their web site. Their support for 6.6.0 is a little bit better with the use of SPs, but still not available on the web. Also, we did have problems during development, and were provided a pre-SP1 patch for PowerVB that was mislabelled as a post-SP1 patch. I fully agree with all the comments regarding a system being stripped down before use as a SCADA server. I also unplug / disable NT services, hardware items et cetera. I also use NT policies including the blank desktop (no icons except a link to the server) to keep people from disturbing the system. For example, some of the services that Compaq install for Windows NT on their ProLiant Servers are not compatible with FL ECS 6.6.0. RJ
 
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Robert Nickel

I'd need to know a bit more about your application, but I've got Flink 6.6. running here with well over 15,000 registers read from 220+ sites with an SA85 on Windows NT 4.0 sp6a and it needs to be rebooted just this side of never (Actually, when we make major changes to the HMI we usually reboot at that time, but it's been about 6 mos. since the last one of those). Talk to me off list and I'll give you some ideas if you like. Robert Nickel City of Fresno Water Division
 
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