MARKVIe TOOLBOX DONGLE COMPATIBILITY WITH MARKV TCI DONGLE

Hello,
for a MARKV turbine controller we have an HMI with Win XP OS and TCI software, the porblem is the TCI is stopping frequently because of a dongle isue.
Now we are finding somme dificulties on geting a new TCI dongle (obsolete) , we tried to use a MARVIe Toolbox dongle to make the TCI working and the result seems good, the TCI is working.
My question is wether the MARKVIe Toolbox dongle is compartible with TCI software without any problem?

Best Regards
 
"Back in the day" TCI dongles were kind of a medium green color, and there was only one--for TCI. Then, as CIMPLICITY became more "valuable" there began the necessity for having a second dongle for CIMPLICITY (I forget which version of CIMPLICITY that was, but it was probably AFTER Mark V production ceased).

Anyway, the Mark VI came along, and it used the same medium green color dongle. And, early version of Mark VIe also used the same medium green color dongle, and it was often necessary to have even a second dongle--again for CIMPLICITY, and then PROFICY Machine Edition. I think that was through ControlST/WorkstationST version 4, maybe 5, and then the dongles required for ControlST/WorkstationST changed, and if I recall correctly it was still necessary to have a separate dongle for CIMPLICITY/PROFICY Machine Edition. Then, the two dongles were combined into one, and then I believe, the dongle required for ControlST/WorkstationST changed even again.

So, I believe, if you have a medium green colored dongle from a version of ControlST/WorkstationST (which included ToolboxST) that it will work for TCI, and for Mark VI HMIs as well (with GE Control System Solutions software).

That's about the extent of my knowledge; there was a TIL out that had pictures of the three dongles (which may have even become four dongles now (I think each new version of ControlST/WorkstationST requires a separate dongle--or so I have been led to believe)).
 
"Back in the day" TCI dongles were kind of a medium green color, and there was only one--for TCI. Then, as CIMPLICITY became more "valuable" there began the necessity for having a second dongle for CIMPLICITY (I forget which version of CIMPLICITY that was, but it was probably AFTER Mark V production ceased).

Anyway, the Mark VI came along, and it used the same medium green color dongle. And, early version of Mark VIe also used the same medium green color dongle, and it was often necessary to have even a second dongle--again for CIMPLICITY, and then PROFICY Machine Edition. I think that was through ControlST/WorkstationST version 4, maybe 5, and then the dongles required for ControlST/WorkstationST changed, and if I recall correctly it was still necessary to have a separate dongle for CIMPLICITY/PROFICY Machine Edition. Then, the two dongles were combined into one, and then I believe, the dongle required for ControlST/WorkstationST changed even again.

So, I believe, if you have a medium green colored dongle from a version of ControlST/WorkstationST (which included ToolboxST) that it will work for TCI, and for Mark VI HMIs as well (with GE Control System Solutions software).

That's about the extent of my knowledge; there was a TIL out that had pictures of the three dongles (which may have even become four dongles now (I think each new version of ControlST/WorkstationST requires a separate dongle--or so I have been led to believe)).
Thank you for your reply.
Both of the TCI and Toolbox dongles are blue (see attached picture please).
I w'd like to be sure that even if we start our gas turbine the TCI will continiou to work correctly with the Toolbox dongle.
In addition, how can two differents softwares (TCI and Toolbox) work with the same dongle?
 

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Raf80,

I was referring to GE Mark V HMIs provided by GE through the Salem, VA. USA, division (which an HMI with MS-Windows XP and TCI would have been). It's possible your GE Mark V HMI was provided by a different division of GE or one of its licensees that used a different color dongle.dongle.

TCI and ControlST, WorkstationST and ToolboxST (and Toolbox) were all written by the same division of GE, in Salem, VA, USA. I have never tried using a blue dongle on any GE HMI other than an HMI with ControlST, WorkstationST, and ToolboxST--so I wouldn't know if it works with TCI or not. If you can force logic (as a test!), and open the Control Constant display and see and change a Control Constant and then change it back to its original value, and open AutoCalibrste and see live data, and TCI continues to run for 24 or 48 hours, I would initiating a START in CRANK mode (I'm referring to a heavy duty gas turbine) and see what happens. TCI is only used to allow the PC to communicate using an ARCnet card with a Mark V turbine control panel and for receiving alarms & events. If the HMI is displaying live data from a Mark V on CIMPLICITY and on TCI displays (such as Logic Forcing, Control Constants Adjust, Pre-Vote Data, and AutoCalibrate) AND Process Alarms (and you can Silence, Acknowledge and reset Process- and Diagnostic Alarms) with the blue dongle from the HMI provided with a Mark VIe (which would be running ControlST, WorkstationST and ToolboxST) then I would say you are safe to run a Mark V with the blue dongle.

It's possible GE has stopped entirely using medium green dongles and has made the blue dongles backwards-compatible with PCs running TCI.

This is the extent of my knowledge and experience. It's possible someone else has more knowledge and experience with GE dongles than I and can offer more conclusive information.

Or, you can contact GE or the original supplier of the GE Mark V HMI (if it wasn't GE).

I wish I could be more helpful. Please write back to let us know how you fare!
 
Raf80,

I was referring to GE Mark V HMIs provided by GE through the Salem, VA. USA, division (which an HMI with MS-Windows XP and TCI would have been). It's possible your GE Mark V HMI was provided by a different division of GE or one of its licensees that used a different color dongle.dongle.

TCI and ControlST, WorkstationST and ToolboxST (and Toolbox) were all written by the same division of GE, in Salem, VA, USA. I have never tried using a blue dongle on any GE HMI other than an HMI with ControlST, WorkstationST, and ToolboxST--so I wouldn't know if it works with TCI or not. If you can force logic (as a test!), and open the Control Constant display and see and change a Control Constant and then change it back to its original value, and open AutoCalibrste and see live data, and TCI continues to run for 24 or 48 hours, I would initiating a START in CRANK mode (I'm referring to a heavy duty gas turbine) and see what happens. TCI is only used to allow the PC to communicate using an ARCnet card with a Mark V turbine control panel and for receiving alarms & events. If the HMI is displaying live data from a Mark V on CIMPLICITY and on TCI displays (such as Logic Forcing, Control Constants Adjust, Pre-Vote Data, and AutoCalibrate) AND Process Alarms (and you can Silence, Acknowledge and reset Process- and Diagnostic Alarms) with the blue dongle from the HMI provided with a Mark VIe (which would be running ControlST, WorkstationST and ToolboxST) then I would say you are safe to run a Mark V with the blue dongle.

It's possible GE has stopped entirely using medium green dongles and has made the blue dongles backwards-compatible with PCs running TCI.

This is the extent of my knowledge and experience. It's possible someone else has more knowledge and experience with GE dongles than I and can offer more conclusive information.

Or, you can contact GE or the original supplier of the GE Mark V HMI (if it wasn't GE).

I wish I could be more helpful. Please write back to let us know how you fare!
The vendor of our gas turbine and its Mark V controller with the HMI and TCI&Dongle is nuovo pignone.
Thank you for all the informations you gave .
 
Raf80,

Yes; at the end of the Mark V production (in Salem, VA, USA) some controls/HMI configuration was tranferred to Nuovo Pignone (which GE was a large shareholder in).

Thanks for the feedback!

In my experience, talking to GE Oil & Gas (which is what I think Nuovo Pignone is now called) is pretty easy, and they should be able to provide you the answer you are looking for.

Best of luck, and if you would, please share what you learn!
 
RAF80,

I do not know if this will directly answer your question, but this document is a good start:
https://www.ge.com/content/dam/gepower-pgdp/global/en_US/documents/automation/GHT-200048.pdf. Don't try to follow it to order the dongles/licenses, just use it for knowledge purposes. the contact #/workflow processes no longer apply.

Nonetheless, you need a old school Green (or Blue) with TCI enabled. NOTE: you can get a green (or Blue) dongle w/o TCI enabled. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell what license you have unless you plug it in and see if TCI works.

The only hope would be if all of the Green dongles (and Blue) being made & Sold contain the TCI feature. Reach out to your local Nuevo Pignone/GE Power or SISO Engineering or CSE engineering to see if they can get a dongle Part # IC647CSTPRE369HWKEY or IC647CSTPRE50HWKEY.

I do have a few Green and Blue dongles that I will test with to see if TCI is enabled. It will take a week or so to setup a demo. so If I don't get back to this thread, please remind me.
 
RAF80,

I do not know if this will directly answer your question, but this document is a good start:
https://www.ge.com/content/dam/gepower-pgdp/global/en_US/documents/automation/GHT-200048.pdf. Don't try to follow it to order the dongles/licenses, just use it for knowledge purposes. the contact #/workflow processes no longer apply.

Nonetheless, you need a old school Green (or Blue) with TCI enabled. NOTE: you can get a green (or Blue) dongle w/o TCI enabled. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell what license you have unless you plug it in and see if TCI works.

The only hope would be if all of the Green dongles (and Blue) being made & Sold contain the TCI feature. Reach out to your local Nuevo Pignone/GE Power or SISO Engineering or CSE engineering to see if they can get a dongle Part # IC647CSTPRE369HWKEY or IC647CSTPRE50HWKEY.

I do have a few Green and Blue dongles that I will test with to see if TCI is enabled. It will take a week or so to setup a demo. so If I don't get back to this thread, please remind me.
Thank you for the information you gave.
In fact It will be enought for me if the Mark VIe Toolbox Dongle continue to make our Mark V TCI
Thank you for the information you gave.
In fact It will be enought for me if the Mark VIe Toolbox Dongle continue to make our Mark V TCI working as it does now.
.
 
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