Panel View plus IP address

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realolman

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Could someone tell me how to determine the IP address of an Allen Bradley PanelView Plus 400.

Repeated calls to the OEM have come up empty. Apparently, people work at places for a couple months, they're the only ones who know anything, and they don't document anything. When they leave, so does any information.

Seems to me, I heard that if you cycled power while holding one or two of the buttons on the front, a screen would appear where you could see the IP address. I have not been able to find any info that I could use on the web. I downloaded a manual, but that seems to have to do with a new one, not an existing one.

If someone could tell me how to determine the IP address, I'd sure appreciate it.
 
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Thanks for your reply and link Mr. Bill, but I already have this manual.:smile:

It deals with a new PanelView, not one that is already programmed, that you can't communicate with because you don't know the IP address that has been programmed into it.

It's an odd thing. One computer hooked to another ( the panel view ).

The local area network icon on the laptop shows the communication is there, but you can't tell what the IP address is.... so you can't talk
 
Are you sure its the IP address verse the mac address?

I thought that any computer could aquire any IP address, while the mac is truely specific to a machine.
 
cadpoint said:
I thought that any computer could acquire any IP address, while the mac is truely specific to a machine.
Click to expand...

This is true if the IP addressing is handled by DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. With DHCP enabled when the Panelview powers up it would send out a DHCP request asking for an IP address. This is how my computer at home works and most business class machines in an office environment. In an industrial controls application IP addresses are generally static. They can be programmed to whatever you want initially and are not burned in like a MAC address, and it is conceivable that someone would set a static IP address, not document it, and not be able to communicate with the hardware in the future.

I have not used Panelviews at all, but from the networking perspective there are a few ways to connect an external device and coerce the Panelview into replying, and that reply would contain its IP address. The easiest is to use protocol analyzer software on a laptop to snoop into a conversation the Panelview is having with another piece of equipment. With the protocol analyzer you can see the contents of each packet, including the source and destination IP addresses. The protocol analyzer or some other network troubleshooting tool like a Fluke Etherscope can fire a variety of broadcast and ping packets at the Panelview to see if it will respond to any of them. Even though industrial control devices typically don't have all of the chatty add-ons that business PCs do, they should respond to a ping packet at a minimum.
 
MAC addresses are supposed to be unique and fixed to a particular network interface (not a machine, each interface gets it's own MAC). Client IP addresses are usually acquired from a DHCP server, but there's nothing to stop a device from using whatever it pleases (is manually configured with). If you have a windows system that's already talking to the PanelView somehow, in a command box try the command "netstat". It'll show you the IPs that you're currently talking to. You can also try "arp -a" to see a list of local network addresses. If you're feeling adventurous, download/install WireShark and capture the network traffic.

PM me for more info.
 
RS Linx may be your answer

RS Linx may be your answer

What PLC is the PanelView connected to?

If the PLC has a DF1 (rs-232) port, connect to the PLC first via serial, and then drill down to the Ethernet configuration in the PLC. Once the PLC IP is determined, you know the majority of the Panelview IP address less the last group. Most engineers set these up to be with 10 away. IE PLC 192.168.1.50, then the HMI Panelview may be 1 away .....51 or 10 away.60.

Once you know the first three IP numbers, you can set up a RSLinx driver, that is generic, and can see all AB devices, and will report the the IP address of the panelview.

What is your PLC? ML1100? CompactLogix?

If the Pnelview has touchscreen capability, watch for a WHITE SQUARE on the Screen at power up, and press the white square during power up. I read the manual that was previously posted, and it looks like your PV400 may be keypad only. The manual did not indicate which two keys at power up will take you to the configuration mode.

You may also want to got to PLCS.NET and post the same question on that forum.
 
presuming it is on an etehrnet/ip network and you know the subnet, you should be able to see it as a device in rslinx.

the information is also stored in the rsview ME project file. look in the rslinx enterprise configuration on the "target" tab.
 
petersonra said:
presuming it is on an etehrnet/ip network and you know the subnet, you should be able to see it as a device in rslinx.

the information is also stored in the rsview ME project file. look in the rslinx enterprise configuration on the "target" tab.
Click to expand...

If it was hooked to an ethernet Contrologix 5000 ethernet module the IP address of the module would be displayed. It is hooked to the PLC serially. The ethernet connection is not used.

I don't know the IP address so I don't know what to set the the IP address and subnet of my computer to, so it doesn't appear in RSLinx.

If these lunkheads would just document something correctly. They can make a five minute thing into a several hour / day ordeal.
 
Something I've done...

Something I've done...

Something to try? Something I've done.

Dig an old hub, not a switch, a hub. Feed the Panel View's Ethernet cable through it. Then connect the ole' laptop to the hub as well...

Set your PC's IP address to DHCP, or something used in bldg. 192.xxx.xxx.xxx OR 172.xxx.xxx.xxx OR 10.xxx.xxx.xxx

SET the sub-net mask to 255.0.0.0 THEN run a packet sniffer like Ethereal

When you power cycle the Panel View it will start talking, a lot. And you should be able to see it. There will probably be other traffic, but the Panel View should dominate the traffic shortly after power up.

Your experience may not be as straight forward as mentioned but it works for many different types of devices, and I found it easy...

My 2?
Doug S.
 
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Doug S. said:
Something to try? Something I've done.

Dig an old hub, not a switch, a hub. Feed the Panel View's Ethernet cable through it. Then connect the ole' laptop to the hub as well...

Set your PC's IP address to DHCP, or something used in bldg. 192.xxx.xxx.xxx OR 172.xxx.xxx.xxx OR 10.xxx.xxx.xxx

SET the sub-net mask to 255.0.0.0 THEN run a packet sniffer like Ethereal

When you power cycle the Panel View it will start talking, a lot. And you should be able to see it. There will probably be other traffic, but the Panel View should dominate the traffic shortly after power up.

Your experience may not be as straight forward as mentioned but it works for many different types of devices, and I found it easy...

My 2?
Doug S.
Click to expand...

This is good advice and should work for you, especially if you also set your gateway the same as your IP address. You can likely do this with a switch or a cross-over cable. I also use a fluke NetTool and Fluke 1-touch to help with some of this trouble shooting.
 
This isn't even my thread but thanks for all the input. Ode to knowledge!

I found, "netstat" run from the C prompt to be interesting as well.

I had a game trying to reach out and grab a hook, that I haven't played in years and another bothersum software,
playing mothership for its sub system software! I don't need a software upgrade every five minutes! :rolleyes:
 
realolman said:
If it was hooked to an ethernet Contrologix 5000 ethernet module the IP address of the module would be displayed. It is hooked to the PLC serially. The ethernet connection is not used.

I don't know the IP address so I don't know what to set the the IP address and subnet of my computer to, so it doesn't appear in RSLinx.

If these lunkheads would just document something correctly. They can make a five minute thing into a several hour / day ordeal.
Click to expand...

if the ethernet port is not used, its likely the IP address was never assigned.

try hooking up your laptop ethernet port directly to the PV ethernet port with a crossover cable and run bootp. if it is unassigned, you will get some kind of indication within a few minutes.
 
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