I am on a Mark VI system with following HMI's...CRM1_SVR, GT1_SVR, GT2_SVR, GT3_SVR and GT4_SVR

GT1_SVR HMI is sluggish and have some hardware problems with Touchscreen. This is being replaced with a new hardware (Advantech Touchscreen unit) and is restored with restoration Discs. But The Cimplicty screens not displaying any readings! It seems there are some changes made in the existing HMI after this restoration Disc is made. So I tried to backup the E: Drive from existing unit where the "Site" data is located, and restored to the new HMI. But this time even the Cimplicty screens not opening but CimView running in background and in the Cimplicty eventlog. there are two types of errors logged repeatedly. Also I noticed the NTP clock status is not green (not synch) in this new HMI compared to existing units.........

Is there some thing more to be configured while restoration? Please help....<pre>
errors logged in Eventlog:

Failure 2108 ENET0 DC_INIT.CPP 896
Unknown host name (E1) specified for exchange #1.
Error of type: COR_DCRP_ERR, Code: 20016

Failure 2108 ENET0 DC_INIT.CPP 678
Bad destination name <E1> in Configuration
Error of type: COR_DCRP_ERR, Code: 20016</pre>

 

You've posted this issue before, but our Mark VI expert didn't respond.

Your best chance at "recovery" probably lies in using an imaging/ghosting application that will restore to any hard drive. Acronis True Image is very good (newer versions can restore to a hard drive of any size; older versions could only restore to similar hard drives).

The risk with this approach is that it may copy Registry entries and other files and information that could result in the new PC still performing sluggishly.

It seems you are using the as-shipped "recovery" disks which are only useful in creating a PC that's capable of being configured as an HMI. Reality is there are few people even in GE that could restore an HMI using those "recovery" disks--even if they had all the other files and necessary information.

The issue you will probably still face is that you will likely need to "run" the HMI device to create the .hmb file and then do the put and get to the SDB and all the other undocumented stuff to get it to run right.

And, what's more, is that the steps differ depending on which versions of Toolbox, TCI, & CIMPLICITY are being used.

The likely reason you didn't get a proper response last time was because there isn't a written procedure for this and there are too many unknowns.

In writing this, I've come to the conclusion you're best bet is to get a good PC "clean-up" program and have a go at the original HMI. Start by deleting all of the trend files and such and then all of the Alarm History files and such. You could then run the clean-up program and perform a disk defragmentation and see if that improves performance.

In my experience, the Advantech PC's are stretched to the limit of performance just to run CIMPLICITY & TCI. If you then try to run Toolbox and then Trender, you're probably going to exceed the limit of the PC.

Have you tried increasing the amount of RAM to the maximum, presuming it's not already at the maximum?

Lastly, presuming you bought an Advantech with a faster processor and the maximum amount of RAM, once you "cleaned up" the hard drive from the old Advantech you could install it in the new Advantech.

And we didn't even touch on the netowrk interface card issues (teaming, etc.). GE HMIs are about my least favourite in the universe. They are just too complicated, and too poorly documented. Full stop. Period. End of discussion.

[I'd venture you've more invested in this little project than the cost of persuading GE to part with a replacement. And almost the same time to wait for a replacement. Aren't GE HMIs fun?]

 

Dear CSA, Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the cleanup procedure that you mentioned. Its strange to know that Configuration for GE Mark VI is no documented!

Please find more details on the system that might help you to give more suggestions to solve this.

Windows 2000 service pack 4,
Toolbox-11.4, Ver V11.04,
Cimplicity Version 5.5
Restoration Software: Ghost 9.0

On the new HMI Ethernet adapter is of different make, so we installed the new driver and configured it.

Both UDH and PDH connected to the switch and the system is accessible in the network-CRM_SVR.

(I didn't understand the 'Teaming" concept?)

Also I have Toolbox and Cimplicty Softwares with me. Toolbox and Cimplicity project files available from existing HMI So If I start a fresh Installation with the setups and is there standard steps to configure the HMI with the project files?

OR

If I workaround on the restoration by updating the .hmb and .m6b files by operations like "Put to database' Is there more chance to succeed than fresh installation (My Understanding is that TCI /Toolbox connects to the R,S,T controllers via UDH and there are components like Devcomm, Cimbridge and SDB which facilitates communication and DB interface between the Cimplicty project and the TCI. Apart from this data links is there a special datalink between CRM_SVR and the rest of HMI's?)

 

> (I didn't understand the 'Teaming" concept?)

Teaming is a method of using multiple Ethernet cards for redundancy; seems like the Advantech isn't using teaming, which makes things a "little" easier.

If you tried to install eTCSS (Toolbox, TCI, etc.) and CIMPLICITY from a CD, then copy unit-specific files (Toolbox and CIMPLICITY project files), you would probably have to do the puts and gets and HMI devices and Signal Managers and all that stuff. And, "all that stuff" is what's NOT documented for any particular set-up/combination. It's practically criminal of GE not to have documented the processes and steps involved, but, there is no over-riding regulator body enforcing common sense. You could "vote" with your purchasing dollars, but then you'd buy something other than GE (which may or may not be better, depending on many factors). They must have enough business because they don't seem to want to do anything to enhance their product. (It would be different if they had Services people who could do this stuff, but, they don't, and they don't have factory support for the Services people, either. Sad, but true.)

Some installations used a mapped drive to the Toolbox files, and that drive was a location on the Control Room Server. That prevented having multiple copies/versions of .m6b files on different HMIs (a GOOD thing). Usually, that was called M: drive (mapped to a location on the Control Room Server). Then, when you open the .m6b file from a unit-specific HMI you would actually be opening the "master" copy on the Control Room Server (which would help eliminate some problems with multiple copies on different HMIs).

It's really impossible to try to explain all of this stuff via a forum like this. GE changed--and changes--and continues to change--these configurations all the time. Again, with no documentation--not to themselves (internally) or externally (to their Customers).

Them's the facts.

Best of luck. Write back to let us know how you fare. Again, there's not likely too much more we can do. I recommend if you succeed to document your configuration; you might not be there forever. And, chances are the next time something similar happens you may not remember all the details. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

 

Just in case it wasn't clear, if you do the clean-up, you shouldn't need to do any puts/gets/HMI devices/Signal Manager, because you're just making the hard disk/OS more efficient.

And, adding RAM, or moving the cleaned HD to a newer, faster Advantech with more RAM, would not require puts/gets/etc., though it it might entail a change to the Ethernet card driver(s). Which shouldn't change the .m6b/CIMPLICITY project files.

 

Dear Techboy,

as CSA states what you are attempting is not an easy and straightforward procedure. Several years ago I had a hard drive failure on an Advantech panel mount PC. I had a good Ghost image of the machine that I was able to restore into the machine since it was only a new hard drive and not a new PC. This was a fairly simple repair since I was restoring to the same hardware(motherboard, drivers etc.) I was then able to do a put/get from SDB rebuild the .hmb file and was on my way.

In your case you are using new hardware which complicates things. I now use Acronis to image all my machines. I like it better since you can backup a machine while its running which you could not do with the older versions of ghost, and it has lots of other important features for file backup. Acronis also has a feature you can purchase called "universal restore" which allows you to restore an image to new hardware (motherboard, processor, drivers etc.) I have used this several times on winxp machines with great success, but not yet with win2k. Acronis mentions that there are some additional steps when using Acronis with versions older than winxp.

I know none of this really helps you. I think if you were to use the original image (recovery disk) on an identical machine, and then do your puts/gets and .hmb builds, then the machine would probably work. But trying to use a ghost image made from a machine using older/different hardware than what you have now is most likely not going to work without some major tweaking if at all.

Since you still have the old hard drive you should be able to get needed files off of it. You could also try imageing the old machine as it is, and then putting this image onto the new machine assuming you want to purchase more software.

But all this takes a lot of understanding of GE designed file structure, network settings, etc, etc, etc. and none of this is well documented. Lastly none of it is 100% the same from site to site, machine to machine.

If you have lots of time you could consider loading win2k, then ETCSS, setting up networking,shared folders,mapped drives, NTP, etc. etc. Then you would need to copy over the needed files from the old machine and put them where they belong. Its just not easy, even for a GE TA I think it would be a challenge. But I wish you luck, maybe you can come up with a decent procedure that you can share with us.