Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8

  • From: "Pulas, Philip" <Philip.G.Pulas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 17:52:54 +0000

Terry,

I'm not sure either what Device Monitor uses to poll the devices, but the 
cs_dm.current file never showed the printer as OK for the 4-5 months that 
messages were being collected through it.  That's what was the odd part of it.  
According to Device Monitor, it should not have been able to collect messages, 
but it was.

Thanks,
Philip Pulas
Lead Engineer, Process Systems
Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Terry Doucet
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2015 9:43 AM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8

Philip,
 
System Monitor (the graphic tool) uses a hardware connection to verify a 
printer is connected so I am not surprised that the printer never shows online.
 
 
Device Monitor (no graphic tool) uses software queries to find if an alarm 
destination is alive.  For WP's and AW's the method is simple.  I am not sure 
how Device Monitor knows if a printer is connected or not.  But if any device 
is listed in the refreshed, cs_dm.current (text) file as not OK, then the CP's 
are not supposed to broadcast any process alarm to that device.
 
 
Terry
 
> From: Philip.G.Pulas@xxxxxxxxxxx
> To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:56:21 +0000
> 
> Terry,
> 
> After upgrading the AW to I/A v8.8, "Committing an AW early on" referred to 
> the first few Commits I did.  After the first Commit, I found reinstalling 
> the USB driver got the messages collecting again.  So I started to do it 
> after each Commit.  Well, that only lasted about four months.  Reinstalling 
> the driver after all of the subsequent Commits since then no longer gets the 
> message collection going again.
> 
> FYI, I have been properly Committing the AW.  And, as Matt pointed out, the 
> printer never shows it being online, so Device Monitor has never seen it 
> working.  That was exactly what we noticed here: printer offline and Device 
> Monitor not seeing the printer, but messages  being collected.  Now, we still 
> have printer offline and Device Monitor not seeing the printer, and messages 
> no longer being collected.
> 
> Thanks,
> Philip Pulas
> Lead Engineer, Process Systems
> Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery
> Ph: (925) 372-3043
> Email: philip.g.pulas@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Terry Doucet
> Sent: Monday, February 16, 2015 8:47 AM
> To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> 
> I'm not sure what you mean by  "Committing an AW early on"   means. The 
> process of System Definition and Commit requires a specific sequence of 
> events that must be followed exactly.   You might end up with a system with 
> two different Device Monitor configurations and if the wrong station takes 
> over, all your alarm messages will stop.
>  
> There is a procedure to find the station which currently runs Device Monitor. 
> There must only be one but each WP and AW on your system has the potential to 
> run the current Device Monitor.   Once you locate that station you query it 
> to find what it thinks are live devices.  Then you can force it to rebuild 
> its list and dump the current list.
>  
> There are lots of instructions archived on this Freelist that you can search 
> to find the various steps.
>  
>  
> Terry
>  
> > From: Philip.G.Pulas@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> > Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 15:27:33 +0000
> > 
> > Matt,
> > 
> > My problem relating to Committing an AW early on always caused all messages 
> > to stop being sent.  And, about the end of July, all messages stopped 
> > completely.  Reinstalling the driver, committing the AW and reinstalling 
> > the driver, etc., do not work anymore.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Philip Pulas
> > Lead Engineer, Process Systems
> > Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kinsinger, 
> > Matthew R
> > Sent: Monday, February 16, 2015 6:07 AM
> > To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> > 
> > The destination always shows failed, and the messages keep coming. The only 
> > problem is spooling/delay at this point.
> > 
> > Matt Kinsinger
> > mkinsinger@xxxxxxx
> > 330-825-1208 office
> > 330-472-1454 ppg cell
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Terry Doucet
> > Sent: Monday, February 16, 2015 8:37 AM
> > To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> > 
> > Remember that Device Monitor has to see the printer destination as good or 
> > the CP's will be instructed to stop sending alarm messages to that specific 
> > device (real or virtual).
> >  
> >  
> >  
> > > From: mkinsinger@xxxxxxx
> > > To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> > > Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 13:25:02 +0000
> > > 
> > > Thank again for this help. We have been trying to do this the last few 
> > > months, and seemed to have had it working. I did not remember your note 
> > > at the bottom about possibly having to re-install the driver after a 
> > > commit. Did your printer stop working completely when this happened, or 
> > > just get sporadic? This works great for some time, but then messages get 
> > > delayed or behind. One time they stopped completely and I had to reboot. 
> > > We have played with spooling settings and such, but they don't seem to 
> > > help. Occasionally the IA alarm print job gets stuck spooling and never 
> > > finishes, just holds a few messages back until something else comes in, 
> > > and it sends the old message then holds the new. Any ideas?
> > > 
> > > Matt Kinsinger
> > > mkinsinger@xxxxxxx
> > > 330-825-1208 office
> > > 330-472-1454 ppg cell
> > > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> > > [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Pulas, Philip
> > > Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 11:58 AM
> > > To: 'foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
> > > Subject: Re: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> > > 
> > > Foxray is definitely a good solution for this, but is just missing 
> > > real-time emailing of alarms.
> > > 
> > > We also use the serial port connection for LogMate and found that at v8.8:
> > >   1. You need to change the old printer connection in SysDef to a USB 
> > > printer.
> > >   2. Purchase a USB to Serial converter.
> > >   3. Install the driver for the converter (follow instructions on whether 
> > > the converter needs to be plugged in or not, can't recall now).
> > >   4. Connect your serial device.
> > >   5. Boot into I/A.
> > >   6. Messages get collected again.
> > > 
> > > One note is that the new USB printer always shows offline in SysMgr and 
> > > SMDH, but it does work.  I happen to be using the Aluratek USB to Serial 
> > > Adapter.  One thing I have found is that you may have reinstall the 
> > > driver after every Commit of the AW.
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > Philip Pulas
> > > Lead Engineer, Process Systems
> > > Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery
> > > Ph: (925) 372-3043
> > > Email: philip.g.pulas@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> > > [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kinsinger, 
> > > Matthew R
> > > Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 8:17 AM
> > > To: 'foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
> > > Subject: [foxboro] paperless printer at V8.8
> > > 
> > > We have had paperless printers for years using a serial printer 
> > > going to another windows box logging all the traffic with a 
> > > program called Visual Alert. It has always worked great for us. We 
> > > send alarms, system messages, OAJ's, Sequence code messages, etc 
> > > all to this one place. The operators in particular like it which 
> > > is why I have been asked to keep it. The problem is there are no 
> > > serial printers at V8.8 and we have not found a solution. I have 
> > > asked around, and Foxboro as well as PAS said they could do it, 
> > > but have not been able to follow through with a proposed solution. 
> > > I really want to get rid of my COM10's (which will pretty much 
> > > allow me to get rid of my nodebus all
> > > together) and upgrade all of these units to a V8.8 compatible 
> > > solution. I'm ready to spend the money, but no one seems to want 
> > > to do it. Anyone know of a solution that will duplicate the "destination"
> > > functionality (Alarm destination, MSG group, OAJ, system messages,
> > > etc) ? I'm ready to spend the money,
> >  ju
> > >    st need someone with a working solution willing to do the work.
> > > Matthew Kinsinger
> > > Process Control Engineer
> > > PPG Industries
> > > Barberton, OH
> > > Office. 330-825-1208
> > > PPG Cell. 330-472-1454
> > > Fax. 330-825-8492
> > > mkinsinger@xxxxxxx<mailto:mkinsinger@xxxxxxx>
> > > [ppg-logo-corp-signature]
> >  
> >  
> > ____________________________________________________________________
> > __ _ This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys 
> > Process Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you 
> > obtain here at your own risks. Read 
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> >  
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>                                         
>  
>  
> ______________________________________________________________________
> _ This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys 
> Process Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you 
> obtain here at your own risks. Read 
> http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
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>  
>  
> ______________________________________________________________________
> _ This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys 
> Process Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you 
> obtain here at your own risks. Read 
> http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
>  
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_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process Systems 
(formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at your own risks. 
Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
 
foxboro mailing list:             //www.freelists.org/list/foxboro
to subscribe:         mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=join
to unsubscribe:      mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=leave
 
 
 
_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
 
foxboro mailing list:             //www.freelists.org/list/foxboro
to subscribe:         mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=join
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