How do I connect to the PLC without knowing the IP address

I have a machine I need to go online online to see what is causing some problems.

I have checked out the SW from the machine for VersionDog (our AsBuilt system).

For most of our machines I have batch files I can run on my PG so the IP adress of the PG iis set to be in the same group as the PLC but I don't have that for this machine.

We also have an Excel sheet with the IP addresses of (apparently most of) our machines is listed but I cannot find this machine.

So - can I put in my cable in a switch on the machine or perhaps a spare port on the PLC and connect directly and if so how do I do this (and how can I verify that I am connected to the right PLC)?

Hi,

start accessible nodes in the engineering system

select the found device(s) and use then the blink function in the engineering system

the PLC now will blink and you can identify which one you are actually connected.

regards

christoph

Hello ChristophD,

Thank you for answering.

So I connect my PG to the switch in the machine and I open my project with Simatic Manager on the PG.

Then I use the "Display Accessible Nodes" and get a list of IP addresses.

Then I right click on a node and select "Node Flash Test"

But will it show me all the IP addresses even if my PG is in a completely wrong group (our machines are in a range from xxx.xx.161.xxx to xxx.xx.191.xxx) and normally I have to adjust my IP address to the right group before I can make a connection?

How do I "log on" to the machine once I have seen the right diode flash so I can go online on the blocks and see what is active and what is missing?

ChristophD

Hi,

start accessible nodes in the engineering system

select the found device(s) and use then the blink function in the engineering system

the PLC now will blink and you can identify which one you are actually connected.

regards

christoph

Hi mopS04,

Thank you for answering.

Yes - I know the basics about IP-addresses but I will read that anyway.

I was already thinking about finding the IP address in the project and using that one to pick a IP-address for my PG.

Where in the project can I find it (in Simatic Manager) - under the HW configuration?

mopS04

hi xmnj,

yes, you can put the cable in any free port in the network. You know IP-addresses work?

If not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address

When you have a project an you want to connect, TIA or Step7 classic it trying to connect to the IP-address that is given in this project.Therefore the IP address of your Engineering station has to be in the same subnet.

It is also possible to search for accessable nodes, therefore a Mac address broadcast is done. It should also be possible to connect over this, when IP-address is not suitable.

hope this helps,

regards,

the detect and blink wor MAC Based, so ip not the problem.

it will also display the active ip adresses yand you can configure this range on you NIC

if you have a project of the machine then you can simple configure the found ip on the network interface of the PLC in the project (HWConfig) and go online.

Thank you again ChristophD,

Where in the HW config in the project do I find the IP address (so far I just found it to be MPI 2)? 

ChristophD

the detect and blink wor MAC Based, so ip not the problem.

it will also display the active ip adresses yand you can configure this range on you NIC

if you have a project of the machine then you can simple configure the found ip on the network interface of the PLC in the project (HWConfig) and go online.

depends which interface you use, which cpu you use.

make no sense to think abaout MPI if we talk from ip adresses.

you must checl the ethernte /Profinat interfaces of the PLC in HWconfig

Thank you again ChristophD,

I am starting to think I have started with asking the wrong question.

I have opened the AsBuilt for another machine  and in that project it is easy to find the IP address of the PLC.

When I open the project for this machine it does not appear to have an IO address. In fact it does not appear to have neither profinet not profibus (and thee will subsequently probably not be a switch to put a network cable into).

So the question should be: "How do I connect to a machine without IP address"?

(Should I modify the header to reflect this?)

I suppose I can still use the "Display Accessible Nodes" but how do I set up the PG to go  online with the project open so I can see my inputs live in the blocks?

ChristophD

depends which interface you use, which cpu you use.

make no sense to think abaout MPI if we talk from ip adresses.

you must checl the ethernte /Profinat interfaces of the PLC in HWconfig

give more information about this specific machine

which PLC? Which CP?

How exactly connected to the machine?
Which MPI/DP Adapter you use?