RT boot time on Fieldpoint

[David Moerman]

Hello,

I am using a cFP-2020 RT controller with 2 modules,  AI-110 and PWM-520.  It is running a fairly straightforward PID loop, with 5 inputs and 2 outputs.

Regarding boot time, I believe that approx 45 seconds is the minimum boot time even if no startup program is present.  Why is this so long?  Other PLC and control devices I have used in the past offer MUCH better boot times:  I can't recall seeing anything even approaching 10 seconds, even for large-point-count PLCs.  I believe NI needs to improve this drastically;  perhaps by offering a boot mode that can launch much faster if certain conditions are met by the programmer.

Secondly, for every Fieldpoint tag I add to my application, it adds about 5 seconds to initialize each of these tags.  Is there a way to optimize this?  I have already defined the "All" channel the way I need it in order to cut down on this initialization time.  Is there something else I can do?

Thanks,

David Moerman
TruView Technology Integration Ltd.

[Graziano]

Hi David!

    I'm using a cFP-2020 too, without cFP I/O modules connected, and I'm experiencing les than 30 seconds booting time;  it's a gret value, but slightly smaller than 45, and I don't know if this is related to the fact that I've no I/O modules connected directly on a backplane. (My modules are FP I/O modules, connected via RS-485, and cFP runs an embedded application).

   I hope we will receive from feedback on this important issue!

   Bye

graziano

[GDE]

I'm afraid there isn't anything else you can do to speed up that boot/initialization time. I would highly recommend submitting this product suggestion to alert the right people. Here is a link to where you can do this:

http://digital.ni.com/applications/psc.nsf/default?OpenForm&temp1=&node=

-GDE

[David Moerman]

Thank-you for your input.  I've just submitted the suggestion.

-Dave

[Melanie_]

I had a similar problem where the first time I acessed a module, it would take 5 seconds per module.  It turned out that I needed a file called "fpremote.ini" in the /ni-rt/system folder.  The file does not need any information in it, it just has to be there.  That dramatically reduced the time to just a few seconds.  Hope that helps.

-Melanie

[Eric A.]

Hi David,
45 seconds is a long time for your controller to boot.  I would suggest formatting your controller and reinstalling the software if it is an option for you.  Also you might consider only installing components that you will be using in your application.  These steps should help your controller to boot faster.

[Graziano]

Hi Eric!
   The first post was in 2006, when you haven't cFP-2120, and boot time is referred to cFP-2020.  On these devices, is quite common to have such a boot time, even if you install only the needed packages.  Are you referring to newer cFPs?

graziano

[Eric A.]

Hi graziano,
Thanks for the post.   You are right, 45 seconds is not uncommon for a controller to boot.  The cFP-2020 is certainly capable of booting faster but it depends heavily on what the controller is being used for.  Reinstalling software and keeping the components to a minimum should help the boot time.  10 seconds should probably not be expected but it is probably possible to improve from 45.