November-18th-2019, 09:33 AM
(This post was last modified: November-18th-2019, 01:57 PM by Armin@netPI.)
Hi there,
Node-RED (or the netX programming examples) do "RAM based" configuration of the netX network controller and not "FLASH based". This means whenever there is a power-loss of the system the configuration previously stored in RAM is gone and netX needs a new configuration stored in RAM. Starting Linux and starting Docker needs time indeed. There is no real prediction possible on how long the Docker starting time of the containers is.
1. What I want to tell you is that the very latest version of netPI's use a new type of SD memory card from company SANDISK. This SD card is 3 times faster than the old SD card models in use. This has a positive effect on the startup time. Of course the startup time will not be 3 times faster overall, but you should see a significant improvement. So my first recommendation is to order a new netPI.
2. Another method is to switch to "FLASH based" configuration. This needs a Windows tool from Hilscher https://kb.hilscher.com/download/attachm...exe?api=v2 and cannot be used in conjunction with Node-RED. With this tool you can make an "offline" configuration of the PROFINET IO setup of any Hilscher device.
On netPI the exact device in use is named "NRP51-RE-IO" providing netX controller support. This is why you have to drag&drag this device from the right device tree list to the configuration window as shown in this screen shot and configure it:
Of course SYCON.net configuration cannot be explained here in all details. There is a lot of documentation around SYCON.net available. But after you configured everything fine you make an export of the database files finally like this:
If SYCON.net asks you for a file name enter "config". It will then create two files: "config.nxd" and "config_nwid.nxd". Rename the "config_nwid.nxd" to "nwid.nxd".
These two files you need to copy to the folder /opt/cifx/deviceconfig/FW/channel0/ (where the *.nxf firmware is already located) in your container and the Linux netX driver will load them automatically when your user (netX-programming example) programm calls "xDriverOpen(&hDriver)" into the netX FLASH memory non-volatile. From this time on netX and PROFINET will be ready after 1 second when you power your netPI. The best thing about FLASH based configuration is that configuration within the netX programming example is much easier. just call xDriverOpen() and then immediatly xChannelIOWrite() and xChannelIORead(). A configuration is not needed any more.
Thx
p.s.: I will shift this thread to the "software" folder.
Node-RED (or the netX programming examples) do "RAM based" configuration of the netX network controller and not "FLASH based". This means whenever there is a power-loss of the system the configuration previously stored in RAM is gone and netX needs a new configuration stored in RAM. Starting Linux and starting Docker needs time indeed. There is no real prediction possible on how long the Docker starting time of the containers is.
1. What I want to tell you is that the very latest version of netPI's use a new type of SD memory card from company SANDISK. This SD card is 3 times faster than the old SD card models in use. This has a positive effect on the startup time. Of course the startup time will not be 3 times faster overall, but you should see a significant improvement. So my first recommendation is to order a new netPI.
2. Another method is to switch to "FLASH based" configuration. This needs a Windows tool from Hilscher https://kb.hilscher.com/download/attachm...exe?api=v2 and cannot be used in conjunction with Node-RED. With this tool you can make an "offline" configuration of the PROFINET IO setup of any Hilscher device.
On netPI the exact device in use is named "NRP51-RE-IO" providing netX controller support. This is why you have to drag&drag this device from the right device tree list to the configuration window as shown in this screen shot and configure it:
Of course SYCON.net configuration cannot be explained here in all details. There is a lot of documentation around SYCON.net available. But after you configured everything fine you make an export of the database files finally like this:
If SYCON.net asks you for a file name enter "config". It will then create two files: "config.nxd" and "config_nwid.nxd". Rename the "config_nwid.nxd" to "nwid.nxd".
These two files you need to copy to the folder /opt/cifx/deviceconfig/FW/channel0/ (where the *.nxf firmware is already located) in your container and the Linux netX driver will load them automatically when your user (netX-programming example) programm calls "xDriverOpen(&hDriver)" into the netX FLASH memory non-volatile. From this time on netX and PROFINET will be ready after 1 second when you power your netPI. The best thing about FLASH based configuration is that configuration within the netX programming example is much easier. just call xDriverOpen() and then immediatly xChannelIOWrite() and xChannelIORead(). A configuration is not needed any more.
Thx
p.s.: I will shift this thread to the "software" folder.
„You never fail until you stop trying.“, Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
