Hello to all, we have one old IRB 6600 from 2006 with dead teach pendant. So we used new FP from 2018 IRC 5 and connected to older controller. Image is loading, robot reports calibration error, we are trying to jog it to zero but none of axis is moving. I can hear contactors closing when pressing dead man handle. So I did little trick, calibrated robot in present position and created AbsJ motion for each axis, and I can move robot using forward button through programming lines. So drive, motors, brakes, all works. What could cause problem with joystick, RW version in old controller is RW 5.10. Is Flex Pendant sending command for motion through ethernet or through wires to IRC5? I could see in electric schematic that only e-stops and contactor activation is done through wires from FP to IRC5. I’m asking because connector for Flex Pendant was hit, but it looks that all wires are fine. Thanks a lot in advance.
Are you sure that it is the robot asking for calibration? Did it say that rev counters need update? Or maybe it is saying that they joystick needs calibration or that it is seeing deflection already when it boots up. That will cause the joystick to be disabled.
Hello Lemster, it was definitely uncalibrated robot, smb cable was detached during transport. I did calibration without jogging, just used present robot position. Now I’m stuck on login screen after x-restart, since service port didn’t work I wanted to assign IP address to LAN port through x restart, but now robot asks for password even for defaut user. Before x restart robot didn’t have any additional users, I don’t know how to pass this login screen. I tried all usual passwords, 007,abb, admin. As I said service port is not responding on pinging.
For RW 5.15 a hack-around that might be worth a try would be to intentionally sabotage the system so it boots into a failure state, e.g. disconnect the SMB cable at the robot control.
Access to the restart menu should be available, pick your restart type and proceed.
Has the mass storage (hd0a) been cloned, or otherwise possibly corrupted?
If you hold the stop button down and the number 4 programmable button down when the pendant is starting up until you see in red text a message about erasing calibration data, once the POST gets to a certain point the touch screen calibration procedure is presented. It is accessible for only a short time and is immediately followed by a joystick calibration procedure. The joystick calibration procedure is also presented after finishing the touch screen calibration procedure. The procedures are quite self-explanatory.
Thanks a lot, great suggestions! hd wasn’t cloned, it is original one. It wasn’t corrupted since I was able to start robot without troubles before my stupid x restart, but I had to do it since service port was unavailable, same as USB port on Flex Pendant. But now I learned that Kontron controller is using usb port on computer itself, it cannot see Flex Pendant USB. Too many tricks with these old systems.
We have a older generation IRC5 pendant (PM if interested).
If I remember correctly the new pendant only works with RW 5.14+.
If you create a new system the users should be reset, but you need the controller key and robot key.
If you have possibility to connect to the robotcontroller with RS232 there is a command you can send that resets the user information.
Hi, I’m gonna try to hijack this thread.
Too long to read? Just read the text in bold.
We’ve had a similar problem here:
We have a IRC5 controller from 2009 with RW5.11. The pendant broke on it, so we got a new one (not newest the TPU4 kind). A DSQC 679 Rev 15.
I wasn’t there the first time it was plugged in, so I don’t know if it had any error on the joystick then. But when I restarted it I didn’t get any errors.
Everything seemed to work with it (automatic cycle), until a couple of days later when an operator tried to jog the robot.
The main contactors activate as they should, but nothing else - the brakes didn’t release and the robot didn’t move when moving the joystick. That’s when I got involved.
Also the quick jogging keys didn’t work, we got a message saying the controller needed at least RW5.12 to use them.
So after researching a bit on the interwebs I tried to trigger the joystick-calibration: Hold Stop-button and programmable key 4 when the pendant boots to clear calibration data.
That worked. I calibrated the screen and then the joystick, but it still wouldn’t work.
We tried another flexpendant which we knew works, but it didn’t work either. Probably also too new.
Luckily we had an older pendant laying around so we are using that now.
I’ve been trying to find information about where the cut-offs are for RW5.11 but the most helpful thing I’ve found is what Tompanhuhu wrote about RW5.14… I just can’t confirm it as of now.
Is it worth to upgrade the controller to RW5.16 just so we don’t get this problem again?
It seems like risk to do if I can’t confirm it will help. It’s also a risk if this pendant breaks and we can’t find another old one.
(I know it might be good to upgrade for other reasons, but this controller will probably be replaced in a year or two, and it has already been functioning for 17 years, so why bother 
)
I would update the system, it is really not that scary a thing to do. Take a fresh backup, make copies of it or take another backup on another device. Use the system builder to create the system from backup, them modify the system to use 5.16 and download it. Boot into that system and reload your files.
It’s not that it’s scary, I’ve done it a couple of times so it’s no big biggie,
however, my time is limited, the production time lost is always a sensitive question, there’s always a small risk it doesn’t work as planned and takes longer time to do… and if I do it, I’ll be the first one to get a question any time that robot will have any problem for a couple of years… so no, I don’t want to do it unless I know it solves our problem.