Citect 6.10 and S7 400 communication problem

[MahmoudMosad]

hello
I have an old system citect 6.10 communicate via ethernet with siemens plc s7 CPU 414-3 DP with communication card CP 443-1.

my problem is the running pc is very old since 2005, so I want to upgrade it with same software as I don't have the source of the project to upgrade it.
so I have a ghost image from the supplier, to can install it to any hard disk and put it in the PC to run our machine.
when I put this hard disk in new pc, citect application launch and wait for the plc communication which is not happening, otherwise ping with plc IP is OK and running.
I know that the LAN card is different than the one in the original.
So my question how it is possible to make the communication happening between citect application and plc?

Thanks in advance

[Ricard]

Hello my friend @MahmoudMosad ,

What ping offers us is confirmation that the device is present at the installation using the ICMP protocol, and that's all.

Once we are certain the device is present, we must analyze whether the software is actually working and whether the connection is established and subsequently communicates using the protocol. One of the tools is WireShark, to capture frames to see if your software is actually sending communication requests and what the other device responds to.

On the other hand, and focusing on your situation, keep in mind that when you move the hard drive to another PC, the drivers/DLLs for the hardware you had will not be compatible with the hardware you currently have, and if you update the drivers, they may not be compatible with the operating system.

Sometimes these actions take more time than the cost of migrating or upgrading the system, and I don't want to get into the issue of technical support or cybersecurity. However, if the focus is on maintaining software versions, I would work with Virtual Machines.

BR

Ricard

[Hennie_Smith]

Hi, Citect uses either Simatic Net software from Siemens with S7NT driver or the PSDirect driver (add-on license for Citect required). Can you confirm if your IO device is setup for S7NT driver? 

If it is S7NT, it means you would first need to get Simatic Net software setup and communicating to the PLC on the new PC. There are some Youtube videos available on the web if unsure how to do this. If the Simatic Net is working, Citect should not be an issue.

Regards,

Hennie