Overview

Use these procedures to update the firmware for the EIO adapter:

Stage

Description

1

Download and install Unity Loader software.

2

Configure and store IP parameters (optional).

3

Connect your configuration PC to the EIO adapter.

4

Transfer the firmware update to the EIO adapter or the Ethernet backplane.

The minimum required version of Unity Loader is V8.0.

These instructions apply to the BMXCRA31200, BMXCRA31210, BMECRA31210, and 140CRA31908 modules.

Downloading and Installing Unity Loader

Download the Unity Loader software to your PC:

Step

Action

1

Enter the web address for Schneider Electric (www.se.com) in an Internet browser.

2

In the Search from input field, enter the phrase Unity Loader and press Enter.

3

Examine the search results and select the appropriate entry for the Unity Loader software.

4

Follow the on-screen instructions to download both the Unity Loader installation software and any necessary installation instructions.

5

Run the Unity Loader setup file and follow the instructions (on the screen and in the downloaded documentation) to install Unity Loader.

Default Address Configurations

If the CRA IP address is not configured, you can temporarily use its default IP address by setting the rotary switch to Stored. This default IP address is overwritten when you configure and store valid IP parameters.

The adapter uses these default address configurations:

Parameter

Description

Default IP Address

The default IP address starts with 10.10 and uses the last 2 bytes of the MAC address. As an example, a device with the MAC address of 00:00:54:10:8A:05 has a default IP address of 10.10.138.5 (0x8A=138, 0x05=5).

Default Sub-Network Mask

The default mask is 255.0.0.0 (a class A mask).

Default Gateway Address

The default gateway address is identical to the default IP address.

The default address is based on the adapter MAC address. This makes it possible for several Schneider Electric devices to use their default network configurations on the same network.

To configure and store IP parameters that are not the default values for the remote drop adapter:

Step

Action

1

Start or re-start the adapter with the rotary switch set toStored.

2

Store the IP address by sending a explicit message to the TCP/IP Interface Object (Attribute ID 05: Interface Configuration).
NOTE: The adapter uses the stored IP parameters only after a power cycle.

Connect the Configuration PC to the EIO Adapter

Connect your configuration PC (that is running Unity Loader) directly to the adapter module via an Ethernet port.

Verify that communications are established between the PC and the adapter by issuing a ping command from the PC:

Step

Action

Comment

1

Open a command window on the PC.

Start > Run.

2

In the Run dialog, type in cmd.

  

3

Click OK .

  

4

At the command prompt, type in the ping command and the device IP address.

Example: C:\>ping 192.168.21.38:

5

The command window verifies that a connection is established.

Example: Reply from 192.168.21.38...

Update Procedure

Do not interrupt the firmware download process by:

  • allowing an interruption to the power or communications

  • closing the Unity Loader software

If the firmware download process is interrupted, the new firmware is not installed and the adapter continues to use the old firmware. If an interruption occurs, restart the process.

NOTE: If the download is not completed, there is a message saying that the update was unsuccessful.

To update the firmware for the EIO adapter:

Step

Action

1

Open Unity Loader on your PC. ( Start > Programs > Schneider Electric > Unity Loader )

Result: Unity Loader opens and displays the Project tab.

2

At the bottom of the tab in the Connection area, connect to the module:

  • In the Media list, select Ethernet .

  • In the Address field, type in the IP address of the adapter, which is either:

    • configured: The adapter is already communicating on the network and the IP address for the module is configured in the application in the BME•58••40 CPU module.

    • default: The adapter rotary switch position is Stored and you did not already store valid IP parameters.

  • Click Connect.

3

After Unity Loader has connected to the module, click the Firmware tab in the Unity Loader dialog.

4

In the PC area, click the ellipsis ( ...) button to open a dialog where you can navigate to and select the firmware file for the adapter module. The firmware is contained in a Unity Loader file (.LDX extension).

NOTE: When using the BMECRA31210, you can also update firmware for a BMEXBP••00.

After you select the firmware file and close the dialog, the selected revision of this firmware is displayed in the list on the left, and the current version of the firmware is displayed in the list on the right.

5

When the arrow in the middle of the Unity Loader dialog is green, click Transfer .

NOTE: Only click Transfer if the arrow is green. A yellow arrow indicates that the firmware file on your computer is the same version or newer than the file selected for transfer; a red arrow indicates that the firmware on the computer is not compatible with the EIO adapter.

6

Click Yes on the 2 dialogs that appear.

7

The Transferring data to PLC opens, which indicates the transfer status with the blue bars at the bottom of the screen.

8

After the transfer is complete, click Close.

9

In the Unity Loader software, click Disconnect and close the window.

10

Reboot the module to finalize the firmware update.

From 1 instance of Unity Loader, you can only update 1 device. To update several devices at the same time, open additional instances of Unity Loader. In this case, additional dialogs. Click Yes to close each dialog.

The update process takes approximately 3 minutes:

  • firmware update (approximately 2 minutes)

  • reboot, reestablish I/O connections (1 minute)

During the firmware update, the I/O communication with the adapter module is interrupted. After the hold up time expires, the output modules move to the pre-configured fallback setting (a value of 0, 1, or hold last value).