Fanuc 21i SRAM back up problems

S

Sucram

Plastic

Joined

Dec 14, 2019

• Jan 24, 2020

• #1

I have a Harrison Alpha 330s plus lathe with Fanuc controller and have been trying to do a sram back up as per the FANUC instructions. It all goes ok until it asks me to back up sram data.... it asks gor "Yes or no", when I hit the soft key yes nothing happens! I have tried different cards but with no luck. All these cards do however work with the machine when reading and copying program files to the machines memory. Also is the machine will not complete a format of any of these cards, it will continually just flash "formatting" and not complete! I was however able to format them successfully fat on my laptop. I'm a bit stuck now as I'd like to back the machine up but it's just not working! Any suggestions appreciated.

 

G

guest

Guest

• Jan 24, 2020

• #2

Sucram said:

...It all goes ok until it asks me to back up sram data.... it asks gor "Yes or no", when I hit the soft key yes nothing happens!

Click to expand...

fanucs are weird about cards- there can be files on the card, but the control doesn't show them because they have the wrong extension.

Have you plugged the card back into the laptop and checked the files?

 

V

Vancbiker

Diamond

Joined

Jan 5, 2014

Location

Vancouver, WA. USA

• Jan 24, 2020

• #3

I've always had good results using an SRAM type card, not the far less expensive and far more common FLASH based cards.

 

S

Sucram

Plastic

Joined

Dec 14, 2019

• Jan 25, 2020

• #4

Yep......no files loaded unfortunately....really strange....the cards work fine on the machine otherwise!

 

X

xyzzy

Aluminum

Joined

Nov 29, 2008

Location

California, USA

• Jan 25, 2020

• #5

What size and type of cards are you trying to use for the SRAM dump? I believe these controllers do not like higher capacity cards for dumps. Internal memory card architectures have changed significantly since these machines were designed and are not always backwards compatible.

I use this type of card Sandisk 256MB Compact Flash Card 256MB CF Memory card SDCFJ/SDCFB | eBay with a PCMCIA CF adapter on both a 21iT and 18iMB Fanuc and have never had a problem, with or without other files on the cards.

I keep a stash of these old cards around just for SRAM dumps.

Good luck! Jon

 

Last edited: Jan 25, 2020

S

Sucram

Plastic

Joined

Dec 14, 2019

• Jan 25, 2020

• #6

Thanks for the reply Jon, I've tried various sized cards including the exact sandisc one you're using which is the biggest I have, the funny thing is that they all work fine to store and load programs into the machine to make parts but not for sram backup, very frustrating

 

S

Sucram

Plastic

Joined

Dec 14, 2019

• Jan 26, 2020

• #7

I enabled parameter changes to allow me to change i/o to 4 to read the card but do you think there might be another parameter to change to allow the sram backup and format, ie allowing writing to the card....clutching at straws!

 

X

xyzzy

Aluminum

Joined

Nov 29, 2008

Location

California, USA

• Jan 26, 2020

• #8

Unfortunately I am not near my machine - but will be later this week. What I do though is identical to the procedure in this video: YouTube. Also check out https://www.cnc1.com/hubfs/fanuc-library/Fanuc_16i_18i_21i_SRAM_Backup.pdf from the manual. Is your procedure the same as these?

I think that when you are in the low level SRAM backup/loading program the parameters don't matter, it's like the BootROM on a PC before you get to Windows. When I am back I can look in the parameter book to double check. It it possible Harrison does something with a key or master switch?

 

Last edited: Jan 27, 2020

J

JSAgri

Plastic

Joined

Mar 17, 2022

• Mar 17, 2022

• #9

Having a similar problem with our Funuc controlled Cincinnati 18i. Tried booting yesterday morning and got black screen with 935 sram ecc error. Haven't backed up the machine before and wanted to before wiping it.. and it just hung. Managed to source a blank backup from someone and now it boots but lost all programs and offsets. Backup Monthly!