This article explains what may be causing the loss of your PROFINET station name after you restart your device.
APPLICABLE PRODUCTS
Any HMS PROFINET device
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
I assign the PROFINET station name to my device and I'm able to establish the communication with the PLC. However, when I restart my device, I notice that the station name is lost, and I need to re-assign it again.
SOLUTION
The PROFINET station name is assigned to the device using PROFINET Discovery and Configuration Protocol (DCP) commands. More specifically, it is the DCP Set command that is used to assign the device name.
However, this DCP Set command can be sent with a 'permanent' or 'temporary' argument.
If you assign the station name using a 'permanent' DCP Set, then the station name is saved to a non-volatile storage in the device. As a consequence, when the device is power cycled, the station name is kept.
If you assign the station name using a 'temporary' DCP Set, then the station name is saved to a volatile storage in the device. As a consequence, when the device is power cycled, the station name is lost.
According to PROFINET specifications, the station name should be assigned permanently, so that the Controller can automatically establish the IO connection with the device even after a power cycle, without a need of a station name re-assignment.
However, there are some PROFINET network configuration tools that assign the station name only temporarily. It is possible that you have used such a tool to assign the station name to your device.
As a workaround, you can use PRONETA or SINEC PNI, which are free PROFINET network configuration tools from Siemens. Using these tools, you can ensure that you are assigning the station name to your device permanently.
In case you are still having the station name loss issue despite using these tools from Siemens to assign the name permanently, please get in touch with our Technical support team via our Support Portal for further assistance.