Hey all. TIA Portal V16 and S7-PLCSIM V16 on the lab laptop. Project is the conveyor exercise from the course, CPU 1214C, nothing exotic.
Start simulation opens PLCSIM fine and the virtual CPU appears. Load to device then stops with a message that the block FB_Conveyor can't be loaded because simulation isn't supported for it, something like "Loading is not possible because the project does not support simulation". I uninstalled and reinstalled PLCSIM, set the PG/PC interface to PLCSIM in the Go online dialog and compiled everything again, same message every time.
The real 1214C on the bench takes the same project without a word. Why does the simulator care about one block when the real CPU doesn't? Could someone explain whether it's FB_Conveyor itself or something set on the project?
V16 on both, TIA and PLCSIM, same update level? Mixed updates have bitten me before. And is FB_Conveyor from a vendor library or something you wrote in the course?
The PG/PC interface isn't it, that dialog only matters once the load starts working.
Both V16, Update 6 I think, whatever the lab image has. FB_Conveyor is from the course, we wrote it in class, no library.
Two things it can be, and yours is the first. In the project tree right click the project itself, Properties, Protection, and look for "Support simulation during block compilation". It is off by default on a new project. Tick it, then Compile, Software, rebuild all, then start simulation and load again. Every block gets compiled with the simulation flag set and PLCSIM accepts it.
The second one is a vendor library block that refuses simulation on purpose, and then no tick box helps. Not your case.
There's a writeup on the simulation side here: https://plctr.com/introduction-to-plc-simulation-and-virtual-commissioning/
Ticked "Support simulation during block compilation" in the project properties, rebuilt all, loaded to PLCSIM, and the conveyor runs in the sim now.
So it was a project setting, that one tick and a full recompile. Nothing to do with PLCSIM itself, and reinstalling it was a wasted afternoon.
What I still want to know is why the box exists at all. Why would anyone not want simulation? Thanks ines31.
That box is off in every project I ship. Should change that.