Firmware explanation

Determining the version on laser inscription

Beckhoff EtherCAT slaves feature serial numbers applied by laser. The serial number has the following structure: KK YY FF HH

KK - week of production (CW, calendar week)
YY - year of production
FF - firmware version
HH - hardware version

Example with ser. no.: 12 10 03 02:

12 - week of production 12
10 - year of production 2010
03 - firmware version 03
02 - hardware version 02

Determining the version via the System Manager

The TwinCAT System Manager shows the version of the controller firmware if the master can access the slave online. Click on the E-Bus Terminal whose controller firmware you want to check (in the example terminal 2 (EL3204)) and select the tab CoE Online (CAN over EtherCAT).

CoE Online and Offline CoE Two CoE directories are available: • online: This is offered in the EtherCAT slave by the controller, if the EtherCAT slave supports this. This CoE directory can only be displayed if a slave is connected and operational. • offline: The EtherCAT Slave Information ESI/XML may contain the default content of the CoE. This CoE directory can only be displayed if it is included in the ESI (e.g. “Beckhoff EL5xxx.xml”). The Advanced button must be used for switching between the two views.

In Fig. Display of EL3204 firmware version the firmware version of the selected EL3204 is shown as 03 in CoE entry 0x100A.

In (A) TwinCAT 2.11 shows that the Online CoE directory is currently displayed. If this is not the case, the Online directory can be loaded via the Online option in Advanced Settings (B) and double-clicking on AllObjects.