Used Fanuc S-10 Password Protected

    Hello All,


    First time on any forum so please correct me if I am misusing this platform.


    Recently our company acquired a Fanuc S-10 robot from an auction not knowing its condition or anything. It came with the robot itself, a fully enclosed workcell, parts loader tray, and grinding wheels (Its a robot grinder for the casting and forging industry). Going through the errors, I noticed that the 4x D-cell batteries were dead, so I replaced these and proceeded to go through the SPC_RESET function. In attempting to change this from FALSE to TRUE i get the notification "Requires PROGRAM password". I navigated over to the program menu to try some combinations of alpha numeric codes that were written on the controller housing with no luck.


    To trouble shoot, I called Fanuc America and told them about the situation. They suggested I should contact the previous owners which I proceeded to do with no luck, they can not find a password registered to that robot in their system. I called Fanuc back and they said a "reburn" may work but could cost $600.


    The reburn cost is not an issue, we spent more on shipping than we would on the reburn. However I do not know how to install this, especially on an original RJ controller with no USB ports. I read online that there are some other options to remove this password, including a factory reset, changing the controller, or the teach pendant.


    Reminder, I have never worked with a robot before. This system was sold in 1993, and last maintained in 2010.


    If anyone could offer their insight on what I could do to even get this robot to jog would be amazing. How to break the password, or what I have to buy and replace to avoid it.


    Thanks!

    You could do an init start from boot monitor, but I would STRONGLY recommend doing an image backup first (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, ALWAYS DO THIS!), which is also accomplished from the boot monitor. Both can be done without a password, and both are well documented in this forum.

    Quote from pdl

    You could do an init start from boot monitor, but I would STRONGLY recommend doing an image backup first (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, ALWAYS DO THIS!), which is also accomplished from the boot monitor. Both can be done without a password, and both are well documented in this forum.

    What would an "init start" do? I did a little research and the only thing I could find was to do this when the error stating to do it occurs.


    On another note, I just purchased a RS232 to USB adapter and contacted FANUC to purchase a KFLOPPY software license. I was told this includes the emulator and reburn to basically start fresh without a password! Not sure if this was the right move or not but my owners are really pushing for me to get this to show some life.

    I went through this something like this a few years ago on an RJ3. The previous install user had not left any documentation of his password. I first did a backup. Then I was able to open the backup of SYSPASS.SV file in Wordpad. While most of it was gibberish, the install users name was clearly legible in the middle of it and a few characters later was a 4 digit number that ended up being the password.

    An init start restores the robot to how it left the factory, or how it was after the last system software install. I would normally never suggest this, except for people that are going to sell their robot (to clear all proprietary data), or for people that buy a used one and don't have any need for the programs that are left over on the robot. The big caveat is that if there is anything added like I/O, you will lose the config for that as well, but this is usually easy to setup.


    As Hazard stated, it is possible to recover passwords, but since this robot is new to you, I would recommend a fresh start.


    Again, this is the only time I would recommend an init start, and take an image before you do it.

    Does the image save locally on the controller or teach pendant or would I have to plug a computer in to save it externally? I think I am going to try this today while I wait for the cable and FTP from Fanuc to come in.


    If something goes wrong could I restore the controller with the reburn software I just purchased?

    An image can be saved to a computer over TFTP or RS232 via KFloppy. Or, an easier option is a memory card installed into a PCMCIA adapter plugged into the CPU.


    If you bought a reburn, I would go that route, but I would still make an image first. You'll never need a backup until you don't have one.


    You may want to try the init start first though, as loading new system software will erase your master counts. If the init start works, then you can either write down your master counts or save sysmast.sv for loading after the new install.

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