CP5711 Windows 7 Installation Compatibility, Drivers

CP5711 Windows 7 Installation: Compatibility, Drivers, and Hotfixes

The Siemens CP 5711 (article number 6GK1571-1AA00) is a USB-attached communications processor that exposes a PROFIBUS/MPI/PPI interface to a programming station. Although the hardware itself enumerates as a USB device on virtually every Windows version, the SIMATIC NET driver stack and STEP 7 host integration were not initially validated for Windows 7. This reference consolidates the official compatibility matrix, the required hotfix chain, the meaning of the CP5711 status LEDs, and the field-proven workarounds (including VMware-based isolation and external 24 V supply) that resolve the most common installation problems reported by integrators.

1. Hardware and Functional Overview

The CP 5711 is delivered as a compact USB dongle containing a PROFIBUS ASIC and an RS-485 isolator. It provides a single DP/MPI/PPI channel and is intended for engineering, commissioning, and diagnostic traffic rather than high-throughput production I/O.

The CP 5711 is functionally invisible to Windows without the SIMATIC NET driver package. The bare USB device class driver cannot present a usable PROFIBUS/MPI channel to STEP 7, NCM PC, or any other Siemens engineering tool. This is the single most common reason a freshly inserted CP 5711 is reported as "not recognized" or "no driver available" on a Windows 7 host.

2. Official Operating System Compatibility

Siemens publishes the CP-to-OS compatibility matrix in entry 43264686 ("Which SIMATIC NET Industrial Ethernet PC CP is compatible with which Microsoft Windows operating system?"). For the CP 5711 the validated matrix at the time of the original Windows 7 release was:

At the time the V5.5 release line was first made Windows 7 capable (release of STEP 7 V5.5 itself: 26 July 2010), only the 32-bit SKUs of Windows 7 were validated. The 64-bit support that integrators required arrived later in the lifecycle, primarily through TIA Portal and the V13/V14 generation of SIMATIC NET rather than through STEP 7 V5.5. Users with 64-bit Windows 7 hosts that must run STEP 7 V5.5 therefore had to choose between a downgrade path and a virtualization path.

3. Required Software Stack for Windows 7 (32-bit)

A working CP 5711 installation on Windows 7 requires the full stack below, in the order listed. Skipping any component typically results in the dongle being detected as "Siemens CP 5711" in Device Manager but invisible to SIMATIC Manager.

1. STEP 7 V5.5 SP1 (or later SP within the V5.5 line). Earlier V5.5 base releases lacked the Win 7 installer signature and would fail MSI integrity checks.
2. SIMATIC NET PC Software 2008 SP2 (CD V8.0, released 2010). This CD contains the OPC server, NCM PC, S7DOS, and the CP 5711 device driver set.
3. Hotfix 1 for SIMATIC NET CP 5711 — addresses USB enumeration timing on certain Win 7 chipsets.
4. Hotfix 2 for SIMATIC NET CP 5711 — addresses drop-outs observed during HMI download transfers and long DP sessions. Required for stable operation in many field reports.
5. Hotfix 1 for STEP 7 V5.5 SP1 if deployed in combination with Win 7 32-bit (released alongside the SP1).

Each hotfix is delivered as an MSI that must be installed with administrator credentials after SIMATIC NET 2008 SP2. Installing the hotfix before the SP2 base is silently a no-op; installing them in reverse order leaves the base driver in its pre-fix state.

3.1 Installation sequence

1. Disable UAC for the engineering session (Control Panel → User Accounts → Change User Account Control settings → Never notify). UAC interception of the SIMATIC NET service installer was the cause of most "silent" install failures on Win 7.
2. Insert SIMATIC NET CD V8.0. Authorize the auto-run as Administrator.
3. Select Install SIMATIC NET PC Software. Accept the default S7DOS and OPC Scout V10 components.
4. Reboot when prompted. Verify in Start → Programs → Siemens Automation → Communication Settings that the SIMATIC NET diagnostic console opens without error.
5. Insert Hotfix 1, reboot. Insert Hotfix 2, reboot.
6. Install STEP 7 V5.5 SP1 (if not already present) followed by STEP 7 V5.5 SP1 Hotfix 1.
7. Plug the CP 5711 into a USB 2.0 port (USB 3.0 ports on some early Win 7 chipsets caused enumeration instability). The Windows device driver should load automatically from the SIMATIC NET store.
8. Verify in Device Manager under Network adapters or Siemens Communication devices that the device appears as CP 5711 without warning triangles.

4. Reading the CP 5711 Status LEDs

The CP 5711 exposes four surface-mounted LEDs on its enclosure. Their meaning is critical for first-line diagnostics of the LINK SF condition reported by multiple integrators.

A flashing SF LED with the LINK LED also flashing or dark is the canonical signature of a CP 5711 that has lost the PROFIBUS connection — but it is also reported when the dongle itself is losing USB connectivity on Windows 7 hosts. The differentiation is simple: if the POWER LED flickers in sync with SF, the host is the cause. If POWER is steady, the bus side is the cause.

5. Diagnosing the LINK SF Drop-Out Pattern

The most common Windows 7 complaint is a CP 5711 that initializes successfully, downloads one or two blocks, then drops out with the LINK and SF LEDs blinking. This pattern is well-documented and has three practical causes:

5.1 USB power budget on bus-powered hubs

The CP 5711 draws up to 500 mA from the USB port. When attached through a hub that supplies marginal current, or to a laptop on battery with aggressive power management, the dongle resets itself under sustained DP-12M traffic. The visible symptom is a brief POWER LED dip.

Resolution: Plug the CP 5711 directly into a root port on the workstation, disable USB selective suspend for the dongle in Device Manager → USB Root Hub → Power Management, and supply an external 24 V DC source to the CP 5711's secondary power input. Field reports show that the external supply alone resolves the drop-out in roughly 80% of cases that survive driver updates.

5.2 Missing or unapplied Hotfix 2

Hotfix 2 for the CP 5711 specifically addresses USB endpoint timeouts observed during long HMI download transfers on Windows 7. Without Hotfix 2, the driver stack can drop the bulk endpoint when the host's USB EHCI controller cycles a power state.

Resolution: Confirm Hotfix 2 is installed via Control Panel → Programs and Features. Look for an entry named SIMATIC NET CP 5711 Hotfix 2 (build number is version-specific; refer to the README bundled with the hotfix).

5.3 Driver stack mismatch with VMware / Virtual XP passthrough

When the CP 5711 is passed through to a Windows XP Mode (Virtual XP) or VMware Workstation guest running STEP 7 V5.4 SP5, the host's Windows 7 SIMATIC NET installation must not also claim the device. If both stacks attempt to bind the dongle, the guest sees a CP 5711, the host sees an unhandled Siemens USB device, and both sides will intermittently reset the bus.

Resolution:

1. Uninstall the SIMATIC NET 2008 CP 5711 driver on the Windows 7 host before configuring USB passthrough.
2. Map the CP 5711 USB VID/PID 0908/0104 to the VMware guest as a persistent device.
3. Install the CP 5711 driver only inside the guest (XP or Win 7 32-bit).

6. The 64-bit Windows 7 Problem and Recommended Workarounds

At the V5.5 lifecycle point, Siemens did not certify STEP 7 V5.5 or the CP 5711 driver stack for any 64-bit edition of Windows 7. Integrators therefore had three practical paths. Each is presented with its commissioning cost and its reliability profile.

The third option — switching to a third-party PROFIBUS/MPI USB adapter such as the NetLink USB — was the workaround chosen by integrators who could not tolerate the latency or drop-outs of the VM path. The trade-off is the loss of the integrated Siemens SIMATIC NET configuration under Communication Settings.

7. Validation Procedure After Installation

Once the CP 5711 driver stack is installed on Windows 7, run the following verification sequence before placing the station into service.

1. Open Start → Siemens Automation → Communication Settings. Confirm the CP 5711 appears in the module list with state Available (green check).
2. Open Station Manager → Diagnostics and confirm the PROFIBUS bus statistics show zero Bus Errors and a non-zero Token Rotation count after 30 seconds.
3. Launch SIMATIC Manager and open an online project. Confirm Accessible Nodes returns the expected PLC(s) with no timeout.
4. Perform a full project download (HW Config + blocks) to a test PLC. Monitor the CP 5711 LINK and ACT LEDs; they should remain steady green / flashing yellow for the duration of the download.
5. Cycle USB power once by unplugging and re-plugging the dongle. Confirm the device re-enumerates within 5 seconds and SIMATIC NET re-binds it without rebooting.

8. Troubleshooting Matrix

9. Firmware and Hotfix Compatibility Notes

The CP 5711 firmware is field-upgradable through the SIMATIC NET PC software using CP 5711 Firmware Update. The firmware version on the dongle must be compatible with the host SIMATIC NET version. The combination matrix observed in field use:

Downgrading the CP 5711 firmware below V1.x on a Windows 7 host will brick the device's recognition on that stack. Always cross-check the firmware level in Communication Settings → Diagnostics → CP 5711 → Firmware before applying a hotfix, and never interrupt the firmware update process — a partial update renders the dongle recoverable only with a Siemens service tool.

10. Migration Path Beyond Windows 7

For environments that have since moved beyond Windows 7, the CP 5711 is supported on Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit) by SIMATIC NET V14 SP1 or later, paired with STEP 7 V5.6 (the V5.x line's final release). For new installations, the recommended successor is the CP 5711's functional replacement, the CP 1626 PCIe card or the PC adapter USB V2 (article 6GK1571-2AA00), both of which carry native 64-bit drivers and the same SIMATIC NET configuration surface. Integrators planning a Windows 10 / 11 migration should confirm the project's licensing path through the Siemens Industry Online Support portal before committing to the CP 5711 as the long-term adapter.

11. Field-Commissioning Checklist

Use the following checklist as the final gate before signing off a CP 5711 installation on a Windows 7 engineering station.

• ☐ Windows edition is Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise, 32-bit.
• ☐ STEP 7 V5.5 SP1 + Hotfix 1 installed.
• ☐ SIMATIC NET 2008 SP2 installed.
• ☐ Hotfix 1 and Hotfix 2 for CP 5711 installed.
• ☐ SIMATIC NET license transferred and visible in Automation License Manager.
• ☐ UAC disabled for the engineering user account.
• ☐ USB selective suspend disabled on the CP 5711 root hub.
• ☐ CP 5711 connected to a USB 2.0 root port (not a hub).
• ☐ External 24 V DC supply connected if DP-12M traffic is anticipated.
• ☐ Accessible Nodes test passes against a known-good PLC.
• ☐ Full project download test passes without SF drop-out.
• ☐ Hot-unplug / re-plug test passes without host reboot.