Resolving SIMATIC PDM 'Software Not Installed' Error in PCS 7

Problem Description

The "PDM software not installed" or "PDM is older or not installed" error appears in the SIMATIC PCS 7 / SIMATIC PDM (Process Device Manager) hardware configuration editor when the Engineering Station (ES) cannot resolve the Electronic Device Description (EDD) required by a configured field device. Typical symptoms reported in the field include:

• The HW Config editor of STEP 7 / PCS 7 displays a yellow warning triangle on the device object, with the tooltip "PDM software is older or not installed."
• Right-click the object → Object Properties → PDM tab is missing entirely, or the tab is present but reads "PDM is not installed."
• Some Automation Stations (for example AS01) show the error while others (for example AS03) compile without the warning, indicating a per-device EDD resolution issue rather than a global installation fault.
• Opening the project on a second PC (a retrieved project) reproduces or even introduces the error, even though SIMATIC PDM is visibly installed in Apps & Features (Add/Remove Programs).
• The PDM stand-alone application (Start → SIMATIC → SIMATIC PDM) starts normally, but the device cannot be opened from inside HW Config.

Root Cause Analysis

The PDM hardware configuration path depends on three independent components. If any one of them is broken, the editor reports a missing-PDM condition even when the SIMATIC PDM executable is fully installed and licensed.

Field practice on PCS 7 V8.2 through V9.1 systems shows the following three root-cause patterns in roughly this order of frequency:

1. Project-to-ES version drift. The PCS 7 project was originally built and downloaded on Engineering Station A (for example SIMATIC PDM V9.1 with the 2019 EDD catalog), then opened on Engineering Station B (for example SIMATIC PDM V9.0 with the 2017 catalog). Devices that have EDDs only in the newer catalog appear as "PDM older or not installed" on Station B even though the same catalog package was installed on both stations at one time.
2. Incomplete EDD import. The engineer updated the PDM library using the Siemens support package (entry ID 92561357 – "PDM Device Library, EDD catalog update") but did not re-register the imported EDDs through the Device Integration Manager, or the import terminated on a single corrupt EDD before the batch completed.
3. Device-specific missing EDD. The project references a device variant (a vendor firmware revision, a customized model code, or a redundant HART 7 device with manufacturer-specific extensions) for which no EDD is present in the installed catalog. This is common with third-party instruments configured once on a vendor's laptop and then propagated by copy-paste across the project.

Diagnostic Procedure: Identifying Missing EDDs

Before changing any installation, identify the exact set of devices that are missing an EDD. SIMATIC PDM provides a dedicated view for this.

1. Open the SIMATIC Manager with the affected PCS 7 multiproject.
2. Select the component view (Component View) so the Automation Stations (AS01, AS02, AS03, …) are visible.
3. Open HW Config on the AS that shows the error (AS01 in the source case).
4. In HW Config, choose View → Process Device Plant View. This view switches the configuration tree from a hardware slot view to a logical plant view, listing every HART / PROFIBUS / PROFINET device that has been commissioned via PDM.
5. Devices that are fully resolved appear with a normal icon. Devices whose EDD is missing, mismatched, or older are rendered in grey – the visual signal that PDM cannot open them.
6. Right-click the grey device and select Object Properties. The PDM tab will display the diagnostic text "PDM is not installed" or "PDM is older or not installed." The dialog also reports the device type, vendor, and EDD revision that PDM attempted to load.
7. Write down, for each grey device, the Vendor ID, Device Type, Device Revision, and DD Revision. This is the input the Device Integration Manager will need to locate a matching EDD.

Resolving ES Software Version Drift

The single most common reason the error appears on a retrieved project is that the EDD binding on Engineering Station A is newer (or older) than the catalog on Engineering Station B. PCS 7 stores the device-to-EDD binding in the project file, but the actual EDD is loaded from the local catalog at the moment HW Config is opened.

To eliminate the ES drift as a cause:

1. On the ES where the project was originally created, run Start → SIMATIC → SIMATIC PDM → Device Integration Manager.
2. Choose Export → Export device catalog and save the catalog to a network share or USB stick. This produces a .zip archive of the entire registered EDD set with the version numbers intact.
3. On the target ES, open the Device Integration Manager, choose Import → Import device catalog, and import the exported archive. This overwrites the local catalog with the exact version that was on the source ES.
4. Re-open HW Config on the target ES and check Process Device Plant View. Devices that were grey should now resolve.

If the project was created on an ES that no longer exists or is no longer available, the alternative is to use the "Retrieve" workflow consistently: every ES that opens the project must have the matching PDM version and a matching EDD catalog. The Siemens manual SIMATIC PDM – Commissioning and Service (entry ID 109812486) explicitly states that the EDD catalog version is part of the project interface and must be kept consistent across all ES machines.

Updating the PDM Device Catalog

The official Siemens procedure for refreshing the EDD library uses the cumulative device library package published in the Siemens Industry Online Support portal.

1. Download the latest SIMATIC PDM Device Library package from entry ID 92561357. The package is delivered as a self-extracting archive (SIMATIC_PDM_DD_<date>.exe).
2. Close all SIMATIC applications (SIMATIC Manager, HW Config, PDM stand-alone, PCS 7 OS). The installer refuses to overwrite locked EDD files while PDM is running.
3. Run the executable. The default installation path is C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation\SIMATIC_PDM\EDD\. Subfolders are organized by vendor ID (for example 000145 for Endress+Hauser, 000094 for Siemens, 000101 for ABB).
4. When the installer completes, start Device Integration Manager and run Tools → Rebuild device catalog. This step is mandatory: copying the EDD files into the folder is not enough – PDM indexes them in an internal database the first time the catalog is rebuilt.
5. Verify the new EDDs are listed under Device Integration Manager → Device catalog, grouped by vendor and revision. Note the publication date of the catalog; a stale catalog is a strong indicator that the import succeeded for the file copy but failed at the registration step.

Device Integration Manager Workflow

The Device Integration Manager (DIM) is the single tool that owns the EDD database. Every step that touches the catalog – install, update, vendor pack, rollback, export – must pass through DIM, never by manually copying files.

The catalog rebuild writes an index file at %PROGRAMDATA%\Siemens\Automation\SIMATIC_PDM\Catalog\PDMDeviceCatalog.idx. If this file is missing or older than the EDD files in the EDD subfolder, DIM will report "0 devices found" even though the files are physically present. Delete the index file and run a manual rebuild to recover.

Step-by-Step Resolution Procedure

The following consolidated procedure resolves the "PDM software not installed" error in the majority of field cases. Run the steps in order; do not skip the diagnostic step, because each later step assumes that the earlier one did not solve the problem.

1. Capture the device list. Use Process Device Plant View on the failing AS (see Diagnostic Procedure above) and record the Vendor ID, Device Type, Device Revision, and DD Revision of every grey device.
2. Confirm PDM is installed. Open Apps & Features and confirm "SIMATIC PDM" is present with the version you expect. Note the exact build (for example V9.1 SP1 HF3). A version mismatch between the ES and the runtime on the AS is a separate problem and is not solved by the EDD catalog update.
3. Rebuild the local catalog. Open Device Integration Manager → Tools → Rebuild device catalog. This solves the common case where a previous technician copied EDD files into the folder but never ran the rebuild.
4. Re-open HW Config. Close and re-open HW Config on the failing AS. The Process Device Plant View should now show fewer or no grey devices.
5. Import the full Siemens library. Download the current PDM Device Library from 92561357, run the installer, and rebuild the catalog.
6. Compare GUIDs. For any device that is still grey, open DIM → View → Diagnostics, locate the device, and compare the GUID against the GUID stored in the project (visible in the object's PDM tab → "EDD information"). If the GUIDs differ, the project is bound to a version of the EDD that is not on this ES. Either upgrade the project to a newer catalog or downgrade the project binding.
7. Refresh the project binding. In HW Config, right-click the still-grey device and select PDM → Update device version. This rewrites the project's binding to the GUID currently registered locally.
8. Reset the project cache. If steps 5 and 6 do not help, close SIMATIC Manager, delete the project's local cache folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\Siemens\Automation\SIMATIC_PDM\Cache\<project_name>\, and re-open the project. The cache can hold a stale EDD resolution that survives an HW Config restart.
9. Recreate the device object. As a last resort, delete the device object from HW Config, save, recompile, and re-insert the device. This forces PCS 7 to re-resolve the EDD from the current catalog rather than from the binding cached in the S7 program.

Verification and Validation

After applying the fix, validate the resolution with the following checks before declaring the ES healthy.

1. Open HW Config on the previously failing AS. Confirm that the yellow warning triangles are gone from the device objects.
2. Open Process Device Plant View. Confirm that no devices are rendered in grey.
3. Right-click a previously failing device → Object Properties → PDM tab. The tab should now show the device parameters and the EDD version that is currently installed.
4. Click PDM → Open device (or double-click the device). The SIMATIC PDM Device Editor must launch and display the live parameter view within a few seconds. If the editor opens but reports a communication error, that is a separate network / HART multiplexer issue and not a symptom of the EDD problem.
5. Compile the AS program (Station → Save and Compile) and download it to the target AS. The CFC / SFC compiler should report zero warnings related to PDM.
6. Export the catalog from the now-healthy ES (Device Integration Manager → File → Export → Device catalog) and store it in the project archive. This becomes the reference catalog for any satellite ES that opens the project in the future.

Error Pattern Reference Table

Preventive Maintenance and Catalog Hygiene

The EDD catalog is part of the project's interface contract. Treat it the same way you treat firmware: version it, back it up, and document it.

• Catalog baseline. Whenever you update the SIMATIC PDM Device Library (entry 92561357), export the new catalog and store the .zip in the project's \Vendor_Catalog\ folder. This gives any future ES a known-good source.
• ES build sheet. Maintain a build sheet per ES with the SIMATIC PDM version, the catalog publication date, and the cumulative device library revision. A drift of more than two cumulative revisions between ESs is a strong predictor of this error.
• Image handling. When imaging an ES, do not include the EDD cache (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Siemens\Automation\SIMATIC_PDM\Cache) in the image. The cache is per-project and per-user; a shared image with a cached catalog can mask the underlying EDD problem and reintroduce it on every restore.
• Vendor EDD policy. Require every new instrument datasheet to be delivered with the matching EDD revision number. Add the revision number to the device tag comment in HW Config so that a future engineer can see, at a glance, which EDD each device is bound to.
• Periodic rebuild. Schedule a quarterly Device Integration Manager → Tools → Rebuild device catalog on every ES. The rebuild is fast, takes under a minute on a typical 4000-device catalog, and re-validates the index.

Frequently Asked Questions