Resolving SIMOCODE Pro V Input Slot Error in TIA Portal V13 SP1

Problem Summary

When a SIMOCODE Pro V (3UF70 series) motor management device is added to a PROFINET network in TIA Portal V13 SP1 with a SIMATIC S7-1200 CPU as the IO controller, the device view automatically inserts a digital input submodule into the SIMOCODE slot structure. The inserted submodule cannot be removed through the normal right-click delete operation, and it does not correspond to any physical expansion module installed on the SIMOCODE basic unit.

Symptoms observed in the field:

• The PROFINET device view in TIA Portal V13 SP1 shows the SIMOCODE Pro V basic unit together with an input card (typically 4 DI or 8 DI) that the user did not select and cannot delete.
• Compiling and downloading the project to the S7-1200 produces a station failure or device error on the SIMOCODE PROFINET node (yellow question mark on the device icon, diagnostic buffer entry indicating "Module difference / submodule mismatch").
• Parameterization with the stand-alone SIMOCODE ES (TIA) tool, where the input card is not present, succeeds — but a subsequent "Upload device to PG" operation from TIA Portal reinserts the phantom input submodule, recreating the mismatch.
• The cyclic IO does not start; the SIMOCODE remains in "Configuration error" LED state and the PLC moves the module to "Wrong submodule / faulty".

Affected Hardware, Firmware, and Software

Root Cause Analysis

The root cause is a slot configuration mismatch between the IO controller (S7-1200) and the IO device (SIMOCODE Pro V). TIA Portal V13 SP1 ships a SIMOCODE Pro V GSD file (or, more commonly, an HSP entry — HSP for SIMOCODE Pro V PROFINET) whose default device description declares a digital input submodule in slot 1 in addition to the basic unit. The basic unit on the real hardware does not have the digital input expansion module (3UF7400) physically installed, so the expected configuration and the actual configuration differ.

Three concrete mechanisms produce the symptom:

1. GSD/HSP slot default: The GSD file imported into TIA Portal V13 SP1 lists the digital input module as the default submodule selection. The user must actively remove it; right-click "Delete" is greyed out because the GSD declares it as the "required" submodule for that device variant.
2. Upload-to-PG overwrites the empty configuration: After parameterization with SIMOCODE ES, the device firmware reports only the actually installed submodules. TIA Portal V13 SP1's upload routine reapplies the GSD default and reinserts the digital input submodule into the device view. Subsequent downloads then re-introduce the mismatch.
3. Firmware / GSD version drift: A SIMOCODE Pro V basic unit with firmware V2.x paired against a GSD that targets firmware V3.x can declare extra slots. The user is unaware of the version mismatch because TIA Portal V13 SP1 does not surface the device firmware in the slot list.

The PLC diagnostic buffer typically contains:

IO device failure (station 0)
Module difference: slot 1 expected / not present
Submodule: Digital Input 4 DI
Diagnostic: Configuration error (0x0007_0002)

SIMOCODE Pro V PROFINET Slot Architecture

Understanding the slot map of the SIMOCODE Pro V PROFINET is the key to diagnosing the input-card error. The PROFINET device model places the basic unit and its expansion modules into a fixed slot/submodule structure.

Note that slots 1 and 2 are the cyclic IO channels that the PLC exchanges with the SIMOCODE. They are not optional and not "input cards" in the sense of expansion modules. The phantom card the user is seeing is the slot 3 3UF7400 submodule, which the GSD has pre-selected.

Solution Procedure

The recovery is a three-step sequence: (1) install the correct GSD/HSP and rebuild the IO configuration, (2) align the slot contents with the actual hardware, and (3) parameterize with the correct tool in the correct order so the configuration is not re-overwritten.

Step 1 — Install the correct HSP or GSD

1. Open TIA Portal V13 SP1 and select Options → Support Packages → Install.
2. Download the latest HSP for SIMOCODE Pro V PROFINET from the Siemens Industry Online Support portal (entry id 50207387 / 109743801 area, see the SIMOCODE Pro V support page).
3. If the HSP is not available, install the GSD file manually: Options → Manage general station description files (GSD) → Install GSDML file. The GSDML file is named GSDML-V2.3-Siemens-SIMOCODE_PN-3UF70-yyyymmdd.xml and ships with the SIMOCODE ES installation DVD or the Siemens download portal.
4. Restart TIA Portal so the catalog is refreshed.

Step 2 — Rebuild the device configuration

1. Open the PROFINET subnet view and delete the existing SIMOCODE Pro V device from the device list.
2. From the hardware catalog, navigate to PROFINET IO → I/O → SIMOCODE Pro V and select the exact article number that matches the basic unit (for example 3UF7010-1AB00-0).
3. Drag the device into the PROFINET network. The new instance starts with the default slot layout for that catalog number.
4. Open the device view. In the right-hand slot list, find the entry that reads "Digital Input 4 DI" or "Digital Input 8 DI". Right-click and select Delete.
5. If Delete is greyed out, the GSD file marks this submodule as required for that catalog number. Use the alternative GSD (the "PN Standard" variant rather than the "PN High Feature" variant) which has the 3UF7400 slot as optional. Alternatively, install the SIMOCODE Pro V basic unit without the "D" suffix in the catalog reference, which is the variant that does not include the digital input module in its default slot list.
6. Verify the slot list now contains only slots 0, 1, and 2.

Step 3 — Parameterize and write the configuration in the correct order

1. Save and compile the TIA Portal project.
2. Download the hardware configuration to the S7-1200 (target system → selected CPU → download).
3. Open SIMOCODE ES (TIA) from the project tree (right-click the SIMOCODE Pro V device → "Open with SIMOCODE ES TIA").
4. Configure the SIMOCODE parameters: motor rated current, thermal class, control functions (direct-on-line / reversing / star-delta), IO wiring, and protection thresholds.
5. Download the parameterization to the SIMOCODE Pro V through TIA Portal (right-click the device → "Download to device").
6. Once the parameterization is complete, do not perform an "Upload device to PG" from the TIA Portal device view. Upload can re-introduce the default submodule set from the GSD.

Step 4 — Clear station failure diagnostics

1. Go online with the S7-1200.
2. Open Online & diagnostics → Diagnostics buffer. Confirm that no new "Module difference" or "Configuration error" entries are written.
3. Open Devices & networks → Network view → SIMOCODE Pro V → Properties → Diagnostic and verify the module status is green and the cyclic IO is exchanging data (the green "IO active" indicator next to the device name is lit).
4. If the diagnostic LED on the SIMOCODE Pro V device shows "Device OK" (green) and the bus LED is solid green, the configuration is now consistent.

Verification

Three independent checks should all pass before the configuration is considered stable.

1. Slot check: TIA Portal device view shows only slots 0, 1, and 2 populated. The 3UF7400 entry is absent.
2. PLC diagnostic check: No new "Station failure", "Module difference", or "Submodule wrong" entries are written. The SIMOCODE Pro V appears under Accessible nodes with status "OK".
3. Hardware check: The SIMOCODE Pro V green "Device OK" LED is on, the bus LED is solid green (not flashing), and the PLC is able to read at least one process value (e.g. status word in IWx) and write at least one control bit (e.g. ON/OFF in QWn).

SIMOCODE ES Parameterization Workflow

SIMOCODE ES is the dedicated tool for the motor management device. It can be opened directly from the TIA Portal project tree, which keeps the parameterization linked to the S7-1200 project.

Recommended order when commissioning a new device:

1. Configure the PROFINET device list in TIA Portal with the corrected slot map (slots 0, 1, 2 only).
2. Download the hardware configuration to the PLC.
3. Open SIMOCODE ES from the TIA Portal project tree, configure, and download to the SIMOCODE.
4. Write the S7-1200 user program; test with a controlled motor (low current, no load).

Cyclic Data Exchange — Send and Receive Layouts

The cyclic IO of the SIMOCODE Pro V PROFINET is mapped to the S7-1200 process image in the slot 1 (send / inputs to PLC) and slot 2 (receive / outputs from PLC) addresses. The default layout is 8 bytes in each direction.

The standard program block for consistent data exchange is the FB "SIMOCODE_pro_PN" or "SINA_SPEED". With the S7-1200, the typical choice is the freely available "SIMOCODE pro PROFINET" function block from the Siemens application examples library, which handles the cyclic exchange and the acyclic parameter channel.

Related Issue — Failing to Write Cyclic Receive Bits

The same family of problems appears when the PLC can read the cyclic send data from the SIMOCODE but cannot write the cyclic receive bits. Two root causes typically present in TIA Portal V13 SP1 environments:

1. Slot 2 not enabled in the device view. The cyclic receive data resides in slot 2, and if the GSD default does not include it (or if the user has previously removed slot 2 instead of slot 3), the output area is unmapped and the writes go to a non-existent address.
2. IO address overlap with the process image. The default PROFINET slot addresses for SIMOCODE Pro V are in the high range (e.g. IW256 / QW256). If the S7-1200 user program references QW0, the writes are routed to a phantom address and never reach the SIMOCODE. The fix is to align the user program addresses with the actual slot addresses defined in the device configuration.

Check the SIMOCODE device under Properties → IO tags and confirm the start address of slot 2. The user program must read/write against the configured start address, not a hard-coded value.

Related Issue — SIMOCODE Pro V MR Hardware Configuration

The SIMOCODE Pro V MR (Motor Management Relay) variant uses the same PROFINET GSD family but is often used in a different slot count configuration because the MR variant is positioned as a slim-line product. When a 3UF7013-xAB00 is added to TIA Portal V13 SP1, the same phantom digital input submodule can appear, and the same fix procedure applies: install the correct HSP, delete the slot 3 entry, parameterize with SIMOCODE ES, and avoid upload-to-PG.

For MR variants, also check:

• Whether the device is set to "MR" mode in the catalog — the wrong variant selection can cause a different slot layout to be applied automatically.
• Whether the firmware of the SIMOCODE Pro V basic unit matches the firmware range supported by the GSD file. Use the SIMOCODE ES "Device → Firmware version" check to verify.

Diagnostic Buffer Reference

The S7-1200 diagnostic buffer entries for this issue are consistent and can be used to confirm the diagnosis when on site:

Preventive Commissioning Checklist

1. Confirm the SIMOCODE Pro V catalog number printed on the device label matches the device inserted into the TIA Portal hardware catalog.
2. Confirm the SIMOCODE Pro V firmware version is within the range supported by the GSD file currently installed in TIA Portal.
3. Open the device view and remove all pre-selected expansion submodules (slots 3, 4, 5) unless the matching physical module is installed on the basic unit.
4. Save, compile, and download the hardware configuration to the S7-1200.
5. Open SIMOCODE ES, configure the parameters, and download to the SIMOCODE.
6. Go online and verify that the SIMOCODE Pro V is in "Device OK" state with the bus LED solid green.
7. Test the cyclic IO by toggling a control bit and observing the status word response in the S7-1200.
8. Document the final slot map, firmware version, and GSD/HSP version in the project documentation.