Standard vs DriveES Profile in HWConfig: Profibus Drive Setup

Overview: HWConfig and Drive Profile Selection

HWConfig is the hardware configuration editor bundled with SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.x for S7-300 and S7-400 automation systems. In the TIA Portal environment the equivalent tool is the "Device Configuration" view (also referenced as HW Config in the documentation). When a Profibus DP master system is opened, the hardware catalog exposes every slave in a tree that is grouped by manufacturer, family, and profile.

For Siemens drive families such as SIMOVERT MASTERDRIVES, SIMOREG, SINAMICS, MICROMASTER, and SIMODRIVE, the catalog typically contains the same slave type under two different folder nodes:

• Standard - generic Profibus DP slave entries that load a GSD (Generic Station Description) file and present the standard PPO (Parameter/Process-data Object) configurations defined by the PROFIdrive profile.
• DriveES - Siemens engineering profile that is installed when SIMATIC DriveES or STARTER Drive ES is present. It loads Siemens type files and exposes pre-engineered drive objects (DO) that are aligned with the Siemens drive parameter model.

Both profiles put the same PROFIdrive frames on the wire. The choice therefore has engineering consequences, not bus-protocol consequences: how the device appears in the project, what tooling can route through the CPU to the drive, and how the Drive ES / STARTER software connects to it.

Functional Difference Between Standard and DriveES

The on-the-wire behavior of a Profibus slave is determined by its GSD file, not by the profile folder the engineer dragged the slave from. Once the slave is placed in the Profibus master system, the cyclic PPO exchange, the parameter channel (PKW), and the diagnostic frames are identical regardless of profile. The differences show up in three areas.

For a one-off bench test where the only goal is to make the CPU exchange PZD words with the drive, the Standard profile is the shortest path. For a production machine where the commissioning engineer needs to reach the drive from a PG that is plugged into the PLC, or where multiple drives are configured from a single point of entry, DriveES removes a class of "I cannot reach the drive" problems.

PPO Types for Simovert MASTERDRIVES

MASTERDRIVES uses the CBP (Communication Board Profibus) or CBP2 slot. The Profibus parameters are reached via the drive menu under P090 / P091 (telegram / PPO selection), P918 (Profibus station address), and the CBP configuration parameters. The drive supports four of the five PROFIdrive PPO types.

PKW is the parameter channel, used to read and write any drive parameter over Profibus. PZD is the process-data channel - typically control word 1, main setpoint, status word 1, and main actual value. Standard setpoint assignments for MASTERDRIVES Vector Control (VC):

• PZD1 (receive) = STW1 (control word 1, bit-oriented drive commands per PROFIdrive)
• PZD2 (receive) = HSW (main setpoint, normalized 0x4000h = 100 %)
• PZD3+ (receive) = free connector, depending on BICO configuration (only available with PPO1 at 4 PZD or PPO2/4 at 6 PZD)
• PZD1 (send) = ZSW1 (status word 1)
• PZD2 (send) = HIW (main actual value, normalized)

On the PLC side, each PZD word maps to an input or output byte pair in the I/O image of the CPU. The mapping is determined by the I/O start address assigned to the slave in HWConfig. For a PPO1 slave with default DriveES mapping, the slot view shows STW1 at AB0, HSW at AB2, ZSW1 at EB0, and HIW at EB2.

When to Use the DriveES Profile

Use the DriveES profile if any of the following is true:

1. The commissioning tool on the PG is STARTER or Drive ES and it must reach the drive through the Profibus cable that is plugged into the S7 CPU (PG routing). Routing requires that the slave type be loaded from a DriveES type file so that the routing entry exists in the project's route table.
2. The S7-300/400 CPU does not have a CP card between it and the drive; the Profibus connector on the CPU's MPI/DP port is the master port. Routing through an integrated DP port is only possible with DriveES slave types.
3. You want the I/O addresses in the HWConfig slot view to be pre-filled according to the Siemens standard mapping so the FB libraries from DriveES can be dropped in without manual remapping.
4. Multiple drives on a multi-master Profibus must be reached from a central engineering station that lives on a different Profibus segment.

Use the Standard profile if:

1. The CPU has a dedicated CP 342-5 / CP 443-5 that is configured by GSD only and the user does not need PG routing to the drive.
2. STEP 7 V5.x is used without DriveES installed, and the user wants to insert the slave purely from the device database (GSD import).
3. Communication to the drive is implemented with hand-written SFCs (SFC 14 / SFC 15 for DP-Normslave) and the engineer does not need STARTER routing.

Hardware and Cabling Checklist Before You Blame the Profile

A wrong profile never makes a drive fault with F082. Before changing the profile in HWConfig, walk through the following list. A "both stations visible in PG/PC interface but no parameter channel" symptom is almost always physical-layer or Profibus address-related.

F082 Fault on MASTERDRIVES: Diagnosis

The MASTERDRIVES firmware maps communication failures to the F080-F085 fault range. F082 is the "Profibus telegram time-out" of the Profibus interface, raised by the CBP / CBP2 board when the configured monitor window for PZD reception expires without a valid telegram from the master.

When a CPU "did not send any information" (no cyclic output PZD transitions on the drive side), F082 typically means the Profibus connection went into the CLEAR state. The CLEAR state of an S7 DP master is the state where the master substitutes the configured replacement values for all outputs and stops the cyclic exchange. CLEAR is entered when the master has not completed start-up of all configured slaves, or when an already-running slave drops out.

Three diagnostic steps to isolate F082:

1. Open HWConfig, right-click the DP master system, select "Operating mode" - the diagnostic buffer should show the slave as "not found" or "station failure".
2. In DriveMonitor / STARTER (if reachable), read drive parameter r741 (fault number) and r747 (fault value) to confirm the fault number and the time-to-trip.
3. Use a Profibus diagnostic tool (BT200, Softing Profibus diagnostics, Siemens AMPROLYZER) to capture the bus traffic and verify that the master is producing telegrams at the configured PPO length.

Once F082 has been raised and acknowledged, the drive remains in fault. The drive must be cleared by the operator panel or by writing 0x4000 + 0x0080 (OFF1 + fault acknowledge) to control word 1 on the PZD1 receive word of the Profibus master.

Step-by-Step: Adding a MASTERDRIVES Slave in HWConfig

Prerequisites

• STEP 7 V5.5 or V5.5 SPx installed with the latest Hotfix
• For DriveES path: SIMATIC Drive ES Basic V5.5 SPx (or later) installed, matching the STEP 7 version
• CBP or CBP2 inserted in the drive and the drive power-up completed without fault
• Drive Profibus station address set on DIP switches of the CBP and confirmed in P918

Standard Profile Path

1. Open SIMATIC Manager and the S7 project. Open HWConfig on the S7-300 / S7-400 station.
2. Double-click the DP master port of the CPU (or the CP 342-5 / CP 443-5) to open the DP master system.
3. In the hardware catalog, navigate to PROFIBUS-DP > Drives > Siemens AG > SIMOVERT. Insert the entry "MASTERDRIVES" (or "MASTERDRIVES CBP2" depending on catalog revision).
4. Click the inserted slave. In the dialog, set the Profibus address to the value stored in P918 of the drive.
5. Open the slave properties and assign the PPO type (PPO1, PPO2, PPO3, or PPO4) to match the drive configuration. The I/O addresses for PZD appear in the slot table.
6. Save and compile (Station > Save and Compile). Download the hardware configuration to the CPU.

DriveES Profile Path

1. Same steps 1-2 as above, but the catalog folder is PROFIBUS-DP > DriveES > Drives > Siemens > MASTERDRIVES. The catalog entry exposes the type file from Drive ES, not the GSD.
2. Insert the slave. The slot view pre-fills PZD with the Siemens default mapping (AB0 = STW1, AB2 = HSW, EB0 = ZSW1, EB2 = HIW for PPO1).
3. Open the DriveES commissioning tool. The tool detects the drive automatically through the routing entry that DriveES installed in the route table of the project.
4. Parameterise the drive online. From this point, Drive ES is the master of online parameter changes; HWConfig is the master of cyclic PZD configuration.

PPO Mismatch Symptoms

Match the PPO type on both sides before changing anything else.

Routing Through the PLC to a Drive

PG routing is the capability to reach a slave on a sub-network from a PG that is physically connected to a different sub-network. The CPU acts as a router: the PG sends a routing telegram, the CPU forwards it, and the slave responds back through the same path. This is essential for commissioning a machine where the engineer plugs the PG into a Profibus segment near the HMI and the drives live on a Profibus segment near the cabinet.

DriveES installs the necessary routing entries in the STEP 7 project (NetPro). A Standard-profile slave has no routing entry, because the GSD-only import does not create one. To verify routing:

1. Open NetPro, select the DP master system, open the slave properties, and confirm the "Routing" tab is present and the S7 connection is listed.
2. From DriveMonitor / STARTER, set the PG/PC interface to the S7ONLINE access point, type the CPU's MPI or IP address, and click "Connect".
3. If routing fails, the typical error is "The partner is not reachable" - the cause is usually an unprogrammed CPU, a missing CP, or a project mismatch (PG project does not match the project loaded in the CPU).

Verification and Commissioning

1. In HWConfig, right-click the DP master and select "Operating mode". All configured slaves should be green and "OK".
2. In DriveMonitor, connect online to the drive. Read r000 (operating display). The drive should be in state 0xx (run-ready) or 0xx.4 (run) after the master has applied enable commands via STW1.
3. Toggle bit 0 of STW1 (OFF1). The drive should follow the on/off profile defined in its ramp generator (P462 / P464). Toggle bit 7 of STW1 (fault acknowledge). A latched fault should clear.
4. Write a value to HSW (for example 0x2000 = 50 % setpoint). Read back HIW and confirm a value within a few percent of HSW once the drive has ramped up.
5. Stop the CPU, restart it, and confirm that the drive does NOT raise F082 after the CPU's restart - this verifies the PZD monitor window is configured correctly on the drive side (P090 / P091).

FAQ