Oem Protection - Legacy Mode - GE PACSystems RX7i Reference Manual

Chapter 4. CPU Operation
4.9.2 OEM Protection – Legacy Mode
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) protection provides a higher level of security than password
levels 1 through 4. This feature allows a third-party OEM to create control programs for the CPU and then
set the OEM-locked mode, which prevents the end user from reading or modifying the program.
The OEM protection feature is enabled/disabled using a 1- to 7-character password, known as the OEM
key. When OEM protection is enabled, all read and write access to the CPU program and configuration is
prohibited: any store, load, verify, or clear user program operation will fail.
OEM Protection in Systems that Load from Flash Memory
For OEM protection, it is recommended to store the program to User Flash and set configuration to
always load from Flash. When setting up OEM protection it is important to download the user program
to RAM and User Flash before enabling the OEM protection. For example, the following steps can be used
to set up OEM protection.
1. Set OEM Key password (Must be at Access Level 4 to set OEM Key)
2. Download program to both RAM and User Flash.
3. Set OEM Protection to the Locked state (see firmware note below).
If you are storing a non-blank OEM key to flash memory, you should be careful to record the OEM key for
future reference. If disabling OEM protection, be sure to clear the OEM key that is stored in flash memory.
Note: In CPU firmware versions 7.80 or later which support Enhanced Security (with merged
password tables), OEM Protection Lock must be explicitly set.
In earlier versions, the OEM Protection could be enabled in User Flash without explicitly setting
the OEM Protection to Locked. With the earlier firmware, a non-blank OEM Key that is loaded
from User Flash at power-up would result in an automatic OEM Lock. In CPU firmware versions
7.80 or later (i.e. with merged passwords), this is no longer supported.
In firmware versions earlier than 6.01, the OEM protection was not preserved unless a battery
was attached.
164 PACSystems* RX7i, RX3i and RSTi-EP CPU Reference Manual GFK-2222AD