Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Changes to COV and ReadProperty in bCX from v4.500048 Product Line Andover Continuum Environment bCX b3 Controllers Cause New feature to allow user flexibility for using Forced Polling and not COV Resolution From bCX version v4.500048, all Controllers will have the option of forcing a poll of points from other Continuum and third party BACnet controllers. This new feature: allows programmers to decide which data exchange method to use by the syntax in which they write their data-sharing programs. provides a method for forcing point-to-point polling from a device that does not support COV and sends an invalid error message when the subscription is attempted. This previously caused Continuum to reject polling, resulting in a failure to share data. allows programmers to decide to poll a point only when needed, even if the device supports COV subscriptions. This ensures that data from a device is only sent when necessary instead of always being sent on a “change of value”. The following Plain English formats force polling: "Local point = Infinity Remote Point Value" "Local point = BACnet Remote point Value" "Local point = ReadProperty(BACnet Remote point Value)" The second argument, Value, ensures that polling is commanded – now for BACnet, as well as Continuum/Infinity. (The third example shows the use of Plain English’s ReadProperty system function.) If the Value argument, shown in these examples, is left out, Continuum BACnet will operate as it always has – always attempting a COV subscription and only falling back to the polling method if the target device sends the appropriate COV subscription failure message. Caution: If you have a device that does not support COV subscriptions or you have chosen to use the polling syntax, you must be careful how you write your Plain English programs. A program that runs every scan and polls a point from another controller will cause major problems. For instance, if your scan is running at 100 milliseconds and you try to poll any BACnet device at that rate, you will most likely knock the device offline. It will also cause the program to disable and seriously slow down the scan in your controller that is requesting the data (since the scanner waits for an answer to a poll before continuing). You should also use a line E in your programs, since any communication problem to the target device will cause the polling program to disable.

Issue There are a number of reasons that RPC error occur on Cyberstation and troubleshooting steps are needed Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Webclient Windows XP Window Vista Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause RPC (Remote Procedure Call) errors happen on Cyberstation when the connection to the SQL database is not available Resolution There are many reasons that RPC errors can occur. A Google search of RPC errors will indicate that many applications have similar issues with these errors. An RPC error on a Cyberstation means that it has lost connection to the database for some reason and you will need to restart Cyberstation in order to recover. Below is a list of things to check when dealing with RPC errors on CyberStation.   Multiple Cybers Does the issue occur on multiple Cyberstations? Database Does the issue follow the database? i.e. load the database onto a test server or try a test blank database. Were some new objects recently added to the database when this started happening? Does reverting to a backup stop the errors? Increase Virtual Memory Right Click on My Computer> Properties> Advanced System Settings> Under Performance select the Settings button> Advanced tab> Under Virtual Memory click the Change button Recommended is 4096 Network disruption or slowness Networking  -  Verify all aspects of your networked environment.  This includes, but not limited to, slow networks, possible problems with your network interface card (NIC), cabling issues, switch/router issues, busy networks.  As you can see from the above definition of what RPC is it can be heavily reliant on the stability of the network and all it’s interfaces. Continuum does not support DHCP Multiple NIC cards – ensure there is only 1 NIC card enabled. No all NIC cards are created equal. Connections issue can be caused by an integrated NIC card of low quality. There can be settings within the NIC card itself that could affect consistent communication. Check the manufacturers website for details. Verify that there is no duplication of IP addresses on the network. Pull a cable and ping the address, if you still get a response there are 2 devices with the same IP address. WINS -  Verify your WINS settings and make sure there are no issues with the WINS Server.  This is known by Microsoft to cause RPC errors. DNS - Verify your DNS settings and make surer there are no issues with the DNS server.  This also is known by Microsoft to cause RPC errors. Verify that  the "TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper" service is running. Check and see if “File and Print Sharing” is enabled.  There are references in a lot of online articles, on RPC, problems that turning on “File and Print sharing” resolves RPC errors. Ping and SQL Is the SQL database still available to Cyberstation? From a DOS prompt> Ping IP (SQL Server) –t (continuous) Ex. c:\> ping 192.168.1.5 –t Note the number of responses as well as the time in milliseconds to respond. A local SQL server would usually be under 100ms. Check resources on the SQL Server (CPU, I/O Read/Write, memory usage, etc.) Windows Server 2003 Network card setting (This setting isn’t available in Windows Server 2008) Shut Continuum down on the machine having the problem. Start>Settings>Network Connections>Local Area Connections>Right Click and select Properties> Click on File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks>Click Properties button> Select 'Maximize data throughput for network applications'. (Default is Maximize data throughput for File Sharing) Ok through all the screens and start Continuum and see if this makes a difference. XP/Vista/Windows 7 Start> Settings> Network Connections> Local Area Connection> Properties> Advanced tab> Windows Firewall - Click the Setting button> Click the exceptions tab Verify that File and Print Sharing is selected. File and printer sharing are disabled by default with XP SP2. There is no network throughput option in XP, Vista or Windows 7 like there is on Windows Server 2003. Windows Event Viewer Take a look at the Windows Event Viewer Application Log (Start> Run type ‘eventvwr’ or Launch Windows Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Event Viewer Examine the events and look for RPC error indications in the details. There may be a pattern of which executable is causing the errors. You may also see informational events that indicated momentary disconnects. A large number of these can indicate an issue with the Cyberstation being able to connect to the database consistently in a timely manner. Monitoring tools Run an acctrace.exe (C:\Program Files\Continuum) and a wireshark capture at the time of the RPC error to see the Continuum and network processing going on at the Cyberstation. Windows Process Monitor may also be helpful in seeing which process is having trouble. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645 Check the system for SpyWare and/or Viruses. Workgroup versus Domain connection An excerpt from the Continuum System Admin manual In a LAN Configuration, the Continuum CyberStation must be in a “Microsoft Domain “ type installation. This is because the Continuum CyberStation will use Named Pipes Interprocess Communication System (IPC). This is accomplished with Windows remote procedure call (RPC). In a Microsoft Domain model installation, once the session is established between the Continuum Cyberstations Client(s) and the SQL server it is a persistent connection once authentication is established.   In a Workgroup installation, the database connectivity session is re-authenticated and re-established for each database transaction. This results in much slower performance and an inconsistent connection. If you are running a LAN system using Windows 2003 server SP2/R2 and SQL 2005 try disabling the TCP Chimney Offload feature by following the below. Disable the TCPchimney setting on the SQL server and application server Windows 2003 SP2 comes inbuilt with a new network scalability pack which is supposed to accelerate the Windows networking stack. But this setting may not be compatible with all the network cards and it could pose connectivity issues as well. For more information you can refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912222 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942861   To disable this feature please take the following steps on both the SQL Server and application server.   Open up a command prompt on the machine. Run the following command: "Netsh int ip set chimney DISABLED" Change the values of the following registry keys to 0 a. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\ EnableRSS   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\ EnableTCPA Reboot the machine after the above changes. ==========================================================   Disable SynAttackProtect on SQL server: Windows 2003 Sp1 and Sp2 introduces this new feature which monitors processes getting high number of connections and if it detects that too many connections are being made, the connections will be rejected. Click Start, click Run, type regedit , and then click OK. Locate and then click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value. Type SynAttackProtect , and then press ENTER. On the Edit menu, click Modify. In the Value data box, type 00000000 . Click OK. Quit Registry Editor. Sound Card In some cases it was found that the built in sound card is causing the problem. If your not using WAV files for alarms then try disabling the integrated sound card in the BIOS.  If WAV files are being played then try disabling the integrated sound card and put in a PCI sound card. There have also been problems with OEM versions of the Operating system of the client machines.  A lot of vendors, like Dell, add additional applications to the systems they ship to assist them if they need to remote into the computer for troubleshooting purposes.  It is strongly recommended that these OEM versions of the Operating System is removed and install the system from a genuine Microsoft installation CD. Go to Control Panel-> Administrative Tools -> services, click with right mouse button Remote Procedure Call -> click properties. remote procedure call properties window is now open, go to recovery and you´ll see: First failure, second failure, subsequent failures -> choose : restart the service. In this setup the system will automaticaly restart RPC when something shuts it down. Check all your Firewall settings.  If possible turn off the firewall for testing and see if the problem goes away. Check to make sure there are no ports being blocked that the RPC Server uses.  See KB 908472 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908472) details the steps for specifying the RPC port range.  Also, be aware of the consequences of reserving the RPC ports. This has the potential to break other applications that assign ports in this range. KB 812873 discusses this, too. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812873 Make sure all Peripheral devices like Network cards, Video cards, Sound Cards, etc. have the latest drivers for them installed. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913384 Control Panel > AdminTools >Services and selected the Properties for Remote Procedure Call (RPC)  In the Log On tab, they changed the Log on as: to the Local System Account. It had been "This Account" NT Authority\Network Service. Is an EventNotification configured to send a page on alarm? If a PC running Continuum did not have a modem but on startup Continuum was trying to send an alarm with a page then accdataservice was crashing causing an RPC. Microsoft KB177446 article that describes in depth RPC troubleshooting procedures http://support.microsoft.com/kb/177446

Issue Continuum crashes with RPC error "The RPC server is unavailable" shortly after launching. RPC Server Error Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Cyberstation Cause Possible causes: Virtual memory, make sure virtual memory is set to recommended value. (see virtual memory requirement in Cyberstation installation document) Remote Procedure Call (RPC) locator service not started (Should be configured for automatic start) A resource needed by Continuum is not available. For example if an EventNotification is configured to page on alarm and there is no modem installed in the workstation then if an alarm is active on start up Continuum will encounter RPC error. Resolution Set workstation virtual memory to recommended value. Configure Remote Procedure Call (RPC) for automatic start. Make sure resource needed is available or reconfigure as needed.

Issue Communication of BACnet Protocol across different subnets Can see BCX 4040 on Infinity side but will not learn in on the BACnet side. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BCX (4000, 4040) B4920 Continuum Workstation Cause BBMD configuration Resolution Typical Multi-Network BBMD Setup 1 In this Scenario, the controllers in Remote Building A cannot send or receive BACnet broadcast data from controllers or the Workstation on the Main Building Network.   Solution 1: Configure Building A BCX1-R as a BBMD, and Cyberstation as a BBMD  Typical Multi-Network BBMD Setup 2 In this Scenario, the controllers in Remote Building A cannot send or receive BACnet broadcast data from controllers or the Workstation on the Main Building Network. Solution 2: Configure Building A BCX1-R as a BBMD, and Main Building BCX1-CR as a BBMD Workstation BBMD configuration BACnetPreferences Located in the lower right hand side of the screen in the icon tray right click on the Continuum icon and select BACnet Preferences NOTE: After Workstation configuration and Bacnet Preferences have changed the Workstation will need to be restarted.    BCX BBMD Configuration Enable the BBMD on the configuration page Save changes and submit to controller After controller restarts select the BBMD link on the left side of the web configuration page. Enter the IP address for the BBMD device on the other side of the router After configuration of BBMD’s on each side of the subnet you will be able to receive and broadcast BACnet messages across an IP router. THE GOLDEN RULE HERE IS ONLY ONE BBMD PER SUBNET. Otherwise you’ll create a broadcast storm that that will not be good for the network performance and could possibly cause controllers to go offline. After successful creation of BBMD’s on each side of the router, go into Continuum explorer and perform a “Find new bacnet devices”from right click on the root.

Issue A program in bCX or b3 is writing/reading to/from a second device, the write/read operation is not working and the second device is not listed on the list of known devices in the bCX/b3 that has the program. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation BACnet bCX b3 Cause Device is not answering to WHO-IS message. When a reference is made in a device (A) to a second device (B) a WHO-IS message is sent from A to B, when the I-AM is received the devices is added to the list of known devices. If no I-AM is received then the device remains unknown and cannot be listed, as a consequence write/read messages (among other things) will fail. In the screen shot below device b3.810 know about itself and one other device (b3.867). If a program in b3.810 performs a WriteProperty operation to a third device C, the WriteProperty operation can not succeed until C has been added to the list of known devices via the internal mechanism explained above. Resolution Use Wireshark to check whether the device with the reference is sending out the WHO-IS and more importantly whether an I-AM is coming back from the destination device. In the case that originated this ticket, the destination third party device would not consistently send an I-AM when operating at high baud rate, the MSTP baud had to be lowered to 19200 .

Issue What are the valid Electrical Types for the smart sensor input on a controller Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment BACnet b3 controllers Infinet i2 controllers Smart or Room Sensor Input b3/i2 controllers excluding b3/i2 608, 824 and 885V Cause What are the valid Electrical Types for the smart input on a controller? Resolution Input X (SmartSensor) valid Electrical Types are:- ACC_TEMP_DEGF ACC_TEMP_DEGC Digital Note If using a Smart sensor then ACC_TEMP_DEGF or ACC_TEMP_DEGC should be used The temperature range is limited, thus room sensors can be used but not duct or pipe sensors as the temperature range is limited to 0-50DegC  

Issue Preventing access to a controller via the built-in web server. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CX9680 Cause Limiting access to controller configuration Resolution Starting in version 2.100028 of the CX9680 (NC2) controller the web server can be disabled using the following procedure: Access the controller Web Server through a Web browser (using the configured IP or if the IP has not yet been configured, by using 169.254.1.1) Select the “Controller Configuration” page Change the Web Server Port (default is 80) to 0 Click on the “Submit to Controller” button Select the “Commit Changes” page and click on the “Commit Changes/Restart Controller” button NOTE: To re-enable the web server the controller must be reset to factory defaults using the reset ip switch. NOTE: On a 99xx to disable or enable contact repair and there is a charge. A flash file can be sent.

Issue Which Infinet controllers support flash backup? Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Infinet controllers i1 SCX, LCX, TCX & i2 Cause Not all controllers support flash backup. Resolution All i2 controllers can be backed up to flash but none of the i1 controllers SCX,LCX, TCX etc have flash memory fitted. Controllers with a grey icon (i2) on the Continuum Explorer view can be backed up to flash where the orange icons (i1) can not.

Issue Site has a third party BACnet router and B-OWS, want to connect brand new b3s on the MSTP of the BACnet router and configure an application in the b3s using the third party B-OWS. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment b3 Third party BACnet system Cause Documentation Resolution Configuring a new b3 using a BACnet system other than Continuum or EcoStruxure Building Operation is NOT supported. Brand new b3s are shipped from the factory without a valid master MAC id, which means the b3 will not participate on MSTP communications until it has been assigned a valid mac id via a proprietary LEARN mechanism. b3s do not support dynamic object creation of IO points or programs which can only be created using Schneider Electric's Continuum or EcoStruxure Building Operation BACnet BMS.

Issue How can I determine which comm port on my Infinity Controller has been Xdriver enabled. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Infinity Controller CX9900 (NC), CX9980 (NC2), bCX9640, bCX4040, ACX5720 ACX5740 XDriver, x-driver Cause Need to determine if the comm port(s) on a controller are XDriver enabled. Resolution View the controller options page in CyberStation or from the controllers webpage.  NC2 (NCII, NetController 2, CX9680) Option tab - example NC2 Xdriver Comm1 : 00000009 (0000)  (XDriver enable and but not loaded) Xdriver Comm2 : 00000000 (0000)  (XDriver not enabled) Xdriver Comm3 : 00000000 (0000)  (XDriver not enabled) Xdriver Comm4 : 00000000 (0000)  (XDriver not enabled)   bCX bCX9640 bCX4040 - NOT bCX4000 The bCX has two comms ports, the XDriver functions can be enabled on none, either or both at the time of ordering (add X1, X2 or X12) Option tab - example bCX Xdrvr Comm1:00000009 (DF23)  (XDriver enable and loaded) Xdrvr Comm2:00000000 (0000)  (XDriver not enabled) ACX ACX5720 ACX5740 The ACX57x0 has a single comm port, the XDriver functions can be enabled at the time of ordering (see the Option tab - example ACX57 Xdriver Comm1 : 00000009 (0000)  (XDriver enable and but not loaded) NOTES (00000000=XDriver not enabled, 00000001=CommPort only, 00000009=CommPort & Ethernet enable) The four digit number in bracket shows which Xdriver is load and corresponds to "Xdriver valid" at the bottom of the xdriver.xdr file. If Ethernet support is required on the port then this should be requested at the time of ordering. XDrivers like Modbus TCP/IP and Bacnet IP are loaded on to a comms port but communicate via the Ethernet port, therefore the XDriver Ethernet support needs to be enabled for these XDrivers to operate.

Issue What is Domain Name Service (DNS)? Product Line Andover Continuum,EcoStruxure Access Expert,EcoStruxure Building Expert,EcoStruxure Building Operation,EcoStruxure Security Expert,Satchwell BAS & Sigma,Satchwell MicroNet,TAC IA Series,TAC INET,TAC Vista Environment TCP/IP Networks Cause DNS is a distributed hierarchical system for resolving host names into IP address. Under DNS, there is no central database with all of the Internet host information. The information is distributed among thousands of name servers organized into a hierarchy similar to the UNIX file system. DNS has a root domain at the top of the domain hierarchy that is served by a group of name servers called the root servers. Source: TCP/IP Network Administration by Craig Hunt, O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. Resolution Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4. The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn't know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned.  

Issue When using CIDR (Classless Inter Domain Routing) or Supernetting it is not always obvious what range of IP addresses can be used. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Device Administrator Building Commissioning Tool Cause When subnet masks with values other than 255 are used it is not always obvious what is the range of valid IP addresses allowed.  There is a need for an easy way to determine the range of valid IP addresses for the Subnet Mask being used. Resolution The IP address range can be calculated mathematically but the simplest method is to use a subnet calculator.  The website links below are both examples that will calculate the range of valid addresses for any specified subnet value.   http://www.subnet-calculator.com/cidr.php https://www.calculator.net/ip-subnet-calculator.html   Visit either of the websites for a CIDR / Supernet calculator, enter an IP addresses in the network along with a subnet mask and the calculator will provide the range of addresses that can be used within the subnet.   In addition to online calculators, a number of different subnet-calculator programs are available for Android, Apple and Windows Smartphones.  

Issue Often data is required to be exported out from the Continuum system for record keeping or for further analysis, what keywords can be used to help with this? Environment Cyberstation Plain English programs - all versions. Microsoft Excel Product Line Andover Continuum Cause Specific help is available in the product for specific keywords but how can these be put together to export data to .CSV format. Resolution As we do not advocate 3rd party system trying to directly extract data from the Continuum database, you should create a Plain English program in a Workstation that can export logged data directly from the controllers out to a .CSV or .TXT file.   Keywords to use for this purpose are: OpenFile WriteFile CloseFile   Details of the above Keywords are available in the Cyberstation internal help pages.   The attached example dump file could be run on a daily basis to extract temperature logs from a controller and save them to files with a date stamped naming convention.   Click to download the example WriteFile dump file. 

Issue Reload of BCX receives error "Infinity controller error: Controller has no assigned Infinet port An error was detected while attempting to set an attribute in a remote Infinity object" Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation BCX 9640 BCX4040 Infinet controller b3 Cause Reloading of a BCX 9640 resulted in error "Infinity controller error: Controller has no assigned Infinet port.  An error was detected while attempting to set an attribute in a remote Infinity object"   Suspected that a learn on the commport was performed or infinet controllers were manually created causing no assigned comm port. Resolution As with any edit of the Continuum system, please make sure to backup the database.   Follow these steps: Send BCX to text file  Add commport to each Infinet controller entry as below Import newly edited text dump file into the BCX. Reload BCX   Example of an original dump file exported in step 1 and the new dump file after the commport is added in step 2. Original Dump File New Dump File Object : Spare   Type : InfinityInfinetCtlr   LastChange : 1/11/2011 4:01:19 PM   DeviceId : Zoo\GreenHouse   Alias : Spare   CreateTime : 8/24/2010 8:28:22 AM   CreatedBy : Root\Acc   TimeLocked : 2/15/2011 12:53:26 PM   InstanceId : 7015/7167   CntrlType : 851   Description : Spare Controller No Points   InfinetId : 1   Location : Control Cabinet   NetworkId : 11   SerialNum : 12345   VersionNum : 2.160000  EndObject   Object : Spare   Type : InfinityInfinetCtlr   LastChange : 1/11/2011 4:01:19 PM   DeviceId : Zoo\GreenHouse   Alias : Spare   CreateTime : 8/24/2010 8:28:22 AM   CreatedBy : Root\Acc   TimeLocked : 2/15/2011 12:53:26 PM   InstanceId : 7015/7167   CntrlType : 851   Description : Spare Controller No Points   InfinetId : 1   Location : Control Cabinet   NetworkId : 11   Port : comm2   SerialNum : 12345   VersionNum : 2.160000  EndObject  

Issue What resources are available to get more information on the Modbus protocol? Product Line Andover Continuum,EcoStruxure Building Operation,Field Devices,Satchwell BAS & Sigma,Satchwell MicroNet,TAC IA Series,TAC INET,TAC Vista Environment Modbus ASCII/RTU Modbus TCP/IP Cause The Modbus protocol information is available on www.modbus.org Use the menu on the left and select Technical Resources. Select the Modbus Specifications. Resolution Found on www.modbus.org are the protocol specifications: Modbus ASCII/RTU Modbus TCP

Issue A newly installed program does not run and could be using a port on the host computer that's already assigned to another running program or service.  How can current port usage on the host computer be determined quickly? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, EcoStruxure Building Expert, Satchwell MicroNet, Satchwell BAS & Sigma, TAC INET, TAC I/A Series, TAC Vista, Andover Continuum, CCTV, Field Devices Environment Microsoft Windows Cause A port conflict is suspected. Resolution Open a command prompt and type: netstat -a -n -p tcp -b This command will display all services running, protocol used, local and foreign address, state, and program name.   netstat -p tcp -ano This command will display all services running, protocol used, local and foreign address, state and PID (process identifier). Use Task Manager to match the PID to the program using the port. netstat -p tcp -ano | findstr :80 If a specific port number is necessary, this command will interrogate the system for the program currently using that port number:

Issue In order to troubleshoot random network issues, it is sometimes necessary to set up Wireshark to capture network traffic for an extended period of time. As Wireshark runs it decodes packets and its data structures grow. This causes performance issues and eventually, Wireshark may simply run out of virtual memory and stop capturing or crash. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Wireshark Cause Need to capture network traffic using Wireshark for an extended period of time. Resolution Open Wireshark and follow these instructions: From toolbar, select Capture -> Options On the Input tab, select input adapter. If necessary set capture filter. On the Output tab, perform the following: Browse capture file location and provide a filename. A timestamp will be added to the filename as a suffix. Ensure output format = pcapng Check Create a new file automatically Check After 1 and change seconds to hours Check when time is multiple of 1 and change seconds to hour Check use a ring buffer with X files. (Recommended settings are 96 hours (4 days) or 168 hours (1 week) so can retrieve files after long weekend or 1 week, respectively).  On the Options tab, perform the following Check last selection and change to 744 hours. (Recommended to capture for 31 days without stopping).  When an event happens, gather a capture with the timestamp before and after the event. One can ZIP the .pcapng files to save space when transferring.   NOTE: More recent versions of Wireshark ( 2.4.1.21317 ) make it very easy to set up a ring buffer from the Output tab of the Capture options. For older versions of Wireshark 1.x use the steps below When capturing data, Wireshark actually uses a capture utility called DumpCap to do the actual data capture. DumpCap does not decode packets as they come in and thus has a smaller memory footprint which remains constant. The only remaining concern is the size of the capture file or files which can be specified when starting the ring buffer to keep them from growing too big. DumpCap is found at the location where the Wireshark program resides which can be seen if you go to Help\About Whireshark\Folders Determine the index to the Ethernet adapter you need to capture on. In this example, the traffic seen by the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet adapter will be captured. Index 1 is specified when starting DumpCap. Execute DumpCap with the following options dumpcap -i 1 -b files:3 -b filesize:10 -w C:]temp\abe.pcapng -i 1 specifies tp capture on the network adapter with an index of 1 -b file: 3 specifies to use a 4 file ring buffer. -b filesize:10 specifies to limit the file size to 10 KB (*** for a real life capture this number would be much bigger like say 100/200 MB) -w c:\temp\abe.pcapng specifies location and prefix for the three files In the screenshot below we can see the files in the ring buffer being used, once a file reaches the specified limit, the capture continues at the next file, files are names using the specified prefix as well as a date-time stamp that is updated each time utility dumps captured data in the file. Care should be taken to stop the capture as soon as possible once the issue under investigation takes place and before the ring buffer wraps around and overwrites the data.

Issue A network level controller is shown offline. Can a flash upgrade (Update OS) be done to it? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BCX ACX5720 ACX5740 NC2 CX9900 Cause A bCX needed a flash upgrade but was offline in CyberStation. How can we update the OS? Resolution The Update OS function can sometimes be completed even if the controller indicates that it is offline. If it cannot be pinged from CyberStation, it will not likely be able to be upgraded in its current state and may require returning for repair. But if it can be pinged it, try doing the Update OS. Follow the progress in the Distribution window. If it completes, the controller will likely come back online a few minutes after the update is complete Completing this "Blind Update OS" can often restore to normal operation a controller that has its Operating System corrupted not allowing the Web page to be accessed, as long as you know the ACCNet ID and IP address (a reset IP can be performed) this process may be attempted. It is also possible to flash an offline controller if it has reverted to the default IP address (169.254.1.1) and ACCNet ID of 1 if the Workstation is set to be in the same subnet so it can ping the controller and these default settings are used for the controller configuration. If after a full cold restart and at least 2 attempts to flash the controller fail, then the controller may need to be returned for Repair. Some possible causes of this problem are listed in What can cause a controller to reset, cold start or lose data.

Issue How to get an MSTP capture file so it can be analyzed for comm activity on an MSTP bus How to determine if a site is using bad COV management How to determine if a controller has poor bus design or installation How to determine if a site has multiple BBMD's on the same subnet Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment bCX4000, bCX4040, ASP, ASB b3 controllers Third party BACnet MSTP devices Wireshark Cause Analyze MSTP traffic via capture. Resolution To capture MSTP communication activity to a capture file that can be analyzed using a network sniffer application such as WireShark you will need the following.   Hardware One is required to have an RS-485 Adapter to connect to the MS/TP trunk USB to RS-485 Adapter USB-RS485-WE-1800-BT FTDI, Future Technology Devices International Ltd | 768-1041-ND | DigiKey  RoamIA or RoamIO Any other RS-485 adapter compatible with BACnet MS/TP and baud rates used Software Download and install the following applications: BACnet MSTP Capture Application WireShark Configuration If using the USB to RS-485 Adapter Connect the USB adapter cable to the USB port on a laptop PC Connect the RS232/RS485 adapter to the 9-pin end of the USB adapter cable. Attach a length of MSTP bus cable to the wire terminal on the RS485 adapter. If using the FTDI Connect the TDI RS-485 adapter to the USB port on a laptop PC Connect the cables to the MSTP trunk where Orange = Data+ (A) and Yellow = Data- (B) Ensure the RS-485 adapter driver is installed in Windows by opening Device Manager and ensuring that it is listed as expected under Ports (COM and LPT). Record the COMx being reserved by the adapter.  If using Wireshark with MSTPcap.exe to capture Ensure MSTPcap.exe is installed in the Wireshark Extcap folder per MSTP Capture Application link above NOTE: Wireshark may need to be rebooted if MSTPcap.exe was added while it was open Launch Wireshark Select gear next to BACnet MS/TP on COMx Set known baud rate Click to start a capture.  If using MSTPcap.exe via Command Prompt to capture Copy the MSTP Capture application to C:\ Open a command window. Launch the application by entering C:\> Mstpcap com# ###### where com# is the PC's serial port (Com1, Com2, etc.) and ##### is the current baud rate the bCX/AS MSTP bus is configured for (19200, 38400, etc.). The command window will indicate the name of the file the activity is being captured to. Once done, close the command line window The capture data can be viewed by running Wireshark. Select File > Open and navigate to the folder the capture file was saved to and select the capture file. With the higher-end MSTP capture tools such as tools developed by PolarSoft and Cimetrix, MSTP captures at 76.8K baud are possible. Lower-end capture applications like MSTPCap typically are only able to capture MSTP packets from networks running at bus speeds at or below 38.4K baud. Also, check out the BACnet-Capturing MS/TP Traffic Quick-Help video on the Exchange. This video uses the older pipe method that was used before Extcap was available in Wireshark.

Issue Definition of number of nodes and points allowed using Modbus TCP/IP or RTU xdriver. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Modbus Protocol Cause Definition of number of nodes and points allowed using Modbus TCP/IP or RTU xdriver according to the modbus protocol. Resolution The maximum number of nodes is 254. The address range for points is 1 through to 65535. The number of addresses is limited by the controller memory. We have had ~6000 points but please note the Modbus is a polled protocol so the more points you have the longer the poll rate.   Specific Modbus RTU Details Our Modbus RTU XDriver supports the node range from 0-255. According to the Modbus specification, the node range is from 0 – 255, with 0 being the master, 1-247 being the slaves, and 248-255 being reserved addresses. After 32 nodes (1 master + 31 slaves), you may need RS-485 repeaters to ensure proper communications. This depends on a number of different items, including if the RS485 transceivers are full or quarter load. You can find the Modbus serial standard at the link below for further details. http://www.modbus.org/docs/Modbus_over_serial_line_V1.pdf