Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Firmware version and bootloader version do not match Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BCX b3 Cause Verification required on why the two do not always match Resolution When firmware versions (application firmware files) are posted to the web, they do not always included the associated bootloader version. The reason for this is that rarely is a bootloader version changed. When bootloader versions do change it will be announced in the release notes for the particular firmware version.

Issue The network card is not working on the PC.  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 I/NET, TAC Vista Environment PC Network Interface Card Cause Require a method to test the network card. Resolution Assuming you have the correct protocols loaded:- Open up a command prompt and type ‘ipconfig’(1) then press enter to get a list of the available network cards. Find the specific network card by name (2) Record the IP Address (3) assigned to the card, e.g. 192.168.5.90 If the card is unplugged (4) connect a network cable and start back at step 1 If the network card does not appear in Device Manager check the drivers are correctly installed for the card and when installed correctly start back at step 1. If the network card still does not appear it could be disabled.  In Network Connections right click the adaptor and select Enable (5) and start back at step 1. After these steps if the network card still does not appear when running ipconfig it is most likely damaged. If/when an IP Address is successfully obtained open a Command Prompt and type ping followed by the IP Address of the card, for example ping 192.168.5.90 (1). A functioning card will respond with 4 successfully replies (2) and the associated statistics (3) As additional information a good first step would be to "ping 127.0.0.1". This will not test a network card but indicates that the TCP/IP protocol is installed and functioning on the host PC.

Issue Received error 'IO Channel number out of range' when creating a door on AC1/AC1A/AC1Plus on an IO module.  The same door configured on a module with a lower IOU number saves successfully. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum CyberStation Netcontroller  AC Module Cause The IO module is configured with an IOU number that is above the MAX IOU modules supported by the NetController.  Note this is true even if there is only ONE module configured. Resolution Check the IOU module number entered in the door object (1) Check the Max IOU module supported (2)   Delete the IOU module and recreate it using an IOU number at or below the max IOU number supported by the Net Controller.

Issue Infinity controller error: Type not valid for this IO channel Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause ElecType mismatch between what is in the database and the field controller hardware. An example of this problem would be offline creating a voltage output on a DO-4.  It will save to the DB since it is a valid InfinityOutput configuration.   Although when attempting to do a Send to Controller the controller knows that point type is not valid on the specific IOU module hardware. This can also happen when an object is imported into Continuum because the database error checking is less strict than when creating the object online. Resolution Go into offline editing Check the point configuration If it does not match the field hardware, then correct it, save it, go to online mode and reload.

Issue The database is logging multiple alarm entries each time a point goes into alarm. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Alarms MSMQ SQL Server Event Notifications Cause Various causes. Resolution The following is a list of conditions which may produce multiple alarm event logging. Network Latency  In cases where the network is extremely slow or workstation are overburdened, the process of logging alarms may be slowed to the point where a second alarm is sent by the controller while the previous alarm is still in the process of being logged. In one particular case the logging workstations associated with the duplicate log entries were all in India while the database server was in the US.  The problem was resolved by changing the ACCID of all of the India workstations to 253 or higher so that they were not involved in logging alarms. Database insertion errors If there are database insertion errors in the ACCTrace, Cyberstation cannot send an acknowledgement that the alarm event has been logged. Consequently the controller will continue to send the alarm event until it receives notification that the alarm has been successfully logged. Database Server latency It is not unusual to see Database Insertion errors when a Continuum DB server is struggling to keep up with the demands that the system has placed on it. A use Task Manager and other tools to evaluate the processor and memory consumption. Enhanced Alarm Logging and Enhanced Alarm Delivery. If Enhanced alarm logging/delivery is broken due not shutting down all workstations before doing a database update, it is possible to have combination of enhanced and old style alarm delivery.  The solution is to shut down all workstations and perform a db update with Enhanced Logging and Enhanced Delivery selected. Workstation Resources.  If the logging workstation is over burdened with reports, programs, extended log downloading, etc.

Issue HID Corporate 1000 48-bit card not natively supported by Continuum System Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CX9900/9940 CX9702 CX9680 ACX5740/5720 Cause Continuum does not have built-in support for the HID Corp 1000 48-bit cards.  The system must be configured using a custom card format program. Beginning March, 2015, HID Global will introduce a new Corporate 1000 format referred to as “Corporate 1000 – 48”. All end-users who register for the Corporate 1000 program after February, 2015 will be issued a unique Company ID in the new Corporate 1000 – 48 format. The original 35-bit Corporate 1000 format will now be referred to as “Corporate 1000 – 35”. Those end-users who have been issued a unique Company ID in the Corporate 1000 – 35 format can continue to order credentials without interruption or change. Introduction of the new format will not impact or affect customers who registered for the program under the original structure. Resolution Here is the process to create a custom format for a HID Corp 1000 48-bit card in Continuum.  Only one custom card format can be used in NC1(CX99xx), NC2(CX968x) using AC1 modules, while up to four custom formats can be used with the ACX57xx and NC1/NC2 using AC1Plus modules. Create in each NC1, NC2, ACX57xx an InfinityNumeric point called AccessFormat (use this spelling exactly!). During the creation process, attach a manual array (log) with 22 entries to the point.  If creating more than  custom card format create InfinityNumeric points called Accessformat2, AccessFormat3 and AccessFormat4. Create the following InfinityProgram in each controller. The program should be type FallThru, and AutoStart.  The program can be copied to other access controllers where it is needed.   Note: The HID Corp 1000 48-bit card format allows site codes to be up to 22 bits, however, site codes in Continuum are restricted to a 16 bit value (0 to 65535), due to this Continuum limitation only the 16 least significant bits of the site code encoded on the cards can be read in Continuum, site code values above 65535 will show as different smaller number in Continuum. Program Name: SetCustCrdArray FlowType: FallThru AutoStart: True Code: Line SetFormat Set accessformat[0] to 1 'array has been initialized Set accessformat[1] to 48 'total number of bits in the format Set accessformat[2] to 0 'control mask Set accessformat[3] to 0 'mfg mask Set accessformat[4] to 0 'start bit of mfg Set accessformat[5] to 0 'end Set accessformat[6] to 8 'start of site code Set accessformat[7] to 23 'end Set accessformat[8] to 24 'start of card number Set accessformat[9] to 46 'end of card Set AccessFormat[10] to 14043 ' odd parity mask, first 16 bits Set AccessFormat[11] to 28086 ' odd parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[12] to 56173 'odd parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[13] to 0 ' odd parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[14] to 23501 ' even parity, first 16 Set AccessFormat[15] to 45811 ' even parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[16] to 28086 'even parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[17] to 0 ' even parity, next 16 Set accessformat[18] to 0 'even number multiplier Set accessformat[19] to 0 'card number divider Set accessformat[18] to 0 'even number multiplier Set accessformat[19] to 0 'card number divider Set accessformat[20] to 0 'start bit of issue code Set accessformat[21] to 0 'end bit of issue code Set accessformat[22] to 0 'decimal shift of issue code stop

Issue Creating a Listview/Report to show all the personnel objects which have access to a given area.   Product Line Andover Continuum   Environment CyberStation   Cause Reports can be used to do a security audit of which individuals have access to certain Areas in a building.   Resolution Create a Listview object In the class field select AreaLink Add columns for PersonID and AreaID (Add any other column as needed) In the Qualifier tab enter the following qualifier: AreaID Is XXX Id where XXX = full path to area Example: AreaId is Root\AreaFolder\Lobby Id **NOTE Use folder\area aliases ONLY in the qualifier, do not use names. Save and run the Listview.  The Listview should show all Personnel objects that have the Area specified by AreaID in their Area list. To generate actual Report Object from the list view see How to create a Report from a Listview.

Issue Sending the results of a Listview to a Report.   Product Line Andover Continuum   Environment CyberStation   Cause Available options are not commonly known   Resolution There are two ways to display the contents of a Listview in a Report.   The first method is to create a Report and set its data source to 'Listview'.  Then in the filter tab add the desired Listview as a filter. Please note that only ONE list view can be added. When the Report executes it populates data from the Listview object.   The second method is to create an HTML Report template Then the HTML Report in the Listview's Report Template field In this case the report can be invoked right from the Listview

Issue The Conversion Settings guideline is not documented. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Continuum Conversion Tool Infinet i2 BACnet B3 Cause Lack of information on "Conversion" column in Conversion Settings for B3 and I2 Resolution The Conversion column has the highest priority in the setting. If a formula exists then the setting below will not affect the Value.   Example The ElecValue is set to 10 for the following examples. 1. The Conversion field is empty, the ElecValue = 10 which corresponds to 100 on the Engineering scale. The Input Value = 100. 2. The Conversion field is set to ElecValue, and the ElecValue = 10. The Input Value = 10. 3. The Conversion field is set to ElecValue - 7. The Input Value = 3.  

Issue BACnet objects that are deleted from the BACnet side keep coming back. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Cyberstation BACnet IP devices BACnet MSTP devices Cause Require to be able to find all the BACnet devices, delete the ones not required, and not have them reappear in Continuum Explorer. Resolution When BACnet is enabled, Cyberstation will automatically add devices into its database when it hears an “I-Am” message containing a Device Identifier it does not already know about. There is no way to disable this behavior without shutting BACnet off completely. I-Am messages are typically sent in response to Who-Is messages, but not always. Sometimes devices send I-Am messages when they start up for example.  Also, since I-Am’s are typically broadcast across the entire BACnet internetwork, the Cyberstation is likely to hear I-Am messages for lots of different reasons, like in response to Who-Is/I-Am sequences it’s not directly a part of.

Issue With Script Programs in Continuum we were able to check the variable time against an integer value. Like "if time>500 then...".  In StruxureWare Building Operation time is of the type datetime, no longer an integer. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Script Program Cause In StruxureWare Building Operation a datetime internally is now a 64 bit number, so dates can go beyond the year 2038 which was the top limit for Continuum.  Numbers in script for StruxureWare, like in Continuum are just floats ( 32 bits ) so when trying to map a 64 bit number ( the date ) into a float it is not going to work.  You will get very erroneous readings, therefore the ban. Resolution Here are some examples of the correct StruxureWare program: Remember that for the dates, you can only compare dates to dates, not dates to numbers… In general,   you CAN do the following:       compare dates to dates                ==>   if Date1 > Date2  then     add numbers to dates                   ==>    LaterDate = LastDate + 24*3600     subtract numbers from dates         ==>    EarlierDate = LastDate - 24*3600   you CANNOT do the following   compare dates to numbers                ==>   if Date1 > 500  then

Issue How to setup and use the Plain English Alarm function?   Product Line Andover Continuum   Environment PEAlmFunction, PERtnFunction CyberStation Alarm Workstation PE function Cause Manual configuration is required to create the Plain English alarm function and set certain registry keys.   Resolution As a function of Continuum CyberStation Alarm Engine, user written Plain English functions are automatically invoked at a workstation when an alarm occurs when an alarm is acknowledged when a return-to-normal condition occurs. The user optionally specifies the names of those functions in the Windows registry, and they will be called appropriately. Registry keys used for calling Plain English Alarm function PEAlmFunction : The name of the user-defined PE Alarm Function. (Ex. “AlmProcess”) PERtnfunction : The name of the user-defined PE Return-to-Normal Function. (Ex. ”AlmProcess”) Example of the Plain English Alarm function is as follows: Arg 1 A ' Network AliasName(16) Arg 2 B ' Controller AliasName(16) Arg 3 C ' Infinet Controller AliasName(16) Arg 4 D ' Object name(32) Arg 5 E ' Object AliasName(16) Arg 6 F ' Object Description(32) Arg 7 G ' Object Value(Numeric) Arg 8 H ' Alarm State(3) ALM,RTN,ACK Arg 9 I ' Graphic Object AliasName(16) Arg 10 J ' Alarm Enrollment Alarm Message(String) Arg 11 K ' Alarm Enrollment AliasName(16) Arg 12 L ' EventNotification AliasName(16) Arg 13 M ' EventNotification Priority (Numeric 1~255) Arg 14 N ' TimeStamp(16) Arg 15 O 'Logging Flag (1~255) ' String 1 Q String 80 AlmDir, Fnam File AlmF ' If M < 100 then AlmDir = "C:\" Q = chr(96) Fnam = NumToStr(random(Second)) OpenFile(AlmDir ; Fnam ; ".alm", WriteOnly, AlmF) Print L ;", " ; K ; ", " ; A , B , C , D , ", " ; G to AlmF CloseFile(AlmF) Endif Return Success Create the following registry keys in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Andover Controls \Continuum\Settings: PEAckFunction (REG_SZ) PEAlmFunction (REG_SZ) PERtnFunction (REG_SZ) PEMaxBufferedAlarms (REG_DWORD) PEPopAlarm (REG_DWORD) Set PEAlmFunction to “AlmProcess” Set PERtnFunction to “RtnProcess” Restart Continuum. Create PE programs in the workstation called AlmProcess, and RtnProcess with source code similar to the example function. Files will be created in the specified directory containing the alarm and return to normal information.

Issue A BACnet Schedule is working but not changing the point it is controlling   Product Line Andover Continuum   Environment CyberStation Schedules BACnet command priority Cause A BACnet Schedule will by default, write to a BACnet point at a certain command priority level.  However if that BACnet point is also being commanded by a higher command priority then the present value of the point will not change according to the Schedule.   Resolution Example: A BACnet Binary value is created and the operator wishes to set the value to Off. If the value is set by a Manual Operator then by default this will command the point to Off at command priority 10. If a Schedule is then created and the point is attached to that Schedule, because a Schedule's default priority is 16, at the configured time, when the Schedule tries to change the point to On it can only command that point at command priority 16 The point itself always obeys the highest command priority which in this case is command priority 10 so the value stays Off.   To correct the above scenario there are two main options: Edit the Command Priority Tab of the BACnet Point and perform a Relinquish at command priority 10 to clear out that command, at which point the BACnet object will then defer to the next highest command priority (which in this case would be command priority 16) Edit the Schedule and change the command priority on the Schedule configuration page to an appropriately higher priority such as command priority 10.     NB. In cases where a point is written to at the same command priority as another object then the point will be controlled by whichever object wrote last...

Issue The Runtime tab of an Infinet controller editor shows the maximum number of 255 for both the Infinet Error Count (InfinetErrCount) and Reconfigs.  What is the command to reset them to 0? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Infinet controller NetController (CX9200, CX9400, Cx9702, CX99xx) NetController II (CX9680) bCX9640 Cause Having an unstable Infinet can cause both Infinet errors and Reconfigs to occur.  An engineer may want to reset the Infinet Error Count (InfinetErrCount) and Reconfigs to 0 and check how fast they both reoccur. Resolution Either execute the command from the Command Line of Continuum Explorer or create an InfinityProgram in the CX controller to reset them as below: *   Set Comm2 Reconfigs = 0 *   Set InfnetCtrlName InfinetErrCount = 0                NB  Make sure the whole path is specified!!

Issue When starting Continuum version 1.94 (64-bit OS), the main screen is blank.   Product Line Andover Continuum   Environment CyberStation 1.94 (64-bit OS) WebClient 1.94 (64-bit OS) Cause When Continuum is installed on a 64-bit OS, the Main.bmp file is stored in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Continuum\UserProfile  However the application is looking for the file in C:\Program Files\Continuum\UserProfile.   Resolution Configure the Main Menu to search for the Main.bmp file in the correct directory: In the "blank" Main menu, right-click in the white space, and select Edit Right click in the white space again, and select Page Properties In the Background File field, press the "..." button.  In the "Open" window, navigate to the  C:\Program Files (x86)\Continuum\UserProfile directory Select the Main.bmp file.  Press Open Click OK on the Page Edit window In the Edit window, press the Run Page button (looks like a Lightning Bolt) to close the Edit window Re-start Continuum (if necessary)

Issue Due to a variety of reasons it is sometimes necessary to add an offset to the value obtained from a sensor to achieve the required accuracy. For example, a temperature sensor may be reading off by 0.5 degree as compared to a calibrated high accuracy temperature measuring device used as a standard. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment All CX controller All i2 devices All b3 devices Cause Sensor tolerance. Resolution Add an algorithm in the conversion field of the input objects to adjust the value by the necessary offset. In the example here the conversion entered could be: Elecvalue + 0.5 or Elecvalue + TempSensorOffset where TempSensorOffset is an InfinityNumeric point that has been set to the amount of offset to apply.  While this example uses a very simple conversion algorithm, the input’s conversion can be thought of as a one line PE program that can use PE system functions. Elecvalue + Maximum(TempSensorOffset, 1.5)   Note: For inputs that use automatic conversion e.g. voltage inputs and InfinityFunction is required, see How to add a calibration factor or offset value to an input using automatic scaling for details.

Issue How to add a calibration factor or offset value to an input using automatic scaling. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Universal Input Cause If using the Conversion field to offset the ElecValue on an input that is using an automatic scale, the resulting value will not be calculated properly. Resolution For this to function with an input using an automatic scale we need to setup an InfinityFunction to do the scaling for us and then add/subtract our offset from this result.   1. Create a new InfinityFunction in the controller called “IPConvert” 2. Paste the below code (between the lines) into the function and save it. ======== 'This InfinityFunction must be called from the conversion line of the input 'This InfinityFunction will allow an offset to be applied to a universal input 'Example Conversion line in the Input - IPConvert(EngScaleTop, ElecScaleTop, EngScaleBot, ElecScaleBot, -1) Arg 1 EngTop 'Engineering Units -  Top of Scale Arg 2 VltTop 'Voltage -  Top of Scale Arg 3 EngBot 'Engineering Units -  Bottom of Scale Arg 4 VltBot 'Voltage - Bottom of Scale Arg 5 Offset 'Amount to Offset returned value Numeric Slope, C Slope = ((EngTop - EngBot) / (VltTop - VltBot)) C = EngBot + (Slope * (minimum(VltTop, maximum(ElecValue, VltBot)) - VltBot)) Return C + Offset ========== 3. Go to your inputs on that controller that need to use this function. 4. confirm that the auto conversion fields have been set to the scale range you require. 5. type the below into the conversion field, replacing the “-0” at the end with whatever offset is required. IPConvert(EngScaleTop, ElecScaleTop, EngScaleBot, ElecScaleBot, -0)

Issue What is the best method for calibrating a thermistor? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment All CX controller All i2 devices All b3 devices Input Temperature sensors Thermistors Cause There is no documentation that details how to calibrate a Continuum sensor. Resolution There is no requirement to calibrate a Continuum Thermistor sensor, Thermistors are factory trimmed to provide an accurate temperature / resistance curve to within the tolerances defined in the datasheet. One exception to this could be if the connecting cable was of excessive length to add additional impedance to the circuit, in this situation the input point conversion line could be used to subtract an offset: Enter "ElecValue - x" where x is a factor to compensate for the cable impedance. See How to add an offset to a sensor reading for further information

Issue Looking in the controller error log, what does this error indicate and how do I troubleshoot it? 0x00006c0e 0x00002600 0x020a8536 0x00000000 0x00000000 error transmitting (LAN_ERR_TRANSMIT_ERROR) Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Controllers ControllerErrorLogTool error log report Cause This error can be the result of comms buffers being too full to transmit data to the LAN. Resolution Check the following: Check the scan rate of the controller to see if it is high. If high (above 1.0 scans/sec), stop programs to see which may be causing problems. Are there a lot of remote points being read or written from/to this controller? Try minimizing this traffic by limiting the number of points per program line, set COV Increment values, etc... If writing to 3rd party controllers, check how often your programs are doing this. Are they being sent each scan or only once when the value is required? Many BACnet writes per second can saturate the communications buffers and cause communications bottlenecks. Run a Wireshark capture by mirroring the controller's NIC card. This will show the traffic that is making it to the controller's NIC. See if there is traffic from 1 or more IP addresses that could be affecting the system and eliminate or reduce that traffic.

Issue The object identifier of a BACnet device (device id) must be unique internetwork-wide, different vendors use different methods for calculating the device id default value. When integrating devices from different vendors sometimes it become necessary to change a device's default object id. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment bCX4040 b3s Third party BACnet devices Cause BACnet integration Resolution If the BACnet device is a Continuum device (bCX4040 or b3), Continuum provides a mechanism for changing the default device id. For a third party BACnet device, VTS can be used to write to the Object Identifier of the device in order to change the device id. Note that this will only work if the device manufacturer has made the object identifier for the device object writable. Click here to download VTS Click here to see the procedure to follow to set a third party device id using VTS.