Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue TAC Xenta alarms are configured with a priority of 1 in Menta, but these same alarms appear with a priority of 100 in EcoStruxure Building Operation. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation TAC Xenta 301, TAC Xenta 302, TAC Xenta 401, TAC Xenta 281, TAC Xenta 282 Cause This is per design, Building Operation supports priorities from 0-1000, aligning alarm priorities from TAC Xenta within the range of 100-900 is a deliberate choice. By default, all alarm priorities from TAC Xenta are multiplied by 100 to fit this scheme. Resolution To revert the priority back to the original, open the properties for the alarm and manually adjust the priority.

Issue Sigma parallel port dongle or USB dongle upgrade to software license Product Line Satchwell Sigma Environment Sigma version 4.08 Cause It is difficult to purchase computers with parallel ports. With the use of virtual computer operating systems, USB ports may not be available either. ∴ A different type of Sigma licensing will be required. Resolution Please note: EBO 3.x has now entered into its limited support period with Sigma support coming to an end, this free of charge service, provided by PSS in good faith, will no longer be available from the 1st May 2024. Any remaining Sigma systems will need to continue to use their current licensing method or be upgraded to EBO.   Product Support can arrange for an upgrade from your existing parallel port or USB type Sigma dongle to a Building Operation software license entitlement for Sigma 4.0.8. Sites running Sigma software 4.07 or older where support for software licensing isn't available need to be upgraded to Sigma version 4.08.57 or later to use the software option. Sigma Software license type availability is documented on page 8 in the Sigma 4.08 release note.   For engineers using Sigma 4.08: The Building Operation Evaluation License, available from the Schneider Electric Download Center, will unlock the Sigma 4.08 for testing etc for the period of the Evaluation License (maximum 3 months or until the expiry of the downloaded license).   Unlock Sigma software using the Building Operation Evaluation License. To install the software licensing option for Evaluation License: - Stop the Sigma server service. Install Building Operation License Administrator. Add Evaluation License file to the Building Operation License Server. Start the Sigma server service. Sigma should now be licensed. For customer sites using Sigma 4.08: To reduce the Sigma system downtime, Install the Building Operation License Server version 1.6 or later. (it is recommended that the latest available version of the Building Operation License Server compatible with the computer's operating system is used). Dongle Upgrade Procedure: Download the Sigma Dongle Replacement - Required Data 2020 form. Complete the cells that are highlighted/filled in blue. Open a case with your local support team.. Supply the completed spreadsheet. The Product Support representative that is assisting you with your license upgrade, will contact you and provide the address and details where to send the site's Sigma dongle. Once the dongle has been received a software license will be ordered and then the software license entitlement for Sigma will be sent to you. If the site is a standalone Sigma site, Product Support will need to get approval from the regional category manager before escalating for the software license.   To install the software licensing option for Sigma 4.08: - Stop the Sigma server service. Install Building Operation License Administrator. Add the entitlement to the Building Operation License Server. Start the Sigma server service. Sigma should now be licensed.   Note: If your current Sigma dongle contains Remote Alarm Manager licensing, Remote Alarm Manager does not support the Building Operation license server option. The USB dongle can still be used or a TAC license server type license can be used instead of the dongle.

Issue An increased amount of polling caused by Modbus groups with duplicate registers. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Modbus Building Operation Automation Server Premium (AS-P) Building Operation Automation Server Bundled (AS-B) Building Operation Automation Server (AS) Cause Modbus Register Groups cause multiple resisters to be requested in a single query. This can be a very efficient way of collecting data from a device. See this Article for details. However, if a register is repeated (duplicated) within a group it can cause an increased amount of polling.    The screenshots shows a Modbus Register Group with a Requested group poll interval set to 10,000ms, but the misconfiguration is forcing polls at 500ms. Resolution The resolution is simply to avoid such a configuration. NOTE - If a Modbus Register Group with duplicates registers becomes unstable with some registers showing offline, then disabling the Scattered Read function will usually help.

Issue There is no minimum current listed on the datasheet for Triac outputs on MPx controller. Product Line EcoStruxure Buildings Operation Environment Building Operation Multi-purpose Controller Cause Triac output not correctly switching due to the very small current load. Resolution The triac used in an MPx controller will run on low voltage and currents. In certain circumstances, the current drawn will not be sufficient to keep the triac in the MPx active. This has been seen to be in the region of 10-15 mA. In this case, a resistor would need to be installed in parallel with the triac to ensure you get a current draw of 20 mA or more for stable operation. It should also be noted that a Triac output is designed to switch AC load (24 VAC, 0.25 A maximum) and not DC load, refer to: Triac Outputs. An improved option to the MPx is an RP-C, RP-V or RP-IO, which can switch DC and AC loads with very low current draw, refer to: Solid-state Relay (SSR) Outputs.

Issue The Sum Alarm will not trigger when monitoring other Sum Alarms. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server  Building Operation Enterprise Server Cause The Sum Alarm is ignoring other Sum alarms for detection of alarm criteria. Resolution There are two options to resolve this. Configure a 2nd SUM alarm to use criteria that triggers on any of the points that would have triggered the Sum alarm you want to monitor and the other points. You can create a Change of State Alarm to monitor the alarm state of the 1st Sum Alarm. The second Sum alarm can then detect that the Change of State alarm is active. (It might be practical to hide the Change of State alarm by setting the priority to a low value and filter your default alarm view to exclude it in order to avoid double alarm entries in the alarm view of Workstation)

Issue Scheduled event reports exported to PDF are using the US date time format not the local systems date time format. Report settings   In the below example the Windows system, and Security Expert, were both setup for Australia regional settings with a date format of dd/mm/yyyy. The automatic scheduled reports exported to PDF were showing the US date format mm/dd/yyyy. Report export before   Product Line EcoStruxure Security Expert Environment Security Expert event reports Cause The local Windows system date settings for Welcome screen and New user accounts are incorrect. Resolution In Windows navigate to Control Panel\Region Click on Change date, time, or number formats. A new window (Region) will pop up. Click the Administrative tab Click Copy settings... Enable the following options if not enabled already. Under Copy your current settings to tick Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts as shown in the image below. This will copy the Current users format over to the Welcome screen and New user accounts sections. Date format settings After making the above changes the PDF reports generated now show the correct date format of dd/mm/yyyy. Report export after

Issue When opening an OGC graphic using Vista Webstation as a window inside StruxureWare Webstation, the OGC graphic shows "Loading..." with a small cross in the upper left corner, and the graphic never loads. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment TAC Vista Webstation Building Operation Webstation   Cause The authentication in the communication between the browser and Vista Webstation is based on sessions and cookies. Due to a security setting on some sites, the initial cookie can not be set in the browser, and the authentication between the OGC graphic page showed in the browser and the web server therefore fails. If the graphic is opened in full screen (see below) or in a new window it will load, and subsequently all OGC graphics will work until the browser is restarted. Button to open the graphic in full screen Resolution On each PC that needs to access the OGC graphics using StruxureWare Webstation do the following: 1. Open Internet Explorer settings by clicking the gear in the upper right corner 2. Click "Privacy" and then "Sites" 3. Write the address of Vista Webstation (e.g. http://ip_address/webstation), click "Allow" and "OK" 4. Restart Internet Explorer   Note: This solution also applies to following issue; After clicking  a Vista Webstation url (direct link to a TGML graphic) in SBO Webstation from a Windows Server 2012 PC using Internet Explorer 11, Vista Webstation is expanding to fill the entire screen (it doesn't stay in the right hand window of SBO Webstation)

Issue Is it possible to upgrade TAC Xenta 401 and TAC Xenta 300 HW1 to latest system version? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation  Environment TAC Xenta 401 TAC Xenta 301 TAC Xenta 302 Cause Whenever possible, upgrading to the latest system version will give you all of the latest product fixes and enhancements. Resolution You can upgrade TAC Xenta 300 as well as TAC Xenta 401 to any system version BUT you cannot use HW1 in EcoStruxure Building Operation. All HW versions can be upgraded for use in TAC Vista Classic system.

Issue The functionality of StruxureWare Domains changed substantially in 1.2. There has been some discussion that the inability to communicate or the failure to transfer data from one SmartStruxure server to another is somehow related to the servers not being in the same StruxureWare Domain. This is not the case. As of 1.2 StruxureWare Domains are not used for communication at all. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server (ES) Building Operation Automation Server Premium (AS-P) Cause StruxureWare Domains are NOT used at all for establishing communication within SmartStruxure 1.2 and later releases If the AS can be added under the ES and no alarms are generated by the added AS, then full data sharing is possible regardless of StruxureWare Domain creation or membership. Resolution If the AS can not be added under the ES then there is a network problem that is preventing communication from the ES to the AS. If the AS can be added, but communication errors or lead verification alarms are generated that show the added AS as the source server, then there are network (or firewall) issues that are preventing the AS from communicating with the ES. If all engineering and configuration is done from the ES with the admin account in the Local Domain All bindings can be created by admin in the local domain All data can be viewed in graphics, trend charts, etc. by admin in the local domain Only data within the local AS can be viewed  by admin logged into the local domain of the AS This is true regardless of WorkStation or WebStation A StruxureWare Domain other than the local domain must be created and the other servers must be added to that StruxureWare Domain in order for users to have access (viewing or otherwise) to objects in the other servers.

Issue A TAC Xenta programmable controller has issues, and more information is needed to analyze what is happening in the controller. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment TAC Xenta 280 TAC Xenta 300 TAC Xenta 401 XentaErrorLogViewer Cause The TAC Xenta 280, 300 and 401 series has an internal Error Log, that in some cases could give more information about the way the device is acting, storing restart reasons etc. Resolution The XentaSystemErrorLogViewer is used to read out the internal error log file from a TAC Xenta 280, 300 or 401 device. The XentaSystemErrorLogViewer is a program that runs in your PC, and you have to connect to the TAC Xenta device by the use of a serial cable. You must have at least the same version number of the XentaErrorLogViewer as the device you want to read the information from. Please note that the XentaSystemErrorLogViewer program only works with released version of the TAC Xenta 280, 300 or 401 devices. 1. Download XentaSystemErrorLogViewer 2. Install the program 3. Connect the TAC Xenta to the PC using the TAC Xenta programming cable. Refer to the cable guide for further information. 4. In "Preferences", select the COM port to which you connected the serial cable 5. Check "Write System Error Log to file" 6. Click "Get new information" 7. The information is written to "C:\Windows\Temp\XentaSystemErrorLogg.txt"

Issue What alternatives are available for accessing Continuum WebClient from browsers other than Internet Explorer? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum WebClient Server Cause While Internet Explorer is the only officially supported browser for Continuum WebClient, Microsoft has announced that support for Internet Explorer will end in June 2022.   When accessing WebClient sites using Microsoft Edge in Internet Explorer mode. WebClient server returns an error, indicating that Internet Explorer is needed to access WebClient. Resolution It is possible to access WebClient using Microsoft Edge in Internet Explorer Mode. 1. In Edge click on the ellipses (...) top right then select Settings and set like the snapshot below. a. Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer Mode(Allow) b. Add the webclient machine's login page (http://webclientservername/webclient/logon.aspx) 2. Setting Internet Explorer compatibility mode and Internet Explorer mode for future use. Navigate to the webclient URL with Edge and select Reload in Internet Explorer mode By default, these settings will be Disabled, Set both of the buttons to Enable as shown below. Note: you may have to go through the process twice to enable both buttons   A snapshot of a successful login to webclient with Edge and also the selection in yellow to Exit Internet Explorer Mode if necessary to run other web applications.   The method of specifying Internet Explorer Mode for a site’s webClient URL will depend on how the customer treats the configuration of Edge – either settings at the individual Edge level or via group policy settings.

Issue Want to modify the type of a block in the Function Block Editor while retaining the original block's name Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation. Environment Building Operation Workstation. Function Block Editor. Cause Altering the block type without removing the block first can result in the persistence of old block parameters even if they are incompatible with the new block type. For instance, transitioning from an "Integer Input" block type while the input is in a forced state may cause the new block to retain the forced state, even if it is not applicable, leading to potential issues with un-forcing. Resolution To ensure correct functionality, it is recommended that the old block is removed and the application saved before adding the new block with the original name. This process effectively clears out the old configuration, enabling the new block to contain only the parameters of the new block type.

Issue Will EcoStruxure Building Operation provide any indication of a failure sending a SNMP trap? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Cause Need to receive an alarm and event if an EBO server couldn't send an SNMP trap. Resolution If there is a failure sending an SNMP trap, EBO will generate a system alarm/event indicating that the trap could not be sent. Note though, that if the trap is sent successfully there is no indication or log entry to indicate so. System Alarm ID Description SNMP send trap failure Failed to send SNMP message.

Issue Need to serve data via Web Services to 3rd party systems.  Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Enterprise Central Building Operation Automation Server Cause Generic Web Services SOAP, Simple XML or Script Web Services cannot act as a server. They can only act as a client to other web servers. Resolution EcoStruxure BMS servers can serve information to another EcoStruxure system using the EcoStruxure Web Services standard. For 3rd party systems, SmartConnector RESTful EWS Gateway can be used to serve EBO data to 3rd party system in a RESTful manner, refer to: Configure SmartConnector RESTful EWS Gateway to serve EBO data - Schneider Electric Community

Issue How to change the priority of system generated alarms in EcoStruxure Building Operation. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Enterprise Central Building Operation Automation Server Cause Need to change EBO system priority. Resolution Currently, it is not possible to change the priority of system alarms. The default is value 100.  There are currently no plans to add the feature. 

Issue Device Administrator requires CRT certificate file to add a certificate to CA Certificates. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server Cause If you rename the filetype from .pem to .crt and add via Device Administrator, the Automation Server will still present the following alarm: Alarm Text: System alarm: unable to get local issuer certificate System alarm ID: Invalid certificate for https communications   NOTE: The alarm will be known to have originated from the Automation Server because, in the Source field, the Automation Server will be the root, and the server it is connecting to will be the last. Example: /AS01/System/Communication/Server Certificate/To/ES01 AS01 - Automation Server with the CA Certificate issue ES01 - the EBO server which is was connected as client, which generated the alarm Resolution Reference this article to find OpenSSL installed: OpenSSL installed with EBO Use and modify this command with your filenames:  openssl x509 -in ca.pem -out ca.crt​ Add the .crt certificate file via Device Administator's CA Certificates tab. Reference: CA Certificate Tab (WebHelp)

Issue Ensure a version of TLS is disabled using OpenSSL Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Enterprise Central Enterprise Server Automation Server Cause Need to verify TLS is disabled on an EBO server in case of incorrect text entry Resolution It is possible to check which TLS protocols are set to be disabled using WorkStation Control Panel's Security Settings or in the Device Administrator SSL Security Settings tab. If the version required is not disabled then consult Disabling TLS and SSH. Once the protocol is set to disabled follow the steps below to verify using OpenSSL Open a command prompt and change directory to the OpenSSL folder. If OpenSSL is not available consult OpenSSL installed with EBO or install OpenSSL as mentioned in Ensuring the SSL Host Certificate and key file are a matching pair To check if TLS is disabled enter the command openssl s_client -connect 'server address':'port'-'TLS version'.  For example if the server IP address is 192.168.5.95 and using port 443:- openssl s_client -connect 192.168.5.95:443 -tls1    openssl s_client -connect 192.168.5.95:443 -tls1_1 openssl s_client -connect 192.168.5.95:443 -tls1_2 openssl s_client -connect 192.168.5.95:443 -tls1_3 If an error is returned (1) and no certificates are available (2) then the TLS version is Disabled. If a certificate chain (3) and certificate details (4) are returned the TLS version is Enabled. The image illustrates only the start of the returned information, more will be available.   For additional information search "OpenSSL s_client" using an online web browser.  The s_client command can be used to test TLS server connectivity, TLS/SSL version support, check cipher suites, and verify server certificates.  

Issue The following errors are seen when trying to run SigmaX, RegSigmaX or SigView.  The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail.  Application event log: Activation context generation failed for "C:\SigmaX\Bin\RegSigmaX.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="8.0.50727.762" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis. Product Line Satchwell Sigma Environment SigmaX 7.0.6 on Windows 7 32-bit SigmaX 7.09 on Windows 10 64bit SigView Cause Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 redistributable has not been installed. It appears that SigmaX requires this version to run. Resolution Either the Microsoft C++ 2005 is not installed, or if it is, then the Service Pack 1 (SP1) is required to be installed. This can be checked under the Windows 'Apps and Features'. Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86). In some cases,  Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package Security Update (x86) is required to resolve the issue. The 32bit (x86) version should be installed if installing Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 does not fix the problem. 

Issue Changing the Module ID after physically replacing a modules gives error "Incorrect response (or no response) from IO module" Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation CX9900 CX9940 CX9680 IOU Module Cause Controller's OMS database is out of sync with SQL database. Resolution To synchronize the OMS database with the SQL database:- Put CyberStation in offline edit mode. Edit the IOU Module object and enter the new Module ID. Save the object Return CyberStation to online edit mode. Perform a Send to controller, reloading the controller will sync the OMS db in the controller with the SQL database. Note the following: Make sure to use the option to reload attached objects but not attached controllers If IOUs go offline when sending to controller after doing this, manually get IOUs online, perform a send to database and send to controller. If a number of IOUs were replaced this process may need to be repeated several times until the send to controller works with no errors.

Issue A dialog of "Cannot open .NET editor with .NET Framework" comes up with new installation of Webclient or after a Microsoft update of .NET 4.5.x. There was an error trying to create the .NET control for this page. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Webclient Windows 7 Windows Server 2008 Windows 10 Internet Explorer Cause Microsoft changed the behavior of Internet Explorer when .net 4.5.x is installed on a PC. It turns off .net 2.0 support which is needed for several editors to function on Webclient browser PCs Resolution See web.Client v2.0 .Net Editor Hotfix on the EcoXpert Extranet This is a registry key file that installs the registry keys mentioned further down in this article. It allows Internet Explorer to utilize .net 2.0 that several webclient editors use. This hotfix contains a .reg file which changes the registry, it is recommended to make a Windows Restore point or a backup (export) of the existing registry folder (hive). The hotfix only updates the following keys, so the changes can also easily be made manually. On an 32-bit (x86) Operating System Add a DWORD attribute with the name EnableIEHosting to KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework Set the value to 1 On an 64-bit Operating System Add a DWORD attribute with the name EnableIEHosting to KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework Set the value to 1 A reboot of the webclient browser PC is required after the change is made. Each browser PC will need to have this fix applied. Microsoft Edge can also be used on newer client PCs, see the following article: Microsoft Edge can be used for webclient client PCs