Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue How many BBMDs and Foreign Devices can be registered on a CyberStation and a bCX4040?   Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BACnet bCX4040 CyberStation BBMD Foreign Device  Cause Concerned about large BACnet sites and exceeding a limitation on the number of BBMDs and Foreign Devices that can be registered.  Resolution Maximum number of BBMDs The maximum number of BBMDs that can be registered on a bCX4040 or on a CyberStation is 32.   Maximum number of Foreign Devices (FDs) Continuum v1.93 or earlier The maximum number of Foreign Devices (FDs) that can be registered on a bCX4040 or on a CyberStation is 64. Continuum v1.94 or later The maximum number of Foreign Devices (FDs) that can be registered on a CyberStation is 1024 The maximum number of Foreign Devices (FDs) that can be registered on a bCX4040 is 64.

Issue Configuration of multiple BACnet BBMD's over several subnets Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Bacnet BBMD Cause Bacnet Broadcast communication through IP router Resolution Configuration of multiple BBMD's over several subnets: INCORRECT METHOD For example if there are 4 subnets on the same B/IP (BACnet IP Network): Subnet 1: Workstation setup as a BBMD with an entry in the Broadcast Distribution Table for each BCX Subnet 2: BCX setup as a BBMD with an entry in the Broadcast Distribution Table for itself and the Workstations BBMD Only. Subnet 3: BCX setup as a BBMD with an entry in the Broadcast Distribution Table for itself and the Workstations BBMD Only. Subnet 4: BCX setup as a BBMD with an entry in the Broadcast Distribution Table for itself and the Workstations BBMD Only. The BCX's do not reference any points from each other. Since there is no data sharing between the BBMD's, one might think that in each BCX's Broadcast Distribution Table that there would only be a need to add one entry for the Workstations BBMD. Sounds like with this setup we'll reduce traffic by only adding the one entry in each BCX's BBMD Broadcast Distribution Table. The above scenario could in fact slow down a network and cause unnecessary traffic.   The supported method is that every BBMD on a B/IP network have the same routing tables(better known as the Broadcast Distribution Table) as in the below configuration. CORRECT METHOD For example there are 4 subnets on the same B/IP (BACnet IP Network). Subnet 1: WS BBMD with an entry in the Broadcast Distribution Table for itself and all BCX's setup as BBMD on the same B/IP. Subnet 2: BBMD with an entry for all BBMD's(including self) in the Broadcast Distribution Table on the same B/IP. Subnet 3: BBMD with an entry for all BBMD's(including self) in the Broadcast Distribution Table on the same B/IP. Subnet 4: BBMD with an entry for all BBMD's(including self) in the Broadcast Distribution Table on the same B/IP. The entry below can be found in the BACnet Standards 2004:   J.4.3 BBMD Concept Each IP subnet that is part of a B/IP network comprised of two or more subnets shall have one, and only one, BBMD. Each BBMD shall possess a table called a Broadcast Distribution Table (BDT) which shall be the same in every BBMD in a given B/IP network.

Issue Cannot open Calendars on several BACnet Networks. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum 1.9X BCX 4040 B38XX controllers Cause BBMD Sub Net Mask Configuration. Resolution There are two configuration methods allowed in a BBMD Subnet mask. One hop configuration and a Two hop configuration. See Understanding BACnet BBMD Distribution Mask for further details

Issue When configuring a BBMD what is the Broadcast Distribution Mask and what are the valid settings for the field. Continuum EcoStruxure Building Operation Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Continuum Environment Building Operation Automation Server Building Operation Enterprise Server Continuum CyberStation bCX4xxx Cause Documentation Resolution When configuring a BBMD the BACnet protocol defines two methods of propagating the broadcasts messages to other networks. The two methods are referred to as One-Hop also known as a Directed Broadcast and Two-Hop.   Note: In this article the subnet mask is shown using Classless Inter-Domain Routing(CIDR) notation. An IPV4 address is 32 bits long, CIDR notation defines the number of bits used for the subnet mask. The most commonly used are: /8 or 255.0.0.0 /16 or 255.255.0.0 /24 or 255.255.255.0 /32 or 255.255.255.255 One-Hop With the One-Hop method the local BBMD transfers the message directly to the remote devices via the remote router. In this case the IP routers have to support the transfer of IP broadcast messages to remote IP subnets Figure 1 Figure 1 above illustrates the one-hop method, when the bCX1 which has been configured to take the role of BBMD for network 172.16.0.0/16 detects broadcast messages such as WHO-IS, I-AM etc, it sends a message directly to the broadcast address of the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet, it is then up to Router2 to send the directed broadcast to all devices on the subnet. Any device on the subnet that is acting as a router to other networks will then also re-broadcast the message on those networks. (i.e a bCX hosting an MSTP network on COMM2)   Two-Hop With the Two-Hop procedure a BBMD device transfers broadcast messages to a further BBMD in the remote IP subnet, which then distributes the messages in its local network as IP broadcast messages for its IP subnet. Any device on the subnet that is acting as a router to other networks will then also re-broadcast the message on those networks.(i.e a bCX hosting an MSTP network on COMM2) Figure 2 Figure 2  above illustrates the two-hop method, when the bCX1 which has been configured to take the role of BBMD for network 172.16.0.0/16 detects broadcast messages such as WHO-IS, I-AM etc, it sends a unicast message to each BBMD device on its table, it is then up to each BBMD device on each subnet to send a broadcast that will be heard by all devices on the subnet. Which distribution mask should be used? As mentioned earlier, in order for the one-hop method to work, the router on the remote subnet MUST be configured to process incoming messages sent to the broadcast IP address, the two-hop method on the other hand is guaranteed to work, so when in doubt use the two-hop method. Most sites use two-hop distribution for the reason stated above,, the only obvious disadvantage of the two-hop method is that it is a little more verbose than the one-hop method since the message appears twice on the subnet, once as a unicast sent to the BBMD device and then again as a broadcast sent by the BBMD device. In Building Operation and Continuum the distribution mask defaults to the two-hop method (/32 or 255.255.255.255) How to configure the distribution mask For one-hop enter the subnet mask of the remote network in the distribution mask, the system will apply the mask to the IP address to obtain the broadcast address for the remote network. For two-hop enter 255.255.255.255, this tells the system not to do a direct broadcast and instead do a unicast to the remote BBMD device. Sample distribution mask In the BBMD table of a bCX shown in the screen shot above, BDT #1 and #3 use the two-hop method while BDT entry #2 uses the one-hop method.

Issue Communications failure due to transaction timeout when reloading b3 device. b3's version number as seen from the Infinity side reads 0.0000 Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation bCX4040 b3 Cause A b3 BACnet controller is found to exist in the BACnet folder under an MSTP Network which is different from the Network specified in the bCX's comm2 Port. Resolution Delete the MSTP network under the BACnet folder and perform a 'Find new BACnet devices'.  A new MSTP network should be created with the right network ID.

Issue What is the BACnet attribute COV Increment and how to use it Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BACnet Cause The COV Increment attribute on a BACnet point is equivalent to the Threshold attribute of standard Continuum Infinity inputs. When a Continuum BACnet point is subscribed to by other BACnet devices using COV (Change of Value), its value must change by at least that COV Increment value before a new Value Notification will be sent out. Using this attribute will decrease network traffic especially on the MSTP network when subscribing to frequently changing values.  Resolution This CovIncrement attribute can be set in the BACnet point's Editor on the Basic Alarms Tab.   If you have a CyberStation prior to Version 1.8, setting this value from the point editor will not stay persistent in the controller after the controller is reloaded, it will default to 0. In order to keep the value after a reload, you will need to write a PE program to set the desired value after a reload. The program should be Autostart and Fallthru. A sample of the program is below: Line SetCov Writeproperty("Full Bacnet Path to Point", CovIncrement, "Desired Value") Stop If you have several points that need the CovIncrement set, you would just add the additional lines into this program.   In 1.8 or greater, this program is not needed as these attributes get sent to controller on a reload. Suitable initial CovIncrements still need to be added to each BACnet point however as they default to 0.

Issue There is a need to know if Continuum and/or EcoStruxure BACnet support NAT. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Continuum EcoStruxure BACnet BBMD NAT Cause Many sites use NAT for security purposes.  Resolution NAT traversal is not supported in BBMD implementations (Continuum or EcoStruxure). It is an optional feature that has not been implemented. Requests to add this feature should be directed to Product Marketing to include on the backlog for prioritization. Related Continuum article: Can Continuum operate over a NAT Ethernet connection? Ashrae information: here

Issue Site implements Entry/Egress anti passback access sequence and uses a program that runs overnight to 'forgive' all anti-pass back violations. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum CyberStation Cause Documentation Resolution The following PE code is provided as a sample of how to have a PE program set the current area in ALL personnel objects. NOTE: The code is given for illustration ONLY and is not intended to be taken as a complete solution, engineers using this sample code must be sufficiently proficient in Plain English so as to make the necessary changes and modifications to the code to adapt it to their particular application.                                         'This WorkStation program sets the current area of ALL personnel objects found in 'theFolder' to "theArea" 'Program's flow type is LOOPING. Number RESULT Object thePerson, theArea, theFolder Line INIT 'ENTER THE FULL PATH TO THE FOLDER THAT CONTAINS THE PERSONNEL OBJECTS   theFolder = Root\CredentialHolders 'ENTER THE FULL PATH TO THE AREA   theArea = Root\MyAreas\TestArea2   Count = 0 'OPEN THE LIST OF PERSONNEL OBJECTS IN THE FOLDER   RESULT = OpenList("Personnel", thePerson, theFolder)   If RESULT = Success then Goto COUNT_THEM Else Goto CLOSE_LIST 'COUNT THE OBJECTS SO WE KNOW WHEN WE HAVE GONE THRU THE LIST EVEN IF WE ENCOUNTER AN ERROR Line COUNT_THEM   While GetObject(thePerson) is Success     Count = Count + 1   Endwhile   CloseList(thePerson)   Goto RE_OPEN   Line RE_OPEN   RESULT = OpenList("Personnel", thePerson, theFolder)   If RESULT = Success then Goto SET_AREA Else Goto CLOSE_LIST Line SET_AREA 'GET THE NEXT PERSONNEL OBJECT IN THE LIST  While GetObject(thePerson) is Success 'SET THE CURRENT AREA   thePerson Value = theArea   'thePerson Value = UnKnown   'to set all to UnKnown comment the line above and un-comment this line   Count = Count - 1  Endwhile  Goto CLOSE_LIST   Line CLOSE_LIST   CloseList(thePerson)   Stop Line E   If Count > 0 then 'WE ARE NOT AT THEN END OF THE LIST, HERE PROBABLY DUE TO SOME ERROR SETTING THE AREA, SKIP THIS OBJECT AND GO TO THE NEXT     Goto SET_AREA   Else 'END OF LIST, WE ARE DONE     CloseList(thePerson)     Stop   Endif

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.