Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Wiring an STR-202 slide stat and override into a Xenta 102-AX Product Line TAC Vista Environment STR-202 Xenta 102-AX Cause The STR-202 wiring guide does not explicitly describe jumping together pins 14 and 15 of the STR and landing them both on U4 of the 102-AX. Resolution Pins 14 and 15 of the STR-202 must be jumpered together. This output is then connected to input U4 of the 102-AX. Be sure to set the hardware configuration to "Slide Stat" in the hardware configuration tab of the 102-AX plug-in.

Issue Search for all inputs and outputs in a system that are forced by operator Find IOs that are set in manual override Product Line TAC Vista Environment TAC Vista Workstation Cause Need to find all Inputs/outputs that are set to Forced by operator (manual override). Resolution In Workstation, right click on the Lonworks object and select search. In type of devices or objects select Analog/Digital input and/or Analog/Digital outputs.     Select property value 'Forced by operator' and Select equal to 1.     (To be able to set the property value 'Forced by operator' specify Analog/Digital input and/or Analog/Digital outputs, not just Points in 'type of devices or objects'.)

Issue The cooling and heating will not work on the Xenta 121 FC/HP even though the terminal load is building. Product Line TAC Vista Environment ZBuilder Xenta 121 FC/HP Cause The default setting for both the Xenta 121 Fan Coil and Heat Pump is to have no fan feedback. If the fan interlock options are selected then the heating and cooling will not work on the Xenta 121. The controller sees the absence of the fan feedback as a fan failure, therefore locking out the heating and cooling.   Resolution If fan feedback is not required then the primary heating, secondary heating, and cooling interlock need to be unchecked. You can access these options by launching ZBuilder, click the Configuration tab, and go to Control > Fan > Interlock.   If fan feedback is required then this feature needs to be activated. Launch ZBuilder, click the Configuration tab, and go to Control > Fan > Feedback. Here you can check to activate fan feedback and choose whether it is a hardwired point.   Once the configurations have been set, go to the I/O Setup tab where you can see that "Fan proof" has been added to a DI point. You can click and drag the "Fan proof" point to any available input.  

Issue There needs to be a way to restrict the number of people gaining access to the door. There needs to be a way to keep up with how many people are in the Zone. Product Line TAC INET Environment Access Initiated Control Cause I/NET Seven allows configuring a door to have both an entry and an exit reader and uses the selection of Anti-passback/Anti-tailgate to set up Zones or areas with stricter control over access. However, even with the Anti-passback option set to Hard which denies access to successive reads at the same reader, it does not prevent multiple persons from entering and exiting together and it does not provide real time accounting for the number of people in a Zone. Other than having a guard at the door the usual method of implementing Zones does not prevent violations. The example below presents some thoughts about how to improve the security of the Zone in an INET Seven system. Resolution One method to accomplish the first goal is to use a two door egress system as is often used in jails and similar security setups.  For a medium security setup where the intent is not to prevent people from leaving only one of the doors needs to have a card reader.  Such a design is illustrated below:   Notes: Electric strike normally energized. Low walls or fences. The area should be small enough to limit how many people or things are in it at one time. Gate with normally de-energized bolt.  The gate could swing both ways so one would only have to push it to open it. It should have a spring to close it. The door "a" would have both an Entry and Exit reader so Anti-pass back/Anti-tailgate can be implemented. The strike on door "a" would be normally energized and be opened by a valid reader transaction. The bolt on the gate would be normally de-energized allowing the gate to open freely.  When the strike on door "a" is de-energized, the bolt on the gate would be energized preventing the gate from opening. This is designed to allow only one person to move into or out of the Zone at one time. An added level of security would be accomplished by mounting IR emitter/receiver pairs along the low wall or fence at regular intervals.  A person would interrupt the light at a limited number of receivers so if more than expected are interrupted it would be a violation of one person at a time and necessary action could be taken. If material needed to be moved through the door the gated area could be made large enough to allow for a dolly or whatever might be needed.  A different access level would be provided to those who are moving material thus preventing the alarm for too many people going through the door. This approach would restrict movement into and out of the Zone and the example given in the AIC note could be implemented to allow real time monitoring of occupancy levels in the Zone. Design thoughts: To calculate whether more than one person is in the gated area, sum the number of receivers that are detecting and compare it to a minimum, e.g. four of six must be detecting if only one person is in the area. If material is in the gated area generate an alarm if an authorized card is not read.  Use the alarm delay for the point to give an individual time to make a card read before sounding the alarm. The AIC scheme described in the AIC note would have to be duplicated for the material mover individuals to change the calculation of a person in the gated area.  For material movers the detection would be (sum of detectors < minimum) whereas for regular individuals the detection would be (sum of detectors > minimum).  Remember the SLI connected to this door can have only 64 AIC’s and this door now has used 2 of them Use an inter-card delay long enough to let the person to get out of the gated area before another card can be read. For personnel safety there must be a way to de-energize the strike.  One method would be to mount an emergency exit button located far enough away from the door so a single person would not be able to reach it and a second emergency exit button on the outside of the Zone so someone could keep the strike de-energized until everyone is evacuated.  Most codes probably require that all strikes be de-energized in case of smoke or similar emergency so that would provide another fail-safe.

Issue Performing database maintenance with Vista 4.5.0 Product Line TAC Vista Environment Vista 4.5.0 SQL Server Cause It is necessary to perform backups for two reasons, first to be able to recover the system in the event of a fatal error and second to be able to manage the size of the database. Resolution Vista has a means of backing up databases on a Vista Server.  It is necessary to perform backups for two reasons, first to be able to recover the system in the event of a fatal error and second to be able to manage the size of the database.  The Vista database probably won’t grow very much after the initial engineering activity but the event and trend log database grows as events are received in Vista.  In many installations maintaining an archive of event data is required so that is another reason for backing up the database.  This paper presents a way to accomplish the backing up of the Event and Trend database and creating an archive file. Before the backup process can be implemented it is first necessary to have a good estimate of the Event and Trend Log traffic anticipated for the installation.  In the Vista 4.3.0 Technical Product Information (TPI), Ref No: C88-1-D43, there is section entitled Strategies for Calculating and Controlling Database Size.  On page 5 the method for determining database size is explained and used in the following example: Right clicking on the $Backup_LDB object in the Server View brings up this dialog.   Note that this example has an Event and Trend database that has reached 1121 (MB) in size.  The default Size Alarm Limit is shown to be 1640 and if the database grows past that size, Vista may not operate reliably. The TPI states on page 4 that events contain on average 2Kb of data.  Combining that value with the expected traffic provides a reasonable estimate of the database expansion rate.  If the installation traffic estimate is 4000 Events and Trend samples per day, the database expands at the rate of 8Mb per day.  If the installation traffic estimate is 10,000, the database expands at the rate of 20Mb per day. A conservative approach would limit the size of the active database to half of the alarm limit.  That means the backup process must be done so that the size does not get to 820Mb.  At 10000 Events and Trend samples per day that value would be reached every 41 days.  Vista is designed to allow Event driven backup operations and the closest choice it offers to the 41 days is once a month so that is what will be chosen. The configuration of backup is done in Vista Workstation by opening the Properties of the Workstation object in the tree.  The first step is to select a location for the backup files to be saved.  In the example shown below it is the folder outlined in red.   The “Max number of files” limits the number of backups that are retained by Vista on the hard drive.  The number chosen here was two (2).  The procedure that is described further down will actually move backup files to new directories which could be a network drive or a CD/DVD rom.  (The latter option requires operator action so it might not be the most desirable especially since backups are usually done at off times when an operator might not be available)  Next the event that is to trigger the backup must be defined.  The configuration of when the backup is done is set on the Log Backup tab of the Vista Server Properties dialog.  In the example shown below the backup is scheduled to occur on the first of every month at 12:40AM. The selection of Event object is made from the options made available by the browse button.     The browse selection brings up the Select dialog from which the selection of Event type and properties is done.  In the following example the selection is Monthly.   Right clicking on the $Event_LDB object opens the properties dialog box to configure the Event_Month object.  The final configuration option is what to do with older records.  Vista will remove Events from the database if you so desire.  The removal does not shrink the database but does make space available for new events to be written without expanding the size of the database.  This is the key to keeping the database from exceeding the Alarm Limit. The Event Log tab provides a way to delete old records from the database.  In the example shown below records older than 30 Days will be deleted after the backup that was done be the Event_Month object has been completed.  This means that each month the backup should have the most recent 30 days of Events and Trend samples.   The final step that can be taken is to also copy the backup file to a server that is backed up or to a CD/DVD Rom. This operation creates an archive in which Event and Trend data is stored.  Windows task scheduler can be used to run a cmd at some time after the backup operation was scheduled.  For the above example schedule it to run a 1:00am on 1 st of each month.  If backing up to a network drive create a folder such as shown below.  J:\Engineering\Vista Event Log BU.  In order for the task scheduler to run it is necessary to setup a user account on the pc that is not related to any actual user.  I added a user to the User group named, vista xcopy dbmgr.  This will be the user account used by the task scheduler.  The Vista backup folder must have modify/write permissions for this user and the folder into which the backup is going to be copied must have Full control.   The command line for this example is shown below: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\xcopy.exe "C:\Program Files\TAC\TAC Vista 4.5.0\Db2\$bkp" "J:\Vista Event Log BU" /M The Windows task scheduler is configured in the Control Panel, Scheduled Tasks as shown below:   In the Run as: box enter the name of the new User created described above: vista (xcopy dbmgr) Schedule the task to run on the first of each month at 1:00AM.   The backup files can be restored to a Vista Server that is not performing actual site monitoring.  This method is only way the “archived” event and trend data can be viewed as of Vista revision 4.5.0.

Issue What is the proper way to enter data in ID Works and print a badge? Product Line OTHER, TAC INET Environment ID Works I/NET Seven Cause Enter data properly to avoid losing data or having to redo personnel entry. Resolution Log into the ID Works Program Default user name is lowercase admin Default password is lowercase admin Choose the badge project for the card you are going to print. If you do not see the Project in the window area, select the "More Projects" button to see the complete list of projects. Once you choose the project, a window will pop up for you to log into the ID Works Project. You have a choice on how to log in. You can either choose to check the box next to "Use Trusted Connection" or under the "INetThirdParty" Login ID the password is lower case passinetdb3p. Typically, select the “Trusted Connection” option. This is a view of the Sample project that is on the I/NET Seven CD under the "Support" file folder on the CD. Next fill in all the information listed on the Production Form including taking the photo. Now that you have filled in all the info and took the picture, it is time to print the badge. On the Bottom ICON Task Bar, the second ICON in going from left to right is the "Print ICON." Before you actually print the badge, make sure the Blank cards that are in the printer magazine are the correct ones. Once you verify that the correct blanks are in the printer, and then depress the Printer ICON with the mouse. Printing the badge will also save the information in the I/NET Seven system and the ID Works system. There is NO need to save the info first, and then print the badge. Now that you still have the information in the Production Form on the Screen, DO NOT choose the RED X on the Top ICON Task Bar to clear the page. If by accident you do choose the RED X, you will get the following pop up window. DO NOT CHOOSE the YES BUTTON, if you do, you WILL DELETE ALL THE INFORMATION AND PHOTO you just entered in the I/NET Seven System and the ID Works system. If you find yourself in this situation, you NEED TO CHOOSE the NO BUTTON, doing this choice WILL NOT DESTROY ANY DATA. In order to refresh the project, go to the Top Task Bar and choose the "FILE" option. In the drop down list choose the "Close Project" option. Then select a new Project for the next badge, this process will open a new clean Production Form to fill out.

Issue Setting up an Integral DVR in I/NET Seven Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Integral DVR CCTV Cause Installation Resolution Please use the following link: I/NET Seven to a DVR Configuration.doc

Issue Need to remotely determine the MAC Address for an NPR or PC. Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Site Cause How to remotely determine the MAC Address for an NPR or PC. Resolution Please see use the following link: MacAddress from remote.doc

Issue How do I setup the Custom Pin Numbers In I/NET Seven Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Seven site Cause How to setup Custom Pin Numbers in I/NET Seven. Resolution Please use the following link: Custom Pin Numbers.doc

Issue Cannot get to some of the pages defined in a Xenta OP Tree. They pop back up to the submenu. Alternatively, attempts to generate the Menta file or Xenta OP Tree result in the following error:   Conversion to BIN file OP Configuration tool working, please wait... Error in opdoc.tmp near line: 2224, symbol: 'NOF_LPag036Pg02_C': Symbol table full. Product Line TAC Vista Environment Xenta programmable controllers Xenta 280, 281, 282, 283, 300, 301, 302, 401, 401:B Menta OP Tree Cause The maximum number of pages allowed in the TAC Xenta OP tree is limited to 255. A sub menu is not included in this limit, but every status page should be counted. Resolution Check if the 255 page limit has been exceeded: Open the file OPDOC.SPT after generating the OP tree. (This file is normally located in C:\Program Files\TAC\Menta\Temp). Search for the first occasion of "EOFF". This value should be below 512 (This value adds up with 1 for each page and starts at 256. 256+255=511) If the size limitations have been exceeded, the size of the tree must be reduced in order to generate the OP Tree.

Issue It is possible to make connections to the output side of a DO or AO in Menta Product Line TAC Vista Environment Menta Cause Connecting to the back end of an AO or DO ensures that the value being used by the Menta application is always in sync with the value in the Vista Workstation/OP. Any AO or DO could be put in forced-by-operator mode, and if the Menta application does not use this down the line, the desired results may not occur. Resolution You can click on the right side of the output block and connect it to other blocks.  

Issue I/NET Seven Upgrade Check List Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET site in need of upgrade Cause Check List for I/NET Seven Upgrade Resolution Please see link: I/NET Seven Upgrade Check List.doc

Issue Is there a way to get all my MTA from a files saved off to disk from a Vista db? Product Line TAC Vista Environment Vista Database Generator Menta Cause Archiving/extracting all Menta files from a Vista database at the same time. Backup all applications quickly. Resolution You can use the Database Generator    to do this. Vista Server must first be running before performing these steps: Start Database Generator (Start > Programs > Schneider Electric > TAC Tools X.X.X > Database Generator). May need to right-click and Run As Administrator. Go to the Database Menu and select Export Data from Database Click on the browse button for the object. Select device navigation, and browse to your Network object and click OK. In the Export from Database dialogue, keep the default settings and click OK. All MTA files in the selected Network will be saved to the $wrk directory in the Vista database.   MTA files will be updated with any changes made from Vista to PVR blocks, TSCH blocks, etc. If changes have been made while directly connected from Menta or an OP, right click on each controller and select "Upload Parameters" before exporting the MTA files. If more than one Network exists in one database, a separate export must be performed for each network.

Issue Reset Instructions for 1200 Series SCU Product Line TAC INET Environment SCU 1200 series controllers I/NET Cause Need to restart SCU, perhaps after a reload of firmware or dip switch settings Resolution Follow the written instruction carefully.   Reset Instructions: Locate the 3-pin connector labeled P610 and the reset push button switch. Refer to the above diagram. Momentarily short P610 pins 1 and 2 while simultaneously pressing the reset push button switch. (Note: P610 pins 1 and 2 are the pins located nearest the dip switch.) Re-download the proper BIN file to the SCU.

Issue I/NET Seven Rev 2.10 and IP Filtering Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET site Cause IP Filtering on an I/NET Seven site with Rev 2.10 Resolution I/NET displays this summary when you select IP Filters from the I/NET Configuration Profiles editor. This summary lists each I/NET host that is currently communicating with this host workstation. Using IP filtering, you can configure each I/NET host to only see specific sections of the overall network. This allows you to create segmented networks that can be secured from outside access. I/NET displays this dialog when you highlight a device in the Device Filter Summary and select Modify. This dialog lists all filters currently defined for the selected device. IP filters are listed in order of their priority. The first IP filter in the list has the highest priority. The last IP filter in the list has the lowest priority. By default, a device will have a single IP Filter entry that allows the device to communicate without restriction.

Issue System Security and I/NET Seven with Window XP Product Line TAC INET Environment Windows XP SP3 Cause A list of editors available in I/Net Seven under various Windows Rights  Resolution There are two components of security available to users of I/NET Seven, I/NET Seven passwords and Windows User accounts. Please see the following document: System Security and I/NET SevenR.doc

Issue It would be helpful if the MAC Address of an SP-C could be worked out when the physical controller is not readily accessible or has not yet been delivered Product Line Security Expert Environment SP-C Cause Cases may arise where a newly ordered or existing SP-C is going into a system but no MAC address is known.  MAC addresses are often required in order to obtain an IP address for a project.   The MAC address is not shown when connecting into the SP-Cs web browser (although the Serial Number is) and can only be shown via an Arp in the correct section of the network Resolution In normal circumstances each SP-C should have a Label on it which indicates the MAC address in full However in cases where the Label is not accessible it can also be derived from the Serial Number which can be viewed in the SP-C web browser, preceded by 00:1B:   Eg  00:1B:C2:AF:14:24  

Issue How to upgrade an Automation Server if Port 80 is closed and the Automation Server is placed behind a NAT router. Getting error message when upgrading: Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Cause The problem is that the certificate are generated with the IP address off the Automation Server, and not the NAT Router IP. Resolution The Device Administrator has the option to add SAN's (Subject Alternative Name) and not just the address of the server. So add both the LAN and the WAN addresses in the SAN field when you generate the certificate and transfer to the server.

Issue I/NET Seven custom installation/upgrade tips Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Site Cause Desire to install/upgrade I/NET Seven Resolution Please see following document: Installation Precautions.doc

Issue I/NET Seven and Key Card translation What is the Key / Card Translation table and how do I use it? Can I use the Key / Card Translation table for other card types other than I/DISC? Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET all revisions Cause Need to understand what is the Key / Card Translation table and how do I use it. Resolution As I/NET evolved it first used what might be called a sequential look up table to translate I/DISC keys from number much to big for the DPU / SCU to interpret to one of the 1 to 24,000 (32,000 current) individual numbers permitted in a Tenant. The I/DISCs are shipped in lots from the manufacturer and the container states the starting key number, e.g. 897541, and the number of keys in the container. I/NET has an editor called Key / Card Translation that allows associating those I/DISCs with an individual. The box labeled Source is used to enter the first key/card in a lot of keys (usually read off the container). The Target box is used to assign the key to an individual in a Tenant. The Count box is used to set how many sequential keys will be associated with individuals. There are four card types that can be read directly without a translation table, Wiegand 26 and 32 bit and ABA 115 and 85. On the Wiegand cards the Tenant Code must match the site or tenant code on the cards and the card number must be less than 24,000. For all four types of card Switch 7 on the DPU is set to off. Wiegand 66 bit, Custom Wiegand and Custom ABA must be selected to use a translation table, and Switch 7 on the DPU is ignored. The next evolution involved allowing the “big (large) card number” to be stored with the Individual. This removes the requirement of using the key / card translation editor. Please see the following document for additional details and examples: Card Numbers.doc