Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Where can I download SmartStruxure V1.5 software and manuals? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SBO version 1.50 software Cause Download location required. Resolution The following link is to all documents and software associated with V1.50 release. Or go to The Exchange Download Center and search on the tag: relsbov1.5 (short for: Release SBO V1.5).

Warning Hazard of Electric Shock: Remove all power from all devices before removing any covers or doors of the system. Disconnect power at the device and at the power source. Electrostatic Discharge Required: Always discharge static electricity from your person by touching metal prior to handling any hardware. Failure to do so may result in damage to devices. Potential for Data Loss: The steps detailed in the resolution of this article may result in a loss of critical data if not performed properly. Before beginning these steps, make sure all important data is backed up in the event of data loss. If you are unsure or unfamiliar with any complex steps detailed in this article, please contact Product Support for assistance. Issue Are there restrictions on the location of the SP-C on the RS-485 bus? Product Line Security Expert Environment Security Expert Controller (SP-C, SP-AC1, SP-ACX, SP-C-WEB) Security Expert Expander Modules Cause The SP-C Installation Manual shows the SP-C as the first device in a standard network communication connection.  Locating the Security Expert controller in the middle of the RS-485 bus will reduce the amount of cable required. Resolution You can put the controller in any position on the RS-485 chain. Ensure you use the correct cable type, the overall length does not exceed 900 meters (3000 feet) and the two ends are correctly terminated with EOL resistors. Refer to the Encrypted Module Network section in the SP-C Installation Manual - System Controller for more details.

Issue In Niagara R2, is there a way to stop alarm notification from being generated and forwarded when a boiler is down for maintenance or other reason? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment Niagara R2 Cause Logic programming for preventing nuisance alarms Resolution This can be accomplished by adding a Binary Output (BO) object. Link the StatusOutput of the BO to the StatusInhibit of the Analog Input object (the AI alarm being inhibited).  Note that the inhibitTime property of the AI object has to be some value other than its default value.  It doesn't matter what value, but it must be something other than zero in order for it to function correctly.  In a real world application the BO object would be the output from an object which indicates that the boiler is down or offline; or it could also be from a manually activated GxPage object which would indicate that the boiler is down. With either setup, when the boiler is down and the appropriate input signal is feed into the StatusInhibit of the AI object, the AI object will not produce an alarm even when an alarm condition is present. Proper functioning should be verified before being placed into a working application.

Issue After reviewing a DMS installation, the red end-of-line (EOL) termination modules are not installed on the Microsmart trunk. The original part number was N406-032. Are they available for purchase? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment DMS Cause Part number cross reference Resolution The part number is changed to RBSC-16. Use this number when contacting customer support services.

Issue Reverting to an older than installed version of the firmware is required. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series WorkPlace Tech I/A Series MNB 1000 Cause Prior to the 1.515 version of the firmware, it is not possible to revert to an older release of the firmware. Resolution Firmware after 1.515 has the ability to be reverted. 1.515 is the oldest version the controller can be installed with.  If this procedure is required, please contact your countries Product Support for more information.

Issue MNB Controller firmware upgrade failed, which resulted in the device showing a blinking-red status LED. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series MNB Controllers (ASC) (All firmware revisions) Note: This does not apply to the MNB-1000 Cause A blinking-red status LED means the MNB controller is in Boot Loader mode and it cannot reboot. It is now a "slave" unit, listening to traffic, not initiating communication. Resolution Using the WorkPlace Commissioning Tool, click on the File pull-down menu and select "Add MS/TP Slave". If asked to select from IP, Ethernet or MS/TP, select MS/TP. (Note: It's a good idea to have the controller isolated from the trunk, so the firmware upgrade process runs less risk of being interrupted.) At the prompt for the address, enter the address set on the controller DIP switch. The controller should get added to the list. If it is already in the list, a message will indicate that there's a duplicate address. Answer prompts in such a manner to get the controller added to the list. The 'slave' controller may show up with a blank name. Do the firmware upgrade again. This procedure works 80% of the time. If the upgrade fails, put the controller into Dedicated Boot Loader Mode. Take the controller off the MSTP trunk, set the DIP switch address to 254, cycle power, and try another firmware upgrade (keep it addressed as 254). Following a successful firmware upgrade, set the DIP switch back to the correct controller address and cycle power to the controller.

Issue How to read and write from/to files using PE Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Plain English Cause Site needed a CSV report of personnel accessing the building that included access event information such as time stamp, door, area, card number BUT also data such as employee number etc., a simple list view could not be used since list views can only show data from ONE table in the ContinuumDB. Resolution Sample CyberStation program that reads/writes from/to file and aggregate data from different tables in the ContinuumDB IMPORTANT: PE Program is provided as a sample proof of concept ONLY and it is not to be taken as a complete working solution. REQUIREMENTS: Create STRINGS ReportEventsPath and T_A_Path in the CyberStation where the program will run and set to the path to the input and output files respectively, the input file must exist, the output file will be automatically created if it doesn’t exist. PROGRAM CODE: 'This Cyberstation program takes as an input a CSV file generated from an Access Event list 'and creates a second file with the EMPLOYEE NUMBER added. 'Program is FALL-THRU and NOT autostart 'IMPORTANT 'The Input file MUST be formatted like this... 'AccessEvent 'PersonId,TimeStamp,CardNumber,AreaId 'Root\MyPersonnel\Meran_Abe,3/31/2014 10:16:11 PM,3540,Root\MyAreas\Area1 File inputFILE, outputFILE String 132 DATALINE, RESULT, theEMPLOYEE, empNUMBER, localSTR Numeric CHARSREAD, CHARSWRITTEN, OK, RECORDLINE Numeric DEBUG_FLAG Line INITIALIZE DEBUG_FLAG = 0 'SET THIS TO 1 TO HAVE PROGRAM PRINT DEBUG INFO Line OPENING RESULT = "" RECORDLINE = 0 CHARSREAD = 0 If OpenFile(ReportEventsPath, ReadOnly, inputFILE) = Failure then 'OPEN THE INPUT FILE TO READ FROM RESULT = "COULD NOT OPEN inputFILE FILE" Goto FAILING Endif If OpenFile(T_A_Path, WriteOnly, outputFILE) = Failure then 'OPEN THE OUTPUT FILE TO WRITE TO RESULT = "COULD NOT OPEN outputFILE FILE" Goto FAILING Else Goto COPYING Endif Line COPYING RECORDLINE = RECORDLINE + 1 If DEBUG_FLAG then Print "Record line = " ; RECORDLINE If RECORDLINE = 1 then OK = ReadFile(inputFILE, DATALINE, 132, CHARSREAD, "|10") 'READ FIRST LINE FROM THE INPUT FILE UP TO THE LF Else OK = ReadFile(inputFILE, DATALINE, 132, CHARSREAD, "|13") 'READ ONE LINE FROM THE INPUT FILE UP TO THE CR Endif If OK = Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT READ FILE" Goto FAILING Else If DEBUG_FLAG then Print "Read..." ; DATALINE If OK = Eof then RESULT = "END OF FILE" Goto CLOSING Endif Endif 'INSERT THE EMPLOYEE NUMBER If RECORDLINE = 2 then empNUMBER = "EmpNumber" 'MODIFY THE HEADER WITH THE NAME OF THE FIELD(S) WE ARE ADDING If RECORDLINE > 2 then theEMPLOYEE = (left(DATALINE, search(DATALINE, ","))) theEMPLOYEE = (left(theEMPLOYEE, (search(theEMPLOYEE, ",") - 1))) 'FOR EACH LINE IN THE INPUT FILE GET THE PATH TO THE PERSONNEL OBJECT Print getname(theEMPLOYEE ; " EmpNumber") to empNUMBER 'AND GET THE EMPLOYEE NUMBER Endif 'WRITE THE LINE WITH THE ADDED NEW FIELD(S) TO THE OUTPUT FILE If RECORDLINE = 1 then Print DATALINE ; chr(10) to localSTR Else Print DATALINE ; "," ; empNUMBER ; chr(10) to localSTR Endif OK = WriteFile(outputFILE, localSTR, 132, CHARSWRITTEN) If OK = Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT WRITE FILE" Goto FAILING Else If DEBUG_FLAG then Print "Wrote..." ; localSTR Print "CHARSWRITTEN=" ; CHARSWRITTEN Endif 'POINT TO THE NEXT LINE IN THE FILES If RECORDLINE = 1 then If PositionFile(inputFILE, 1, FileCurrent) = Failure then Goto CLOSING 'ADVANCE PAST THE LF Else If PositionFile(inputFILE, 2, FileCurrent) = Failure then Goto CLOSING 'ADVANCE PAST THE CR and LF Endif If PositionFile(outputFILE, 0, FileCurrent) = Failure then Goto CLOSING 'WRITE AT THE CURRENT FILE LOCATION Goto COPYING 'GO DO THE NEXT LINE Endif Line FAILING 'SOMETHING WENT WRONG If DEBUG_FLAG then Print RESULT Goto CLOSING Line CLOSING 'CLOSE THE FILES If CloseFile(inputFILE) is Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT CLOSE FILE" If CloseFile(outputFILE) is Failure then RESULT = "COULD NOT CLOSE FILE" If DEBUG_FLAG then PEDebug = PEDebug + 1 'IF DEBUGGING INCREMENTED PEDebug MEANS NO ERRORS Stop Line E 'HANDLE RUNTIME ERROR If DEBUG_FLAG then Print RESULT PEDebug = 666 Endif CloseFile(inputFILE) CloseFile(outputFILE) Stop After the program runs if the input file looks like: 'AccessEvent 'PersonId,TimeStamp,CardNumber,AreaId 'Root\MyPersonnel\Meran_Abe,3/31/2014 10:16:11 PM,3540,Root\MyAreas\Area1 The output file will be: 'AccessEvent, 'PersonId,TimeStamp,CardNumber,AreaId,EmpNumber, 'Root\MyPersonnel\Meran_Abe,3/31/2014 10:16:11 PM,3540,Root\MyAreas\Area1,12345  

Issue What camera conditions does Continuum support being shown as a Continuum alarm? Product Line Andover Continuum, Pelco Environment Continuum v2.0 Pelco Video Server Digital Sentry Endura Cause Available documentation is a bit bare on specifically what camera conditions can be monitored / setup to be displayed as alarms in Continuum. Resolution According to the latest Video Compatibility Matrix, only the following video alarms are supported: Video server online/offline Camera video loss (cable connection loss only, not covering of camera lens) Motion detection (per camera) Note: Video loss and motion alarm functionality are not supported on DVX and DVXi Video Servers.

Issue A site physical access is configured as follows... Upon arriving at the site, the employee must check-in at a gate where a main biometric reader at a VIRTUAL door is configured with entry/exit readers for Check-in and Check-out. This 'Registration' reader is not controlling access to any physical door, the Registration door in Continuum has zero for door relay channel but IT IS configured with entry/exit readers so the Continuum access control panel can detect the check-in/check-out transactions. Once the employee has checked in, he can continue on to the building where he must then present his physical access credentials at a physical door to gain access into the building. The site requirement is that the employee can not be given access to the building until they have checked-in at the Registration reader at the gate, also, access to the building must be removed upon the employee checking-out at the gate when leaving the site. The doors in the buildings are configured with entry reader ONLY, so entry/egress anti-passback cannot be used. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation ACX2 NC2 NC1 9702 Cause Documentation Resolution Since this must be done on a per employee basis, an InfinityNumeric is created per employee and assigned as the area schedule in the personnel object for the areas that are in the building. A specific convention is used for the name of the numerics (Key_XXXXX) where XXXXX is the card number assigned to the employee. A PE program monitors the registration door at the gate, when en employee arrives and checks-in the program finds the appropriate employee key numeric and turns it ON to grant access to the areas in the building, conversely, when the employee leaves, the program finds the right key and turns it to OFF to deny access. PROGRAM SAMPLE IMPORTANT: PE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED HERE AS PROOF OF CONCEPT ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE TAKEN AS A COMPLETE TESTED SOLUTION. 'This program controls access to the building on a per employee basis 'The area schedule numeric for the employee is turned ON when the employee 'reports at the entrance reader (GIVE EMPLOYEE THE KEY) and OFF when the 'employee reports his departure at the exit reader. (TAKE THE KEY FROM THE EMPLOYEE) 'ASSUMPTIONS '1. All cards have the same site code 'AUTO START 'LOOPING Numeric Direction, DEBUG String theKey Line INIT DEBUG = 1 'SET THIS TO 1 FOR DEBUG HELP Goto WAIT_FOR_ACCESS Line WAIT_FOR_ACCESS theKey = "Key_" 'RESET KEY NAME 'WAIT FOR A VALID ACCESS AT THE LOBBY If Lobby ValidAccess then Goto GET_DIRECTION Line GET_DIRECTION 'DETERMINE IF ENTRY OR EGRESS If Lobby TimeEntered > Lobby TimeExited then Goto ENTRY Else Goto EXIT Line ENTRY theKey = theKey ; Lobby EntryLastCard 'FIND THE KEY FOR THIS CARD getname(theKey) = On 'GIVE THE EMPLOYEE THE KEY Goto WAIT_FOR_ACCESS Line EXIT theKey = theKey ; Lobby ExitLastCard 'FIND THE KEY FOR THIS CARD getname(theKey) = Off 'TAKE THE KEY FROM THE EMPLOYEE, NO KEY NO ACCESS Goto WAIT_FOR_ACCESS Line E If DEBUG then Print "Hit the error line" to Debug_STR If TS > 0 then Goto WAIT_FOR_ACCESS

Issue WebClient Pre-Installation Requirements for Server 2016 are not included in the 2.03 webClient installation guide Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Windows Server 2016 Continuum webClient Server 2.03 Cause The Pre-Installation requirement steps provided in the webClient planning and installation guide do not show all the steps needed to install webClient successfully Resolution This material is intended as a supplement to the webClient Planning and Installation Guide   Installing IIS on Windows Server 2016 For Windows Server 2016, install IIS on the designated web.Client application server (LAN systems) or the standalone CyberStation/web.Client workstation (standalone system). 1. Start the Server Manager by clicking on the Administrative Tools menu. 2. In the Server Manager, click Add Roles and Features. 3. In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, Before You Begin tab, click Next. 4. In Installation Type, select Role-based or feature-based installation. 5. Click Next and then select a server or virtual hard disk on which to install roles and features. 6. In Server Selection, click Select a server from the server pool. 7. Click Next and select one or more roles to install on the selected server. 8. In Select Server Roles, please select the items from the following snapshots carefully Note: In previous Windows Server instructions from the webClient pre-installation guide, a reference was made to select Application Server. This option is selected and installed by default in Windows Server 2016. No selection for Application Server is offered.   Once these Pre-Installation steps have been performed the webClient Server is ready for Chapter 4 - Installing web.client on the IIS PC (Found in the webClient planning and installation guide.pdf)

Issue The LON network is experiencing high bandwidth utilization identified by problems with commissioning devices and intermittent communication loss. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation LON devices Cause There can be many causes for high bandwidth utilization, including configuring change of value trend logs directly to points on the LON devices without using the local node. This causes Building Operation to poll the values constantly to see if there has been a change which in turns impacts the communication. Another cause can be graphics pages with a very large number of points. Even pages with many hidden layers will poll every point including the hidden layer points. It is important to bind any values coming into the Automation Server through the Local Node. Another cause can be the lack of proper LON interface configurations such as Bandwidth Throttling. Resolution The best option is to modify the Change of value logs to the type Interval logs. If it is a graphic causing the issue, then reduce the points on the graphics page. If these options are not suitable then using the local node option described below will help in reducing the bandwidth. Utilize the Local Node Create a Local Node underneath the LonWorks Network in the Enterprise or Automation Server. Create a SNVT underneath the Local Node that matches the one you want to log or bind. Make a SNVT binding from the Device to the SNVT created under the Local Node that triggers on change. For more information on Lon interface configuration settings, see LonWorks Interface Properties – Advanced Tab.

Warning Potential for Data Loss: The steps detailed in the resolution of this article may result in a loss of critical data if not performed properly. Before beginning these steps, make sure all important data is backed up in the event of data loss. If you are unsure or unfamiliar with any complex steps detailed in this article, please contact Product Support for assistance. Issue I/NET SQL database becomes too big affecting the performance of I/NET. Backup and restore of the I/NET SQL database take several hours to finish. Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET SQL Server Cause There are two files for the SQL database for I/NET: InetDb.mdf and InetDb_log.ldf. The InetDb.mdf file is the data files of the database, where all of the tables, indexes (other than full-text catalogs), stored procedures, etc. are stored. The .mdf is the primary data file for the whole database. While The InetDb_log.ldf is the transaction log. The transaction log is where all transactions are written to. Sometimes it will be the InetDb_log.ldf growing too big. Since it is less important, it can be shrunk without any impact on I/NET operation or any data/events/transactions lost. Resolution Be sure to backup the database first with DBCreate or Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and connect to the database. Right click on InetDb and choose Property. Set Recovery model to Simple in the Options. Right click on InetDb and choose Tasks-->Shrink-->Files. Choose the File type to Log, and keep the Shrink action in Release unused space. Check the file size of InetDb_log.ldf. It should have decreased in size.

Issue Running a G3 / AX server with version 3.8 on a Windows 8.0 host. After a recent upgrade to Windows 8.1, the Niagara hostId was changed. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment Niagara G3 / AX 3.8 Cause Recent operating system upgrade Resolution Add the following line to the nre.properties file:  disableHostIdGeneration=true right after softjace=false   

Issue How to uninstall an I/NET Seven Host MPC Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Seven Host MPC Cause Uninstall an I/NET Seven Host MPC Resolution Demote all workstations (clients) one at a time. After all workstations are in standalone mode, demote the File Master. On the File Master: Log off the I/NET Seven system Shut down the I/NET I/O Server Driver Go into the Task Manager Function and "End Task" on the following Files -- SQL Server & SQL Agent. If you have a SQL Database on the File Master and you want to save this database, go to the DbCreate editor and do a SQL Backup. Make sure the path of this backup is located OUTSIDE of Inet Seven directory. Launch the Windows Control Panel. Go to Add/Remove Programs. Remove the "Inet Seven" Program Remove the "Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine" program Exit out of the Control Panel. Launch Windows Explorer. Go to the following directory - "Program Files\Inet Seven" Highlight the "Inet Seven" directory, and delete this folder While you are still in the "Programs Files" directory, look for the following file folder “Microsoft SQL Server”. Once you find this, highlight the folder and delete. Go to the Recycle Bin and delete all entries in this folder. Exit out of the window explorer function. Next go to the desktop and look for the icon "My Computer" Right click and highlight the "Manage" directory. Scroll down the list until you find the section "Local Users & Groups" Double click this folder, then double click the "Users" folder. Highlight and delete the following user account "INMPROXY" Reboot the PC to make sure all of the actions you performed take effect. Note: you need to repeat steps # 5 through step # 20 on every workstation (client) on the I/NET Network. Once the reboot is complete, you are now ready to re-install the I/NET Seven from the CD. To return the I/NET system to the File equalization mode you need to do the following steps. Shut down the I/O Server Driver if it is running on the File Master. Go into the DbCreate Editor and perform a Database "Restore" to place the saved database back in the File Master. Promote the File Master PC to the File Master Mode. Wait until the snapshot is complete. Promote the Workstation PCs to the Client Mode one at a time. Wait until the snapshot is complete. Then verify the database was received at the workstation

Issue Security Expert Smartcard Readers support for DESfire EV2 Cards Product Line Security Expert Environment Security Expert Smartcard Readers DESfire EV2 Cards Cause There is a requirement to use DESfire EV2 cards in a Security Expert system. Currently, the Security Expert Smartcard Readers' specifications sheets indicate support for DESfire EV1. Resolution New Smartcard Readers with firmware v1.04 build 229 and above support DESfire EV2. Older readers' firmware can be upgraded with the new firmware. Contact your Local Country Support for details on upgrading the firmware.

Issue BACnet proxy points and BACnet devices are configured to use COV subscriptions however points are listed as Polled when added to database. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment Niagara G3 all version, ENC-520, ENC-410 Cause The "Use Cov" property is set to false in the BACnetNetwork Default Tuning Policy. The "Use Cov" property default is "False." If set to "True," and the assigned proxy points are under a BacnetDevice that supports the Subscribe COV service, any necessary updates (Niagara proxy subscriptions) are attempted using BACnet COV subscriptions to the device. If the subscription attempt succeeds, the "Read Status" property of the point's BacnetProxyExt displays "COV." If the subscription attempt for a proxy point fails, normal polling is used and the "Read Status" property shows "Polled." Resolution The "Use Cov" property must be set to true for COV subscription to function. It’s a good idea to create a separate tuning policy for BACnet COV subscriptions. Creating a new Tuning Policy Expand Tuning Policies under the BACnetNetwork Right-clicking an existing policy, then choosing "Duplicate" in the shortcut menu. "Name" it as desired. Open the tuning policy you just created Set "Use Cov" to true and save. Assigning the new tuning policy to the proxy points under the BACnetDevice that is configured for COV subscriptions. Expand the Points folder of the BACnet Device Double-click on the proxy point you wish to configure to use Cov Click on the drop down menu next to Tuning Policy Name and select the tuning policy you created. Save. Configuring the BACnetDevice to use COV Open the BACnetDevice under the BACnetNetwork Set the "Use Cov" property to True. Note: Typically, you create multiple tuning policies in the BACnetNetwork—especially if you have multiple BACnet network ports enabled. This allows you to reference different tuning policies from BACnet proxy points under different networks (often with vastly different performance capabilities). For example, points under a BACnet MSTP network would likely use different tuning policies than those under a BACnet IP network. Reference the "About BACnet Tuning Policies" section of the Niagara AX-3.x BACnet Guide document for additional information.  

Issue Security Expert controller has Online Status, can be downloaded, can be pinged and the web configuration page can be opened but Health Status and Module Addressing both timeout. Product Line Security Expert Environment SP-C SP-AC1 SP-ACX Cause The controller serial number is missing or has been incorrectly entered in Security Expert. The IP address is used to verify online status and direct downloads but the serial number must also be correct to get health status and module addressing. Resolution Correct the Serial Number field on the General tab of the controller. Controller Serial Number

Issue Using access card types not natively supported by Continuum system Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation CX9900/9940 CX9702 CX9680 ACX5740/5720 ACX701 ACX781 Cause Continuum has built in support for the most widely used Wiegand card types, occasionally a site might be using a card type for which Continuum has not built in support. In such cases the system must be configured using custom card functionality. Resolution Setting Up a Custom Wiegand Format A custom format must be used when the card format is not one of the standard pre-defined formats. Only one custom format can be used in an ACX7xx controller and NC1(CX99xx), NC2(CX968x) using AC1 modules, up to four custom formats can be used with the ACX57xx and NC1/NC2 using AC1Plus modules. In each ACX700 and ACX780/781, NC1, NC2, ACX57xx create 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 using more than one custom card definitions create InfinityNumeric points called AccessFormat2, AccessFormat3 and AccessFormat4 Create the following InfinityProgram in each controller. The program should be type FallThru, and AutoStart. This program basically saves you from having to set each array value individually for each controller. The program, once created, can be copied to all other access controllers that need it. In the following example the AccessFormat array is setup to allow the system to read the HID Corporate 1000, 35 bit card. Program Name: SetCustCrdArray FlowType: FallThru AutoStart: True Code: Set AccessFormat[1] to 35 ‘overall number of bits Set AccessFormat[2] to 0 ‘control mask Set AccessFormat[3] to 0 ‘ manufacturer’s code Set AccessFormat[4] to 0 ‘ start bit of man. Code (first bit is 0, not 1) Set AccessFormat[5] to 0 ‘ end bit of man. code Set AccessFormat[6] to 2 ‘ start bit of site code (NOTE: If the card has no site code set this field to 0) Set AccessFormat[7] to 13 ‘ end bit of site code (NOTE: If the card has no site code set this field to 0) Set AccessFormat[8] to 14 ‘ start bit of card number Set AccessFormat[9] to 33 ‘ end bit of card number Set AccessFormat[10] to 0 ‘ odd parity mask, first 16 bits Set AccessFormat[11] to 0 ‘ odd parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[12] to 0 ‘ odd parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[13] to 0 ‘ odd parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[14] to 0 ‘ even parity, first 16 Set AccessFormat[15] to 0 ‘ even parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[16] to 0 ‘ even parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[17] to 0 ‘ even parity, next 16 Set AccessFormat[18] to 0 ‘ card number multiplier Set AccessFormat[19] to 0 ‘ card number divisor 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​   In each Door Configuration, select the Custom Wiegand card type. Other card types may also be selected. For each Personnel, select the Custom Wiegand card type, and enter the correct card number and site code. If the card is not working, check the Event Log and determine the cause. For Invalid Card Parity errors, set all the parity masks to 0 and try again. For proximity cards, the parity check may be eliminated with little consequence. NOTE: In controllers that support the HID Corporate 1000, 35 bit card natively (NC2 – CX968x and ACX2 – ACX57xx) the AccessFormat numeric is internally used by the system, any other custom card definitions must use AccessFormat2 – AccessFormat4 Control mask Some Wiegand cards are encoded with the bits in one or more fields reversed and/or complemented. It is then necessary to operate on the fields when decoding the data in order to obtain the correct data. In the AccessFormat array a control field is provided to configure the system so that the bits in a field in the access card data can be reversed and/or complemented. The control mask is located at AccessFormat[2] Control Mask The bits of the control mask are used by the parsing routine in the controller to reverse or complement selected fields. Setting the appropriate bit to a 1 will enable the special action: Example: To reverse the bits in the site code field set AccessFormat[2] = 8 Parity mask calculation The table below shows the card format information provided by the manufacturer of a 32 bit Wiegand card. From the information provided by the manufacturer we can deduct the flowing about the format of the data on the card: The card data is comprised of the following 3 fields A = Customer Code B = Facility Code C = Card Number Bits 0 through 16 make up the even parity field. (The ‘X’ indicates that the bit is part of the even parity field) Bits 15 through 31 make up the odd parity field. Note the overlap in the fields (bits 15 and 16 are members of both the even and odd parity fields), this is common as the fields are arbitrarily assigned by the card manufacturers. Armed with the information provided by the manufactures we can calculate the parity mask which Continuum will need to use in order to perform the necessary parity check upon receipt of the card data transmitted by the card reader. First, calculate the EVEN parity mask. To better illustrate how the calculation is done we have added a new row to our table, in this row we are going to enter the even parity mask as a binary number. What we do is write a 1 (one) in each bit that is a member of the even parity field and a 0 (zero) for bits that are not part of the even parity field. The second step is to divide the bits that make up the field into groups of 4 which will make it easier to convert the binary number in the previous row to a hexadecimal number. The even parity mask for this card is 0xFFFF8000 It should now be obvious how Continuum uses the mask when checking for even parity. Upon receipt of the card data transmitted from the reader, Continuum applies the mask to the full 32 bit stream of data received, (a logical AND operation is performed) the mask acts like a filer that allows only the set bits in the even parity field to pass through, now all Continuum has to do is count the bits that passed through the filter and make sure the count is an even number, if the count is not an even number Continuum sends a parity error. The Odd parity mask is calculated using the same procedure. Here is an example for the calculation of the parity masks for a 35 bit card A = Company ID Code B = Card Number P= EVEN PARITY Even Parity Mask 0x76DB (30427) 0x6DB6 (28086) 0xC000 (49152) 0x0000 (0) P = ODD PARITY Odd Parity Mask 0x6DB6 (28086) 0xDB6D (56173) 0xA000 (40960) 0x0000 (0) After calculating the parity masks you enter the decimal numbers into the appropriate fields in the AccessFormat array. S = Site Code C = Card Number P= EVEN PARITY Even Parity Mask 0xFFFF (65535) 0XE000 (57344) 0x0000 (0) 0x0000 (0) P = ODD PARITY Odd Parity Mask 0xFFFF (65535) 0xFFFF (65535) 0xF000 (61440) 0x0000 (0) IMPORTANT: If a custom card is configured with a bit count that is the same as the bit count of one of the cards that are supported natively, the parity masks MUST be entered in the AccessFormat array in order for the controller to be able to parse the custom card correctly, if not parity masks information is entered, the controller will generate an 'Invalid attempt, bad parity' event when the custom card is presented at the reader.

Issue Why do controllers go into bootloader mode? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Bootloader NC2 BCX CX99xx CX96xx i2 b3 Cause Continuum controller are placed into bootloader mode if they repeatedly hit a firmware level exception. An exception is when the controller tries to do something that cannot be done.  Some examples of an exception are... A controller tries to read from memory that it cannot read from. A controller attempts write to memory that cannot be written to. On startup, flash generation controllers load the application from flash RAM.When they hit an exception, older, non-flashable controllers would simply clear the application software from ram, power up and wait for the software to be loaded from the front end.  If there is a bad application there needs to be a means by which a user can intervene before the application is loaded so that the controller firmware can be reloaded or upgraded.  When a flashable controller hits more than three exceptions within a ten minute time period the controller is placed into bootloader mode intentionally. Resolution When a controller repeatedly goes into bootloader mode it is time to take a close look at environment which might be driving the controller to hit exceptions A controller usually goes into bootloader mode due to environmental issues such as Heavy ARP traffic Controller grounding Controller power issues Problems with the communication bus. A controller that repeatedly hits exceptions is placed in bootloader mode by design.  Flashing a controllers firmware is the only way to get a controller out of bootloader mode. 

Issue A new feature is introduced in TAC Vista Workstation 5.1.7, enabling the user to identify broken and empty TGML bindings and TGML Links in TAC Vista Workstation. This feature can also list all bindings and links in TAC Vista Workstation, replacing the search function previously used to identify bindings and links in TAC Vista Workstation. Product Line TAC Vista Environment Vista 5.1.7 and above Cause Compiling a list of all bindings, or all empty or broken bindings, allows a user to quickly find and update any graphical problems cross an entire database at once. Resolution From Workstation, right click on a folder and choose "Find broken bindings." This replaces the previous method of searching for broken bindings within the Search window. Note the following object types are no longer available in the TAC Vista Workstation search function: TGML Bindings TGML Dynamics TGML Link TGML Links See TAC Vista Technical Manual Chapter 28.2 for additional information about this feature.