Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue When tunneling through a UNC (R2) or ENC (G3) to an ASD bus with XPSI, set the baud rate to 1200 to eliminate communications timeout errors. Environment PSI/XPSI software, any version. I/A Series UNC (R2) or ENC(G3) with an ASD bus connected. All versions. Serial tunnel client, R2 or G3. Cause Delays introduced by the Internet between the PSI/XPSI computer and the remote tunnel client can result in communications timeout errors. Setting the PSI/XPSI baud rate = 1200 can help minimize or eliminate the effects of these delays. Resolution Set the baud rate of PSI/XPSI to 1200, per the TAC I/A Series Enhanced ASD Driver Engineering Guide, F-27429, Chapter 5, Table 5.1, "Site Setup Configuration", excerpt below:

Issue Some connecting lines may not be drawn attached to the left side of control objects.  This may occur when using a new version of the WorkPlace Tech Tool to display an application created with an older version,  For example: Environment WorkPlace Tech Tool 5.7.x or 5.8.x Cause Line and Object display coordinate round-off errors between various versions of Visio. NOTE: This does not affect the processing of the application in the WorkPlace Tech Tool because the real logical connections are stored in the application database. Resolution To resolve this "drawing" issue, it is necessary to move the control object slightly.  When the object is redrawn, the connecting line coordinates are recalculated and will redisplay properly. If many connecting lines exhibit this issue. you can select all objects on the drawing (use Edit / Select All or Find / Select All menu selection or the keystroke shortcut, Ctrl-A) then move the selected objects a very small amount.  The objects will then be redisplayed with the lines connected.  An easy way to move all selected objects is to use the arrow keys, pressing the Right-Arrow key, wait for the drawing to update, then move everything back by pressing the Left-Arrow key.  Once the drawing has updated, you can click anywhere within the drawing to unselect everything.

Issue The issue occurs when the instance Number is changed.  After the instance number is changed the MNB-1000 will look normal in the current WorkPlace Commissioning Tool (WPCT) session, but the next time WPCT is opened the MNB-1000 will either be unable to be found or the controller icon will be displayed as a gray rectangle with a question mark in it.   Selecting Extended Data will cause a loss of communications with the controller as signified by red exclamation point (!). Environment Any MNB-1000 with 1.510 firmware Cause This is a firmware issue present in 1.510 only. Resolution Cycling power to the MNB-1000 after changing the instance Number will correct the issue. Once communications is established upgrade the MNB-1000 firmware version 1.511 to prevent the possibility of this happening in the future.

Issue During initial setup, the incorrect ethernet IP address or subnet mask was entered.  Now when rebooting the UNC, I cannot reconnect to it using the I/A Series R2 Admin Tool.  How can the incorrect information be changed? Environment UNC-520 or UNC-410 Cause Network connectivity cannot be established if the IP address or subnet mask was entered incorrectly.  Likewise, if an invalid subnet mask is entered, the UNC may not boot completely (or at all). Resolution The following information is provided in more detail in the section "Determining Network Settings", subsection "JACE-4/5" of chapter 3 of the Niagara Networking & Connectivity Guide.  This document is provided with and installed with the I/A Series (Niagara) R2 software. Required hardware: Serial Cable Terminal Emulator software on computer (such as "Hyperterminal" or "Putty") Procedure: Configure the Terminal Emulator to run at 9600 baud, 8 bits, one stop bit, no parity, hardware flow control Jumper the upper two pins of the Console "MODE" connector,  located in the upper right corner of the UNC-520 circuit board (See photo at right). Connect the terminal emulator via a UNCC-405 serial cable to port COM1 on the UNC and power-cycle the UNC. Wait for the UNC to complete its bootup process (do not break out of the boot process). Check the displayed information to determine what IP address and subnet mask was entered. Power cycle the UNC and when the console display shows "Press any key to stop auto-boot"., press the space bar. Follow the procedure in the section "Determining Network Settings", subsection "JACE-4/5" of Chapter 3 of the Niagara Networking and Connectivity Guide for the procedure to step through the settings changing them if necessary.  Please note that the figure 3-8 may not include all lines of information shown for your UNC. If the serial console is showing any errors after you have verified the IP address / Subnet mask entries, please provide product support with a text copy of the serial console output showing the error messages.

Issue Temperature readings from an I/A Series Micronet LON controller is displayed as a Fahrenheit value in an I/A Series R2 UNC station The default units of measure has already been set to Metric in the WorkPlace Tech application Environment I/A Series R2 Cause SNVTs defined as a temperature is converted to Fahrenheit by the LonWorksService in the UNC station. Resolution The temperatureUnits property needs to be changed to the desired unit. Here are the steps to accomplish this: Right-click on the LonWorksService in the UNC station and go to Properties. Go to the 'General' > 'Config' tab. Change the temperatureUnits to 'celsius'. Click 'Apply'.   The definition of the temperatureUnits property is: Temperature units are the only units that Niagara R2 allows you to modify. The LonTalk protocol measures all values in SI units, therefore, temperatures are measured in degrees Celsius. With this property set to Celsius, no temperature conversion is performed—the value coming off of the wire is assumed to be in degrees C. If set to Fahrenheit, any SNVT defined as a temperature is converted.

Issue A controller with only 2 available outputs is being used to control a 3 stage device. Environment Three stage device control where lower stages must remain active. Cause Hardware or space limitations may prevent there from being enough outputs to control a three stage device. Resolution Two controller outputs in conjunction with a DPDT (dual pole, dual throw) relay can be configured to control a three stage device. This will allow you to activate stage 1, stages 1 and 2 or all three stages by activating either one or both of the controller outputs. An example of when this might be used is to control three stages of heat or a three stage fan. A standard "ice cube" type relay can be used (IDEC RH2B or similar) and should be wired as shown in the diagram below.   The controller should be programmed to activate only output 1 for stage 1, activate only output 2 for stages 1 and 2 and finally to activate both outputs for stages 1, 2 and 3. Note that certain application specific controllers may not allow the outputs to be configured in the way described above and thus cannot take advantage of this setup.

Issue On an FTT-10 trunk  segment wired in a Loop Topology, where should the LON-TERM1 terminator be installed? The Loop Topology is a subset of the Free Topology. Environment LonWorks FTT-10 network including I/A Series MNL controllers wired in a Loop Topology. Cause Installation detail Resolution In a Free Topology segment, only one termination (LON-TERM1) is required, and may be placed anywhere on the free topology segment.

Issue One of the Panel Units' title needs to be re-worded in a DMS database.  How is this done with OPRIF? Environment DMS 35, DMS 350A, DMS 3500 all revisions Cause Mechanical equipment naming has changed and the DMS database is being modified to match. Resolution The message text table lists the Panel Unit Descriptor Messages.  Cursor down to the descriptor requiring modification and press the "=" key.  Type in the new text and press Enter. For more information, see Chapter 4 - "Setting Up Tables" in the DMS Operator Interface User's Guide (F-25467).

Issue Using the WPTech Flow Balance software and trying to generate the balance report in HTML format.  When doing this receive  the following warning: Environment MicroNet BACnet Flow Balance Software WorkPlace Flow Balance Tool MNB-V2 Cause Cause has not been determined. Resolution If this “Warning” appears check “My Report” folder”, the HTML may have been created even though the “Warning” was issue. The cause of this anomaly has not been determined at this time. This article will be updated when a solution is found.

Issue A Niagara R2 station running the ModbusAsync Service does not see any communications traffic on the designated COM port even with the "debugOn" setting enabled. Environment Niagara R2 all versions Cause The ModbusAsync Service and the ModbusAsyncNetwork were copied to an existing station from the local/remote library. Resolution Ensure the serviceId of the ModbusAsync Service and the serviceId of the ModbusAsyncNetwork are a match.  

Issue During an electrical storm, a component labeled MFC27 was damaged.  It is one of many similar components on the MNL-800 backplane or base circuit board.  What purpose does it serve and which circuit was it a part of? Environment MNL-800 Cause High voltage spikes from an electrical storm.  Sample of MFC damage in image below. Resolution All the MFC components on the backplane are Multi-Function Ceramic (MFC) protectors.  They are designed to absorb high voltage introduced into the circuit to which they are a part of.  In particular, MFC27 protects universal input six (UI 6).   See a sample image of MFC damage below. Although damaged, the backplane can still be used but that specific circuit won't have any further high-voltage protection.

Issue The platform daemon for the localhost displays this error: ERROR   [09:21:09 28-Jun-2011] [tid=712] app registry: app svr_station NOT created, maximum app limit reached All of these stations were part of a migration from one version of G3 to another.  All the station folders were copied and pasted prior to starting Workbench. Environment Niagara G3 version 3.5 and older Cause More than 32 stations are not supported on any G3 platform (3.5 and older).  This is not a license restriction. The 32 station limit applies to the number of station folders on the hard drive under the release directory.  This is only a constraint for engineering the stations.  In Release 3.6, 3.7 & 3.8, the limit is  in excess of 150 "station" folders. Resolution If one computer (running Workbench) is being used to engineer more than 32 stations, then some of the station folders will have to be cut / pasted back and forth with some other temporary folder on the hard drive. Example: A job will have 35 total stations when complete.  In order to engineer them from one computer, 3 station folders will have to be cut out from beneath the parent "stations" folder and put in a temporary folder elsewhere on the hard drive. When there is a need to engineer one of the three cut stations, use Windows Explorer to move it back into the Niagara "stations" folder and remove some other station folder.  Always maintain 32 sub-folders under the "stations" folder. In Release 3.6, 3.7 & 3.8, the limit is  in excess of 150 "station" folders.

Issue When starting communications, a failure occurs generating the errors illustrated below:   Windows cannot find 'CDECHICO.EXE'.  make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.  To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.     Environment Tree Tech 3.1 Cause The "Connection Type" for a network in the E: EQUIPMENT DATABASE was assigned as "ARTIC ECHELON". This connection type was used for a communication interface card that was obsoleted many years ago.  It was used with IBM's motherboards using MicroChannel expansion sockets. Resolution Click on the down-arrow and select a different connection type.  The two most-common are:  Ethernet and Serial.

Issue In G3, how to NOT have the AUTO function invoke in a Boolean Writable when the station is restarted?  Environment I/A Series (Niagara) G3 ENCs (all revisions). Cause Default setting of Fallback is check for NULL Resolution In the property sheet of the Boolean Writable object, at Fallback uncheck NULL.

Issue What's the easiest way get a TIP license for Tree Tech 3.1 for legacy panel database maintenance? Environment Tree Tech 3.0 (included with WIBS 1.1) Tree Tech 3.1 Network 8000 DMS Cause Up to four unlock codes are required for Tree Tech: - one for Tree Tech itself - one for the serial driver - one for the Network 8000 ethernet driver - one for the DMS ethernet driver  Resolution In the Purchase program, select the part number in the package list called IV-DEMO-CDE (scroll down to the bottom of the list). Ordering and unlocking this part number will include Tree Tech and the three communication drivers. This is a permanent license and does not expire.

Issue A VAS Client has been configured with low-level access for use at a security desk in a building.  Only certain alarms are routed to this client and the user account assigned allows for the ability to view and acknowledge alarms.   The Security Mask settings are illustrated below:   However, these settings do not allow for acknowledged alarms to be deleted from the VAS Client's Alarm History: Environment Niagara R2 Enterprise Server; build r2.301.529 was tested. Niagara R2 Vykon Alarm Service (VAS) Client; version 2.5 was tested. Cause The VAS Client requires access to the entire alarm history database in order for the ability to delete acknowledged alarms. Resolution To give access to the entire alarm history database, the Security Mask settings must be modified as illustrated below:   Note:  These settings will route all alarms to the specific VAS Client.  As a result, the user will be able to view, acknowledge, and delete any alarms. There is no way to avoid this scenario.  If alarm deletions are to be reserved for an administrative user, then restore the Security Mask settings as per the illustration in the Issue section of this article.

Issue To enable BACnet communications in an I/A Series (Niagara) UNC station, enter a valid instance number. Environment I/A Series  R2 (Niagara) UNC, all versions Cause The BACnet Service in the UNC defaults to instance number = -1, which prevents the BACnet service from communicating. Resolution Assign a valid Instance Number on the General, Config tab of the BACnet service. The valid range is from 0 to 4194302. See the Niagara BACnet Integration Reference, Chapter 1, "Configuring Essential Station Properties", Procedure 1-2, Step 2. Note: In addition to setting the Instance Number, the appropriate Link-Layer must be enabled, eg, "ipEnable = True".

Issue Passing Analog data between multiple  I/A series UNC-520s with DMS panel. Environment I/A series UNC-520 DMS-3500 Cause Application note Resolution For each DMS panel receiving an Global (broadcast) Analog Value, create a dummy AP point (UC AP) , name it and then select AP type 07. At the UNC, learn the new point and select PVALU:WRITE, select "Add"  then "Create". In the workspace two object will appear, AO and DmsGenericAO. Insert an Math object and link the pOut to pIn of AO. See below. The Math Object is required to convert the AI from floatStatus to floatPrioity. Link (Math Object) sinA to the analog point in the DMS panel that will be broadcast to other panels that has this point.   Don’t forget for each UNC station, add each IP to the “AddressBook” set up for PEER   For any MicroSmart controller, add a LP point and link it to the DMS. The DMS AP will be the input to linked MicroSmart LP point. Edit the Broadcast Channel  with the GLOBAL number for broadcasting

Issue What is a quick way to determine the IP address of a MNB-1000 that is integrated to a Niagara R2 station?  Assume only Workplace Pro is available (Workplace Commissioning Tool is not available). Environment MNB-1000 Niagara R2 UNC-410 and UNC-520 Cause None Resolution The IP address is stored in hexa-decimal format within the properties of the controller's shadow object.  A unit-conversion calculator is required to determine the IP address in decimal format (the Windows calculator can do this task). To find the IP address, Locate the shadow object of the MNB-1000 Go to its Properties, Config tab Record the first 8 digits of the hexa-decimal number displayed at the "address - MAC Address" parameter.  The last four digits are the UDP Port number and are not part of the IP address Convert to decimal Example,     C0 = 192,  A8 = 168, 01 = 1, 96 = 150 BA:C0 = 47808 (UDP Port Number) MNB-1000 IP address is 192.168.1.150

Issue ERROR [Current Date] [AsdNetwork_COM3] Unlicensed: /Drivers/AsdNetwork Javax.baja.license.FeatureNotLicensedException: tac_llc:tacasd Environment I/A Series G3 (Niagara) Asd Driver Cause The issue is caused by a missing certificate. Each license installed needs to have a matching certificate. Resolution Obtain TAC_LLC Certificate Install under License Manager Reboot ENC If issue persists verify the license file name is correct, i.e. TAC_LLC.license.   If it doesn't match this name exactly obtain new license file.