Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Access Event messages are showing that are say, "Access Mode NoDatabase." What does this mean? Environment Access Server Cause This means that the controller cannot get to the personnel database to validate a personnel record.  Resolution Generally this means that the controller has lost its personnel database and needs to be reloaded. Note: When you are in No Database mode your personnel records will be validated based on of how you configured the door to validate while in No Database mode.

Issue Change the LED pattern on card readers Environment Continuum Site Cause How to Change the LED pattern on card readers Resolution On the ACX line of Infinet controllers and also the AC1+ modules you can change the dynamics of the reader LED. The Alternate LED pattern is selected by creating a numeric point whose name is AccessLEDPattern. When this point exists, the Alternate LED pattern will be employed by the access controller. When this point does not exist, the standard LED pattern will be employed. It should be noted that cold-starting or resetting the access controller does not delete or destroy the AccessLEDPattern.

Issue An ACX781 controller or AC1 IOU module keeps locking up and going offline. What can be done to determine why this is happening? Environment ACX781 AC1 IOU module Cause The most common cause of communication problems is electrical noise getting to the controller. Resolution Rule out any kind of hardware failure The most common scenario resulting in electrical noise and controllers going online and offline is that there are no 39v MOVs installed at the door strikes. The reason for needing these MOVs is that when the door strike relay de-energizes it creates a field collapse electrical spike that can travel back down the output wiring to the controller. When this happens, it generally will not damage any of the hardware in the controller but it could cause it to reset or cause its memory to get scrambled. Generally a reset and reload of the controller clears out the problem. It is strongly recommended to put MOVs on all outputs that have relays on them.  Put the MOVs at the end device and not the controller end.

Issue Access Event messages say, "Access Mode Normal." What does this mean? Environment Access Event messages Cause This is generally seen after you see either "Access Mode No Database" or "Access Mode No Communications" messages and the problem has been corrected. Resolution This means the system is running Normally again. Note: When in Normal mode, personnel records will be validated based on how the door is configured to validate while in Normal mode .

Issue What is the difference between Remote validation and Local validation of personnel records? Environment Personnel Records Cause Differences in remote and location validation scenarios. Resolution The difference between Remote and Local validation of personnel records is: Local validation - the personnel records are validated at the controller itself Remote validation - the personnel records are validated at the workstation.

Issue Dell Optiplex GX 620 and GX 520: When logging into Vista the PC reboots. Environment Dell Optiplex GX 520 Dell Optiplex GX 620 Cause On some Dell computers, there is a problem with the graphics hardware acceleration. Resolution Adjust these setting with the following instructions: Right click on the desktop Select Properties Click on the Settings Tab Click the Advanced Button Select the Troubleshoot Tab Adjust the slide bar of the Hardware Acceleration down from Full two or three bars Click OK Click OK Again Now you should be able to open Vista without the PC Rebooting. This problem is experienced on Dell Optiplex GX 620 (TPI C-88-1-F-97) and Dell Optiplex GX 520 (TPI C-88-1-F-95)

Issue If a widescreen monitor is used, graphics will display properly in Vista, but if you open them for editing in Graphics Editor, they appear stretched horizontally. Conversely, if you create a graphic in Graphics editor that looks proper, it will appear to be squished horizontally in Vista, and the alignment of any text will be off. Environment Vista IV OGC Graphics Editor Cause The computer being used has a widescreen primary display. Resolution Resize the primary widescreen display to a resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio, 800x600, 1024x768, etc. or, if a secondary display with normal aspect ratio is also connected, it must be set as the primary display.

Issue Integrated NPR Dial on a Xenta 527 Environment I/NET site with Integrated NPR Dial Cause Explanation of Integrated NPR Dial on a Xenta 527 Resolution Are you having an issue where you are setting up NPR Dial on a Xenta 527? Only the US Robotics V92 56K Faxmodem is supported. Do realize that this device cannot perform Auto Dial Auto Answer (AD/AA) functionality. To configure NPR Dial you will need to get the Xenta Modem Kit, part # 0-073-0916. These steps should point you in the right direction: -   Verify that you have the right strings for the modem. Create an I/NET Configuration profile for Integrated NPR Dial and make it active. Restart I/NET. Add site phone numbers (Edit > Host Computers > Phone Numbers.) Connect the necessary cables to the Xenta 527 unit and modem. You can get a full description from part number OFL-3972-001 with all the cables etc. Connect the adapter to the modem then the L1 cable from the modem to port A on the Xenta 527 unit. Query your modem, check the settings and baud rate then dial the site.

Issue Error message says "Can not initialize license" when logging in to TAC Vista Workstation. Environment Vista Workstation Cause The installation of the license server has been faulty in some way. Resolution Uninstall TAC Vista Server/Workstation Reinstall TAC Vista Server/Workstation

Issue I have a Window XP PC and cannot get the MSDE to load Environment Windows XP MSDE I/NET Seven Cause According to the Microsoft web site, the file and printer sharing has to be turned off to load Microsoft SQL. Resolution Turn off file and printer sharing. Once The I/NET software is loaded, re-activate the Shared objects.

Issue Dell PC will not allow the MSDE to load from I/NET Seven Environment There are (3) different computers from Dell: L100 Latitude D505 Latitude GX OptiPlex series desktop All were running Windows XP Pro and all had an installation of MSSQL installed already. Cause When I/NET is installed for the first time and MSDE begins to install it fails on the "renaming of the SQL folder" partly due to "Read Only" right to the folder SQL is installed in. The error message is has this reference in it about SQL: MSSQL$MICROSOFTBCM cannot be renamed. The install of I/NET stops at this point. You do not have the option to use "Add Remove Programs" to uninstall this previous install of SQL. Resolution Go to "Manage\Services and Applications\Services... to Stop and or Disable (3) current instances of SQL running. Right click on "MSSQLSERVER" and click on Properties, then click on the Startup type, then select "Disabled", click Apply and then repeat for MSSQLserverADHelper and SQLSERVERAGENT. Now close the Manage window and then begin the I/NET Seven install again. MSDE will install correctly as well as the rest of the I/NET Seven install.

Issue How does the "Door Closed Timer" work in the I/NET Seven Door editor? Environment I/NET site with Access Control Cause Explaining the Door Closed Timer in the I/NET Seven Door editor Resolution Set the duration of the Door closed timer to a value from 0 to 25.5 seconds (0.1-second increments). This timer determines how long the door must remain closed (as sensed by the door sense switch) before an unauthorized door open condition will trigger a "forced door" message. Use this feature to help prevent false "forced door" messages that can sometimes occur when a door closes, but then bounces enough distance to trigger a temporary open condition at the door sense switch.

Issue Alarm not received by Vista Workstation with a Xenta 511/527 present Environment TAC Vista Workstation Xenta 511, 527 Alarm queue Cause Vista Workstation or the Xenta 511/527 can act a the alarm master. If the Xenta 511/527 is set as an alarm master then it will intercept the alarm before it gets to Vista Server. Resolution To check whether this is happening, trigger an alarm in a Xenta controller and check the properties of the alarm object. If the status tab shows the Xenta Alarm Status as "Alarm" and the this alarm is not present in Vista Workstation then you should check the setting in the Xbuilder project.  

Issue "Door open too long" and "Forced door" alarm masking Environment I/NET Resident I/O Cause All of the masking, priorities, and message types may be set in the door editor. DOTL and forced door may even be configured as an alarm or message, but if the Resident I/O point is not masked for the door (08DO or 09DO), you won't receive any DOTL or forced door alarms. Resolution You can also use this arrangement to your benefit. Maybe you want all transactions to one host but you want the DOTL or forced door to go to another one in a guard station. Maybe you want only those to dial out a pager.

Issue How can I set up a user/user group to always have the same graphic open when they log in to TAC Vista? Environment TAC Vista IV Workstation Cause Setting a home graphic allows the user to automatically see the same page every time they log in. Typically this is used to display the building's home page or summary page that is the first place the operator needs to go anyway. Resolution In vista 4.5 and above you can create user profiles, and assign a "Home Graphic" to the profile. If you assign a profile with a "Home Graphic" to a user/user group, the graphic will open every time a user from that group log in. For more information on how to set up user profiles and alarm viewers see 'TAC Vista IV, Administrating TAC Vista Workstation' manual. If no profile is specified for a user/user group it will use the global object $UserProfile that does not have a "Home Graphic" assigned. If you make changes to those objects it will affect all users that are not using their own profiles.

Issue LNS Network limitations in TAC Vista using Loytec NIC852 Environment NIC852 Orion Stack Cause Orion protocol alters the way in which the Vista Server and LNS Server interact and can often provide more efficient communication between the databases. Resolution Vista 5.1.1 and prior There is a limit of 8 LNS networks per NIC card. It is recommended to reserve 1 MNI connection for engineering purposes (through LonMaker or NL220), resulting in a recommended limit of 7 LNS networks per NIC card.  There is a limit of 1 NIC card per Vista network. Vista 5.1.2 and later There is a limit of 8 LNS networks per NIC card.  It is recommended to reserve 1 MNI connection for engineering purposes (through LonMaker or NL220), resulting in a recommended limit of 7 LNS networks per NIC card.  There is a limit of 4 NIC cards per Vista server.  That results in a recommended limitation of 28 LNS databases per Vista server.

Issue Right-click on a Xenta Server 5/7/9xx in Vista Workstation to edit, but the option for Edit is gray (not enabled) or is not there at all. Environment Vista Workstation Xenta Servers Xenta 511, 527, 701, 711, 721, 731, 913 Cause A mismatch between the installed version of XBuilder and the specified XBuilder version in the properties of the Xenta Server. A different implementation of a Xenta 5/7/9xx controller. Resolution Check that this is being utilized as a true Xenta Server Check that the Xenta Server is added in the database using the object type Xenta Server.  All other implementations are not truly Xenta Servers, and will not have the option to edit XBuilder directly from Vista.  It may be a: Xenta 911 Communication Port Xenta 5/7/9xx LON node in an LNS database.  Vista only recognizes the XIF of the device In both of these cases, XBuilder is edited and stored locally, not in the Vista database.  Check the associated XBuilder version of a Xenta Server Make sure the correct version of XBuilder is installed on the PC. Right-click on the Xenta Server and select Properties. The version of XBuilder the system is expecting to find is shown here. This is a write-able field. If needed, change it to the correct version of XBuilder that is installed on the PC. Refresh the network and then the Edit option should be available.

Issue Configure a digital value to show as ON/OFF instead of 1/0 in a Xenta 5/7/9xx Value Page Environment Xenta Server Xenta 511, 527, 701, 711, 721, 731, 913 Value Page XBuilder Cause XBuilder Values Pages will read and display raw data from a variety of sources. It can be formatted in a graphics page or a third party interface to be displayed in any desired format, however, a Values Page is a simple drag-and-drop configuration. To alter the display, values must be routed through Signal objects in XBuilder. Resolution Use the Enumeration Function. To create an enumeration that shows ON/OFF: On the Tools menu, click Enumerations. Under Enumerations, click New. Type the name (ON_OFF) and then press ENTER. Under Definitions, click New. For the value 0, ‘OFF’ then press ENTER. Under Definitions, click New. For the value 1, type ‘ON’ and then press ENTER. Click OK. To use the enumeration: Create a signal in the System Pane for the point. Select the signal and find the property 'Enumeration' Click on the dropdown list and select ‘ON_OFF’.

Issue A SNVT_press_p in a controller shows the wrong value in Xenta 511. Lonmaker and Vista are showing the correct value. Environment Xenta 511 SNVT_press_p Cause If US measurement system is selected all SNVT_press (P and F included) will show up in graphic and on value pages will be shown as PSI. Vista and LonMaker default to "WC (inches H 2 O). Resolution The best way to change the unit is to create a signal for the object and change the unit to “WC (inH2O). Then you will get the pressure in "WC everywhere you use the signal. You can also change it for just one graphic or value page by changing the signal under the graphic/value page.

Issue Host Trend Log reporting "?" for some values Environment I/NET Seven Host Trend Log Cause The reason for the "?" is because a rule was not complied with. The Print interval/Sample Interval did not result in an even number. Resolution The Basic rule for the "Host Trend Log" is the Print Interval (divided by) Sample Interval – must equal an even number. For example the default setting in this editor is as follows: Print Interval – 1440 Sample Interval – 30 So 1440/30 = 48