Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Continuum / Vista / I/NET / StruxureWare etc will not connect to any of the controllers on the LAN when using a Windows 7 and above PC. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC INET, TAC Vista Environment I/NET 2.4x Continuum Vista StruxureWare Windows 7 8 8.1 10 Cause This is due to Microsoft improving their security in Windows 7 and above that will now block many types of connections across a network. Resolution To enable communications across the network; Disable all firewalls and any Anti-Virus software on the PC. (SE laptops, right click on McAfee shield, Quick settings and un-tick everything, this will temporarily disable the AV and firewall) Disable User Administrator Control (UAC) (As per Disabling administrator rights messages in Windows 7 OS and above) Re-install I/NET Seven / Continuum / Vista etc

Issue Event notification is grayed out in the AS and will not allow configuration.  Cannot add a category within the AS. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SmartStruxure Shadow AS Event Notification Cause The Event Notification in the AS can be locked due to a shadow relationship with an Event Notification in the ES. Resolution Note the IP address of the AS, as the shadow relationship can be re-established after necessary changes are made. Remove the shadow relationship to the ES to allow configuration of the AS. Detailed instructions can be found in Unable to add an Automation Server underneath an Enterprise Server. Re-established the shadow relationship if needed.

Issue Cannot connect network variable point from a third party LON device to a graphic within an XBuilder project.  XBuilder will not allow the drag and drop of LON network variable between the network pain and the system pain when you attempt to create connections. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC Vista Environment XBuilder Vista Lon Device .xif Cause XBuilder is very particular about the format of an .xif file and it will not allow certain characters in the function block name. Vista and LonMaker have far less limitations and these programs are able to parse these characters without causing problems. This explains why your values may show up in the LNS management tool and Vista Workstation. However, once you import the network into XBuilder you are unable to connect the SNVTs to your graphic. Resolution Replace the incorrect characters in the function block line of the .xif and reload the new .xif into your LonWorks Network.  Please see LON device can communicate in Vista, but fails in a Xenta Server / XBuilder for more information about incorrect characters in an xif file. INCORRECT FUNCTION BLOCK EXAMPLE: File: MP580.XIF generated by NODEUTIL Revision 1.46, XIF Version 4.0 Copyright (c) 1997 by Echelon Corporation All Rights Reserved. Run on Fri Oct 31 16:30:28 2003 80:00:2A:52:00:03:04:03 2 15 1 618 0 8 8 4 4 11 11 0 0 0 0 3 0 16 0 0 1 65536 618 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10000000 1 7 1 0 4 4 4 15 200 0 78125 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 8 5 12 14 15 * "&3.4@0,20000-MP580,8500-SCC,8610-DAC The problem is the three dashes  between the object numbers and the object names in the self doc string.  This is "allowed" in Vista and LonMaker in some sense.  For  example, Vista "replaces this "-" to a "/" but then XBuilder can't handle this situation properly. CORRECTED EXAMPLE: File: MP580.XIF generated by NODEUTIL Revision 1.46, XIF Version 4.0 Copyright (c) 1997 by Echelon Corporation All Rights Reserved.  Run on Fri Oct 31 16:30:28 2003 80:00:2A:52:00:03:04:03 2 15 1 618 0 8 8 4 4 11 11 0 0 0 0 3 0 16 0 0 1 65536 618 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10000000 1 7 1 0 4 4 4 15 200 0 78125 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 8 5 12 14 15 * "&3.4@0,20000MP580,8500SCC,8610DAC;Tracer MP580 The dashes 3 x (-)s have been removed from the function block name

Issue Is editing an exported XML file supported? Receive errors when attempting to import (a modified) exported XML file. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment StruxureWare Building Operation Export / Import  Cause There is minimal error checking on the import so errors could get through and cause problems further down the line and corrupt the database. Resolution Edited exported XML files is not supported and there is no documentation on how to properly edit exported files. This practice should not be attempted.   With 1.5 will comes Project Configuration Server (PCS) and the ability for the businesses to create their own country specific applications and mass create engineering tools. In a future release (currently indicated in 1.6) support for using the Backup and Restore feature to duplicate entire Automation Server databases will be available.  For now both these functions are not supported.  Refer to Do NOT use Backup and Restore to duplicate Automation Server databases! (1.5 and below).

Issue Shadow Schedule in the Automation Server is not syncing to the Lead Schedule in the Enterprise Server Shadow Schedule in the ES syncs successfully to Lead Schedule in the AS Lead and Shadow Schedules in different AS are syncing successfully Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SmartStruxure 1.x Cause Traffic is blocked by Windows Firewall.  Resolution Disable Windows Firewall. Disabling the firewall may not be possible due to security concerns, Exceptions can be added to Windows Firewall for ports that are used by SmartStruxure. Refer to Creating Windows Firewall rules to allow StruxureWare Building Operation to communicate on the TCP port for details. If this doesn't work, please refer to Shadow Schedule in AS isn't synchronized with the Lead Schedule in ES.

Issue When using the LPA through an Automation Server (AS) as described in Using Loytec LPA with SmartStruxure AS, only traffic to and from the AS is captured. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment LPA Automation Server Cause Due to a hardware limitation in the AS, it's not possible to capture all traffic on the segment Resolution Connect the LPA to the segment using a NIC-USB100 or similar

Issue Unable to Upload or display point data on an I/NET Controller in StruxureWare Workstation Environment I/NET to StruxureWare Integration Cause The most common cause for I/NET controllers to not integrate with StruxureWare are duplicate point names or illegal characters in use Resolution In Building Operation Workstation, right click on the errant I/NET controller and select "Upload" This is expected to fail at this point Browse to the Enterprise Server Directory as displayed in Building Operation Software Administrator Look in the db/Logs folder Locate the trace log and open it using a text editor scroll to the last line of the log and look for an entry that contains inet information. If the error is caused by duplicate point names, this will be the trace log entry: 2014-01-30 20:00:25.587 [6220] nsp.pin.inet.GetAllPoints InetPlugIn::ProcessChangeSetList failed RecoverableException: d:\dev\rb-int-v140-sp1-system\source\packages\commons\components\C3Po\nsp_servers\csc\changesetmanager\source\ChangeSetTransaction.cpp(987) Error: Object_Already_Exists (0x40006), module Runtime_Db_Manager(41), moduleCode 0, dispString "~/INET Interface/0321 - SBOtester/Point1", techString "" Note the text dispString "~/INET Interface/0321 - SBOtester/Point1", techString "" This indicates that there is a point on the controller named "Point1" which is causing the error Option 1: In I/NET workstation, connect to the controller Rename the point indicated above Perform a station save and attempt to upload the controller again. If it fails a second time, repeat steps 3-10 until you have removed all illegal entries Option 2: Use RdInet to view the Save file. Click on Save Page Open the .csv file in Excel and sort the data by Name Locate the Point indicated above and notice that there will be 2 objects of the same name. In I/NET identify these 2 points. Very likely, one will not actually exist. Copy the Point that exists to the address that was indicated as a duplicate in Excel Delete the newly created point to permanently remove the object from the .sav file. Perform a station save and attempt to upload the controller again. Repeat this process if necessary.

Issue Various problems with converted TGML graphics Bindings of the I/NET objects within Building Operations have wrong and / or illegal point address. Environment I/NET integration with SmartStruxure Cause Improper preparation before converting graphics may cause nuisance issues. Resolution Ensure the following is done when converting a sites I/NET graphics to TGML Before converting the graphics to TGML Ensure all save files are current Ensure the I/NET network configuration is current Before importing the graphics to StruxureWare Ensure that all affected controllers are imported.  Do not change any names or descriptions before importing graphics Upload any controller which indicates it is required. This will ensure that point names for graphic bindings are correct. In the INET Interface path box, enter the path to where the INET interface is located in WorkStation. This setting affects the bindings that get defined for objects in the resulting TGML file(s). If you accepted the default name when you created the I/NET interface in WorkStation, this path is typically /Server 1/INET Interface/.  Make sure this matches the installed system details.   Click Here to get more detail from the Online Web Help. Check out the I/Net Transition: Graphics Conversion video on the Community website.

Issue What are the product certifications? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SmartStruxure for Buildings AS ES Cause Standards documentation required. Resolution Click here for the CE Declaration of Conformity Click Here for the WSPCert For  BACnet BTL Testing see the PICs statements or the BTL Website: http://www.bacnetinternational.net/btl/ For UL and Country of Origin certification, please refer to PSS for this.

Issue When trying to add an automation server underneath an enterprise server the following error is given. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Workstation  Automation Server Cause Something has been left behind in the automation server that causes a conflict. Resolution Reformat the automation server by performing a New database download. Create a backup of the automation server. See Backup of StruxureWare/EcoStruxure Building Operation AS and ES. Launch Device Administrator and add the automation server. Select the automation server and click on the Upgrade Device button in the top left corner.  In the Upgrade device window, choose "New database" in the Type of upgrade field. Click OK. Once the download is complete, log into the automation server and restore the database. See How to restore a StruxureWare Building Operation server backup set. Now add the automation server underneath the enterprise server.

Issue Host conflict window always pops up, and cleaning routing table doesn't help. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC INET Environment I/NET Cause Host conflict is a normal issue happening in I/NET. It is usually caused by the duplicated host ID setting on different servers, or an engineer laptop is inserted into the network with the same host ID setting with some server. And the routing table will be messed up since all the IP related information will be recorded in the routing table and it will be distributed to all the network devices, including all the servers and NPRs. The usual solution is to clear all the routing tables on all the network devices, . Refer to How to Remove the Routing Tables in a Device or PC about how to clear the routing tables. But if the routing table is cross referred, like Server 1 adding NPR 1 and NPR 2 as reference hosts, while NPR1 adding Server 1 and NPR 2 as reference host, the routing table will never be cleaned out since when you clean the routing table for Server 1, NPR1 and NPR 2 will still try to send their wrong routing table to Server 1. Unless all the network devices are disconnected and the routing tables are cleaned one by one, or disable the 50069 port for the whole network, which is used by the communication between network devices, there is no other way to clean them out. And these two method are not applicable sometimes. Resolution If the routing table can be managed well, such kind of issue will never happen. The best practice on adding reference host and creating routing table is: On the servers: Choose one server as the master reference host. All the other servers add this server as reference host. Don't add NPR as reference host. All the NPRs can be added into the master server by clicking on the NPR button in I/NET configuration and added one by one manually. By this way, the master server can build its own routing table without impacted by other devices. And this one is the only routing table in the whole network. On NPRs. If NPR doesn't need to talk to other NPRs, like transferring indirect points, there is no need to add reference host for NPR. If indirect points are needed, just add the master server as the reference host. Then this NPR will be able to see all the other NPRs based on the routing table on the master server. If the master server is not equipped with UPS, or not always promises to be online, another master NPR can be chosen as a secondary reference host. Add this NPR as a reference host to all the servers and other NPRs. Under this scenario. if the routing table needs to be cleaned, only the master server and the secondary reference host need to be cleaned. It will be more easier to clean all the routing table and get rid of the host conflict error.

Issue When I/NET is running under Windows 7, there will be a display issue about alignment. The font size has been changed to smaller - 100%, but still no use.  Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC INET Environment Windows 7 Cause Be sure to try I/NET Seven Windows fields not aligning correctly on workstation's display to change the font size first to see whether it can help. If not, continue to the next information. I/NET used the default MS Sans Serif font to display everything. But something has changed in Windows 7 about the font display.  Research showed that many users with high resolution monitors (particularly LCD flat screens) were running the monitors at lower resolutions than the native resolution of the screen. This was usually because at the native resolution, the fonts were becoming too small to read, so the users would decrease the resolution. Windows includes a facility to increase font and window sizes while keeping the screen at the native resolution.  This is a much better method of increasing the font size as it can produce much smoother images by using many more, smaller pixels. The really significant issue is, unlike CRT monitors, flat-panel LCD monitors have a fixed pixel size, or "resolution", and that when users change to a lower resolution (in order to increase text size) the system has to re-sample the lower-resolution display image into its fixed resolution causing a significant degradation in display quality: not just text looks worse, everything looks worse. A change was made for Windows 7, to set the screen resolution to the monitor's native resolution and if the screen is over a certain resolution to default the font size 120 DPI (dots per inch). This is approximately 125% of normal 96 DPI (100%). When the system defaults to 125% DPI it also adjusts the MS Sans Serif font to be bigger.  If the user then decides to set the DPI back to 100%, then TrueType fonts, which are scalable, adjust as expected. But the bitmap MS Sans Serif font does not: it remains at the larger size, hence this issue. This problem does not occur if Windows 7 keeps DPI at 100% when it is first installed. So anyway, when the default font size is Medium - 125% instead of smaller - 100%, probably the solution below is needed to solve it. Resolution Go to the Registry Editor, and find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts. Find the entry MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24. The original value is set to SSERIFF.FON on a system which started at 125% DPI. Set to SSERIFE.FON on a system which started at 100% DPI.  Notice that one character of the file name changes from F to E. Restart the computer, and make sure the font size is set to smaller - 100%. Refer to I/NET Seven Windows fields not aligning correctly on workstation's display about how to set font size. Then it should go back to work.

Issue Alarms being generated in I/Net are not showing up on the Enterprise Server. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC INET Environment SmartStruxure Integration with I/Net Alarms Cause Alarms generated in I/Net are not populating on the Alarms Window on the ES, all masking are set on both the AMT Configuration and Host Masks. When the point goes into Alarm, it populates the Alarm Window type, whether it is Priority or Critical with said point address. However, it does not show up on the Alarms page because the bin files on the controller needs to be updated to the latest version of software and all points need to be saved prior to integrating with SmartStruxure. Resolution When integrating with SmartStruxure, all controllers are supposed to be updated with the latest version of software as well as sav files, per Resetting a 7793 Controller and PCU (Applies to 7793, 7716, 7728, 7756). Once completed, recheck the points by putting them in Test mode so that they can generate the Alarm condition and it should show up in the ES Alarm now.

Issue The TGML page is dynamic but looks static. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC Vista Environment Vista StruxureWare Interface Cause In the Release Note, page 30 says: It is possible to navigate to a TAC Vista Webstation TGML Graphic through a link in a SmartStruxure TGML Graphic. To achieve this connection a link object is created in the SmartStruxure TGML Graphic which is linked to a SmartStruxure hyperlink object that holds the TAC Vista Webstation TGML Graphic page address. Example of a hyperlink objects address in SmartStruxure that is linked to a TGML Graphic in TAC Vista: HTTP://ip_address/webstation/LoginPage.aspx?page=TgmlGraphicsPage.aspx?objectId=3074949137 Note: This will always require a login by a valid TAC Vista user, even if the TAC Vista Webstation auto login feature has been activated. Resolution The example link above is referring to a static page. For example, if the TGML page is dynamic, you will see the following in the copied link (see bold). HTTP://ip_address/webstation/LoginPage.aspx?page=TgmldynamicGraphicsPage.aspx?objectId=3074949137 You can also read the following in the release note: In order to determine the TAC Vista Webstation URL for a TAC Vista Webstation TGML Graphic the following TAC Vista Web Setting configuration must be in place: Optimized TGML Loading is deactivated Folders pane is set to Standard HTML With these settings it is possible to right-click a TGML object in the folders pane and select "Copy Shortcut." This will copy the TAC Vista Webstation URL to the clipboard and it can then be pasted into a SmartStruxure hyperlink object address field. After the shortcut has been pasted, it will have to be modified in order for the TAC Vista TGML Graphic to be displayed properly in SmartStruxure. The modification is marked with bold in the example below: Copied: HTTP://ip_address/webstation/TgmlGraphicsPage.aspx?objectId=3074949137 Modified: HTTP://ip_address/webstation/TgmlGraphicsPage.aspx?objectId=3074949137 If the link you copied was a dynamic TGML the link will look like: HTTP://ip_address/webstation/TgmldynamicGraphicsPage.aspx?objectId=3074949137 and should be modified as this HTTP://ip_address/webstation/LoginPage.aspx?page=TgmldynamicGraphicsPage.aspx?objectId=3074949137 Also reference the TAC Vista Webstation Graphics Links and SmartStruxure Integration tool on the Community.

Issue How to check the amount of used memory in a TAC Menta/TAC Xenta application. Product Line TAC Vista Environment TAC Menta Xenta 281 Xenta 301 Xenta 401 Cause When programming applications for TAC Xenta, you may want to be able to check the size of your application, to verify that it can be downloaded to the device. Resolution To be able to check how much memory an application is using, the application needs to generated. In TAC Menta, edit mode: Select Option, Simulate to enter Simulate mode. In Simulate Mode, select Commands, Generate, to generate the application. To be able to check the Memory usage, you have to return to Edit mode, Select Options, Edit. Now you can check the Memory usage by selecting Options, Memory Usage... As this calculation is done on your PC, and not in the device, and that the memory in the TAC Xenta device is dynamic allocated, it is a recommendation to have at least 10% free memory in each category to avoid future problems. For more information about the Advanced button, please see TAC Menta Advanced Memory Usage: BPR Size Calculator.

Issue In order to make page links between different I/NET graphic folders work fine, the same folder structure needs to be created manually in EcoStruxure / SmartStruxure. Refer to Converting I/NET graphics to TGML using the "Create Source Tree" option to realize this. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC INET Environment EcoStruxure / SmartStruxure 1.4 or higher I/NET Cause The I/NET graphic folder structure will not be created automatically before SmartStruxure 1.4.0. Resolution Starting in version 1.4.0, there was a new feature called Data import for I/NET graphic. Using this feature, all the converted I/NET graphic folders structure can be imported at one time without any need for manual work. Here are the steps to make it work: Convert the I/NET graphics according to Converting I/NET graphics to TGML using the "Create Source Tree" option, but do not create the folder structure manually in EcoStruxure / SmartStruxure. Create the default Inet Graphics folder by right clicking on I/NET Interface-->New. Right click on Data Import and choose the root folder of all of the I/NET graphics. Click OK. Data importer will check all the file names and bindings. If any error happens, check and fix it before importing again. (Currently apostrophe is not supported in SmartStruxure. Change the name and relative link and do it again. It may be fixed in later version) Check whether all the bindings and links work fine. Important: Currently this feature doesn't support export/import in SmartStruxure. It will fail to import if any sub folders are contained under INET interface. This may be fixed in later version. The workaround is to still create the whole structure according to Converting I/NET graphics to TGML using the "Create Source Tree" option.

Issue The TAC Xenta operator panel will not display controllers on the network even though it has the correct StruxureWare Domain ID entered and is set to manual mode. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment TAC Xenta Operator Panel StruxureWare Cause StruxureWare Building Operation sets its LonWorks Domain ID to a decimal value. The TAC Xenta Operator Panel needs the hexadecimal value in order to operate properly. The decimal value must be converted to hexadecimal. Resolution In order to locate the domain ID of a LonWorks Network, see How to locate and change the LonWorks domain ID. Converting a decimal value to hexadecimal using a calculator Open the calculator on your computer. If Windows go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Calculator. In the View menu, select Programmer. Enter in the decimal value of the domain ID. Select the Hex button on the left side of the calculator. The domain ID has been converted to hexadecimal. In the example, the domain ID 0B should be entered into the operator panel and set to manual mode.

Issue Need help with programming Need help to make graphic Installation questions Forum Environment BMS Security Video Cause A great way of getting help with various application programming and graphic making is to spread knowledge between all the great technician out there. A forum exist for this and people worldwide that works with SE Solution share their knowledge here. Resolution Please enter the forum by the link below. http://community.se.com/welcome

Issue Created a BACnet digital output under the BACnet Interface in the Automation Server but the Out of service property indicates 'True' and get the error 'Property value out of range' when attempting to set the out of service to false. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment WorkStation Automation Server - AS BACnet Interface Cause BACnet output must be associated with an IO Bus output. Resolution See Associate AS BACnet Interface IO points with points on the IO bus in SmartStruxure 1.4 and above for instructions on setting the associated value.

Issue When a MPM is replaced on a BACnet IP network, a "Duplicate network identifier" alarm is generated Product Line EcoStruxure Building Expert, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment MPM Automation Server Cause If the BACnet name and instance number in the new controller is not exactly the same as the original MPM, the Automation Server will consider that an additional device has been installed and an alarm will be triggered stating that the new device has the same BACnet ID as an existing device. Resolution Steps to replacing a MPM to prevent the Duplicate ID alarm being triggered: When replacing the original MPM, note the BACnet name and Instance ID. Install the new MPM and enter the same BACnet name and Instance ID. Refer to BACnet device can't be discovered due to duplicate name for more information about duplicate BACnet names.