Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue What PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) are available for use with Sigma? Environment Sigma WINCE PDA Cause Supported PDA devices Resolution Version 4.01 WinCE (Build 3.36.24) software supported Dell Axim X51, X5, X3 PDAs which are now obsolete. The software was expected to work on other compatible PDAs providing they were running Windows Pocket PC 2002/3 or Windows Mobile Version 5. Version 4.04 WinCE software supports the following... Dell™ Axim™ X51 with Windows Mobile 5.0 iPAQ hx2490b with Windows Mobile 5.0 iPAQ 114 and the iPAQ 214 with Windows Mobile 6 Advantech TPC-30T panel mounting device with Windows CE 5.0.

Issue Wiring configuration enabling connection of S-E Forta Actuator set in Increase / Decrease mode to early discrete Satchwell Climatronic CSC/CXR/CXT Controller. Environment S-E Forta Actuator set in Increase / Decrease mode connected to early discrete Satchwell Climatronic CSC/CXR/CXT Controller. Cause Obsolescence of previous Actuator connected to early discrete Satchwell Climatronic CSC/CXR/CXT Controller. Resolution 1.  Connect S-E Forta Actuator set in Increase / Decrease mode to early discrete Satchwell Climatronic CSC/CXR/CXT Controller.  It should be noted that when connecting a S-E Forta Actuator set in Increase / Decrease operation mode to an early discrete Satchwell Climatronic CSC/CXR/CXT Controller it may be necessary to wire the Actuator in a 24v OPEN / 24v CLOSE / 0v COMMON configuration instead of the 0v OPEN / 0v CLOSE / 24v COMMON configuration as shown in the S-E Forta Actuator Data Sheets. 2.  With S-E Forta Actuator DIL Switch No.2 set ON in Increase / Decrease mode wire to the S-E Forta Actuator terminals as follows :- 24v Supply – wire to Terminal G 0v   Supply – wire to Terminal G0 24v Open signal – wire to Terminal VH 24v Close signal – wire to Terminal VC N.B. This deviation from the standard S-E Forta Actuator installation method should be recorded in the site Operating & Maintenance manual. A 24v supply must be present across Terminals G / G0 for the S-E Forta Actuator to work satisfactorily. A 4-wire connection must be made to the S-E Forta Actuator, instead of the 3-wire connection made to any Satchwell Actuator it is replacing. It is important to ensure that the 24v Power Supply to both the S-E Forta Actuator and the Satchwell Climatronic Controller share the same 0v potential. It is also important to ensure that the 24v Power Supply is capable of providing the higher level of VA required to operate the S-E Forta Actuator compared to that of any Actuator that it may be replacing. 

Issue Is the new PSI / XPSI rev 4.1 compatible with Windows XP and Vista? Environment PSI / XPSI rev 4.1 Windows XP and Vista Cause Install PSI / XPSI rev 4.1 in a Windows XP or Vista Operating System (OS) Resolution The new PSI / XPSI rev 4.1 is compatible with Windows XP and Vista. Download PSI rev 4.1 from The Exchange. The zip file includes an installer and a READ.ME file that includes Release Notes and Installation Instructions. Note that the Patton Electronics RS-232 / RS-485 converter that has been widely used with the earlier versions of PSI (3.13) will not work with the new PSI / XPSI rev 4.1.  The B&B Electronics model USOPTL4 USB converter has been successfully tested with PSI / XPSI rev 4.1. Other recommended converters are listed in the Release Notes.

Issue New MNET-CI and MNET- Air Balance software for MicroNet 2000 controllers is compatible with Windows XP and Vista. Environment MicroNet 2000 software;  MNET-CI and MNET- Air Balance, Version 4.0 Cause Release of software  MicroNet 2000 software;  MNET-CI and MNET- Air Balance, Version 4.0 Resolution New versions of MNET-CI and MNET- Air Balance software for MicroNet 2000 controllers are compatible with Windows XP and Vista. The software is bundled with the 6 PSI tools in a zip file, PSIv4.1.zip.  The zip file includes an installer and a READ.ME file that includes Release Notes and Installation Instructions. The same converter, MN-CIM, that works with existing version of MNET-CI and MNET-Air Balance, will also work with the new version. (NOTE: MN-CIM is obsolete as of December, 2011. See Product Announcement PA-000164. There is no functional replacement available)

Issue Running reports on Extended Logs shows no data Environment Continuum system Cause Possible Causes: Other programs currently running extended logging (pre-1.7x style). Time sync errors Cyberstation preference is set to false Resolution Check that you do not have programs running that are performing extended logging the pre-1.7x style. Any programs that were used for extended logging should be disabled or removed. Check the Continuum Error Log listview and see if there are time sync errors. A difference of more than 5 minutes between the Master controller and the Cyberstation will stop extended logging from working properly. You will see an error indicating that the time difference has been exceeded. Ensure the Cyberstation preference is set to True Download Extended Log Data from Controllers on the LAN(RAS) If it was set to false, Stop/Restart Continuum Run List views of all points, (inputs, outputs, numerics) Example: In Explorer, Go to ListView> Listview_Infinity Inputs > Edit Click Columns> Add a Column Add ExtLogEnable Check Off Edit box Click Apply then the General Tab Run the listview Select Edit> Select All Select Object> Set Attributes Select ExtLogEnable, For Value type in True and Click OK, OK Select View> Refresh list and the attributes are set to true Repeat this for Outputs and Numerics Wait for awhile beyond how often you are logging your points. Run reports to verify data is being logged. NOTE: Occasionally, after an upgrade, you may need to set all the extended log enable attributes to FALSE FIRST and then to true again for inputs, outputs and numerics to get them working. Data may have been logging and then stopped. The data range requested in the report doesn’t have data, but there is data in the database. Here are some tips on verifying the data in the database. Using Enterprise Manager Use Query Analyzer against the Continuumdb Select * from extendedlog Using OSQL Go to a command prompt Enter in osql –Uandover97 –Ppyramid97 –S then enter (this assumes default user and pw, change if needed. –S needs to be followed by your server name Once you hit enter you’ll be brought to the 1> prompt At the 1> Prompt hit the Enter key 1> select * from ExtendedLog Type Go the Enter If values are returned, then extended logging is working. Type quit (to exit OSQL) Type Exit to close the DOS window

Issue When you run VisiSat after a reinstall you have lost all your network and remote site information. Environment Visisat Cause The process of uninstalling VisiSat removes the file. C:\Satchwell\Binary\VisiSat\SITES.DAT (default installation folder). This file holds the remote site information. Resolution Copy the SITES.DAT file before uninstalling VisiSat. When you have installed the later version of VisiSat copy the SITES.DAT file back to C:\Satchwell\Binary\VisiSat\SITES.DAT (default installation folder). Create a remote network The modem numbers should be there

Issue Points not reading in Xenta 555 Environment VisiSat 2.1 Build 148 Xenta 555 Cause If the Xbuilder points have been exported from VisiSat 2.1 Build 148. The .s (dots) that should separate the table offsets ETC are replaced by _s (Underscores). The X555 does not understand these. For example: The value page shows a reading of 0, but no red cross ETC.   Resolution You need to install VisiSat 2.1 build 148 Service pack 1. Service pack 1 is available from: https://ecobuilding.schneider-electric.com Click here to download it from here Or by emailing Product Support Additional information can be found in TPA-LOND-08-0006.00 VisiSat 2.1  build 148

Issue A new BACnet jar file is available for Niagara R2 UNCs - bacnet-2.305.527i.v1.jar is available on The Exchange Download Center Environment Niagara R2 UNC bacnet-2.305.527i.v1.jar Cause Information about the new BACnet jar file     Resolution A new BACnet jar file is available for Niagara R2 UNCs - bacnet-2.305.527i.v1.jar can be downloaded from The Exchange Download Center. The zip file contains a READ_ME_FIRST document that provides installation instructions, as well as a BACnet.Properties file to be installed in the UNC. The new jar file will improve the reliability of polling for BACnet data.

Issue After making a changes to a Sigma multi-stage control loop do I have to download all the control object stages? Environment Sigma Client Object Editor. Cause Sigma Object Editor does not distinguish between the various control stages when downloading the multi-stage control object. Resolution No, Sigma Object Editor will down load all the Control object multi-stages (objects).

Issue After a Sigma Flexima has exported a CSV text file and then when opened in Windows Excel an error message occurs ‘File not loaded completely’ Environment Sigma Flexima, Microsoft Excel 2003 Cause Occurs because the Flexima export file contains more data than Windows Excel can load into one worksheet. Microsoft Excel 2003 is limited to 65665 lines of data; this is equivalent to a Flexima file size of approximately 1.5Mb. Resolution Reduce the size of the export file by running more frequent Flexima extractions from the Sigma Scheduler. Microsoft Excel 2007 or later has an increased capacity to 1,048,576 rows. Upgrade the excel version will resolve the issue.   

Issue Advice on the configuration of a Sigma UNC 632, UNC 696 or UNC 796 controller, when connecting it to a "Flat" Ethernet network. Environment All Sigma controllers connected to flat ethernet network. Cause General advice. Resolution A "Flat" Ethernet network is a network that does not contain any subnets, for instance a network who's address is 10.158.0.0 Mask 255.255.0.0 will contain network addresses 10.158.0.1 to 10.158.255.254. On this type of network the Sigma device will only require an IP address and Subnet Mask to be entered. This information and details of the controllers "Default Server" are added to the controller using the SDCU (Sigma Device Configuration Utility).

Issue Advice on the configuration of a Sigma UNC 632, UNC 696 or UNC 796 controller, when connecting it to a "Subnetted" Ethernet network. Environment All Sigma controllers connected to flat ethernet network. Cause General advice. Resolution A "Subnetted" Ethernet network is a network that contains a number of subnets, for instance a network who's address is 10.158.1.0 Mask 255.255.255.0 will contain network addresses 10.158.1.1 to 10.158.1.254. The IP address 10.158.2.1 will be connected to another subnet of that network. On this type of network the Sigma controller will require an IP address, Subnet Mask and the subnet Default Gateway to be entered. This information and details of the controller's "Default Server" are added to the controller using the SDCU (Sigma Device Configuration Utility).  

Issue Advice on the configuration of a Sigma DNN (Distributed Network Node) when connecting it to a "Subnetted" Ethernet network. The DNN provides a communications route to Sigma controllers connected to an Ethernet or ARCnet sublan. Environment Sigma Ethernet network Ethernet or ARCnet subnets Cause General configuration advice Resolution A "Subnetted" Ethernet network is a network that contains a number of subnets, for instance a network who's address is 10.158.1.0 Mask 255.255.255.0 will contain network addresses 10.158.1.1 to 10.158.1.254. The IP address 10.158.2.1 will be connected to another subnet of that network. On this type of network the Sigma DNN will require an IP address, Subnet Mask and a Static Route to be entered. The Static Route is entered using the Pocket Terminal programme and is entered as follows. SR+ 0.0.0.0/0 Default Gateway of subnet Ethernet  and the Ethernet port number, so, if the default gateway for this subnet was 10.158.1.254 and the Ethernet port number was 5, then the following would be entered using the Pocket Terminal programme.   SR+ 0.0.0.0/0 10.158.1.254 5 In this type of configuration it is generally necessary to disable RIP on the DNN, which is enabled by default. To disable RIP on port 5 of the DNN. Start the Pocket Terminal programme. Enter RIPD 5 and select send. As RIP is disabled, the sublan route is not broadcast to the network, and therefore  this routing must be added to the network routers. This requirement must be pointed out to the IT network administrators.

Issue Advice on adding a persistent route to the Sigma server PC. Product Line Satchwell Sigma Environment Sigma Server PC Cause General advice Resolution On a Sigma server connected to a "Flat" Ethernet network, where the system is using Ethernet or Arcnet communications via DNN's, and where it is not possible to run RIP on the DNN's, then it will be necessary to add a persistent route or routes to the Sigma server. A "Flat" Ethernet network, is a network that does not contain any subnets, for instance a network who's address is 10.158.0.0 Mask 255.255.0.0 will contain network addresses 10.158.0.1 to 10.158.255.254. To add a persistent route you must go to the Windows command prompt. This is achieved by selecting the Windows "Start" button, then the "Run" command and enter "CMD", a DOS window is now opened. At the DOS prompt type ROUTE ADD -P "Subnet address" "Mask" "DNN Ethernet IP address". So if the DNN Subnet was 192.168.1.0 mask 255.255.255.0 and the Ethernet IP was 10.158.1.6 then the persistent route would be added as below ROUTE ADD -P 192.168.1.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 10.158.1.6 To check that this has been correctly added enter "Route Print" at the command prompt, the route should have been added at the bottom of the list. Add a route for each DNN.

Issue This is a detailed explanation of extended logging gaps, performance and load balancing  Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Windows XP Windows Server 2000 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause System overloads Slow server and/or server crashes Server CPU Usage running at high percentage rates Low Physical Memory Available Gaps in Extended logging data Resolution This article discusses factors that need to be considered when extended logging is being used to log a large number of points. There are too many variables involved in the Extended logging engine to place specifics on the number of extended logs that can be used. Performance will be contingent on many hardware, software and configuration variables. It is best practice to make one configuration change at a time and wait for the results prior to making an additional change. The SQL server version will affect extended logging performance There are limitations to different versions of SQL server.  For instance, MSDE has a 2 Gig limit and if this is exceeded, it will cause corruption in the database and the database may have to be rebuilt. SQL Standard and Enterprise versions allow a certain number of processors and RAM to be utilized by SQL. This is a link to Microsoft’s web site that compares the versions. http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-features.mspx PC hardware such as hard drive access times, RAM amount and speed as well and CPU speed and quantity of processors will directly affect extended logging performance. While always at a minimum following the hardware requirements in the Continuum Cyberstation installation manual, there are times when more processing power and memory are needed. Sites that are performing large amounts of extended logging are definite candidates to consider going beyond the recommended hardware requirements. While 64-bit machines are not supported for running Cyberstation software [before v1.94], they can be used to increase performance on SQL server side. One benefit of using a 64-bit OS and SQL2005/2008 64-bit versions is increased memory capabilities and well as the ability to have several processors. Server hard drives with faster read/write capacities can also be improved. Sites that fall under some of the items discussed below should consider the benefits of faster servers to better handle their Lan site communications and data storage needs. How many Cyberstations are being used? As a general rule, we do not recommend using 1 Cyberstation for logging greater than 2000 points. This does not take into consideration the logging interval. 1 Cyberstation as a stand alone could be overwhelmed by 2000 points if the points are configured at small intervals with a large number of entries. In the case of a LAN site with several thousand extended log requests, more than 1 Cyberstation may be needed for load balancing. What is load balancing? Load balancing was implemented to divide extended logging work among Cyberstations based on the overall number of log entries per hour. Each Cyberstation will be logging on average approximately the same number of entries per hour, but the number of points logged by each workstation may be different. The algorithm looks at the timestamp of the log and if it’s not logged for a specific Cyberstation within a certain timeframe + the Global interval then it’s offered up to the rest of the Cyberstations (pool) to load balance equally. How to identify gaps in data: Run a report for extended log data and you notice that the regular interval for points do not show based on the timestamps. Run the following SQL query to verify the data in the database select * from extendedlog order by datetime desc --Selects all logs in descending order Select top 5000000 * from extendedlog --Selects the top 5 million rows (adjustable) When gaps are identified, a number of steps may be examined to eliminate the gaps. Offline controllers will buffer data as long as they can, but if left offline for long enough then data could be lost as it is first in first out. Normally extended log data will be requested from the controller by Cyberstation once it has come back online and the data will be filled in from the most recent to the oldest data. Check the Continuum error logs. If there is a large number of errors being processed, this can contribute to a draw on needed resources on the system. Resolve the issues in the Continuum error log to reduce the resource overhead. Run Acctrace.exe for a period of time. This can often give some additional information about extended logging that is not reported in the Continuum error logs. Determine how many Cyberstations are being used for load balancing for extended logging. This can be done by verifying in the Cyberstation preferences setting. ‘Download Extended Log data from controllers on the LAN is set to True   To verify the number of Cyberstations being utilized in the database Run a query against the database. Select * from ExtendedLogReservation Observe the ReservationWSLo column, points are evenly assigned to a unique id Any new Cyber added to the pool of workstations for extended logging should be assigned within a couple minutes. Examine the Hard drive I/O subsystem According to SQL server performance data, it is recommended to have multiple smaller drives on a hard drive array as opposed to fewer larger drives for better access times. SQL settings Are any governor settings enabled? (MSDE has one by default) Determine the number of processors that are enabled on the SQL server itself. These need to be selected to be used. Is Boost SQL Server priority selected? If not, enable it.   If a database has moved to another PC or an upgrade was done SP_CHANGEDBOWNER 'andover97' must be run or it can cause db problems including extended logging to no work at all or only partially. SQL profiler can be used to examine if there are issues within SQL that could use specific tuning. For example, certain queries or stored procedures could be isolated that have high CPU usage. Help for using SQL Profiler can be found on Microsoft’s web site or from SQL admin literature. Truncating tables Regular maintenance of removing extended logs can increase performance by reducing the number of rows that the need to be read and inserted into the database. Extended Log Automatic Purge Interval (days) This is the number of days to keep extended log data in the database before purging it. Extended log data is stored in a single internal table, so purging the data after a specified number of days prevents this table from becoming too large. A value of 0 ensures that the data is never purged.  If performance is so bad that it is affecting normal operations it may be desirable to directly purge records from the database. (It is best practice to perform a database backup prior to any delete query.) Also, ensure there is a database backup if the data needs to be saved at various points in time.  This query DELETES all records greater than 3/10/08 14:43:00 from extended log table delete from extendedlog where datetime >= ‘2008-03-10 14:43:00.000’  Increase the interval that extended logs are retrieved in points with small interval times. A listview with the ExtLogEnable and ExtLogInterval columns added can be run for numerics, inputs and outputs to indicate which logs have an interval of zero or a small number for the interval. Increase the interval and reduce the amount to reduce the number of requests. Increase the general preference Extended Log Database Check Interval The interval at which Continuum will check the database for points that are enabled for automatic extended logging. It checks the extended logging table, and uploads the point data. The default is 5 minutes. Increase this Database Check Interval if the system is unable to process all extended logs requested in this timeframe.  Extended Log Maximum LAN Buffer Interval (minutes) This is the maximum time interval, in minutes, that CyberStation may check each controller on a LAN network for new extended logging data. This determines how long Cyberstation will allow the controller log to accumulate new data before downloading it. This setting reduces a small amount of overhead when set to a higher value, and allows more up-to-date extended logs when set to a lower value.  Examples: If this is set to 1 minute and a point is logged every 10 seconds then Cyberstation will wait one minute and download 6 entries for that point. If this is set to 1 minutes and a point is logged every hour, Cyberstation will only try to download the data every hour.  Increase the Extended Log Database Check Interval and stagger Continuum startup When it is necessary, enable logging on several Cyberstations for load balancing. If additional Cyberstations have been added and the system is still having trouble keeping up with logging demand, implement the following procedure. Increase the Continuum General Preference Extended Log Database Check Interval to 60 minutes Stagger the start up times of the Cyberstations to 10 minutes apart. Staggering the startups as well as extending the time should allow the load balancing to level off by enabling the load balancing engine to utilize all of the Cyberstation’s resources and disperse the processing. Adding several Cyberstations at the same time could potentially cause the load balancing engine to get into a race condition where it’s trying to reassign all the points at the same time while still logging data.

Issue Can MN View run on Windows 2003 Server? Environment MNView Windows 2003 Server Cause MNView has not been tested on Windows 2003 Server, the 'latest' software being XP. Resolution If you attempt it you may find that the software is loaded to a different drive label other than 'C'. If this is the case then it will definitely not work, it MUST be loaded to drive 'C'.

Issue Is Sigma IC-Gen DDE release 3.10 compatible with Sigma 4.04? Environment Sigma IC-Gen DDE release 3.10 Sigma 4.04 Cause The release note for IC-Gen V3.10 states: "This product has now been rebranded to reflect TAC ownership and reissued as release 3.17 (Build 3.34.14). All functionality is the same and this release note is applicable to both Invensys and TAC versions" Resolution Version V3.10 is in fact V3.17 and is compatible.

Issue I have a MN500 with a broken display, what can I replace it with? Environment MN500 Cause Replacement part for broken display. Resolution You can purchase a MN50-LCD as a direct replacement if that is all that is required. If the MN500 is also faulty you will need to upgrade to the MN550 which will require Visisat 2.1 Build 137 (as a minimum) to program/convert it. If the MN500 is on a network then you will need to purchase the MN550-XCOM to enable both comm and LCD to be connected.

Issue Will VisiSat Version 2.1 Build 148 work with Visio 2002? Environment VisiSat 2.1 Build 148 Visio 2002 Cause VisiSat version 2.1 only support Visio 2003. Resolution VisiSat Version 2.1 must use Visio 2003 as stated in the VisiSat 2.1 Configuration Tool Datasheet. The following contents are related to VisiSat 2.1: VisiSat 2.1 Engineering Guide VisiSat 2.1 Installation and User's Guide VisiSat Version 2.1 Build 148  (Note: File size = 40Mb.)

Issue CFR and User configuration to avoid Environment Continuum Cause When setting up a machine for CFR there are 4 selections on the CFR preferences editor located by right-clicking the Continuum Icon in the lower right icon tray. One of selections is "Force Different User Signoff" which is false by default. If you want to turn this feature on make sure that you have more than one user and the user has the necessary rights to perform the Signoff. The mere mention of Different user should be an indication that you need more than one user to use this feature.  Resolution If you do get caught in this state where you only have one user and have selected true and apply for "Force Different User Signoff" you will not be able approve the activity event. You will then need to forcefully shut down the machine and either restore the DB to a backup previous to enabling the "Force Different User Signoff" feature or Contact Product Support Boston. 978-975-9508