Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue How to sound a buzzer when a Request To Exit (REX) button is pressed on a Continuum Access system? The inputs to a door are not defined as regular Infinity inputs so how can they be programmed by Plain English programming? Environment ACX57xx (ACX5740, ACX5720) and AC-1 IOU modules (AC-1, AC-1A, AC-1 Plus) Cause When engineering an access control project, there is sometimes the requirement to sound a buzzer or turn on a light when the door is unlocked, or when a Request To Exit button is pressed, as the input points used within the door object configuration are not defined as a regular Infinity Inputs, so how to achieve this functionality? Resolution To use a Request To Exit (REX) switch on any of the ACX controllers or AC1 Modules:  It has to be a supervised input wired with the appropriate resistors in one of the 6 standard configurations defined in the installation guides (All available on the Extranet). You can not use a simple digital input switch without resistors. Incorrect circuitry or missing resistors will result in a Trouble indication on the door. The REX input is not a regular Continuum input point as it is defined within the door configuration, as it is not a Infinity input point directly accessible from Plain English but can be read via the "ExitRequest" attribute of the door. To sound a buzzer from the from the door there are 3 options: Use the existing door output and slave a buzzer circuit from the output that drives the Magnetic lock, so will sound when the door unlocks. If you want the buzzer to sound when the REX button is pressed then use a button with a 2 pole switch (2 separate contacts): Wire one to the REX input with appropriate resistors. Wire the other switch to a spare Input Configure it as either a Digital input or a Supervised input with resistors. This point can be used in your PE programming to drive the buzzer output. The third option is to use a Plain English program to read the "ExitRequest" attribute of the door and turn on an output for a defined time. The ExitRequest attribute may only be on for a short period of time so the program must be constantly looking for this attribute to change as well as keeping the controller Scan time low.  

Issue "ExtLogDataReport – The object type specified is invalid" and "ExtLogEnable – Attribute value is invalid" when exporting extended log points. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Cause Those errors are basically benign.  We have seen this randomly in the past and what they are usually caused by is a “null” value primed in the DB for those attributes Resolution Ignore those errors

Issue After installing Continuum Service Pack 1 2 and three for Continuum 1.62, received Error in Processing Bytecode when running the import/export fixup utility. Environment Continuum 1.62 WebClient 1.62 Cause Continuum Service Packs SP1, SP2 and SP3 were installed without updating the database using Database Initialization after each installation. Resolution Always read the release notes that are included with Continuum Service Packs.  The release notes provide information on how to properly install the service pack. In order to correct this issue follow this procedure. Backup the Continuum Database. Archive Continuum User profiles. Archive all pin files. Archive all graphic background files. Run Database Initialization and update the database. Install Service Pack 1 per the instructions in the release notes. Run Database Initialization and update the database. Install Service Pack 2 per the instructions in the release notes. Run Database Initialization and update the database. Install Service Pack 3 per the instructions in the release notes. Run Database Initialization and update the database.

Issue Is an Xdriver (X-Driver) needed for OPC integration? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum CX(99xx) Cause OPC server requirements Resolution An Xdriver is not needed to operate the OPC Server. Link to OPC Server Datasheet Link to OPC Server Software

Issue What enclosure is supported for I2-866-S Environment Infinet I2-866-S UL 864 Cause Enclosure support for UL 864 I2-866-S Resolution The VAV-ENCL-S enclosure is supported for the I2-866-S

Issue Upgrading Firmware and received error "could not communicate with specified controller" Environment Continuum Cyberstation ACX (5720, 5740) Netcontroller 2 (9680) Cause Received error while upgrading firmware. Firmware for the wrong model controller was attempted. Resolution Upgrade firmware with correct model firmware. Andover Continuum Software Compatibility Matrix Link

Issue Using the "TemplateName" and "TemplateAlias" attributes in a ListView, does not show the attached Personnel Template. Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause Not using the attribute "RefTemplate" to view attached Personnel Templates. Resolution  Use the attribute "RefTemplate". This is the Personnel's referenced template and is the field used to link to the template. Open the Personnel ListView where you want to view the attached template. Select View-> ListView Configuration. On the columns tab select "Add Column". Select attribute field and from the drop down list select "RefTemplate" Save Listview and re-run. It now shows the attached templates in the RefTemplate field.

Issue Where can the new-look Continuum Security Demo Graphics be found? Environment Continuum Security Cause Continuum Security Demo Graphics (Security System Bonus Pack) could not be found. Resolution The Security System Bonus Pack which includes the Security Graphics and Menu's can be downloaded from The Exchange.

Issue When a Vista trend is added manually or using the Trend Wizard on completion of the process the error massage  "Invalid Entrance" is displayed. Environment Vista 5.0.3 and Windows Server 2003. Vista Master and Slave configuration. Cause The trend is being added in the Master Vista Server and the point is in a Slave Vista database. Resolution To add a Vista trend log of a point residing in a Slave Vista sever use the following steps. Log onto the Vista Slave server. Add a new or use an existing directory (ensure this folder is visible to the Vista Master Server) that has been created on the Vista Slave. Add your Vista trend either using the trend wizard or manually.

Issue The AccessEventSize system variable determines the number of events to retain in a controller when it goes offline, what is the largest value you can enter? Environment Access Control systems using the Netcontroller II (9680) and ACX57xx (5740, 5720) Cause When designing an access control system, it is often required to know how many access events a controller will retain if the network connection to the workstations is lost. Resolution There is no fixed maximum number you can enter in the EventLogSize, it is dependent on the available free memory in the controller (Freemem). Typically you should have enough available memory be able to enter a maximum value between 100,000 and 170,000, but this will use up the majority of the controllers available memory. This may be OK if you are only doing Access control with the controller, but if you are also doing: BMS functions then you may have requirements to store logged data for temperatures etc.  Or you may be using X Drivers with thousands of numeric points           These would all use up the free memory and may only allow you to hold a few thousand events.  You have the flexibility to set the value, but the controller will not allow you to enter values that would exceed its available memory.

Issue Is it possible to set a delay on a change of state object in Vista? Environment TAC Vista 5.1.5 Cause Need to set a delay on a change of state object in Vista Resolution No it is not possible.

Issue The Plain English editing environment is made up of several windows that can be moved, closed, resized and generally re-arranged, it may be required to restore the default settings. Environment Cyberstation Workstation all versions. Cause The various windows in the editor may have been closed or shrunk down to a size that can not be found, or moved out of the viewable area so they can not be moved back to the regular positions. It is also possible that the initialization file has been corrupted. Resolution Stop the Continuum workstation  Find the PlainEnglish.ini file in the C:\Windows directory, this file holds the last setting of your Plain English editor environment. Delete the PlainEnglish.ini  file. Start up Cyberstation, log in. Open the PE editor this will create a new file and use the default settings for all window positions.  

Issue Vista Change of State object  monitoring an I/NET point value are in Alarm  but not changing state or getting through to Vista Alarm queue. Environment I/NET point monitoring Vista Alarm Queue Xenta Server Alarms I2V Cause Incorrect settings of the I/NET point Watch Status, and Vista Change of State object. Resolution There are a few settings unique to I/NET points that have to be properly modified in order for an Alarm to be passed into the Vista Workstation Alarm queue. In Workstation, navigate from your Xenta Server to the input/output point generating the Alarm in I/NET. Right click on the point and select Properties.  Set the Watch Setting to "Alarm". Navigate to the Change of State object that is referencing the I/NET point to create the alarm. Right click on the Change of State object and select properties. Set the Alarm triggering text field to the value expected in alarm condition, i.e. 1. Set the Alarm resetting text field to the value expected in back to normal, i.e. 0. Toggle the I/NET point manually into alarm and return to normal once to verify the alarm is in the queue.

Issue Upgrading a standalone workstation from 1.74 to 1.9x. The installation fails and returns "Event Log is Full" error. Environment Standalone Workstation Cause The error is displayed when the Windows Application Event Log is full. Resolution Open the Windows Control Panel. Select Administrative Tools. Select Event Viewer. Select Application Open the Action menu. Select Clear all Events. You will be asked if you want to save "Application" before clearing it? Answer "Yes." Enter an appropriate file name. Click on Save. Cold start the workstation and reinstall Continuum.

Issue Virtualization using VMWare, Virtual Server or other products is useful when deploying applications Is virtualization supported with Continuum?  Will Continuum work in a virtual environment?  Environment Continuum WMWare Virtual Server Windows XP Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause Continuum compatibility with Virtual Machines (virtualization - VMWare) Resolution VMWare VSphere 5.5 and 6.0 has now been qualified to work with Cyberstations and Web.Client in Continuum v2.0 and above. Note that this will require a software licence and that the virtual environment must comply with the minimum system requirements for Cyberstation and Web.Client Server. See the latest Continuum v2.0 Compatability Matrix for details.                                                         There have been reports from the field from engineers that  have used Continuum and SQL server with various virtual software not currently qualified. If there are any issues with this implementation with an unqualified solution, then it would be necessary to install Continuum on a supported configuration (see the Continuum Compatibility Matrix) prior to involving engineering to evaluate any problems. This solution has not been tested and is outside of what we currently support. These include: Other VMWare environments, Microsoft Virtual PC (HyperV), Citrix, Windows 7 XP Emulation, etc. Marathon Redundant SQL Servers is a very specific solution which does use virtual machine. This is an isolated case and does not apply to standard implementations of Continuum or Webclient.

Issue R2 UNC station fails to start with the following error messages in the standard output window: FATAL: cannot boot station from sns java.lang.JavaClassNotFoundException: tridiumx.londevices.siebe.MNLRV3 Environment IA Series R2 / UNC-520-2-N Cause The UNC was replaced and the existing station was installed into the new replacement UNC. The existing UNC station database uses object(s) from the lonSiebe module but the lonSiebe module is not installed in the UNC. Resolution Install the lonSiebe module into the UNC and restart the UNC. Install / remove modules into the UNC: Use Admin Tool to connect to the UNC. Go to the 'Installation' tab and click on 'Installation Wizard'. In the Select Distribution Directory dialog, highlight 'emb' and click the 'Install' button. In the Niagara Remote Installation dialog, select 'Configure Modules Only' and click 'Next'. In the Configure Modules dialog box, select the modules to install / remove by selecting in the 'Upgrade/Add' column or the 'Remove' column. Click 'Next when you are finish with the selection. On the Database Backup dialog box, leave the red check mark next to the station database name and click 'Next' to continue. Enter the station user name and password when prompted. In the Niagara License dialog box, click Finish.

Issue Alarm delivery server window popping up Environment Continuum Cyberstation 1.91 Cause Alarm delivery server window popping up Resolution Updated OS and applied all the current updates. The issue resolved after the updates

Issue Global Point Settings for DLA systems Global / Indirect Points connected over Ethernet continue to report "old data" Environment I/NET Cause When converting to DLA, a router is now between Global and indirect points that may be on the same link. The router will block any message that does not have a global level of "System" The NetPlus Routers (NPR) must have their reference hosts set correctly so that all IP devices know each other exists.  Resolution Connect to each global point on each link or DLA site. Modify each point so that its global point level is "System" If the global points are still not functional, follow this procedure: Modify the Reference host table on each device to point to one master (NPR or Workstation) Reset power on each device to request the routing table Restart the I/O server on the host machine

Issue Deny Entry Tenant when entering new badges after restoring from a system crash on a New Host workstation Environment I/NET Cause Devices in the field may still be looking for the former workstation due to a system setting such as automatic DPU restore. Resolution Connect to the controller Select Edit>Controller>Station Save Select Edit>Controller>Station Restore Select The DPU option Select the affected DPU and click okay Try a badge to verify results This error should only occur when badges are added immediately after a system recovery.  If the issue continues, contact product support.

Issue Go to templates folder Drag Event Enrollment to controller to create a new event enrollment It prompts for event notification and point reference and enrollment looks fine. When alarm is tested the event notification does not work and indicates fault. Environment Continuum BCX40xx B3 B4920 Cause A Send to Database was not performed on the controller in the BACnet side of the Continuum Object Tree. Resolution When objects are added or modified on the Infinity side of Continuum's Object Tree, the changes do not take affect in the controller until a Send to Database is performed on the controller from the BACnet portion of Continuum Explorer Object Tree.