Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue When ordering a Vista Server license module, is there a Workstation license included? Environment TAC Vista 5.x Cause When ordering a Vista software Package, a Workstation license module is usually included (see licensing package matrix in related documentation), but when using a Vista server license, it does not also include a Workstation license. Resolution No Vista Workstation license is included in the Server license. The Workstation license modules are dealt with separately, and if several simultaneous Workstations running are required, the equal amount of Workstation licenses are required.

Issue What personnel attribute allows a card to only start working at a future time/ date? Is it ActivationDate or StartDate? Environment Access Controllers: ACX5720, ACX5740, NetcontrollerII, ACX780, ACX700, AC1, AC1-A, AC1-Plus, CX9900, ACX57xx, NCII Cyberstation, Access Control, Personnel StartDate, ActivationDate, ExpirationDate. Cause After setting the StartDate or Activation date on some systems, the card still operates even if the date is in the future. Resolution The ActivationDate attribute was added to Continuum V1.82 and above, it is only supported in the Netcontroller II & the ACX57xx controllers. So systems with Cyberstations older than V1.82 or that use CX9900 (Netcontroller 1) with AC1 series modules, ACX780 or ACX700 do not support an Activation date and will start to operate as soon as the personnel has been saved and distributed to the controller. The ExpirationDate is when a card will stop working and operates on all products / versions of Continuum. The StartDate is just a personnel information field to define when an individual started with the company.  

Issue DO2202 outside air temperature sensor replacement. Environment DO2202 Cause DD2202 sensor has gone faulty, what replaces it? Resolution The sensor is no longer available from Schneider Electric. However they are available from: Sontay, part no. TT531-V website:www.sontay.com                    telephone:01732 861200 Titan, part no. TPSOS/2202 website:www.titanproducts.com        telephone:0161 406 6480

Issue Get "invalid address" when reading values from a Modbus device in Vista. Environment Vista 5.1.X XBuilder Modbus Xenta 5xx / 7xx / 9xx Cause This problem can be caused by the Modbus device name and the Modbus interface name having the same name in the XBuilder project. Resolution If the Modbus device and interface have the same name change one of them to be different from the other.

Issue Looking for a replacement product for TA218Z or TA218E Environment TA 218Z TA218E Cause An old controller (part no 218-1040-000 or 218-1020-000) with built in clock, designed for room control of reheat heat exchangers and radiators. Designed in the early 80's, now is looking for a replacement. Resolution There is no replacement product available. A programmable Xenta controller would be the best choice.

Issue Is it possible to save a report as a CSV file from Vista? Environment Vista 5.1.X Cause This is a limitation of the software. It is only capable of saving the default file type of XLM. Resolution It is only possible to save a report as XLM not CSV. To create a CSV, open the report in the Excel format (XLM) and then perform a manual "Save As" function to select the CSV extension for the resulting file.

Issue Added the MSTP Status object to the MNB-1000 database and connected a constant tag to its network input and tested it with WorkPlace Tech and it functions as expected.  However, when doing a Device Learn of this MNB-1000 at the UNC it fails.  The messages is "Learn Device Failed. ObjectId [binary_value:589834]".   The instance number after the binary_value may be different depending on other status objects in the database. Environment I/A Series Niagara R2 Cause Cause is being investigated.  Resolution Use the Device Status object instead.  It will perform the same function and can be learned at the UNC without issue.

Issue When backing up the Continuum Database using SQL Server Management Studio the backup fails.  SQL indicates Status = 112  Environment Continuum SQL SQL Server Management Studio DB Backup Cause Insufficient disk space to hold backup file. Resolution Remove files from hard drive to free up a sufficient amount of storage space.

Issue What user account type does Continuum require to run correctly What could be causing Continuum or parts of Continuum to stop working or crash Environment Continuum, XP keywords: Account, user, Power User, Administrator Poweruser, Pinpoint, Graphic Cause User log in account may be blocking access to programs or files, can stop Pinpoint graphics from being edited. Resolution XP Once Continuum is installed using a Windows "Administrator" account, a Windows "PowerUser" account will give sufficient access to allow Continuum to run. If a Windows "User" account is used, some parts of Continuum will not operate correctly or may crash. We publish no information on what needs to be enabled/allowed/unlocked to allow a windows "User" or other such account to operate correctly. It is possible to set up an account correctly to run, but this would need to be set up by an IT expert on site, and updates/upgrades to Continuum may require the account setting to be changed.

Issue Which Modbus driver is required for an I/A Series Niagara R2 UNC to support Modbus TCP? Environment I/A Series R2, UNC-520, JACE-NXT, Soft JACE Cause Selection of the proper driver depends upon the functionality required (e.g. UNC acting as Modbus TCP Client or Server). Resolution The part numbers are: IA-DRV-MOD-T   Operates as a Modbus client - Ethernet / TCP IA-DRV-MOD-R   Operates as a Modbus server - Ethernet / TCP    

Issue After setting InfinityOutput to a pulse value the value prints as ON even when the relay is physically OFF Output print format is set to $### and output is NOT inverted or overridden. Environment All CXs All b3s All i2s Cause Function as designed Resolution When an output is commanded to a pulse value (i.e. 5) the relay energizes and then de-energize after 5 seconds, the value property retain the last value the output was commanded to, in this case 5. The display format $### displays values greater than zero as ON, zero values as OFF,  and values less than zero as -ON. The print format should be set without the '$' to display the pulse value (5) To make the system show the actual physical value of the output print the OverrideValue instead of the Value.

Issue BACnet Controllers do not show up on the Server side nor the Client side in WorkPlace Tech Link Builder Environment WorkPlace Tech all versions Cause The Extended Data of the controllers has not been discovered. Resolution The extended data of the BACnet controllers must first be discovered in Workplace Tech Commissioning Tool before the controllers will show up in Link Builder. The extended data of the controllers can be discovered two ways: Highlight all of the controllers in the Commissioning Tool then right-click the selected controllers and select “Refresh” before launching Link Builder. Click on "Auto Acquire Extended Data" from the Commissioning Tool menu before launching Link Builder The controllers should now appear when Link Builder is launched.

Issue Can WorkPlace Tech Link Builder be used to link I/A BACnet controllers to third party BACnet devices? Environment WorkPlace Tech (all Version) Cause I/A controllers do not have the ability to write to third party BACnet devices. Resolution Link builder will only link data from a third party device to BACnet "COVs" in our IA controllers. Our I/A controllers can pull data into our controllers as a client, but they can not function as a server and push data to third party devices.  

Issue When trying to edit a OGC graphic from Vista a error message is shown, "Can not find the Symbols file". And the OGC editor is not starting up. Environment Vista 4.2.5 Cause The symbols file used by the OGC graphic editor is not correctly defined. Resolution Open Workstation, click on TAC Vista Right click on $Symbols and select Properties Click on the 'source file name', browse to the $ini folder (in Vista 5.1.7 C:\Program Files\Schneider Electric\TAC Vista 5.1.7), find the symbols.sym file. Click OK

Issue Can not get CIPCL to autostart Environment TAC Vista Windows 2008 R2 Windows 7 Cause Windows will not allow modification of the registry unless the application is started with the "Run as Administrator" option. Resolution Right click on TAC Vista Server and choose Run as Administrator.

Issue Where is more information on Secure View? What is Secure View? Product Line Andover Continuum, Pelco Environment Continuum Secure View Pelco Cause What is SecureView Resolution The UK Buildings Business of Schneider Electric Limited has released Continuum SecureView, the add-on application offering seamless integration between Andover Continuum CyberStation and Pelco Endura CCTV system. This integrated solution provides the user with a powerful interface featuring live and recorded video streaming, PTZ (Pan / Tilt / Zoom) camera control from within the Continuum CyberStation Workstation itself, plus the ability to control external video monitors and layouts. For further details: Contact Technical Services paul.bates@schneider-electric.com PA-UK-11.00001 Continuum SecureView.pdf

Issue Can not edit the graphic pages of a Niagara G3 ENC station via a Web Browser Environment Niagara G3, ENC-410, ENC-520 Cause The PxEditor Module must be loaded on the ENC in order to edit PxViews via a browser. Resolution The PxEditor Module must be loaded on the ENC in order to edit PxViews via a browser. Open the Platform of the ENC Double-click on Software Manager Scroll down and highlight the PxEditor module (is will read “not installed”) Click the “Install” button and then “Commit” button at the bottom of the screen. The PxEditor module will now be installed to the ENC. Once the module installation is completed, the ENC’s graphics can then be edited via a web browser.  

Issue How to replace a 7798 I/Site on an existing system without causing any problems to the existing controllers. Environment All versions of I/Net and 7798B I/Site. Cause Not doing it properly could cause the system to go down and create problems later on that may or may not be recoverable. Resolution To properly replace a 7798 I/Site the following steps should be performed to ensure minimal downtime and the system is operational again. Perform a backup of the software and database of the controller. Remove power, unplug the wires for the C-Lan and Sublan. Change the controller and turn on the device but do not plug the Sublan plug back in. Make the necessary changes like address and baud rate etc to match the existing system. Once communications has been verified, download the bin file and database back to the controller and then plug the Sublan in again. Go to Edit/Host Computer/Network Configuration and penetrate the link summary that the controller is under and verify that all the devices are communicating and online again.

Issue Getting warning " Received bit string (25) is longer than expected length (23)" in the standard output window.  Is this a problem?   Environment I/A Series R2 G3 BACnet Niagara Cause This warning is because the UNC was reading the list of object types supported from the device, and the device was implemented to a different protocol revision, in which there were a different number of object types defined. Resolution The UNC ignores this, and it has no negative impact.  

Issue Digital Sentry Control Point  and Cyberstation have conflicts with both pieces of software on the same PC. Environment Cyberstation Digital Sentry Control Point Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause The Cyberstation Video Integration and Digital Sentry Control Point use the same API to communicate and could cause issues. Resolution This configuration is not officially supported or tested, although we have reports that say people are doing it in the field. The reason it is not supported is because they both depend on the same DSConnex API. Installing both may introduce Windows registry issues. (causing issues with whichever application was first installed). From the field Without Control Point installed controllers were online. If only control point is installed they can view Video once Continuum is installed they can no longer view Video. Both program work independently of each other but not together, last one installed works. The configuration of having Digital Sentry Control Point and Cyberstation Video Integration installed on the same PC is not supported. The reason that it is not supported is because both products use the same API (Application Programming Interface) files in order to display video. There could also be Windows registry issues particularly if different versions of the API files are getting installed by each application.   An example from the field If only Control Point is installed the site could view video normally. Once Continuum was installed, video will no longer display in Control Point. Both programs work independently of each other, however, typically the last program that gets installed is the one that will work and the first program installed gets broken, so that video will not display.