Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Poor communications, communications failure or packet being corrupted Product Line Andover Continuum,EcoStruxure Building Expert,EcoStruxure Building Operation,Satchwell MicroNet,Satchwell Sigma,TAC INET,TAC Vista Environment Communications networks, BACnet MSTP, LON FT10, Infinet, Modbus RTU, Ethernet EMC (Electromagnetic compatibility) VSD Variable Speed Drive, VFD Variable Frequency Drive, Inverter Drive Cause Electrical Interference from Inverter (variable speed drives or VSD) Radiated or Induced RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) Resolution A VSD has the potential to create a large amount of electrical noise, to avoid causing issues it is vital they are installed as the manufacturer's instructions.  (Other devices also have this potential) Our systems are often used to control VSDs on fan motors, so if poor communications is found during the commissioning process, then try stopping all the fans in the area then re-testing the communications. A recent example was seen where LON FT10 communication was working ok until some VSDs were started, at this point LON devices and Object went offline intermittently. When all the VSDs were stopped the communication become completely stable. It was then possible to find which VSD was causing the problem and correct the VSD installation. In this case a LON analyzer would also have helped diagnose the issue.

Issue How to calculate total memory required for controller to store logging information for the required duration. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Andover Continuum Environment NetController (CX9900, CX9940, CX9680, bCX9640) InfinetController (i2xxx) BACnet Controller (bCX4040, bCX9640, b3xxx) Cause Need to know how much memory is needed per point to determine the maximum number of entries and minimum interval time that the controller can use. Resolution The general equation of calculating memory use for controller logging is as below; * Memory usage per point = { 8bytes + (4bytes * NumberOfLog) } In addition to that, each controller requires minimum 1~2KB of freemem after the controller logging memory allocated.  Regarding the log interval, if the point is being logged for controller only, you can set the interval in seconds unit.   But if you configure the point for ExtendedLog as well, the logging interval should be in minute unit. Again, if there many objects with one minute interval for Extended Logging, it will affect the performance of the Cyberstation and also increases the size of ContinuumDB dramatically in short period of time. In this case, consider increasing the log interval to 5 ~ 15 minutes for Extended Logging.

Issue How to use Plain English programming to mirror the output controlling the door's striker to a second output on the Continuum controller. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Net Controller II Continuum ACX 2 Controller Cause Sample PE program needed for guidance. Resolution Here are three samples of the same program for guidance on how to accomplish the desired application 'This program makes the Auxiliary output of the AC1 (Out chan 2) mirror the value of the output that controls the door 'striker (Out chan 1) 'Program is Looping/Autostart 'The MODE variable is used to control when Out2 should mirror Out1 as follows... ' '1=Always including manual override '2=On valid card or REX only Numeric MODE Line Init AuxOutput = 0 MODE = 2 Basedon MODE Goto Always, ValidAndRex Line Always AuxOutput = Door1 OverrideValue * 65535 Line ValidAndRex AuxOutput = Door1 * 65535 Line E If TS > 10 then Goto Init Program code has also been supplied in the attached dump file below.

Issue The properties of a BACnet or Infinet Schedule shows Next transition time as 2106-02-07 07:28:14. Where does this date come from? EBO BACnet schedule shown below Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Andover Continuum Environment b3 BACnet Schedule Infinet Schedule Cause The reason it displays the date of 7 Feb /2106 is that there are no events in the controller for the current week. Resolution The next transition time is evaluated and will display the next transition time when the following week has an event scheduled.

Issue The user is unable to log in to a WebClient session from a web browser even though the number of client session currently established is less than what the license provides for./p> After applying the Continuum Virtual License for WebClient, the ACCWebServerProxy indicates a maximum client seat count that is less than what the license specified.  Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum WebClient Server Continuum Virtual Software License Cause In some cases, it is possible to apply two licenses to the same WebClient host.  When this happens the client seat count is dictated by the first license that was installed even though subsequent licenses may have a larger number of seats. Resolution If the license Key Type is SL Admin Rehostable, one of the licenses can be moved to another host temporarily while the remaining license is tested. Contact Schneider Electric Buildings Product Support for assistance in determining which license should remain on the machine and which should be moved to another host machine. If the license is not hostable contact Buildings Product Support.

Issue BACnet b3 or Infinet i2 controller shows version 0.000000 Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BACnet b3 Controller Infinet i2 Controller Cause The Controller is likely to be in bootloader mode, this can be confirmed by looking at the CPU flash speed. If you can count the flashes it is likely to be in bootloader mode see CPU LED flashing rate  Resolution Reflash the controller OS with the firmware compatible with the Continuum installation on site, using "Update b3 OS" or ""Update Infinet2 OS" NOTE - An ACX57 with Comm1 set to Infinet is unlikely to be able to communicate with an i2 device in bootloader mode, in this case an NC2 or other NetController may be required

Issue PID Definitions and definition for AutoTune PIDs. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Continuum 1.94 StruxureWare Building Operation 1.1 and higher Cause Argument for bPID in Continuum and StruxureWare Building Operation are: Arg 1 Ena Arg 2 Type Arg 3 Cv Arg 4 SP Arg 5 Kp Arg 6 LKi Arg 7 LKd Arg 8 Db Arg 9 OP Arg 10 Bias Arg 11 Isum Arg 12 err Arg 13 Ltim Arguments for AutoTuner PID Continuum and StruxureWare Building Operation are: Arg 1 Ena Tuning Enable Arg 2 Type type of control Arg 3 Cv Measured variable Arg 4 SP Setpoint Arg 5 Kp Proportional gain constant Arg 6 Ki Integral gain constant Arg 7 Kd Derivative gain constant Arg 8 Db Deadband Arg 9 OP Output Arg 10 Lag Output Device Lag time Arg 11 Dev Deviation from setpoint allowed Arg 12 Pd Passed Data Array of 17 Numerics Arg 13 Ta Time Date Array of 3 Variables Resolution For AutoTunerPID Wizard keep in mind that it is different than PID or often referred to as BPID. There are 3 types of PIDs bPID (normal PID) Simple PID (which was used for less memory available in controllers and had 9 Arguments) AutoTunerPID (designed to be run once on a system to ascertain the required values of Proportional, Integral and Derivative factors (Kp, Ki, Kd), when complete the function is normally to be replaced by the standard PID function as it will run faster with less system overhead. However when tuning is complete the PID tuning function will continue to control the plant using the standard PID function.) Please note that PIDs are no longer autoconfig and there is no generic PID functionality with Continuum 1.94 and StruxureWare Building Operation 1.1 and higher, but custom solutions instead.  bPID information on page 101 available in PID Function.pdf Simple PID is on page 90 of the above link AutoTunerPID information available in PID AutoTuner.pdf

Issue Need to replace or add an xP expansion module. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Andover Continuum Environment xP Expansion Module  Cause When replacing or adding an xP expansion module does the controller need to be powered off? Resolution When replacing or adding an xP expansion module the controller must be powered off, i.e., hot-swapping is not allowed. Adding an expansion module to a controller requires the controller to be cold-started. After the cold-start the CPU light on the first xP module should blink once at a rate of about once every 2 seconds. This is considerably slower than the controller CPU LED it is connected to. If a second xP module is connected, it also has about 2 seconds between flashes, but it will flash twice indicating it has detected the second module.

Issue Unable to discover BACnet devices from CyberStation running in the machine with multiple Network Interface Cards Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause Metric settings for the network interface not configured correctly Resolution The following video will help us understand, Common Continuum issues when running in  Workstation with multiple NICs Using Wireshark and Windows 'route print' command to troubleshoot the problem Configuring a preferred interface when multiple routes are available

Issue How to use RoamIO to set the Infinet ID of Infinet device to zero before re-deploying the device. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Continuum Service Tool Cause Need a way to set the Infinet ID of Infinet device to zero before re-deploying the device. Resolution  This video demonstrates… Tell if the i2 device has an Infinet ID assigned by observing the TD/RD LEDs on the device. Use the RoamIO to connect directly to the i2 device and reset its Infinet ID to zero. Confirm by visual observation of the device's TD/RD LEDs that the ID has been successfully set to zero.

Issue Accessing WebPinpoint graphics from a web browser causes one of the following errors…   Failed CreateDNWACServer. Cause:Object reference not set to an instance of an object. URL:HTTP://eceheatsrvr/DNWACServerFactory DNWACServerFactory /WACServerFactory.soap   Failed creating remote objects. DotNet framework is missing.      Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum webClient Server MicroSoft Windows XP MicroSoft Windows Vista MicroSoft Windows 7 MicroSoft Windows 10 MicroSoft Windows Server 2003 MicroSoft Windows Server 2008 Cause User Account Control redirects files to a different folder than expected by WebClient. User permissions are interfering with the WebClient. A variety of other configuration issues may cause this problem. Resolution User Account Controls Redirection The WebClient installation guide goes into detail about why MicroSoft Windows includes User Account Controls redirection. Follow the procedure outlined below.   Give "Everyone" permissions to the C:\Program Files\Continuum and C:\Program Files\Continuum\DNWACServerFactory folders In Windows Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts, select an Administrator user on the PC and select User Account Control Settings. Move the slider all the way to the bottom to Never Notify and select Ok. Follow the instructions in the webClient Installation guide section called "Configuring Graphics for webClient: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows 7". Site may be setting User Account Control with group policy and setting it upon reboot of the PC to a setting other than Never notify. A batch file may be used to turn User Account Control off before launching WebClient. A Google search for doing this would be needed and is beyond the scope of this article. Each host that will be running a web browser WebClient session should have also have User Account Control settings set to minimum.       Web.config has not been correctly modified   Using Windows Notepad as an Admin user, modify the web.config file which is located in the c:\program files\continuum\dnwacserverfactory folder. Delete the text and replace with the text below, replacing WORKSTATION1 with the host name of the host computer.  This must be done on all hosts which will run WebClient browser sessions. <configuration> <system.runtime.remoting> <application> <service> <wellknown mode="Singleton" type="DNWACServerProxy.WACServerFactory, DNWACServerProxy" objectUri="WACServerFactory.soap" /> </service> <channels> <channel ref="http" machineName="WORKSTATION1"> </channel> </channels> </application> </system.runtime.remoting> <system.webServer> <security> <requestFiltering allowDoubleEscaping="True"/> </security> <directoryBrowse enabled="true" /> </system.webServer> </configuration>     Allow Double Escaping   If for some reason editing this file is still not working. Try the following: In Start >Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > IIS Manager (Not IIS6) Expand the tree on the left for the webserver name. ie. Webclient1 Expand Sites Expand Default Web Site Click DNWACServerFactory Double Click Request Filtering In the right-hand column select Edit Feature Settings Check Allow Double Escaping and click OK Click on the Default web site and in the far right column click Restart     Test Authentication pass-through for SOAP errors   In IIS Manager; Expand Server> Sites> Default Web Site Left-click on the DNWACServerFactory, on the far right column Select the Basic Settings link Click the Test Settings button. If Authentication pass-through is showing red follow this procedure Click Close Click Connect As> Add a windows user and password that will be used for WebClient Click the Test Settings button Authentication pass through again and it should now show green Perform a local reboot on the WebClient server Test Webclient Graphics     Make sure that the browser PCs are logged in as a Local Administrator for the WebPinpoint and ActiveX installation   Internet Explorer>Tools>Internet Options>Security>(select Zone i.e. TrustedSites)>Custom Level button Make sure that 'Download signed Activex controls' and 'Download unsigned Activex controls is set to prompt or Enable, since the default setting on many web browsers is Disabled.       Add the Webclient PC as a trusted site to the browser PCs   In some configurations, you may need to add the IIS computer into Internet Explorer as a trusted site for each browser. In Internet Explorer: Select Tools > Internet Options > Security > Click Trusted sites > Click Sites Type in http://yourservername/WebClient and click Add (Ex. http://tacweb/WebClient) Deselect the checkbox for Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone.  Click OK and then OK again Close Internet Explorer and retry accessing WebPinpoint     Be sure to configure the application pool for 32-bit applications on 64-bit operating systems.   On 64-bit Operating Systems perform the following steps: Open IIS Manager. Expand the computer name in the left-hand pane and click on Application Pools in the system tree view. Select DefaultAppPool and click Advanced Settings. In the Advanced Settings dialog box, change the Enable 32-bit Applications option to True. ** When using 1.94 SP1 and above, check the application pools .net version selected and make sure that the Identity is set to "Network Service" Name                           .Net Version ASP NET v4.0 4.0 ASP NET v4.0 Classic  4.0 Classic .NET AppPool  2.0 Default AppPool   2.0 WebClient 4.0       DNS issues   Even when you may not be seeing red x’s in Pinpoint View>Options>Web locations and you are able to browse to pin files though IE, WebPinpoint may be giving you a graphic URL error. Try entering using the IP of the WebClient server in place of its DNS name for Pinpoint View>Options>Web locations. Also try using the WebClient Servers IP address in places of the its DNS name and also for accessing WebClient through the browser. For example http://10.159.100.125/WebClient       WebPinpoint fails to register the DNWACClientProxy.dll and tlb files when installed.   On the from the client (web browser) host, perform the steps below:  Close WebClient browser if it is running. Open command line in Administrator mode. Run the batch file C:\Programs Files (x86)\WebClientPinpoint\WPPRegistrationClient.bat     Other items to check:   Disable Windows Defender Turn off all 3 firewalls Shut off SPS software protection service when installing. Run Internet Explorer as an Administrator to make sure the ActiveX controls are being installed

Issue Can Value Transfer Settings be used to control the frequency at which a value is transferred over the Infinet bus? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Andover Continuum Environment Continuum i2 Controller Cause There is a need to control the frequency at which a value is transferred from one Infinet controller to another. Resolution Whether or not the Value Transfer Settings determine the value transfer rate depends on the type of reference used. When the Continuum to EBO transition process was developed, features and functionality were added to the Automation Server so that it would accommodate an existing controller protocol. Neither the Infinet controllers nor the Infinet protocol was substantially redesigned in order to work with Automation Servers. Infinet controllers have never had a Value Transfer Setting capability and it was not added when the Continuum Transition process was developed. The primary method of value transfer in Infinet controllers is the Import/Export tables. In order to enter a point into the Import Export table of a controller, the point has to be bound to an Infinet Script program or to an Infinity Alarm notification. You can find more information on the I/E functionality in the following Knowledge base article. Details on Continuum Import/Export (IE) System The Import/Export system is a highly efficient means of value transfer that is base value change. If you chose to bypass the Import/Export capability, the only method available to you to control the frequency at which values are transferred over the Infinet bus is to read these values via a program that incorporates some form of throttling to slow down the polling rate.

Issue Care must be taken about the precedence of operators in Plain English programming to achieve expected results. The following PE program was created with the intent of monitoring how long a point has been in alarm and unacknowledged The user intent was to have the program increment  ‘TimeInALM’ for every minute the point has been in alarm without an ACK WaitOneMin: IfTS > 59 then Goto CheckALM CheckALM:   TimeInALM = TimeInALM + PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 Alarm1 = On and PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 AckTransToOffNorm <> 255   IfTimeInALM > 4 thenGotoAlertGuard ElseGotoWaitOneMin AlertGuard:   TimeInALM = 0   GotoWaitOneMin Instead of incrementing as was the intent, ‘TimeInALM’ kept toggling between 0 and 1. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Continuum (All CXs) Continuum Plain English Cause The rules of precedence dictate that the + is done first then the AND. So this is what happens: TimeInALM = TimeInALM + PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 Alarm1 = On and PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 AckTransToOffNorm <> 255 We start with TimeInALM = 0 PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 Alarm1 evaluates to 1 and so does PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 AckTransToOffNorm So we have 0+1 = 1 ANDed with 1 = 1 Now TimeInALM = 1, so second pass is 1+1=2 ANDed with 1 = 0 So TimeInALM is now zero and the cycle repeats Resolution Use parentheses to enforce the order of operations.  This resolves potential ambiguities. TimeInALM = TimeInALM + (PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 Alarm1 = On and PSS\ACX2.48\Num1 AckTransToOffNorm <> 255) Here is the complete PE Operator Order of Precedence for reference.

Issue How to run the Import/Export Fixup Utility Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Import Export Fixup Utility, I/E Fixup, IEFixup, IE,ImpExpFixupUtil.exe CX Controller, i2 Controller, Infinet Controller Cause Points not updating or alarms not coming in have resulted in PSS asking for the import export fixup utility to be run. Resolution Note: Before performing the steps listed below, make sure a database backup has been performed. Navigate to the \Continuum directory. The Import Export Fixup Utility is located here The filename is ImpExpFixupUtil.exe. Double-click it. It runs in a DOS window and when complete, creates a file in the format IEFixuptimestamp.log. In some cases the log file will open; in others it will be saved to the \Continuum directory.

Issue Minimizing network traffic when sharing data between Continuum Infinity controllers Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation All CXs All i2s, Infinet Controllers Cause Accessing a remote point’s attribute other than value is a point to point operation that generates extra traffic. Resolution Continuum controllers implement an Import/Export strategy in order to minimize network traffic when accessing the value of a point in a remote controller; this is in some ways similar to BACnet COV. When the value of a remote point is referenced in a PE program the system takes care of making sure the owner of the point sends the value to the subscriber(s) via the Import/Export system ONLY when the value changes. Consider the following PE program line… MyNum1 = RemoteCX\Num1 If a looping PE program sits on the line above no extra traffic is generated as the PE program gets the value of RemoteCX\Num1 from its local Import/Export table, information only goes on the wire when RemoteCX\Num1 changes value. The only problem here is that the Import/Export system ONLY works for the VALUE attribute, any other attribute requested from a remote object results in a point to point message on the network to obtain the requested attribute value. Consider the following PE program line in a CX controller we will call LocalCX NyNum1 = RemoteCX\Num1 size If a looping PE program sits on the line above a number of point to point messages would go on the wire every time the line executes. If there are many requests for attributes on remote objects a degrading in communications could take place. One way to avoid degrading communications as explained above is expose the value of the attribute in question by placing it in the value of a numeric object. Example: In RemoteCX create a numeric point (Num1Size) to hold the size of Num1 and use a PE program to set Num1Size Then the program in LocalCX will look like this… NyNum1 = RemoteCX\Num1Size Since the program is now going after the value attribute of Num1Size the import/export system will be used instead of point to point.

Issue The re-install of the Continuum system and security key is not being recognized. Product Line  Andover Continuum  Environment Continuum Cyberstation Sentinel Security Key Cause Driver not loaded Resolution Make sure the antivirus is not running on installation. If so, disable and re-install Continuum, or try to reinstall the Sentinel Key driver. The Sentinel Key driver is located in "\Continuum\ISSetupPrerequisites\{1F0227D8-C348-45F0-9789-1DEE3E8C5889}" directory and is an executable that can be run to install the driver. Sentinel Key drivers can be located on their website: http://www.safenet-inc.com/support-downloads/sentinel-drivers/ At times, the removal and reinstall of the driver still don't recognize the key even when it can be seen in another PC. If that is the case then do the following: Go to http://www.safenet-inc.com/support-downloads/sentinel-drivers/ and download SSDCleanup and run it. This will do a clean removal of sentinel drivers on the PC. Reboot and then reinstall the Sentinel driver from \Continuum\Install\Sentinel directory (SSDv7_xx.exe) Test multiple Windows accounts. There can be restrictions placed even on local admin accounts that interfere with reading the key.

Issue Where is graphic information stored in Continuum? Is any graphic information stored in the controller. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Continuum webClient Server Cause Need to know where Continuum Graphic information is stored. Resolution While during the Continuum installation process, pin files, image library files and background images are placed in the NewGraphicFiles folder on the workstation on which Cyberstation is installed, these files can alternately be stored on any network share.  Each workstation must have the location of these files defined in Pinpoint under View>Options.   The graphic information is stored in the dbo.Panel table in ContinuumDB.    The Graphics folder paths that are set from 'View\Options' are unique to each Cyberstation and are stored in the device table of the ContinuunmDB on the corresponding row of the appropriate Cyberstation in columns PPBackgroundsFolder, PPGraphicsFolder and  PPGraphicsLibraryFolder  No graphic information is stored in the controller

Issue Unable to control the field device with a Triac output. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Andover Continuum Environment Continuum b3 Controllers Continuum i2 Controllers Building Operation Multi-purpose Controllers with Triacs Cause Triac outputs cannot switch DC loads. Triac outputs require a minimum 30 mA load in order to switch.  Resolution If the inductive load draws less than 30mA a resistor needs to be wired in parallel with the switched load.

Issue Receiving warnings such as Import[SNMPv2-CONF] not found for mib [ACC-NC-ALARM-MIB] when loading EBO/Continuum MIB files into SNMP NSM tool Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Andover Continuum Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Continuum NetController II Cause Required base MIB files referenced in the IMPORT section of the EBO/Continuum MIB files not present Resolution The EBO/Continuum MIB files contain references on their IMPORT section to base MIB files that are commonly included with the SNMP tool used to compile the MIBs. (See screenshot below) Those files are typically included/installed by the SNMP NMS tool, in cases where the tool does not include the base files they must be located and either loaded manually before loading the EBO/Continuum MIB or placed at the appropriate folder for the tool being used. For example, when using MG-SOFT SNMP MIB browser, the tool places the base MIB files @ C:\Program Data\MG-SOFT\SMI Modules\MIB Modules\SMI

Issue All efforts to move a Continuum Virtual License from one host machine to another are unsuccessful. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause The license type is not shown as Re-hostable in the Sentinal Admin Control Center webpage.   The license type is not shown as re-hostable after applying the Re-hosting upgrade activation file received from Andover Upgrade Services.   The error Invalid Recipient information, process canceled! is displayed when entering the recipient id file (.id) in the RUS Key Utility.   The HaspRuntimeForContinuum.exe is the wrong version. Resolution Contact Andover Upgrade Services and provide them with a new host information file (.c2v) produced using the RUS Key Utility. On the host from which the license is to be transferred... HaspRuntimeforContinuum.exe is the most current version available on Exchange. Rus Key Utility is the latest version available on Exchange. Contact Product Support Services for assistance. On the host the license will be transferred to... The most current version of HaspRuntimeForContinuum.exe must to be installed prior to using the RUS Key Utility to generate the recipient fingerprint file (.id). The HaspRuntimeforContinuum must be installed As Administrator. On the host licensed host… HaspRuntimeforContinuum.exe is the most current version available on Schneider Electric Exchange.   A demonstration of the rehosting process can be viewed here.