Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue What diagnostic information is available within Niagara that can be sent to Product Support or acted on locally? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series Enterprise Server I/A Series Jace Cause Jace or Enterprise Server operating slow or specific problems are causing the need for debugging a station or platform Resolution There are several diagnostic tools available: Check the station Resource Manager Right-click on the station and select "Views - Station Summary" This will open up a resource monitor page where you can check CPU and memory usage.  The CPU should not be consistently above 80%.  Spiking is common as the process is executing and completing tasks.  There are other things easily referenced here also. Heap memory will vary as well.  It can slowly increase until a garbage collection cycle releases unused heap back to the pool.  You should never use more than 75% of the total available heap memory. Heap Memory is primarily used by station modules and java program objects, so if the memory usage is high, these 2 might be the main reasons Engine Hogs   Right-click on the station, and select "Spy". From the main view, click on "sysManagers". Click "engineManager" and then scroll down to find "Engine Hogs". Clicking Engine Hogs will open a list of the main components of the station and a column on the right-hand side will display the average execution time of the component. Review the top 10 or so and see if any are taking an extraordinary amount of time.  This can help to locate improperly executing objects. Driver Poll Rates Drivers that are based on polling data, like BACnet when COV is not enabled, or Modbus constantly run commands to read data based on the fast, normal, and slow configured rates.  Open the Poll Service under the network the points are being polled on. Looking at the property sheet of the driver, it is important to verify that the cycle time (1) for each rate (fast/normal/slow) is always equal to, or below the actual time configured (2) for that rate. The defaults are 1 second for Fast Cycle Time, 5 seconds for the Normal Cycle Time and 30 seconds for the Slow Cycle Time. Seeing a longer cycle time is usually an indication that the network is saturated with commands and may cause the Jace/Niagara controller to be slow with heavy use of controller resources.  There are several ways to correct this: changing the polling rate spreading the number of objects being polled at each rate, etc. In this example, all points (3) are in the "normal" bucket. Application Director console The "Application Director" (under "Platform") shows a live console output.  Open it by clicking the option under the platform Copy the content of the Application Director, or "stream to file" to send the content to support. It will be essential to help the support engineer to understand the problems in the station.  Add more debug information to the Application Director console You can add more granularity to the messages in the Application Director for a deeper look into possible issues. This can be accomplished in 2 different ways: Right-click on the station, and select "Spy". Then, select "logSetup" on the main view From the list that appears, you can scroll and find appropriate topics to log and you can select at what level you want the information to appear.  This will add traffic to the application Director window so be careful how "fine" and how many logs you enable.  It might be good to consult with support before enabling these logs. example; bacnet.debug/finest if you select this box. Debug Service   Select the "DebugService" from the station "Services" In the Log Category, type a few letters of the topic and scroll to find what you are interested in logging From the pulldown menu, determine the granularity of the log Click the plus Click "Save" Setting this logging and streaming the output to a file will allow information to be sent to support for better diagnostics if required.  Remember to set this logging back to "Default" when done so the Application Director is not overwhelmed with information when you are only trying to view normal station activity.

Issue How to add a third party LonWorks device? How to create a LonWorks device template? Why is a device template not available after import? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation version 1.8 and above Building Operation WorkStation Cause In order to add a third party device, need to create a device template (XIF file) for it. Device templates must be created in the server that the controller will created under. If a third party controller is going to be added to an AS-P that is associated to an ES, then the template must be created when logged into the AS-P directly. Resolution To import a device template   Log in to the SmartStruxure Server in which the device will be added underneath. In Workstation, Right mouse click on the Server and select LonWorks then import device Template. In the XIF file box, select the XIF file to import. Click Import. In the Template Name field, type a name for the template. Click OK. In the Import Device Template box, click Close. Now, this third party device template will be listed when adding a device into the LonWorks network. Note: If the device template refers to NVT or CPTs not on your system, you will be prompted to import necessary resource files. When the resource files have been imported, the device template import restarts. When finished, the device template is imported and available when creating a new device.

Issue Using Modbus TCP and Modbus Serial (EIA/TIA-485) on an AS together? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation. Environment AS-P Modbus TPC Modbus Serial Cause Communicating with two third party devices simultaneously. Both are using the Modbus communication protocol. One is Modbus TCP, the other Modbus Serial (EIA/TIA-485). Resolution Modbus TCP and Modbus Serial (EIA/TIA-485) can be used together on an AS-P. This configuration is supported and has been used many times.

Issue Can SLPSXC2 CO2 sensor calibration be used with both methods (ABC standard and Fresh Air process) at the same time? Product Line Field Devices. Environment Building Operation SmartX Living Space Sensor. Cause SLPSXC2 CO2 can be calibrated using two different methods. Automatic Baseline Calibration(ABC) The ABC algorithm constantly keeps track of the sensor’s lowest reading over a pre-configured time interval and slowly corrects for any long-term drift detected when compared to the expected fresh air value of 400 ppm. ABC calibration is enabled/disabled through coil 4 (invoke = enable ABC). Manual Calibration Coil 11 triggers the manual calibration (FRC 400ppm) => this will tell the sensor that the current level of CO2 should be interpreted as 400ppm. When setting this register to 1, it automatically goes back to 0 a couple of seconds later. Setting Coil 11 to value 1 is the same as pressing the calibration button. Resolution The both methods of calibration can be used simultaneously since one method is for correcting drift over time (1 week intervals), the other is a manually executed reset.   The only error would come if the unit was exposed to high CO2 concentrations at night, inducing abnormal averages. If ABC is disabled, manual calibration would need to be performed more frequently.

Issue What is the latest firmware version for the MNL-800? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A MNL-800 Cause Upgrade the device to the latest firmware. Resolution The latest firmware version is 2.0 (p/n MNEA-810-200), which was released in January 2004. See Announcement 04-01 listing the features of this version. Announcement regarding the end of commercialization of this part 

Issue There is no built-in Credential Type for the HID 37-Bit badge with no site code (H10302). Product Line Security Expert Environment Security Expert Server Access Card Format Cause Security Expert does not have the HID 37-Bit badge (H10302) with no site code as a built-in available Credential Type. Resolution 1) In the Security Expert Client, select Sites -> Credential Types 2) Create a new Credential Type with a name of your choosing. 3) Under Configuration, select the Format as Wiegand. 4) In the field labeled Wiegand or TLV Format, enter the following exactly as written:                                                        A,FACILITY,0,MSB,BIN__B,CARD,35,MSB,BIN__PBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBP_EXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.................._..................XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXO 5) Save   NOTE: This article assumes that the reader is familiar with creating and deploying Custom Credentials, If this is not the case, then please reference the Complex Transition Programming section of the Transitioning Continuum Sites to Security Expert - Transition Guide

Issue How to populate customized information on the SpaceLogic Sensor display Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SpaceLogic Living Space Sensor Building Operation Multi-purpose Controller Building Operation Multi-purpose VAV Building Operation Room Controller (RPC) Building Operation Workstation Cause Additional information required on how to customize information to be displayed on the SpaceLogic sensor Resolution Note: This feature may not work in controller FW V4.00.x, due to know issue Custom value text is not displayed and/or updated on the SmartX sensor device, in this case please upgrade controller firmware to V5.00.1 or higher. Before starting, make sure the Integrator Menu icon and the custom information page have been activated: The Integrator Menu icon can be configured under "SmartX Sensor Device/ Display/ Button and Scene configuration" as shown in the screenshot below: Turn on "Allow custom information page" under "SmartX Sensor Device/ Display /Advanced" tab. By doing this, the custom information page is created under the Integrator menu icon of SmartX Sensor Display:        To show how to add custom information to the custom information page of SmartX Sensor display, create a sample script program, where DI1 is a digital input and Status1 is a string output. numeric input DI1 String output Status1 If DI1 = on then Status1="running" Else Status1="not running"​   In this program, when DI1 is on, the Status1 gets the string value of “Running”, otherwise the Status1 gets the string value of “Not Running”. DI1 is bound to a Digital Value (Green Arrows) under the Application folder and Status1 is bound to the CustomValueText1 (Red Arrows) as shown below:   Open the Watch pane, under the View tab, and add Digital Value and CustomValueText1 (access it through the “SmartX Sensor Device/ Display/ Basic” tab) to it.  When the Digital Value is Active the Custom value text 1 shows “Running”. On the SmartX Sensor, navigate to the custom page through the Integrator menu icon, this will show the “Running” string. Likewise the “Not Running” string would be populated on the SmartX Sensor custom information page screen when the Digital Value is Inactive.  

Issue Browsing between different records in the Security Expert Client is slow. It takes a longer than normal amount of time to see records update. Product Line EcoStruxure Security Expert Environment Security Expert Client Cause There are a large number of unacknowledged alarms being stored in the SecurityExpertEvents database. When the Security Expert Client starts up it will process all of these unacknowledged alarms which can impact browsing the database. Resolution To resolve the immediate problem: 1. Reduce the size of the SecurityExpertEvents database by reducing the overall number of events that will be stored. Setting up automatic event purging and backup helps keep this in check. Under Global | Global Settings | General change the Purge Events older than from the default setting of "Never" to another value from the drop down menu. To backup these events before being purged, ensure the Generate Differential Events Backup option is checked. This is the default setting. 2. If there are more alarms to be acknowledged than can be done manually then contact Product Support mentioning this Knowledge Base Article. Remote access to the site and SQL Server will be required.   To minimize this from happening again: 1. Reduce the amount of events that are setup as alarms. Remove any alarms that are setup for All Events and review any configured alarms to ensure those events are required to be generating alarms. Double check all Inputs and Trouble Inputs to see if they have the Log to Event Buffer option enabled. Not all inputs will require this for normal operation and in some cases having this enabled can result in a large number of unwanted events being logged. This, in addition to an alarm setup to monitor the All Events event filter, is a recipe for disaster resulting in a large number of alarms being generated in a short amount of time. 2. Ensure that a large number of unacknowledged alarms are not allowed to build up over time. Alarms are not able to automatically acknowledged and will stay in the active alarms list until an operator acknowledges them. Operators need to acknowledge alarms on a regular basis. Note that it is possible to batch acknowledge blocks of alarms at one time in the Security Expert Client by doing a multiple selection then right-click acknowledge alarm. Note: If your system has already built up a large number of unacknowledged alarms and you want to quickly acknowledge them all at once to get back to a manageable starting point, then please raise a Support Case with your local Customer Care Centre and Product Support can assist in doing this with a 'one time' SQL Query direct to the Security Expert Database.

Issue With the same time interval as the trend log, the traffic on the LonWorks network increases for a short period. This can be seen by a spike in the LPA log when viewing the bandwidth. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Lonworks Cause The LonWorks traffic increases with the same time interval as the trend log. Resolution To ensure we could log values in the trend log from a LonWorks device, a subscription is set up about 30 seconds before the value should be logged. After the value is logged, the subscription is removed until the next log interval. A good solution to flatten a spike caused by this issue is to stagger the times of the LonWorks trend logs. This will ensure the subscription for all the logs do not happen at the same time.

Issue When comparing values of Modbus registers within WorkStation and Modscan the values do not match. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation. Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server. Building Operation Automation Server. Cause The third-party Modbus device does not support single register requests. Modscan was set to poll 10 registers as a group poll and giving the correct responses. The Modbus request in the Enterprise Server or Automation Server was polling individual register one at a time. This resulted in incorrect responses from the third party device Resolution Add a Modbus register group to the Server then add the Modbus points to this group. This will cause the Server to poll multiple registers in 1 request and get the correct response from the third party Modbus device.   For more information on Modbus grouping refer to the EBO Webhelp Modbus Register Groups topic

Issue How to read individual bits from a Modbus Holding Register that holds a 16-Bit Word and represent each Bit as a separate Digital point Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server (AS, AS-P, AS-B) Modbus TCP/IP Modbus RTU (RS485) Cause There is a requirement for a Modbus Holding Register that is a 16-bit unsigned value, each bit represents a digital state in the Modbus device and to replicate this as 16 separate digital states in EBO. The 16-bit unsigned value is an integer with a range of 0 to 65,535 and needs to be converted into 16 digital values. Resolution Use a Modbus Digital Input point for each bit required. Each object will be configured to read the same Modbus register address, but with a different bitmask value applied prior to evaluating the value. For example: Read Modbus Holding Register 40123 with a value of 32769 (16-bit unsigned) and decode bits 0, 8, and 15 as three separate Digital points Since the actual Value of 32769 being read at address 40123 is shown in Binary as 1000000000000001 it can be seen that Bit 0 and Bit 15 should return TRUE while Bit 8 should return FALSE Configure each point as follows: Modbus Digital Input Point 40123 bit 0 Register number 123 Register type 16 bit unsigned Read function code 03 Bit mask - enable only Bit 0   Modbus Digital Input Point 40123 bit 8 Register number 123 Register type 16 bit unsigned Read function code 03 Bit mask - enable only Bit 8   Modbus Digital Input Point 40123 bit 15 Register number 123 Register type 16 bit unsigned Read function code 03 Bit mask - enable only Bit 15   Additional information can be found in the EcoStruxure Building Operation - Technical Reference Guide - Search for Bitmask.   If you need to break this bit information out for programming this can be done with a FB application and just binding the full 16 bits to the FB as shown here.

Issue When looking in the EcoStruxure Building Operation Architectural Guidelines for the maximum number of Xenta and LonWorks devices per server, is a TAC Xenta I/O module placed under a TAC Xenta 300/400 counted as a LonWorks device? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Cause The SmartX Server or Enterprise Server doesn't know that the TAC Xenta I/O module exists if it is placed under a TAC Xenta 300/400. The SmartX Server or Enterprise Server only communicates with the TAC Xenta 300/400 and not the TAC Xenta I/O modules under it. Resolution The TAC Xenta I/O module does not count as a LonWorks device in the EcoStruxure Building Operation Architectural Guidelines if placed under a TAC Xenta 300/400. This also means a TAC Xenta I/O placed under a TAC Xenta 300/400 does not count as a  Hosted Node or Connected Product.

Issue Need to configure SMTP settings to use a Google SMTP server Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Cause There is no SMTP settings configured by default Resolution Note: As of May 30, 2022 please also consult Less secure apps & your Google Account 

Issue LON card indicates fault (unique name required) when multiple LON cards are installed in the JACE-6E, JACE-7 or Jace 8000 Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series G3, JACE-600, JACE-600E, JACE-700 I/A Series N4 JACE 8000 Cause The default name when adding a LON network to the G3/N4 station is LON1.  Both networks will attempt to use the same LON card (LON1) causing a fault condition. Resolution Under each LonNetwork within the Lon Comm Config, specify a unique device name for each card or network (LON1 and LON2).  In the case of the JACE 8000, a total of (4) LON modules is acceptable but would not be advised.  Continue with LON3, and LON4 if required.  

Issue How to decrease the amount of LonWorks network traffic by using throttling. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server Premium (AS-P) Cause EBO servers could generate a lot of communication on the LonWorks Network. Throttling could be activated to decrease the amount of traffic. Resolution To decrease the amount of LonWorks Network traffic, it is possible to activate Basic Bandwidth Throttling. The setting is found under the Advanced tab for the properties for the Lonworks Local FT-10 Interface.   Picture showing default settings.   This video will show how to activate Basic Bandwidth Throttling and what impact this could have on the amount of LonWorks Network traffic.   At the end of this session you will be able to: Set up Basic Bandwith Throttling for the LonWorks network  

Issue Checking if a port is open Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Expert, EcoStruxure Building Operation, Field Devices, Pelco, Satchwell MicroNet, Satchwell Sigma, TAC IA Series, TAC INET, TAC Vista Environment TCP/IP Communication Command Prompt Telnet Command Cause Suspect certain network ports are blocked and need to verify Resolution It is possible to check if a port is open in a network by issuing the Telnet command. Note:- Telnet operates using the TCP protocol. UDP connectivity cannot be tested using Telnet. If a port is open, a blank screen will be seen after issuing the command: telnet [domainname or ip] [port] where [domainname or ip] is the domain name or IP address of the server being checked [port] is the port number the server application is listening on For example: telnet 192.168.0.20 9001 (to a closed port would display a connect failed message)   telnet 192.168.0.20 9003 (to an open port would display a blank screen)   To exit the Telnet session, type Ctrl + ] and then type "quit".   For how to enable Telnet in Windows 7 please see Enable Telnet Client on a Windows 7 PC

Issue Need to know the maximum length of a DNS name for an EcoStruxure Building Operation server Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation Enterprise Server EcoStruxure Building Operation Automation Server Domain Name System (DNS) Cause Configure DNS names for EcoStruxure Building Operation servers and need to understand if there are any limitations Resolution Domain names (including the names of domains, hosted zones, and records) consist of a series of labels separated by dots. Each label can be up to 63 bytes long.  The total length of a domain name cannot exceed 255 bytes, including the dots. Please see the Address section of EcoStruxure BMS Server Communication for additional information. 

Issue Provide the information required to support ProView for LON with Niagara G3 and N4 Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series G3 (3.5.34 or higher) I/A Series Niagara N4 (4.1.27.20 or higher) ProView for LON (MNL-PROV-WAL) Cause Required files for configuring the ProView for LON display with G3 and N4. Resolution Support for ProView for LON with I/A Series G3 and N4 requires the download and installation of the Distech Controls EC-NET-AX Support Package and EC-Display Configuration files.  Those files are available for download from The Exchange Download Center. Download the following files. BCS Distech Controls EC-Display Configuration v3.4.369 Setup.zip Distech Controls EC-NET AX Support Pack v4.4.17198.1 Setup.zip Unzip the files and run the executables to install the Distech Controls EC-NET-AX Support Package and Distech Controls EC-Display Configuration files. Follow the instructions to install the version(s) required. Install the Distech distribution file into the ENC (if required) using the platform distribution installer. The distribution file will be located in the Distech Controls Files directory added to G3 or N4 during the installation process. Open the distechControls palette (LonWorks - Services container) and add the LonWorksWizardService to the Services. Open the Drivers - ConfigurableControllers container and add the EcDis210 device object to the LonNetwork. Commission the ProView device using the LON Device Manager. Right-click on the EcDis210 and select Views - Ec Dis Wizard to test the wizard connection and launch the display wizard.

Issue Niagara 4.9 (or later) sometimes has a new Host ID that differs from the Host IDs of other versions of Niagara that were installed on the same host PC Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series N4 Enterprise Server Cause Niagara 4.9 and later, are only available in a 64-bit version. The older Niagara versions installed on the host PC are probably 32-bit versions, which will always have Host IDs different from 64-bit versions. Resolution If the older versions are Niagara 4.3 or lower, you may need to update the older versions, as per the following document… I/A Series G3 and N4 Eliminating multiple HostID on a single PC  Niagara 4.9 (or later) is only available in a 64-bit version.  The other Niagara versions installed on the host PC are probably 32-bit versions, which will always have Host IDs different from 64-bit versions.  In this case, the host PC will require one of the following Un-installing the 32-bit versions and re-installing 64-bit equivalents One license, to be "transferred" to a different Host ID when necessary Multiple licenses, one for each unique Host ID.

Warning Potential for Data Loss: The steps detailed in the resolution of this article may result in a loss of critical data if not performed properly. Before beginning these steps, make sure all important data is backed up in the event of data loss. If you are unsure or unfamiliar with any complex steps detailed in this article, please contact Product Support for assistance. Issue How are the pull down lists populated in the Personnel Manager for fields such as Department, Hair Color etc? How to edit/remove entries from those lists. In the screen shot below the site has changed the name of a department from 'Technical Support' to 'Product Support', how to go about removing the old department name from the list. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Microsoft SQL Cause Documentation Resolution The 'Department List' is populated from the department column of the Personnel table, the Personnel Manager walks the column and adds to the list any department name string that is not already present on the list. Since the list is dynamically populated from that database, to remove an entry from the list, all instances of personnel objects that have been assigned to that department must be changed until no personnel object remains with a department string equal to the string that we want removed from the list. In cases where only a few personnel objects are assigned to the department string to be removed, we can manually edit those personnel objects and change the department. In many cases the manual approach is not practical due to a large number of personnel objects that will need to be manually modified, in such cases the change can be made directly in the SQL database using the following query. ***** MAKE SURE TO HAVE A FRESH BACKUP OF THE DATABASE BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES DIRECTLY IN SQL **** update personnel set department = 'Product Support' where department = 'Technical Support'--------------------------> To rename an entry on the list. update personnel set department = NULL where department = 'ISIS'------------------------------------------------------------> To remove an entry on the list. Note the all personnel assigned to ISIS department will now have a BLANK department