Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Schedule Import will not update. Environment G3 Niagara Cause Schedule import defaults to Manual update this will prevent the schedule from automatically.. Resolution Schedule execution time can be set to daily, days of week, interval and manual.  Please consult Doc Drivers document.  

Issue Vista server crashes several times every day. Error message written in Windows event viewer: Faulting application Tacos.exe, version 5.1.7.219, faulting module Tacdbi.dll, version 5.1.7.219, fault address 0x00075799. Environment TAC Vista 5.1.7 Cause When doing a backup and the option "Retrieve trendlog data" is marked Vista will do a search for all trendlogs in the server and then go out and retrieve the logdata. Vista crash when the search for the trendlogs is made.   Resolution In the backup object unmark the "Retrieve trendlog data" option.

Issue Get error message "bad quality" reading values from Vista OPC server with a OPC client. Environment Vista OPC server 1.x.x Cause The problem was that the LON license which is a part of the Vista server license was missing. Resolution Installed the Vista server license and the OPC client could read the values fine.

Issue Which actuator is suitable for the MG221F valve when modulating control signal (0-10V) is required? Environment VG221F M800 M1500 Forta Cause There are a few different actuators listed in the VG221F documentation, but not all of them are available with modulating 0-10V control signal.  Resolution The Forta M800 and M1500 are both listed as suitable actuators for the VG221F, and both are capable of using the modulating 0-10V control signal.

Issue A PE program is configured to write to the Present Value of a point in a third party IP level device, the program is enabled/active but the value in the 3rd party device is not taking on the new value.  Environment CyberStation bCX4040 3rd party IP level BACnet device Cause Wireshark capture shows the bCX trying to locate the 3rd party device via directed who-is message, the capture also shows that the bCX is directing the who-is message to the wrong sub-network. The reason for the above is an improperly configured subnet mask in the bCX Resolution The bCX will calculate the subnet address by taking its own IP address and ANDing it with the subnet mask, if the subnet mask is incorrect the calculation will render an incorrect address. Configure the bCX subnet mask correctly using the controller's web page configuration.

Issue Personnel object fails distribution with 'Invalid card entry' error. Environment CyberStation ACX5740 Cause Personnel object created via CSV file. Something went wrong during the create process. Opening the personnel object for edit shows right values, it is not obvious what is wrong with the card information. Resolution Edit the personnel object and make a change in one of the attributes that gets distributed to the controller such as expiration date After the above, personnel object distributes successfully to the controller. If lots of records have the problem, make a list view and perform the change on all the objects at once.

Issue Port 23 is opened through Telnet and can provide a security access breach into a system. Product Line TAC INET Environment All versions of I/Net Software on All Supported Operating Systems. Cause When the Delta Debug tables are set to 1 or 2, it opens up port 23 for use but also Telnet can be used as well. Resolution The following steps need to be followed to resolve this issue: Go to Run and type regedit Open up HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Expand the Software tab and expand CSI-Control Systems International On x64 Based Systems the above folder is located under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node Open up the Configurations tab and click on the Active Configuration that is currently running in I/Net On the right side window, scroll down to Debug Tables, right-click and modify the setting Change the value to a 0, close out of it, close I/Net and I/o server and restart it again. P.S. This should close that port but be aware that Telnet would not be able to function when this is done.

Issue Remote Alarm Manager running on a Vista server loses license. Environment RAM Remote Alarm Manager License entitlement Cause There are two issues here. Issue one: Remote alarm manager running with TAC Vista Occasionally (2- 4 weeks) the Remote alarm manager indicates a temporary read error of the TAC license server. This can be seen as: - Unable to check out a licence Dongle failure 30 day limited mode entered - expires **/**/**** *:**:** This in itself is a minor issue but when combined with the second issue has a major impact on the operation on site. Issue two: Remote alarm manager running with TAC Vista Remote alarm manager fails to recover after its license management briefly loses a valid license from the TAC license server. Remote alarm manager doesn't recover This can be seen repeated in RAMs database as: - Checking for TAC Licence Server. Checked out a single licence OK Licence state - 1 interface(s) in demo   Resolution Contact Product Support and provide the following information: To facilitate a quick solution for this issue please supply the following details: - Site company name and address Copy of the original Remote Alarm Manager registration form. Copy of TAC license entitlement form. Confirmation of Vista version installed. Confirmation of Remote Alarm Manager version installed. Type of installation (engine, interface and consul ((installed on Vista server or remote)  The computer operating system for the R.A.M./Vista installation.

Issue Not all commands in Plain English are available in Building Operation Script. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Script editor in Building Operation Cause Conversion of PE to Building Operation script is unsuccessful. Unsupported Script commands. Resolution Plain English may be imported into Building Operation; however, there are some minor edits that must be performed to make it work. Bindings must be applied. There is some automated manipulation of PE to Script upon import and it should continue to improve in future releases. By creating a "dump" file in Continuum and editing the file to remove the Header and Footer areas, the remaining code can be imported into Building Operation as Script. There are some functions Continuum uses that will not be used in Building Operation, the Script will error upon event to save if unsupported code is used in the imported script. Notification of each line of code is in error will occur upon a save attempt. Navigate to the lines in error and correct the code. The following link has information on PE to Script changes. Log in is required to access full online help: StruxureWare Building Operation Online Help

Issue UTC offset attribute of a Continuum controller does not persist after controller restart. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CX9680 ACX57xx bCX4xxx bCX9640 Cause The UTC offset attribute of a controller does not persist after controller re-start. Resolution Create an autostart PE program in the controller to set the UTC offset using the 'GetName' function as follows (The reason why GetName must be used is beyond the scope of this article) getname("CX_NAME UTCOffset") = -300 stop E: Stop *Replace the value -300 above with the appropriate UTC offset **The E line keeps the program from getting disabled if it encounters a run time error.

Issue Since the Forta M500B actuator is no longer available in our portfolio, a replacement is requested. Environment TAC Forta M500B M400 M800 Cause Replacing old, obsolete actuator. Resolution Depending on valve size and required force, Forta M400 or M800 are the recommended replacement actuators.

Issue Enterprise Server station upgrade failure from I/A Series R2 version 529 to 532. The station in version 529 was successfully converted from DB to XML format. The following error was seen when converting the station from XML to DB in version 532. ERROR: c:\niagara\r2.301.532\stations\ \config.xml (7270,149) : Unknown class "tridiumx.commercialCooking.CommercialCookingService". Parse of XML failed.   Environment I/A Series r2.301.529 and earlier I/A Series r2.301.532 Cause When you create a new station as a server station in I/A Series R2, you will normally select the option 'Is this station going to be a server?' checkbox in the New Station Wizard. When you make this selection, the Backup Service and the Database Service which are needed by a server station will be automatically selected. In versions r2.301.529 WorkPlace Pro and earlier, the Commercial Cooking Service is also automatically selected, so this should be unchecked since this is not being used. However, if you did not uncheck the Commercial Cooking Service, the Enterprise Server station will still run and work normally. In I/A Series version r2.301.532, the Commercial Cooking module is no longer available and is not installed during the installation of the I/A Series software. The error will occur if you try to convert the station database from XML to DB in version 532 because the database contains the Commercial Cooking Service which does not have a corresponding module. Resolution In I/A Series version 529, you should remove the Commercial Cooking Service from the station before you perform a conversion from DB to XML format.

Issue Following a power spike the controller keeps going on/offline. Ethernet TD & RD LED's flashing erratically. Environment CX9400 Eclipse AEclipse Cause CPU card damaged by the mains supply power spike. Resolution If no LED's are lit on the CPU then it is likely that the PSU is faulty or a fuse blown, Replace fuse or return PSU for repair. If the CPU and IO modules have power then it is likely to have damaged the CPU card, test with a replacement card and if this fixes the problem return the faulty card for repair. If problem persists problem could be with the IO cards, disconnect the external IO connections to eliminate any issues from the field wiring, sensors, actuators. Then start unplugging the IO cards to determine if one of those are faulty causing the communications problem. If this does not resolve the issue, and the PSU has not been replaced it could still be damaged/ overheating from the power spike, test with a replacement PSU. Lastly if all else fails return the complete unit for repair where the Backplane, PSU, CPU and IO modules can all be tested together. As the product is now obsolete, if it can not be repaired it will need to be replaced by a combination of Netcontroller 2 and IO modules, but check the compatibility matrix to ensure the Cyberstation version is compatible.

Issue Cannot restore SAV file to Controller be it a 7798, 7793, 7716, 7756, 7718, etc. and possibly cannot save controller in Netcon Environment I/NET site with controllers Cause Need to restore database to controller but cannot save in Network Configuration Resolution Problem is the database does not have what Network Configuration sees, then you have the + symbol in Cnf on the far right. If you save, then exit Netcon, then go back into Netcon and it still shows a + symbol in Cnf, then the save is not being saved to the database. Remove SQL database and create fresh clean database. Then save the controller in Netcon then you can restore the SAV file to the controller. 

Issue How can I create a list view that will show only user activity where the user has deleted an object from the database? Environment CyberStation ListView Action Code Cause Need to research what items have been deleted from Continuum by others. Resolution Create a listview. On the General Tab configure the fields as follows. Class: Activity Event Filter: Today Path Type: AllPaths On the Columns Tab add the following columns TimeStamp UserName NodeName EventObjectId Description Action Code On the Qualifier Tab use the Query Wizard to configure the following attribute filter. Attribute: Action Code Operator: Is Value: 2

Issue How do we specify the amount of memory (base or extended) when ordering a UNC-520-2 or ENC-520-2? Environment UNC-520-2 or ENC-520-2 Cause Customer request Resolution All UNC-520-2 and ENC-520-2 controllers shipped since April, 2010 have been shipped with extended memory.  

Issue When an object is created in a controller, Continuum throws an "Unable to insert row in Database Table" error. Environment SQL Continuum CyberStation ContinuumDb Cause New database user created with restricted permissions Resolution When Continuum DB initialization creates the Andover97 user in SQL, it grants essential database access permissions to the user.  Restricting these permissions can impair routine functions in Continuum.

Issue When editing a card layout in EPI Designer how are the live fields linked to the Personnel attributes? Environment Cyberstation with card badging -B Option. Cause Clarification on how to link to personnel attributes Resolution Select the "Dynamic Image" icon from the top menu, then use the cursor to draw a box the size of the photo required on the card. Right Click the new box and select "Properties" Select the Image Tab, then from the image type drop down select from Photograph, Signature or Fingerprint. In this case these 3 options do not require a Field Name entering as they already define the attribute required. Other settings can be selected / adjusted as required on the other tabs. Save the badge layout, close EPI Designer, then select File, Print Preview Card from the Make/Edit Badge screen. This will show how the Photo, Signature or Fingerprint image will look on the card.

Issue Where can I find documentation on the JACE-600 or JACE-700 controllers?  Product announcement did not include the documentation or any location references. Environment JACE-600 JACE-700 Cause Product documentation was being finalized at time of announcement. Resolution The documentation for the JAC-600, JACE-700 and all accessories for them are available in the documentation set included with the latest release of the I/A Series G3 software.  This software and included documentation is available by downloading "Release 3.6.31 Files" on The Exchange Download Center. As of the date of writing, both the "TAC_IA_Series_ENC_SW-3.6.31.7.zip" and "TAC_IA_Series_ENS-3.6.31.7.zip" include the documentation in Mounting and Wiring section of index tree.

Issue Where can I find the SE7000 Room Controller LonMaker Plug-Ins and device resource files? Environment SE7000 Series Room Controller Cause Plug-ins and device resource files required for interface into LON network management tools (e.g. Echelon LonMaker, etc.). Resolution The files are available for download from the Exchange Extranet.