Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Steps for replacing a BACnet B3 controller and things to consider. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum b3xxx Controller Cause Steps for replacing a BACnet B3 controller and things to consider. Resolution Steps for replacing a B3 controller and things to consider. Use these steps when replacing a B3 controller from brand new stock, it is relatively straight forward. Physically disconnect power and MS/TP data cables from existing B3 Controller. Remove existing B3 Controller. Install replacement B3 Controller. Pull the battery tab on replacement B3. Connect MS/TP data cable to the replacement B3 controller. Connect power to the replacement B3 controller. Edit the B3 controller object in Continuum on the infinity side. On the Runtime tab enter the Serial Number of the new replacement B3 controller and click Apply. Click refresh until B3 controller returns Online. Reload the B3 Controller. Verify existing points and programs are running correctly. Perform a “Backup to Flash” operation on the B3 controller. Perform “Send to Database” operation on B3 controller from BACnet view. One scenario, for example, is the Replacement B3 controller came from a different job that has previously been programmed and has a valid flash backed up onto it. If installed on the new network, when powered up will start trying to communicate with controllers it has routing tables for. Could potentially cause issues on the new network. It is suggested that if you are replacing with a previously used controller from an old site with a valid flash backed up is to flush the controller out before applying to the new network. From a test machine with a test DB bring the controller online, this will require a BCX to do as well. Once the B3 is learned in and online, perform a reload to the controller and then a backup to flash. The only thing that will be reloaded will be the system variables. Another thing to think about is let's say you've already replaced the B3 and sent it off to repair. You've got it back and now want to put it back to its original location. That one is very simple and following the replacement steps above will suffice. Just remember that step 8 above you would make sure the Bacnet Device ID and the serial number match for the original unit integration. But if you wanted to add a new B3 controller to the same site and use the repaired B3 as a newly installed controller, just remember that the previously replaced B3 will have the Bacnet Device ID of the repaired B3 and you'll have to make sure that when manually creating a new B3 with the repaired B3 you'll have to make a new Bacnet Device ID that is unique. Rules to remember: Flush out used B3 controllers before adding to an existing MS/TP network or replacing a defective B3 Bacnet Device ID's must be unique for each given BACnet network  

Issue Receiving message that KB2919355 must be installed when installing SQL Server 2016 on Windows Server 2012R2 Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC Vista Environment Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Windows Server 2012R2 Cause To Install SQL 2016 on Windows Server 2012R2 you must have KB2919355 installed. Resolution To install KB2919355 you must first install KB2919442.  Once this patch is installed then you will need to install KB2919355.  After this patch is installed you will need to restart the server.  After the reboot you should be able to restart the SQL server install and complete it. Links for the required patches Download Windows update KB2919442 Download Windows update KB2919355

Issue What are the fiber cabling specifications for an Infilink i2210? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Infinet Infilink i2210 Mstp B-link-F Series Cause Fiber connections have specific parameters to work properly Resolution From the I2210 and B-link-F Series Installation Guides Fiber Optic cable: 62.5/125 duplex glass multimode fiber optic cable with ST-style connector Maximum attenuation allowable: 12 db For some additional information related to fiber optic terminology, see the following: https://arcelect.com/fibercable.htm

Issue When creating a new database an error pops up that indicates that the Windows login name or password is invalid. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause There is already a Continuum database created. Permissions for the Windows user are not allowing the database creation. Resolution Check to see if there are Continuumdev and ContinuumLog files in the folder. (Look for the folder path in database initialization) Use My Computer to navigate to that folder and see if the files already exist. If they do, copy them if needed and then delete them. Try the database creation again after that. The Windows user may not have the appropriate permissions as an admin Create a new local admin user and then login using the new login Try the database creation 

Issue Procedure to Install and Configure Continuum Reports Suite Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Reports Suite Cyberstation 1.81 and above Cause Need to generate Continuum Reports using the Continuum Reports suite package Resolution

Issue Personnel Manager displays "Error getting root folder name" when launching. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Personnel Manager (PIM) Cause At boot time, Personnel Manager queries the ContinuumDB to find the Root container by ID using the following SQL query: SELECT uiname FROM Dictionary WHERE objectidhi = 0 AND objectidlo = 536870913  "Error getting root folder name" will be generated if PIM is unable to access the ContinuumDB or can not find the root object for any other reason. Resolution The User account control slider on a Windows 7 PC will need to be moved all the way to the bottom. Check/resolve for database connectivity errors. Make sure Firewall settings are not preventing the PIM from getting to the SQL server. If the problem persists try the following:   Check to see if Badgemanager.exe is starting. If not then a perform clean uninstall of EpiBuilder with the following steps: From Add/Remove programs (Programs and Features in Windows 7) Uninstall Run Regedit (Start > Run > regedit) Get a registry back by Right clicking on HKey_Local_Machine\Software\ImageWare Systems\EpiBuilder  and select Export and save the selected branch to a file location. This can be used to restore the registry key if necessary. Windows 7: HKey_Local_Machine\Software\WoW6432Mode\ImageWare Systems\EpiBuilder Right Click the same registry branch from step c and select Delete Reboot the PC Reinstall EpiBuilder by going to My Computer or Windows explorer, double click on C:\Program Files\Continuum\EpiBuilder\SDK\InstallEpiBuilder.bat Note: This runs very quickly Start Cyber and open a badge in Personnel Manager If using a VBScript File to redirect communication between principal DB server to mirror DB server, coding may need to be updated. Example: x32 vs x64 bit coding differences For x32: strRegName = "HKLM\Software\Andover Controls\Continuum\Primary Database\Server" strRegData = WshShell.RegRead(strRegName) For x64: strRegName = "HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Andover Controls\Continuum\Primary Database\Server" strRegData = WshShell.RegRead(strRegName)

Issue "Helix YUV Codecs (remove only)" shows up under Windows "add/remove programs" after Continuum is installed. What is this and is it part of Continuum? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation 2.02 and earlier Windows Cause A Continuum Cyberstation installation brings with it several additional programs in order to run properly. These can be seen in the "Add/Remove Programs" interface. These programs may remain installed even after an uninstall/upgrade of Continuum. Resolution Helix YUV Codecs is part of the Continuum installation. The installation file is "yuvcodecs-1.2.exe" located on the CD in "..\Continuum\ISSetupPrerequisites\{1D2652A6-D9B2-43ED-8009-987E762962A2}". The Codecs install is part of the SVG viewer program for WebClient graphics in Continuum 2.02 and earlier.  This was removed from the Continuum 2.03 installation. If desired, this program can be removed if it is no longer in use.

Issue A BCX4040 is brought online on the Infinity side, but the device cannot be found when running Find New BACnet Devices. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BACNET Cyberstation Find New Bacnet Devices Cause BACnet is disabled in the BACnet preferences. Resolution Under BACnet preferences, set item #1 - Enable BACnet to true.

Issue When trying to reload a B3867 controller or add log arrays to existing points, a memory error is encountered. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum 1.xxx B3867 Cause A memory allocation defect that was found in the -V versions of the controller was fixed in drop 51 of the -V firmware. The same issue was resolved in drop 64, but was not listed in the release notes. Resolution Update the B3867 version to the drop 64 rev.

Issue What address to use to email/SMS alarms from a SmartStruxure Server, Xenta controller, or Vista to a cell phone Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC INET, TAC Vista Environment Xenta Servers Xenta 511, 527, 701, 711, 721, 731, 913 Vista Server Automation Server Enterprise Server Email, SMS, Text Alarms Cause Vista and SmartStruxure are only capable of sending out SMTP email alarms; however, it can accomplish a "paging" or SMS functionality by sending emails to mobile providers' default email addresses. Resolution For the following services use: T-Mobile 0123456789@tmomail.net Virgin Mobile 0123456789@vmobl.com Cingular 0123456789@cingularme.com Sprint 0123456789@messaging.sprintpcs.com Verizon 0123456789@vtext.com Nextel 0123456789@messaging.nextel.com AT&T 0123456789@txt.att.net 0123456789 = the 10 digit cell phone number When setting up the "From" email address in the Server Setup, it needs to have an @xyz.com for example, at the end of the from address to allow the text message to go through. Note that these addresses could change and you should consult your service provider for details.

Issue How does Continuum synchronize a person's current area across controllers and what happens if a controller is offline at the time of synchronization? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment All Continuum controllers that support physical access control CX9900 CX9702 CX9680 ACX5720 ACX5740 Cause Understanding the synchronization process can help with troubleshooting issues. Resolution Upon processing a valid access at a door the controller sends out a Personnel Update message to all peers controllers as well as down its Infinet for the benefit of ACX7xx field devices. Note that the message is sent out to ALL controllers that have been taught regardless of whether they are doing access control or not or whether they contain a distributed copy of the personnel object. The update personnel message includes the following information The time the update message was built The ID of the door where access was granted The handle ID of the personnel object that was granted access at the door The handle ID of the area the person was granted access to The time access was granted Upon receipt of the message, the recipient controllers performs a find by ID of the personnel object, if found the object’s current area is updated otherwise the message is discarded. The recipient controller must acknowledge receipt of the message, if it does not, the sending controller retries 3 times, if a controller is offline and misses the update the corresponding record in its database will be stale, this in turn may cause entry-egress and/or anti-passback not to operate correctly until the next update message is received.

Issue How can a Continuum and a Schlage AD Series integration system be configured to unlock different doors, on the same controller, on different time schedules? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Schlage Xdriver Schlage AD Series locks Cause The documentation states, "Unlock schedule is supported, only one schedule point per controller." Resolution There is only one door unlock schedule allowed per controller. You must use the xDriver point. Therefore, there is no way to unlock different doors, on the same controller, on different time schedules using the door force unlock schedule on the door editor options tab. However, you can create additional schedules, but instead of attaching them to the door unlock schedule, the schedule will trigger a PE program and toggle the door permanent unlock attribute. Be aware that the PermanentUnlock Clear event is not captured. If this method is used, the customer could only see the permanent unlock event and not the Clear event.

Issue How can the content of an email or pager alarm message be edited? The message is too long to display correctly on a pager. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2003/2008 Server Microsoft Windows 7 Microsoft Outlook Cause Alarm messaging can be customized or truncated for display in a pager, where the number of characters is more limited. Resolution Go To C:/Program Files/Continuum or C:/Program Files (x86)/Continuum if using a 64bit OS Open Normalemail.txt or Normalpager.txt Edit the file in this format: Email On Alarm : Continuum Time : <\date> <\time> , Name : <\name> , Value : <\value> , State : <\state> , Message: <\message> , THIS IS THE body of the EMAIL I RECEIVE Email On Alarm : Continuum Time : July 21, 2010 03:12:53 PM , Name : Danet\da9900two\testnum , Value : On , State : Alarm , Message: Error ,​

Issue When reloading controllers, Continuum reports the following error: "An error occurred while installing the directory service." Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Alarm Points Cause A Continuum object is referencing a point in a controller that is offline or that requires a reload. Resolution Either reload the controller that owns the referenced point, or restore communication with that controller.

Issue How does a controller get an alarm into the database when using the Enhanced Alarm Logging feature of CyberStation? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Cyberstation Cause Continuum Alarms are configured in the Netcontrollers and Infinet-controllers at each site. Only the CX Controller sends alarms to the Cyberstations once a point in the Controller surpasses its threshold and goes into an alarm state. The CX Controller then uses an internal algorithm to determine which CyberStation will log the alarm. Resolution The alarm is sent to the first (Non "0" Network ID) Cyberstation on its list of known devices. If the controller does not get a response from this workstation that the alarm was logged, it will try again three more times. If the workstation still does not respond to the controller, the controller will flag this workstation as offline in its internal controller database. It will then move to the next workstation in its list until it finds a workstation that is online and has logged the alarm successfully. If no workstations respond to the controller, the controller will buffer the alarm internally until it can find a workstation that is online. If the workstation is online, the alarm will be logged to the Continuum Database and then the database will notify the Workstation that the alarm was logged successfully. When the workstation gets this notification from the database that the alarm was logged, it will in turn send a notification to the CX controller that the alarm was logged successfully. Next, the controller will send the alarm to all recipient workstations for this alarm. When the controller is sending the alarm to the other recipient workstations it will follow the same logic and try to send it three times to each. If for any given recipient workstations the controller does not get a response that the alarm was received the controller will flag that workstation as offline internally and not try to send the alarm to that workstation again.

Issue If only Cyberstation was installed, but Webclient is needed will installing Webclient over the top work? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Webclient Windows XP Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause At times a Webclient install is needed but a Cyberstation installation was done. Resolution Trying to install over the top will not install the needed web components. The recommended installation of Webclient when Cyberstation has been installed first is as follows: Uninstall Cyberstation Reboot Install Webclient Run the following command after the install to re-register .NET framework with IIS. C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -i​

Issue Need the ability to identify controllers on a network and in a database Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Infinet Bacnet Cause Controllers have an internal model type number reference that can be used to identify which controller is in use on a system Resolution Here's a list of most of the Continuum controller types and their associated numbers Network Controllers Types 9001 1 9200 6 8000 7 9300 18 AC256P 19 9400 22 9410 32 9900 42 9940 44 9924 50 b4920 52 9702 53 bCX9640 55 bCX4000 56 bCX4040 58 9680 61 5720 63 5740 65   Infinity Controller Types 800 2 810 3 850 4 851 5 853 7 890 8 700 9 891 10 892 11 920 13 780 19 865 23 866 24 867 25 701 28 781 29 i2850 40 i2851 41 i2853 42 i2865 43 i2866 44 i2867 45 i2920 46 i2800 47 i2804 48 i2810 49 i2814 50 i2608 51 i2616 52 i2624 53 i2885 54 i2886 55 i2887 56 i2888 57 i2889 58   Bacnet B3 Controller Types b3850 59 b3851 60 b3852 61 b3853 62 b3920 63 b3865 64 b3866 65 b3867 66 b3885 67 b3800 68 b3804 69 b3810 70 b3814 71 b3608 72 b3624 73 b3887 74

Issue What is the startup process for i2 and b3 controllers. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment i2 Infinet controllers b3 BACnet MS/TP controllers Cause Startup and battery/ flash backup information required. Resolution On start-up an i2 or b3 controller will try to restart from the RAM if it contains valid data, programs continue from the last line, point values and logged data & alarms are retained. If the RAM checksum is not valid or the RAM backup battery is not connected (tag not removed) then it will try to do a Cool Start, copying over the Flash memory to RAM and starting all programs from the first line. Logged data, current values and alarm status is lost. You can check the validity of the flash memory using the ACCLastBackup and ACCStatusBackup, these should give the time/date of the last backup to flash and its current status e.g. backup valid or backup required. Otherwise if there is no valid flash the controller will cold start and require a reload from Cyberstation.

Issue Enabling Extended Log with third party trend logs crashes the Continuum Workstation. When extended log is enabled, an accdataservices error may be received after a period of time. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum 1.94 SP1 Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008 Windows 7 BACnet Cause Some Third Party Equipment has built in trend logs. Even though these logs may not be needed, they are configured by default and may not be able to be deleted. When the trend log buffer is full, they try to send the buffered data down to the Cyber and SQL server. An AccdataService error can generate because the Event enrollments and event notification was not configured. Resolution Disable or disconnect the 3rd party device Edit the Trend logs and set LogInterval, RecordCount RecordsSinceNotifcation and RecordsDownloaded to 0. This will stop the trend log from downloading to the database.

Issue Continuum ODBC Data Source does not appear in Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator. Continuum is operating normally in spite of this. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Windows 7 Cause Multiple possible causes Windows issue Known Continuum issue in 1.94 running in 64 bit machine. Resolution See Microsoft solution: System DSN Entries Do Not Appear in ODBC Data Source Administrator (odbcad32.exe) Continuum ODBC System DSN is not created on x64 Bit systems A workaround is to run c:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe and the Continuum ODBC is available.