Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Controllers underneath a LonWorks Interface are going offline, or values are taking long periods of time to update. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Cause There could be a number of causes for Lon communication problems including running the communication wire near high voltage, the Lon is shorted out, or loose terminations. Resolution In EcoStruxure Building Operation (EBO) Workstation you can use the Diagnostics tab under each controller to help troubleshoot the communication issue. From here you can monitor the device state, packet errors, transaction timeouts, receive transaction full errors, lost messages, missed messages, last reset case, and the last error logged. To access the Diagnostics tab, select the controller in the System Tree, and click the Variables tab. Then click the Diagnostics tab on the right side of the screen. Here you will find the different device statuses and statistics. The Packet errors can be used to help identify controllers that are having severe problems and may need the communication wire to be physically checked. In order to test the Packet errors, first you will want to clear the current packet error count. You can do this by right clicking on the controller and selecting Advanced -> Clear Status. This will set the packet error count back to zero and now you can click refresh to monitor how fast the errors are building up. If this number is climbing quickly then there may be a physical layer communication problem. If a lot of packet errors is found, the next step in the investigation will be a deeper analysis of the Lon network, using, for example, a Lon Protocol Analyzer (LPA). Refer to the Knowledge Base Article Troubleshooting LON Network Communication.

Issue What is the basic steps and workflow when connecting a Zigbee device to an AS-P? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server Premium Cause Zigbee is a communication protocol used to create personal area networks with small, low-power devices Resolution As described in EBO Webhelp the workflow is as follows:   Create a Zigbee interface and network Import Zigbee device files Create a logical Zigbee device in EBO Enable the Zigbee network Discover the physical Zigbee devices Associate the logical Zigbee device with the physical Zigbee device For more details please see video:

Issue Changing the name of a folder under which there is an active alarm, causes an incorrect "Source" path in the alarm message Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation version 1.8 or earlier Cause If a folder name is changed it will be correctly updated, but if an active alarm is located  in its sub-folders , then the alarm source path will not be updated. Initial alarm before the folder name is changed, notice the source ...... FF IV/Trendloggar ...... The alarm after the folder name has been changed FF IV TEST, the / between FF IV TEST and Trendloggar is missing. If the alarm has not been acknowledged, and clears a second entry for the alarm is displayed in the alarm view. Resolution This is fixed in SBO/EBO 1.9 and later versions.   For versions 1.8 or earlier: Before updating a EcoStuxure Building Operation(EBO) folder name, check to see if there are any active alarms with a source path that use this folder. If there are, try to clear these alarms. If a EBO folder name has been changed and there are alarms in the alarm view which cannot be cleared, then use the "Recheck" command to clear them.

Issue MP/RP-x device is not pushing firmware down to Room Units (RU) when sensors are attached to the sensor bus. Disconnecting and re-connecting the RU does not help Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Multi-purpose Controller Cause The MP-X controller's file system has been re-initialized and the Room Units firmware files deleted. One case under which this will happen is when the MP/RP-X is factory reset.   The Device Report can be used to confirm whether the files exist in the device or not.   If Room Unit files are not shown in the report then no download to the RU will take place. Resolution Perform an upgrade on the MP/RP-X device, upgrading the device to the same version that is already running will resolve the issue.

Issue A Log Processing Trend Log created in an EBO server and connected to an Extended Trend Log will not transfer any records even if the Force Transfer command is executed. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Building Operation Automation Server Bundled Cause Log processing trend log records are not saved to database, so they will not be transferred to Extended Trend logs. Resolution In the Basic Properties of the Log Processing Trend Log, set "Persist data" to True to store trend data in the database. This will enable the records to be transferred to the connected Extended trend Log.

  Issue Have an Alarm Category assigned to an Alarm but does not appear in the Alarm View Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Central Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation SmartX Servers Cause In this case, the system has an Alarm Decoration which is filtered on the server name and overriding ALL alarms associated with this server and hence is overriding the Alarm Category defined within the Alarm Handling.   Resolution Option 1: Add the Alarm Category to the Alarm Decoration as shown in the screenshot below: Re-activate the alarm and the Alarm Category should now show in the Alarm View Option 2: If the Alarm Decoration is not required, then delete the Alarm Decoration completely.    

Issue The License Server is not working and may show Vendor Daemon Down errors. The LMadmin log shows the error. LicenseEngine (taclic) exited with status 28 Product Line TAC Vista EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Vista Building Operation Enterprise Server License server Cause Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is activated. Antivirus or other software can scan/use the port used by the vendor daemon. If the time drifts over two minutes and a time synch occurred, the vendor daemon can stop. https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX137111 Resolution First, check that DEP is not activated. Make sure that there is no antivirus program that has portscan activated Make sure there is no other software that uses the same port as the vendor daemon Make sure that the time does not drift too much, if the time drifts two or more minutes and then a resynch occurs the vendor daemon can stop This is more likely on VMware where time synch can occur from either the domain or VMware tool. Check Windows event log (Security) for time synch messages. NOTE: It can also appear just by stopping the server manually.

Issue When attempting to add a new Automation Server under an Enterprise Server that already has one or more AS servers attached it results in an "Object already exists" error ERROR Object already exists Domain: Data access Info:~/System/Server Communication/Models/xxxxxxxx/Members/xxxxxxxxx in module Run Db manager xxxxxxxx = Global Unique Identifier (GUID) The GUID underlined in red in the screenshot above is the duplicated Id. Additional error message possible depending on EBO release version. ERROR: Server already part of a multi server system Domain: Invalid data  Info: Attempt_To_Add_An_Object_To_The _System_That_Already_Exists ERROR: Cannot add a server that is a clone of a server that already exists in your system Domain: Startup  Technical Info: An added server with name 'XXXXX' has the same unique id as an existing server with the name 'YYYYY' which is not allowed. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server  Building Operation Automation Server Bundled Cause The AS that is being added has been restored from a backup created from one of the servers that are already configured under the ES resulting in a duplicate GUID. Resolution Backup the Server Restore the Server and make sure to select "Restore configuration with new IDs" check box. This will ensure that a new GUID is assigned to the AS. Add the Server from ES Please note that the restore function to re-use configuration data from a backup set is supported for all Building Operation supported protocols, except for BACnet and b3 BACnet.  To read more see Web Help To read more see Web help: http://help.sbo.schneider-electric.com/topics/show.castle?id=10228&locale=en-US&productversion=1.7 To read more see Web help: http://help.sbo.schneider-electric.com/topics/show.castle?id=10228&locale=en-US&productversion=1.7

Issue Subnet/Node address shown in Local Node Properties dialog is not what is used on the LonWorks Network. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation. Environment Building Operation Workstation. Building Operation Automation Server Premium. LonWorks . Cause When using External Managed Network, an external binding tool is used to address LonWorks devices, and the external tool sets the address in the Neuron chip, that is used for communication. This information is not tranfered to the database. Resolution When using External Managed Network, the correct address information could be read in the Domain table of the device.

Issue A Dashboard is created with a couple of widgets in it, the widgets are placed where they should be and the Dashboard looks good. But if the Dashboard is opened in a monitor with a smaller screen, the available work area for the dashboard is smaller and the widgets move around. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Webstation Cause There is no option to lock the widget positions on both horizontal and vertical axis as the screen area available to the dashboard changes when creating the Dashboard. Resolution Set the Maximum column count in the Dashboard Layout setting to the total number of columns of the desired widget layout. For example if widget one has Column span 2 and widget two has Column span 3 then the Maximum column count should be set to 5 for the Dashboard. Then set the Minimum column size to 0. Now the text still scales but the widgets lock in position.

Issue Modbus RTU Serial Device (RS485 - Slave) address greater than 247 Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server (AS, AS-P, AS-B)  Modbus RTU Master RS485 Network Cause Third party Modbus device has an address range between 248 and 255. Resolution For Modbus master/slave RS485 networks, the third party device must be in the range of 1 to 247, this is the Modbus RTU standard. This would apply not only to EBO but to other Modbus master/slave networks.   The KB article Modbus basics explains this amongst other Modbus topics.   If the third party Modbus slave device cannot be changed to an address to within this range, then contact with the product vendor may be required.   For TCP devices see the KB article Modbus TCP Device (Slave) address greater than 247.  

Issue Unable to drag and drop discovered RP-C with the Zigbee adapter to its Zigbee Device Import File resulting in this error: Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Room Controller (RPC) Cause Application Defined Type is not fully universal Resolution Hold "shift" while you drag and drop the RP-C to associate the discovered device with the imported proxy.

Issue I have Advanced Display V3 connected to my EBO server. Do I need a client license? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Advanced Display V3 Cause Building Operation Advanced Display V3 (AD v3) is an industrial-grade Human Machine Interface (HMI) that can easily be locked to an application such as EcoStruxure Building Operation WebStation to create a dedicated tool for local operation and maintenance of an EcoStruxure BMS. Resolution When connected to EcoStruxure BMS server, AD v3 is counted as one WebStation client. Starting from EBO v2, WorkStation and WebStation will both be considered a client, and each will require a concurrent license to be able to log into the system. Three client licenses are included with each Enterprise Central and each Enterprise Server. When logging directly into a SmartX server, the number of WebStation connections is limited only by the Architectural Guidelines*, which says that a client license is only needed if the AD v3 is connected to Enterprise Server or Enterprise Central directly. *From EBO 3.1 and forward there is no need to activate a Client feature license on SmartX servers to be able to connect WebStation to a SmartX server and log in. While versions 3.0.4 and 3.0.3 with hotfixes accomplished the same functionality, they did so by stating that 99 clients were available.

Issue Modbus TCP Device (Slave) address greater than 247 Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server (AS, AS-P, AS-B)  Modbus TCP Network Modbus TCP Gateway Cause Modbus TCP Device (Slave) address 248 is reserved and cannot be used. (Modbus TCP Network or Gateway) SmartStruxure supports up to address 247, as per StruxureWare Building Operation - Technical Reference Guide (up to v1.6.1). There was a defect within v1.5.0 and earlier that caused address 250 to be used if the Device address is set to "Invalid." This defect was corrected in v1.6.1. Resolution From v1.9 this is corrected, so it is possible to define addresses for Modbus TCP devices from 1-247 and 249-254 Device addresses 0 and 248 are reserved. Device address 255 is used as the Default address.   For Modbus RTU RS485 master/slave networks, slave device addressing is different, see KB article Modbus RTU slave address.   Further information about Modbus can be found in the KB article Modbus basics.

Issue Reporting Agent continuously restarts Windows Event logs show appcrash for Reporting Service  Trend / Event data no longer transferring to WebReports / Report Server.   Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Report Server  Cause If there are bindings within the Extended Trend Log that is from itself (so a cyclic loop). By default when you select the Transfer trigger variable the SmartLog property is selected (as shown below).  This is an invalid configuration but can be accidentally configured and saved.    This will cause the ES read to go into an infinite loop and cause the application to eventually restart (crash).  By setting the Reporting Agent to Debug (using the SBO Reports Agent Config - Communities (se.com)) the last few messages before the restart within the log file will show messages related to "Entering IncludeLogInReports()" with the same set of Extended trend Logs repeat (if there is more than one).  The image below shows an example of the Extended Trend Log shown in the above screenshot.    Resolution After locating the relevant extended trend logs with these invalid bindings, delete these invalid bindings and restart the Reporting Agent service and the data should then be read correctly.     Remember to revert the log level back to INFO before restarting the agent to not overload the logs with too much detail. 

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 Contemporary Controls Skorpion Switch configuration setting for using RSP with MPX and RPX controllers Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Contemporary Controls EISK8M-100T Skorpion Switch Building Operation Automation Server Premium Building Operation Multi-purpose Controller Building Operation Multi-purpose VAV Building Operation Room-purpose Controller Cause Contemporary Controls Skorpion switches have several caveats to consider before using them in a site design. Specific Skorpion switch configuration settings are needed in order for the RSTP protocol to work with MPX controllers.  Resolution *NOTE: This is only for Contemporary Controls Skorpion Switches*   Contermporary Controls EISK8m-100T switch documentation: https://www.ccontrols.com/ctrlink/eiskm.php    There are a number of configuration options available to use these switches and MPX/RPX controllers. This article is not meant to be a comprehensive guide.   Two caveats to consider before using these switches:  Contemporary Controls (CC) Support has indicated that these switches have a limitation to 39 devices (MPXs) per switch. Other vendor's switches do not have this limitation and allow 39 devices per RSTP loop. Multiple RSTP loops are not supported on a Skorpion switch. Multiple Skorpion switches may be used and daisy-chained to allow for greater than 39 devices. The 39 total number includes the switch itself, so effectively, 38 MPXs. A static IP address of the switch should not be in the same IP range (10.110.210.x) if the AS-P is being used as a DHCP server. Configuring the switch this way may cause the AS-P to assign a duplicate IP address to 1 of the MPXs in that range. The DHCP server in the AS-P is a very basic DHCP server to allow for quick IP assignments in a private network. There aren't any configuration options for designated exceptions in the AS-P. (Note: This may be a security concern for sites that do not want a switch on their main network. Setting the Skorpion switch to DHCP enable can allow the ASP to assign a non-static IP to the switch and not interfere with MPXs. RSTP enabled - the snapshot below shows the settings to enable RSTP o the switch Redundancy state: STP/RSTP STP State: Enable Hello Time: 2 Version: RSTP Max Age: 40 Forward Delay: 21                                       The Bridge Priority setting should be changed to 4096 to be a higher priority than the controllers. See the Priority setting in the snapshot above. Root ID: Self-populating field will indicate "Self" when set for a single root with 1 RSTP ring Rood ID "mac-address" may indicate a different switch that is the root switch Non-STP State Port Some ports must be set to not pass BPDU RSTP traffic,  i.e. the ASP, a PC used to configure the switch and connecting other network switches. 2 or more switches can be connected to allow for more devices to be connected (38 each) but RSTP traffic must be restricted to each switch. The ports connecting them need to be configured as Non-STP.   Note: Admin edge turns off almost all RSTP traffic, but not all Non-STP State ON disables the port from participating in the STP or RSTP ring The ports that are connecting the 1st, 2nd or 3rd switches need to have Auto-MDX set properly to behave as a cross-over cable. Either that or use a physical cross-over cable. In the Skorpion configuration page, click on the picture of the switch where the ports are showing "Auto-Mdix enable" on one switch and "Auto-Mdix disable" on the other switch. Click on the actual port from the main page to get to this setting. Example: Switch 1 port 8           Switch 2 port 1            General observations: Switch manufacturers have different limitations and options for configuration. Pay close attention to the Vender’s switch and MPX documentation. After a reconfiguration of the switch, give it several minutes for convergence to take place and to let the system settle. A flooding network traffic loop state may happen in several circumstances: a. RSTP not enabled on an MPX (factory default will reset RSTP to disabled) Note: The Device Report will extract information directly from the controller b. MPX not warm started after setting RSTP c. A switch misconfiguration (Ex. Port not set to Non-STP On) A restart (power off) of the switch may be necessary to recover d. Too many RSTP devices in a loop (>39 including the Skorpion switch) e. IP address conflict This state can be observed when all the controllers go offline and access to the switch config page isn’t possible. It’s best to get RSTP working with MPXs on each individual switch with separate rings and then daisy chain them after configuring Auto-Mdix first and finally plug in the ethernet cable into the next switch. Using 2 PCs can be helpful when setting these up so that 1 can be used to access the switch(s) on the 192.168.92.x network and the other with EBO running on the other network that the ASP is set to. Otherwise switching the NIC settings back and forth is cumbersome. Once both switches are configured and both are working with RSTP, controllers may still show offline. A power cycle can clear this up so that the ASP can reassign an IP with both switches connected. *** 1 MPX controller that has not been set to RSTP will throw the whole system into offline mode. Use the device report to ensure every single controller has been set to RSTP AND has been warm started.  ***   Using the Control Panel MP Series devices link, the Search feature and the Device report in EBO can be helpful to observe all the necessary settings for MPX and RSTP Control Panel MP Series devices link

Issue Questions regarding specifications of SmartStruxure Hardware Inputs and Outputs Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SmartStruxure I/O Modules: AO-8, AO-8-H AO-V-8, AO-V-8-H DI-16 DO-FA-12, DO-FA-12-H DO-FC-8, DO-FC-8-H RTD-DI-16 UI-8-AO-4, UI-8-AO-4-H UI-8-AO-V-4, UI-8-AO-V-4-H UI-8-DO-FC-4, UI-8-DO-FC-4-H UI-16 Cause Different I/O modules have different electrical specifications Resolution Universal Input Specifications Universal inputs can be configured as voltage, current, thermistor, resistance, digital or supervised inputs. Voltage Input Specifications: Range - 0 to 10 VDC Resolution - 12 bit Accuracy - ±(0.7mV + 0.2% of reading) Current Input Specifications: Range - 0 to 20 mA Resolution - 12 bit Accuracy - ±(0.03 mA + 0.4% of reading) Resistance Input Specifications: 10 Ohm to 10 kOhm 10 kOhm to 60 kOhm Thermistor Input Specifications: Range - -50 to 150° C (-58 to 302° F) Thermistors: 10k Type I (Continuum), 10k Type II (I/NET), 10k Type III (Satchwell), 10k Type IV (FD), 1.8k (Xenta), 10k Linearized (Satchwell DRT), 10k Type V (FD w/ 11k shunt), 1k (Balco), 20k (Honeywell), 2.2k (Johnson Controls) Digital Output Specifications Form C Relay: Terminal - Common (C), Normally Open (NO), Normally Closed (NC) Minimum Pulse Width - 100 ms minimum Isolation - 1500 VAC minimum, coil to contact Cycle Life - At least 100,000 cycles Contact Rating - 250 VAC, 30 VDC, 3 A Form A Relay: Terminals - Common (C), Normally Open (NO) Minimum Pulse Width - 100 ms minimum Isolation - 1500 VAC minimum, coil to contact Cycle Life - At least 100,000 cycles Contact Rating - 250 VAC, 30 VDC, 2 A LED Specifications: LED Polarity - Represents the actual state of the output; ON if the output is active, OFF if the output is inactive LED Color - Green Analog Output Specifications Analog outputs can be configured as voltage or current. Module Voltage Output: Range - 0 to 10 VDC Resolution - 50 mV Accuracy - ±100 mV Terminals - Voltage (V), Return Minimum Load - Source, 2 mA; Sink, -1mA Current Output: Range - 0 to 20 mA Resolution - 0.1 mA Accuracy - ±0.2 mA Terminals - Current (I), Return Maximum Load - Output load should not exceed 650 Ohms Supervised Input Specifications Supervised inputs can be used to detect sabotage. Detected resistor values - Open circuit, short circuit, contact open, and contact closed. 5 volt circuit, 1 or 2 resistors, monitored - Series only, parallel only and series and switch combinations. For a 2-resistor configuration, each parallel. Resistor value range - 1k to 10 k resistors should have the same value. The selected resistor value needs to be defined in the system. RTD Input Specifications The specifications of the RTD-DI-16 are extensive and thus are best viewed directly in the data sheet available on the Buildings Download Center: RTD-DI-16 Specification Sheet You can also download the specification sheet here: IO Module RTD-DI-16 Specification Sheet (July 2014).pdf.

Issue Binding a SmartStruxure Analogue value to a Analogue output in the SE IntesisBox (Panasonic Air Conditioning). Environment IntesisBox Panasonic RPM Read Property Multiple Cause Attempting to bind the analogue value to the IntesisBox analogue output causes the following error; Resolution In this case, the AS database has the wrong unit (no-units) associated with the object, since it does not match to the units in the device "Degrees-Celsius" the failure occurs' This is corrected in StruxureWare Building Operation 1.5, where the unit id is not uploaded if the device does not support read-property-multiple, and it appears from the device documentation, that the IntesisBox does not support RPM. As an immediate workaround, the user can configure the unit id of the analog output object directly - configure the "Value" property to have a unit of Degrees Celsius.  To view the IntesisBox Panasonic manual, please click HERE.

Issue VisiSat 2.1 Build 185/196 Cannot find VisiSat “CustomiseUI” add-on to Visio. Environment Internal error 0x86DB08A9 VisiSat CustomiseUI Visio VisiSat 2.1 Build 185 VisiSat 2.1 Build 196 Cause Visio 2003 does not recognise or register VisiSat 2.1 Build 185/196 installation CustomiseUI. Some or all the files required by VisiSat are missing. You may need to re-install Visio and/or VisiSat to clear the problem. Resolution When VisiSat 2.1 Build 185/196 on some Windows XP pro / Visio 2003 computers the following error is displayed. Carry out the following; which should fix the problem. Open Visio 2003 (Not VisiSat) On the menu bar, under tools select options. Select the advance tab. Select file paths. Delete all entries. Then select OK Select OK. OK the next window Visio 2003 should now close. Run up VisiSat VisiSat should run up OK now. If you close VisiSat and open Visio 2003 the paths should now show. VisiSat should open correctly now. Options: Most of the enhancements in VisiSat 2.1 build 185/196 are to incorporate StruxureWare functionality. If you are running VisiSat on Windows XP with Visio 2003, then consideration could be given to using VisiSat 2.1 build 148 instead. If you are running on Windows 7 you could consider upgrading the Visio 2003 software to Visio 2007 or Visio 2010. Click here to download VisiSat 2.1 Build 148. (Direct link) (files size is 42 meg). (your original VisiSat registration form (version 2.0/2.1 only), provides proof of purchase and will be required when unlocking this VisiSat version. If you require further assistance, please contact Product Support.

Issue Where can I get information and documents on the Building Analytics service? Environment Building Analytics Cause Information and documentation is required on this product. Resolution Available documentation is available on the Download Center A diagram of network architectures can be seen Here.