Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Error code 2041 when reading a SNVT from a TAC Xenta 103 Environment TAC Xenta 103 Cause Bindings may have been made with LonMaker after the device was created in TAC Vista. The wrong address is referenced in TAC Vista. Resolution Error code 2041 means no answer from the TAC Xenta unit. Invalidate the addresses in TAC Vista Reread the addresses for the unit using status window for the unit.

Issue Can I connect a thermistor to a TAC Xenta 471? Environment Xenta 471 I/O module Thermistor sensor Cause Xenta 471 does not have any thermistor inputs. Resolution TAC Xenta 471 has 8 analog inputs that can be set up as current inputs (0/4-20mA with external power and 4-20 with internal power) or as voltage inputs (0-1, 0/2-10 V DC). 

Issue Unable to read any public signals from TAC Xenta 300/400/280 in a TAC Xenta 511, but SNVTs from TAC Xenta 100 controllers are fine. Environment Xenta Programmables Xenta 511 Xenta 100 series ASCs Cause The TAC Xenta 511 is not a member of the TAC Vista group. Resolution Go to the System plug-in Choose LNS Network >Create group bindings.

Issue Problems accessing graphics that are stored on a MMC card in a TAC Xenta 511. Environment TAC Xenta 511 MMC memory card Cause Users must be granted read access to the MMC card. Resolution If you store you graphics on a MMC card, give the users read access to the MMC card as well as to the folder where the graphics pages are stored.

Issue If alarm filters are used to redirect certain alarms based on their text to another Event Object, then it will take every alarm notification with it - alarm, normal, ack, etc. Environment TAC Vista Server Alarm Queue Cause TAC Vista Server allows you the ability to redirect alarms to different Event Objects based upon the criteria of the source of the alarm or the text contained in the alarm. This article is applicable when you want to filter based upon specific text in the alarm. Resolution An example of this behavior is described in the Engineering TAC Vista Server manual: send all "Offline" alarms to a different Event Object. The important thing to know about doing such a thing is that all return to normal messages associated with that alarm will also be sent to the same Event Object. In our "Offline" alarm example, all "Offline" alarms and "Online" messages will be redirected to the same object. There is no way to send the alarm state to one Event Object while sending the return to normal state to another Event Object.

Issue Using periodical reports with message objects. Environment TAC Vista Workstation Cause Periodic reports that need to run whenever an alarm is tripped should not monitor a Message Object. Resolution If you need to run a Periodical Report only when a Tripped alarm occurs or only when a Reset message occurs then you should not monitor a Message object. Instead you should monitor an Alarm object, Time Event object, or Time List object which each has the ability to differentiate between the Tripped and Reset states. If the specific messages you want to monitor are currently being sent to a Message object then you need to utilize the redirection of alarms functionality found in TAC Vista Server to send those alarms to an Event object of a different type.

Issue Using a large number of values in a Vista Report Environment Vista Reports with more than 100 individual values (not trends) Cause While Vista Reports are mainly used for reports on trend logs, it is possible to display values from your Vista database. If you elect to link to a large number of values in your report it is common to receive time out errors when it tries to validate the links or polls for the entire list of values.  Resolution The way to avoid these errors and speed this process up is to change the Watch Setting property to either WATCH or ALARM for each value in your report. This will instruct Vista to monitor the point values so that the validation of values or links can be accomplished much quicker when Excel and Vista Server interact. As a reference these types of errors were experienced with reports that included 100 point values.

Issue Recovery of an I.LON 1000 in the boot state. Environment i.LON 1000 Cause The router has become corrupt. Resolution If the system image on an I.LON 1000 has become corrupt and the device enters a boot state when powered up then the following steps should be taken to correct it: Download the system image found in the "C:\Lonworks\iLON\Images\iLON x.xx" directory using an FTP client. Connect to the device with the serial cable and issue the "format" command. After the command has completed retry step 1. If neither of the previous methods worked, connect to the device with the serial cable and issue the "factorydefault" command. This should restore the device to how it came out of the box.

Issue On always overrides Off in weekly schedules in TAC Xenta Environment TAC Xenta programmable controllers Xenta Time Schedules Menta Cause If you have defined Week schedule event to be on and then add another overlapping event to be off all day the schedule will stay on. This is confusing because the off schedule will be added on top of the on schedule in the editor so you can't see the on schedule anymore. Resolution If you want to turn the schedule off temporarily, use an alternative event (uncheck weekly in the editor). Alternative events override all weekly events for the period. If you want to permanently change the schedule to be off just delete/edit the existing event. Remember, if no events are defined for a day the schedule will be off all day.

Issue Saving Customized Detail Windows in Vista Environment TAC Vista Workstation Cause Every time you close the Details window the customized settings of that window are lost. Resolution To save these customized settings: Set up Vista with the customized Details window as you wish. Use the File > Save My Program Settings command (Ctrl-S) which will save the settings Recover them at any time through the use of the File > Load My Program Settings command This method will work with multiple Details windows with individually customized settings as well.

Issue Vista 4.2.0 in Higher Resolution Monitors Environment TAC Vista Workstation 4.2.0 Cause Vista 4.2.0 recommends a screen resolution of 1024x768, but the program will work with higher resolutions.  Resolution The font size is not configurable in Vista. As the resolution of the monitor increases, the text will look smaller and smaller on the screen. While the size of the font is not selectable the font can be chosen from a predefined list of fonts which may contain a more visible option at higher resolutions compared to the default.

Issue Displaying MultiState objects as text in a Vista graphic page Environment Vista IV OGC Graphics Cause Typically users of Vista do not want to display MultiState objects using the digital representation on graphic pages since it will display only the raw value of the point rather then the descriptive state. Resolution Instead a text object should be dropped on the graphic page and when the attributes of this object are explored you can set the text object to act as a dynamic text object that displays different pieces of text for different values of the object it is associated with. The first step is to browse to the object that you wish to be associated with this dynamic text object. You will then need to verify that the attribute selected is value. The value field will allow you to select the various values that you want to have specialized text. Since a MultiState object does not have a fixed number of states in the way that a Binary object does you will find there are options from 0.00 to 140.00 in 10 unit increments. For the value of 0 you will enter the descriptive text in the text field when the value field has 0.00 selected. For the value of 1 you will enter the descriptive text in the text field when the value field has 10.00 selected.

Issue LonMaker or Vista can not see the L-IP router. It can be configured with Internet Explorer so it must be powered and communicating on the ethernet port. Environment Vista Workstation LonMaker Loytec L-IP router Cause The L-IP device will communicate on the IP channel immediately out of the box without any configuration. However, to talk properly with the LNS and Vista servers, there are extra steps to perform. Resolution Go to Start > Control Panel > Lonworks/IP Channels Enter the IP and name of the computer there. This will enable the router to communicate as an LNS port.

Issue Upgrading Vista when using Windows XP Service Pack 2 Environment TAC Vista Server Windows XP SP 2 Cause If you upgrade the version of Vista on a properly working machine you will be required to repeat some of the steps. Resolution TPI C-88-1-F57 indicates the steps needed to make Vista run on a Windows XP SP 2 operating system. However if you upgrade the version of Vista on a properly working machine you will be required to repeat some of these steps. The first step you will need to repeat is the exclusion of Vista Server (TACOS.exe) in the Windows Firewall detailed in step 3 found in section 3 of the TPI. This is due to the fact that the installation of the latest versions of Vista includes the revision in the installation directory. The second step is step 4 found in section 4 of the TPI. The DCOM settings for TACOS must be reconfigured to use default Launch and Activation Permissions. The reason for this is the same as described in section 7 of the TPI when configured Vista Server to run as a service or not.

Issue Running Vista Workstation Pro and Remote on same PC Environment Vista Workstation Vista Workstation Remote Cause It is possible to install and run both Vista Workstation Pro and Vista Workstation Remote on the same PC, but problems will be encountered when only one of the software packages is uninstalled. If both are currently installed and Workstation Remote is uninstalled then some critical files will be deleted which cause Vista Workstation Pro to stop working correctly. Resolution Since Vista Workstation Pro offers the same capability to log into a remote Vista Server the only time the user should install Vista Workstation Remote on a PC is if Vista Workstation Pro is not present. When upgrading a PC that has Vista Workstation Remote installed on it to Vista Workstation Pro then Vista Workstation Remote should be uninstalled before installing Vista Workstation Pro.

Issue Sending emails from Vista 4.2.3 Environment Vista 4.2.3 Cause Previous versions of Vista required that Microsoft Outlook be installed to send emails. However with recent changes to Outlook this caused a dialog box to appear asking if it should send the email which came from a 3rd party program (Vista) before the email would be sent. Since the previous recommendation was to not install this security patch or use Outlook 2003 the interaction with Outlook and Vista has been removed in the recently released version of Vista. Resolution In Vista 4.2.3 the email are sent directly to a SMTP server rather then utilizing an email client such as Outlook. The settings for this new functionality are found in the Mail tab of the Server Setup program. It allows you to set the senders name, email address, text encoding method, authentication method used, and the domain name address or IP address of the SMTP server. All other settings and database objects should remain the same while these settings are used behind the scenes.

Issue Induced voltage generated by electrical discharges & what we use to protect our hardware systems. Environment I/NET Seven or Vista Site Cause Explanation that I/Net and Vista products utilize a variety of design methods and transient related components/circuits for general isolation and/or suppression of EMC noise/disturbances Resolution The I/Net and Vista products utilize a variety of design methods and transient related components/circuits for general isolation and/or suppression of EMC noise/disturbances. We utilize components such as MOVs, Trans-Zorb TVS suppressors, inductors/ferrites, opto-couplers, relays with >1KV isolation, filter capacitors, RC circuits, etc., to suppress and/or isolate EMI interference along with circuit design and segregation practices to achieve compliance with the EMC immunity (and emission) standards applicable to the CE marking of the products. A number of different specific international standards are applied to this compliance verification.

Issue Xenta 100 has a discharge temperature alarm when in heat but the alarm limit can't be set high enough Environment Xenta 100 Cause In several parameters, the Xenta 100 plug-ins set limits on the range of valid entries which are tighter than the limits for that SNVT type. One example is nciDischAirMax on the 104-A. The plug-in sets the acceptable range at 32-104°F (0-40°C). The heated discharge temperature is likely to exceed 104°F. Resolution Open the LonMaker browser on the device Change the setting for the high alarm limit there. Values much higher than 104°F can be entered (limited only by the SNVT type).

Issue Upgrading Vista while running Server as a service Product Line TAC Vista Environment TAC Vista Server Cause The installation directories include the version number (i.e. C:\Program Files\TAC\TAC Vista 4.2.3). If you perform an upgrade before unregistering the service, you will be unable to unregister the service unless you reinstall the previous version to provide the files Windows requires. Resolution If a user is running Vista Server as a service it is recommended that the user unregister the service before performing an upgrade.  

Issue FieldServer Bridge in Lon network with more then 15 devices Environment I/NET or Vista Site Cause Can a FieldServer bridge communicate with more then 15 Xenta controllers? Resolution A FieldServer bridge can communicate with more then 15 Xenta controllers despite the address table limitation found with implicit addressing. This requires that the bridge be programmed for explicit addressing which requires the knowledge of the controllers node number and SNVT index numbers. This is useful for situations where you are interfacing to a non LonWorks device that needs to communicate values to more then 15 Xenta or LonWorks controllers.