Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Sending an email from the controller via PE or Web Page shows incorrect sent time. Environment NC2 - CX968x ACX2 - ACX57xx bCX Cause Time settings not configured correctly from controller's web page. Resolution From a web browser login to the controller's web configuration (point your browser to the IP of the controller) Go to "Controller Configuration\Time Setting" Enter the appropriate UTC offset for your time zone, for example if the controller is in the Eastern time zone enter -300 Use the "Daylight" Savings option to specify whether daylight savings time is in effect Finally click on the "Submit to Controller" button, there is no need to commit changes and re-start the controller.

Issue The StandAlone workstation is not getting alarms delivered to the active alarm view. Environment Continuum Cyberstation standalone. CX Controller Cause Alarms are not being delivered to the workstation. When the point is edited, the point shows that it is in alarm. Resolution Cyberstation was gracefully shut down. Start Continuum Database Initialization for StandAlone Enhanced Alarm Delivery was deselected. Database was initialized Continuum was restarted Points were set to an alarm value Alarms were delivered.

Issue Can an IOU bus be wired in a Star topology Environment Netcontroller 1 Netcontroller 2 IOU Wiring CyberStation Cause What are the wiring guidelines for the IOU bus Resolution An IOU bus can only be wired in a Star topology if you are using the FTT models of controller and IOUs.  See the section on the IOU reference guide starting on page 10 at the below link. Andover Continuum I/O System Reference

Issue When trying to edit or create a new Plain English program the editor fails to open. Environment CyberStation Plain English Editor Cause Corrupted PlainEnglish.ini file Resolution Open Windows Explorer Go to the Windows directory Find the PlainEnglish.ini file and delete it. When the Plain English editor is opened after this file is deleted it will recreate a new PlainEnglish.ini file with all the default settings.

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 Services for assistance. Issue What is the best way to upgrade Continuum Single User system from 1.5x to 1.9x? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum 1.5x, 1.5, V1.5 Continuum 1.6x, 1.6, V1.6 Continuum 1.9x, 1.9, V1.9 SQL Server Cause Continuum Upgrade from older versions of Continuum. Resolution First upgrade to 1.74, then upgrade from 1.74 to 1.9x.    PART I - Preparation: Acquire all software necessary to bring the workstations into compliance with 1.9x platform requirements. For each Cyberstation machine, make a record of the following Workstation name Folder name Device Node ID Network ID. From https://ecobuilding.schneider-electric.com Download Cyberstation 1.74 Download Cyberstation 1.9x Download Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express Run Continuum Analyzer and resolve any issues.  An upgrade should not be done until the analyzer test report is clean. IMPORTANT - Make a backup of the Continuum database just prior to upgrading. PART II - Upgrade Workstation 1 (Database server PC) Uninstall 1.5x or 1.6x Shut down the Cyberstation applications on all workstations. Power down the workstations that are not running SQL and leave off until Part III Backup the contents of C:\Program Files\Continuum\UserProfile by copying contents to a flash drive or another folder. Backup the contents of the graphics file directory to a flash drive or another folder. Delete C:\Program Files\Continuum Uninstall SQL from Workstation 1 (DB server) Install 1.74 Install Continuum 1.74  (SQL 2000 SP4 will be installed automatically as part of the install) Run Database Initialization Create new database Initialize workstation using information from Part I. Launch Continuum to test that Cyberstation startup normally. Shut down Continuum Run Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express Navigate to ContinuumDB and Right Click Restore database backup from PART I Run Database Initialization. Update Continuum DB Update Workstation using information form Part I Launch continuum and verify that everything looks normal. Verify the integrity of the database by running Continuum Analyzer and correct any database issues before proceeding.. Run Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express Navigate to ContinuumDB and Right Click Backup Database – name file so that it is clearly 1.74 Uninstall 1.74 Uninstall Continuum Delete C:\Program Files\Continuum Uninstall SQL from Workstation 1 Install 1.9x Install all platform software necessary to bring the workstation into compliance with Continuum 1.9x requirements. Install Continuum 1.9x - (SQL Express will be installed automatically as part of the install) Run Continuum Database Initialization Create new database Update workstation with information from Part I. Launch Continuum to test that Cyberstation startup normally Shut down Continuum Run Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express Navigate to ContinuumDB and Right Click Restore 1.74 database backup. Run Continuum Database Initialization Update database Update workstation with information from Part I. Launch Continuum and verify that everything looks good. Run Continuum Analyzer and verify the integrity of the database. Backup Database PART III - Upgrade Workstation 2 and 3 Install all platform software necessary to bring the workstation into compliance with Continuum 1.9x requirements. Backup the contents of C:\Program Files\Continuum\UserProfile by copying contents to a flash drive or another folder. Uninstall Continuum from Workstation  Delete C:\Program Files\Continuum Install Continuum 1.9x Run DB Initialization and update database and workstation. Launch Continuum and verify that all looks well. Backup Database

Issue What kind of preparation must be done prior to upgrading a Continuum LAN system? Environment Continuum Cyberstation SQL Server Cause Continuum Upgrade Resolution Study the Continuum Compatibility Matrix and the Continuum Video Compatibility Matrix.   Plan the upgrade of supporting software applications and hardware using the Continuum compatibility matrix as your guide.  .Net versions and SQL versions must be compatible with the final version of Continuum before you begin the upgrade process.  Older CX controllers (with firmware <= 1.500029) use a different algorithm for defining handles so they should be up-rev’d prior to the upgrade process.   For all other controller the controller firmware can be upgraded after the front end systems upgrade has been completed.    The upgrade process presents an opportunity to make an assessment of all computer hardware that is currently being used in order to make recommendations for upgrading hardware.  This is especially important with respect to the Continuum Database server.   Selecting the right server is a process that involves determining the customer’s needs and defining the systems requirements.  This is an engineering decision that is beyond the scope of Product Support Services.  The customers IT department will likely be involved in this process also.  When are adding a new database server, it may be advantageous to build your Continuum server and prepare the Continuum database off-site. Completing a Continuum LAN system upgrade is a complex process and not something that you can accomplish simply by following a step list. It is crucial that an engineer who is experienced with the Continuum LAN upgrade process on site to direct the upgrade.  This is both to ensure that the upgrade process is handled correctly and to mentor technicians who will be involved in future upgrades on LAN systems.

Issue What is the default IP address for BCX, ACX57xx, CX9702 & Netcontroller II? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Controller Netcontroller II (9680) BCX ACX57xx CX9702 Cause Default IP address for BCX, ACX57xx, CX9702 & Netcontroller II Resolution The default for all these controller types is: IP address: 169.254.1.1 Subnet: 255.255.0.0 Gateway: 169.254.0.0

Issue Is Windows 7 supported in CyberStation? Environment CyberStation Cause Is Windows 7 supported in CyberStation? Resolution Versions of Continuum Cyberstation prior to 1.93 do not support Windows 7. See our Continuum Compatibility Matrix for supported OS and version Windows 7 is supported starting in Cyberstation v1.93

Issue Is there a way to tell if the battery is bad in a controller? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment BCX - 4000, 4040, 9640 ACX5740, 5720 Netcontroller II 9680 Infinet II controllers B3 controllers Cause Determine if a battery is good Resolution Battery health is tricky to measure.  Open circuit voltage COULD look ok with a marginal battery.  The only sure way is to pull the power on the Netcontroller and see if it holds the data for our specified time.  Most sites will not want to take their controller down for that long. Take the battery out and measure it with a voltmeter, it should read not much lower than --- BCX and ACX model controllers  3.6V Netcontroller II, Infinet II and B3 controllers 2.7V BCX Spec Battery section: Replaceable, rechargeable battery. Provides 30 days typical accumulated power failure backup of RAM memory All data stored in Flash on power loss. ACX Spec Battery section: Replaceable, rechargeable battery. Provides 7 days typical accumulated power failure backup of RAM memory All data stored in Flash on power loss. I2/B3 Coin type battery: The small coin battery in the i2 / b3 is rated 41mAH;  if you calculate based only on the SRAM and RTC current draw you get about 85 days.  Netcontroller II: The battery type here and SRAM are typical of infinet II controller battery life and will maintain backup of SRAM down to 2.7v. NOTE: Backup Flash is non-volatile memory and once written will hold unless manually cleared. SRAM is a part of memory that holds information as to where to start programs when power is re-applied to the controller in cases of main power loss. The problem is that battery life is highly dependant on number of charge / recharge cycles which is beyond our control.   You don't find the battery manufacturers giving such specs either.  Example:  The coin cells in our i2 / b3 have a shelf life "up to 10 years". Day to day use it is suggested that batteries should be replaced every 5 years.

Issue There is a need to get logging details for troubleshooting video integration issues in Continuum. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Windows XP Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 Cause There is an issue with the video integration and there are specific instructions to enable video troubleshooting in Continuum. Resolution Continuum versions 1.9x and above contain a helpful tool for troubleshooting video integration issues To enable video logging, follow these instructions: Shut down Continuum on the Cyberstation you will use to create the log file Using Windows notepad, edit the file log4net.config located in C:\Program Files\Continuum At the bottom of the file locate the following text:  <root> <level value ="WARN"  /> Change WARN to DEBUG (Ex. level value ="WARN" ---> level value ="DEBUG" ) From the pull down menu, File> Save and close the file         4.Start Continuum and test one isolated procedure at a time (Ex. video isn't displaying on alarm)         5. Email the video.log file from the C:\Program Files\Continuum folder to the support engineer for analysis Note: Make a copy of the video.log file ( to save the file ) and then delete the original. A new video.log file is created each time Continuum is started with the level value="DEBUG" set Video log changes for 1.92/1.93/1.94 The instructions to enable the video.log are the same as for 1.91, however the results have been broken into a number of different files VideoAdmin.log - used for configuration  AccVideoRecordingServc.log - used for camera learn VideoLayout.log - used for video layout  AlarmView.log - used for video alarms Easiest way to see what file was written to is to sort the Windows folder by the Type column and check the txt file(log) dates Note: In Microsoft Vista or Windows Server 2008, if account control is not disabled the video log files may get written to "C:\users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Continuum" Caution: Once the debugging process has been completed, go back into the log4net.config file and edit the file. Change the DEBUG to WARN (Ex. level value ="DEBUG" ---> level value ="WARN") From the pull down menu, File> Save and close the file This will stop the files from growing too large.

Issue What attributes are available on a Continuum Activity Listview? Environment Continuum Cyberstation Listview Cause Available attributes for Activity Listview Resolution Creation of a Activity Listview the following attributes are available: ActionCode CallerCode Description EventObjectID EventObjectName Id NodeName OperatorText OTUser TimeStamp UserId UserName

Issue i28xx type of Infinet Controller has different range of WC (Water Column) than i28xx-V Infinet Controllers. What are the input voltage settings for i28xx and i28xx-V controllers' AirFlow sensor input? Environment Infinet controllers (i2865 & i2865-V, i2866 & i2866-V , i2885 & i2885-V) Cause Input settings for Velocity Pressure Sensor is different than the other regular analog input (voltage input) configuration. Resolution The i28xx type of Infinet Controller has 0~2" WC (Water Column) range, the input voltage should be set to 0~2V. The i28xx-V type of Infinet Controller has 0~1" WC (Water Column) range, the input voltage should be set to 0~1V.

Issue What are the solutions available for database fail over system Environment Continuum Cyberstation Stratus Technologies Cause Information about Database fail over / redundant systems. Resolution The everRun product  from StratusTechnologies (formerly Marathon Technologies) is what many sites use for a database fail over system. You can find more information in the everRun Datasheet and on their website below. http://www.stratus.com

Issue Error displayed "Array index too large or too small" when reloading a controller with SmartSensor (Smart Sensor) program created, or saving the SmartSensor (Smart Sensor) program to the controller. Environment Infinet Controllers (i28xx) Bacnet controllers (b38xx) bCX4040 bCX9640 Cause SmartSensor (Smart Sensor) control program uses 7 arrays of the LCDDisplay (or LEDDisplay) InfinityNumeric object to get the keypad input data, display data, change the display format and control the point.  When the point is created with no array, the SmartSensor program fails in saving.  Or, if the LCDDisplay (or LEDDisplay) InfinityNumeric object has been changed from 7 manual entries to no array since the SmartSensor program was created, it fails when reloading the program or the reloading the controller. Resolution Edit the LCDDisplay (or LEDDisplay) InfinityNumeric object and set the 7 manual entries in the Logs tab of the point editor and resave the program or reload the controller.

Issue i2/b3 controller getting error " . . .  OS update fail. Please retry" after OS upgrade is done.  The Continuum Explorer shows exclamation mark (bang) on the controller icon. The control works normal, but it is confusing. Environment Infinet controllers (i2 controllers). Bacnet controllers (b3 controllers). NC2 (CX9680) ACX5740 ACX5720 bCX4040 Cause Controller OS upgrade has failed in the first try due to network issue or unstable system environment but succeeded on the second try or the next try. Resolution Bring up a listview of i2/b3 controllers. Find the one that displays the yellow exclamation mark (bang). Perform SetAttribute (right click on the controller and select "Set Attributes") for the ObjectStatus. Select the ObjectStatus and set the value to 0 .

Issue Viconics Stats will not come on line. Environment Continuum 1.XX Windows XP, 2003 Viconics Stat Cause Viconics Comm address set to 50 BACnet Max Master set to low,  Set to 32. Resolution Open Continuum Explorer Expand Bac Net devices Edit the BCX ( Bac net view) Change the BACnet Max master value

Issue The ACX 57xx series controller supports up to 2 xP or xPB (bi-directional) expansion modules, plus a display for extended input and output configurations. The ACX 57xx series controller is compatible with all of the TAC expansion modules. For more information about expansion modules, see the xP Expansion Module Reference, 30-3001-840 and/or the xPB Expansion Module Reference, 30-3001-883. What are the valid channel numbers for expansion IO on the ACX5740/5720? Environment CyberStation ACX5740 ACX5720 Cause The expansion IO channel number assignments is different in the ACX5720 due to the fact that it has only half the onboard IO as the ACX5740 Resolution The ACX5740 has 12 onboard inputs and 4 onboard outputs, therefore the first expansion input channel is 13 and the first expansion output channel is 5 The ACX5720 has 6 onboard inputs and 2 onboard outputs, therefore the first expansion input channel is 7 and the first expansion output channel is 3

Issue Some Netcontrollers support 32 I/O Modules, others only 16, how to find out what the limit is when adding more modules to an existing system. Environment Continuum Netcontroller CX9900, CX9940, Netcontroller II CX9680, CX9940 16IO-T X Driver Cause When a site is being extended by adding extra IOU Modules, it needs to be determined if the Netcontroller will support these additional modules. Resolution If the controller is online to Cyberstation, Edit the controller and check the value of "Max IOU Modules" on the Options tab, this will show 16 or 32. If the controller is not online the following apply: All Netcontroller II (CX9680) controllers support 32 IOU Modules. All Netcontroller 1 CX9900 with 8Mb RAM support 32 IOU modules, Most CX9940 with 4Mb RAM support 32 modules the only exception was the 4M-16I/O-T (now obsolete) that supported 16 modules. To determine if the CX9940 is a 4M-16I/O-T, check that the Model on the right side of the unit is defined as CPU-4M also that there are no connectors for the RS485 fitted to the unit on Comm1 or Comm4 (you will see holes where the connectors are not fitted). The CX9940 16IO/T can support an X Driver on RS232 Comm1, but no other port. The 4M-16I/O-T and 8M-32I/OT Do not support any Infinet nodes and cannot be upgraded to support them as the required hardware is not fitted as the time of manufacture.

Issue When Acknowledging an Alarm from one workstation it is not making it to all workstations. Environment CyberStation Alarm Cause The workstation that was not receiving the Acknowledgement had two network cards in it.  Resolution Remove the second network card from the PC.  Pleas note Continuum only supports one network card in a CyberStation.

Issue When ordering Andover Continuum Keys what is the definition of I/O Points? Environment Cyberstation Keys Cause When ordering Andover Continuum Keys what is the definition of I/O Points? Resolution This pertains to the versions of CyberStation keys which include a limitation on the number of Infinity I/O points, such as 250 or 500.  Infinity I/O points are the total number of Infinity Input and Infinity Output points that are configured in the database.  These types of points can be connected to Infinet controllers, Eclipse I/O cards, Continuum IOU modules, or IOU boards  (on the Lbus).  This does not include numerics.