Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue I searched the Publication Zone with key word "VAV" and only found manuals for the LON controllers. Environment I/A Series BACnet Cause The Users Guide for the BACnet Flow Balance program is Workplace Commissioning Tool and Flow Balance Tool Users Guide.  Since it does not have VAV in the title the Publication Zone search did not find it. Resolution The BACnet Flow Balance manual is part of the Workplace Commissioning Tool and Flow Balance Tool Users Guide (F-27357).  It is installed with the WorkPlace Tech software and can be viewed from the Help menu or it can be found in the Publication Zone by searching with the "F" number.

Issue What is the difference between R2 release 529 and 532? Environment I/A Series R2 (Niagara) Cause   What is the difference between R2 release 529 and 532? Resolution R2 2.301.532 was a maintenance build created primarily to provide the distribution file for the support of the JACE NXT platform. 

Issue I/A Series ProView LON display SCHEDULE ERROR: Special day 1 event 2 time must be greater than event 1 time. Environment I/A Series ProView LON Display Cause Typically caused by attempting to use a previously commissioned and active copy the I/A Series R2 lonProview jar file ECDIS210 shadow object. Resolution Power cycle the display. Use the ProView wizard and on the first screen, select Schedule from the Page Selection drop down list.  The Calendar screen should display, select next to move to the Week Schedules.  Select next to display the Special Days screen.  Review the event times entered for Special Day 1 (especially Event 1 and Event 2).  Make sure the times that are entered are in ascending order from midnight (00:00). Review Holiday1 to Holiday 4 and modify the enumeration on all events to "no event." Commit the changes to the display.

Issue   In Niagara R2, what would cause an IP communication to the UNC to drop out?  There are no errors in the standard output window. Environment Niagara R2 All version; UNC-410, UNC-510, UNC-520 Cause The same IP address is assign to more than on controller. Two UNC controllers are using the same IP address. Resolution This symptom usually indicates a duplicate IP address condition. Under this condition the UNC will keep dropping offline for a period of time.  The duplicate IP address situation will need to be corrected before reliable communications can be established. Reassign one of the UNCs a different IP address that is not currently being used.  Ensure that each IP address is only assigned to one controller.

Issue Where can I information on accessories for a job that needs to meet a UL-864 (UUKL) project specification? Environment UL-864 UULK/UUKL project requirements Cause Need various approved accessories to meet a UL-864 job specification. Resolution Due to regulatory issues, all current UL-864/UUKL information is published in the latest version of the TAC I/A Series MicroNet BACnet Smoke Control Systems Manual, F-27419.  Always refer to an online version of that manual for the latest approved information.

Issue What is the part number for ordering a second copy of Workplace Pro for a jobsite?  What functionality does it have? Environment Niagara R2 Cause End customer wants a second "engineering" station. Resolution A second copy can be ordered using part number WP-PRO-1.  It can engineer/modify existing stations on the jobsite.  It cannot run stations on the host computer on which it is installed.

Issue During the installation process for the Niagara R2.301.523 software, Windows 7 reports the error "Unable to save file "c:\windows\downloaded installation\{Windows application GUID}\TAC I/A Series Enterprise Server 2.3g.msi".  I thought that the I/A Series R2-523 release was supposed to be compatible with Windows 7. Environment Windows 7 Cause Installation of any software using the Windows Installer on a Windows 7 computer requires that the user have administrative rights on the computer.  This issue is not specific to any given software package but rather is a security restriction enforced by the Windows 7 operating system. Resolution The software must be installed by a Windows user that is a member of the local Administrators users group. There are three workarounds for this issue. Have someone that is a member of the "Administrators" users group on that computer install the software. Have the system administrator add the user's user account to the "Administrators" users group. Have the system administrator create a new administrative user account on the computer for the purpose of installing software.

Issue The option to add or decrease the number of remote I/O modules using the Remote IO Wizard is shown, but what is the process to eliminate all modules? Environment I/A Series WorkPlace Tech Cause Eliminate all I/O modules using the Remote IO Wizard Resolution Open the ADI/Remote IO Wizard from the Applications menu.  With the Remote IO Wizard window displayed hit the Back button and select "none" and click Next.  When prompted with "Do you wish to continue?" select yes and all the RIO Input and output tags will be removed from the drawing.  Note: objects that were linked to these tags that are no longer being used must be "cut" from the drawing manually.

Issue Upgraded the Vykon 3.92 Alarm client and can not get it to connect to the Enterprise Server. Environment Niagara R2, Vykon Alarm Client Cause Installed the wrong client for an Enterprise Server with Cloudscape database. Resolution The VAS 3.92 Client is compatible with Enterprise Server stations running MSDE, Microsoft SQL, or Oracle database services. The VAS 2.50 Client is compatible with Enterprise Server stations running Cloudscape database services. The Vykon 3.92 client and VAS jar file will need to be uninstalled and the correct ones installed. Uninstall the Vykon 3.92 client from the client's PC Stop the Enterprise server and uninstall the vas-2.301.532.v3.jar Install the Vykon 2.50 client and vas-2.301.532.v2.jar per VAS 2.50 Client Release Notes.    

Issue The Link tab in Schedule Object shows " Prism Error " Environment R2 Niagara Cause Directly linking the schedule or calendar status output via external link to another station may cause the receiving station's object to not follow the associated calendar or schedule event.  The link tab will show "Prism Error" Resolution The schedule object output should only be linked to objects within the station and not between stations.  Schedule and calendar objects between stations should only be linked via the master/slave links.

Issue Are the I/A MicroNet Sensors (MN-S, MN-SO, MN-SDK, and MN-SDT) used with the MicroNet 2000 family of controllers part of the Network 8000 obsolescence announcement?   Environment I/A Series MicroNet 2000, MN-S, MN-SO, MN-SDK, and MN-SDT Cause Product obsolescence Resolution The I/A MicroNet Sensors (MN-S, MN-SO, MN-SDK, and MN-SDT) used with the MicroNet 2000 family of controllers are part of the Network 8000 obsolescence and will no longer be available for purchase after December 31, 2011.

Issue Import data from the SQL database of a facility management system into the I/A Series R2 system. Environment I/A Series R2 system External SQL database Cause Import data from the SQL database of a facility management system into the I/A Series R2 system. Resolution This module sqlUtility contains an object called "SqlData" that can be used to perform a SQL query on any SQL database. The sqlUtility can be used only in an Enterprise Server, not in a UNC. Using this object, you need to create a SQL query to return a single column in the data table. Here is a sample query that returns the column EnergyIntensity from the EnergyTable.  SELECT EnergyIntensity FROM EnergyTable ORDER BY O_Id DESC This query returns the EnergyIntensity column of the table "EnergyTable" after sorting the record number (O_Id) in descending order.  The data value returned by the SqlData query will be the first element in the first column of the query results.  Since the query uses the ORDER BY data qualifier, specifying descending order of the record numbers (O_Id), the newest value will be returned.

Issue TIME and NTP protocol time sync services do not exist on network and the clients for both protocols are disabled.  What else could be causing the time synchronization? Environment I/A Series G3 ENC Cause Third party BACnet device with TimeSync broadcast enabled. Resolution Refer to the documentation for the third party BACnet controller to determine how to disable the TimeSync function.

Issue Engineer is using his I/A Series R2 notebook to edit customer's UNC station. Getting errors in Standard Output Window regarding out of data modules and missing modules. Environment I/A Series R2 WPP and UNC. Cause Engineer's copy of WPP does not have the same version of the I/A Series R2 software or some of the modules are not of the same revision.  UNC station was originally edited from the Enterprise Server on the site. Resolution Insure the version of all modules used in the UNC match those installed in the nre\modules folder of the WPP system. Insure that the version of the NiagaraD service being run on the computer matches the version of software installed in the UNC.

Issue I/A Series R2 graphics browsing issue when using Windows 7 64-bit computer and Internet Explorer 9 Environment Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit) Internet Explorer 9 Cause Java 1.6 Update 28 compatibility issue with IE9 Resolution Java 1.6 update 29 or later is required when using IE9 

Issue Wants to be able to access a remotely located group of BACnet MS/TP controllers via BACnet IP or BACnet-Ethernet.  Do you sell any routers or converters of this type? Environment MNB series BACnet controllers using MS/TP communications. Cause Customer wants to use BACnetIP to connect to a group of BACnet MS/TP controllers. Resolution The UNC-520-2 or ENC-520-2, with the BACnet driver installed, can operate as a BACnet IP to BACnet MS/TP router.  These devices allow routing between BACnet-IP or BACnet Ethernet to BACnet MS/TP.  This approach allows for up to four separate MS/TP networks to be routed to the BACnet-IP or BACnet-Ethernet network. The MNB-1000 provides a single MS/TP bus along with the BACnet IP or BACnet Ethernet capability. We have not tested and cannot support any third party BACnetIP to BACnet MS/TP converters.

Issue When running the G3 Niagara AX Lon Tunneling  applet on a Windows 7 computer, all display fields on the LON or Serial tunnel screen are blank.  If data is entered then the form redisplayed, it comes up blank. Environment Microsoft Windows 7 Professional operating system. I/A Series G3 Niagara AX Lon Tunneling  applet Cause Insufficient Windows permissions. Resolution There is no direct solution to this problem with the current version of the I/A Series G3 Niagara AX Lon Tunneling control panel applet, however, there is a workaround. Open the "My computer" Windows explorer window and locate the file c:\Windows\System32\vlonax.cpl.  Right-click on the vlonax.cpl file and select "Copy". Right-click on the computer desktop and select "Paste Shortcut". Rename the shortcut to "G3 LON Tunnel". Open the Windows Control Panel.  If the Windows Control Panel is configured as "View by Category", open the "View by" pulldown box and select "Large Icons". Locate and click on the "User Accounts" entry.  The "Make changes to your user account" window will open. Click on "Change User Account Control settings". Note the position of the notification slider.  If it has already been set to the lowest or second lowest setting, no change is needed.  If the slider is to "Always Notify" or Default (second position), use the mouse to move the slider to the third position.  Click [Ok] to exit the User Account Control window. (optional) If the Control Panel display was changed in step 5, above, change the "View by" selection to "View by Category" To run the G3 LON Tunnel control panel applet from the shortcut, right-click on the shortcut and select "Run as Administrator".  The current tunneling settings will then be displayed and any changes will be properly saved.

Issue What is the point capacity of a DMS-3500?  How can it be found on a "live" system? Environment DMS-3500 Cause Adding an air-handling system to an existing DMS installation.  The point capacity of the existing DMS-3500 is required to identify how much free capacity remains for the additional programming.  Resolution A DMS-3500 has a 250 point capacity. Using OPRIF 11.x, connect to the DMS-3500 and follow the steps below to determine the actual point count on an installed system: From any screen, press F8 to enter command mode. Type CANCL (then Enter) to view the first point in the database. Type PNTID (then Enter) to view the first point's point name.  To the left of the point name is a three-digit number.  It should read 001 since it is the first point in the database. Press the F5 key which will display the last point in the system.  The three-digit number to the left of the point name will indicate a value between 001 and 250.

Issue Alarm and alert counts indicate unknown when attempting to directly view the I/A Series R2 UNC alarm summary through the browser.  Attempting to view the alarm details generates the following error. The requested information could not be retrieved from the database. HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: text/html charset=UTF-8 Expires: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:36:06 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-store Server: Niagara Web Server/1.1 Niagara-Release: 2.301.522.v1 Niagara-ffs: true Connection: close Environment I/A Series R2 UNC Cause Changes to archiveMode are not dynamic Resolution The URL you enter to access the alarm summary is http:// /alarm         (where is the IP address of the UNC) Verify that the notification service archiveMode is configured to archive_local_no_SQL.  Note: This change is not dynamic.  A reboot of the UNC will be required.  Failure to reboot the UNC will cause the error noted above.

Issue Does the IA-SMART (Workplace Pro Utilities) product have updated documentation? Environment Niagara R2 Cause Datasheet on hand is from 2006. Resolution This product was developed and is supported by Smartware Technologies.  It is only sold through Schneider-Electric.  Visit http://web.smartwaretech.com/ for all the latest documentation and support files.