Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue The STR-150 Wall Module with Display is not compatible with Xenta 100 controllers that are earlier than SW-version 1.2. The space temperature (nvoSpaceTemp) is displaying an invalid or default value (either 621.81 degrees Fahrenheit or 327.67 degrees Celsius). In newer versions of Vista the value will display "Invalid Value". Product Line TAC Vista Environment STR-150 Xenta 101-VF Xenta 102-ES Xenta 103-A Xenta 104-A Cause Software for Xenta 100 series controllers previous to version 1.2 is not compatible the STR-150 wall module. Resolution The STR-150 is only compatible with Xenta 100 series controllers that are software version 1.2 or later. If a wall module with display is required for a Xenta 100 controller with software that is older than version 1.2 there are two possible solutions: An identical Xenta controller can be purchased with the latest software version to replace the old controller. An STR-350 stat can be used and connected to the Xenta controller via SNVT bindings.

Issue STR-250 Wall Stat displaying °C instead of °F Environment Xenta 102-AX M/STAT MR-VAV-AX I/NET Vista Cause Device is set to incorrect Engineering Units Resolution Plug the M/STAT into the jack on the thermostat.  The initial display shows the set temperature. Press the Service button.  This prompts you to enter the service mode password.  Default password is 183.  Use the +/- keys to set each digit and the enter key to submit.  If the password is incorrect, the display will blink. If the password is correct, the first menu option – Unit Parameters (UP) – is displayed.  Press enter. Hit the select button until Engineering Units (EU) is displayed.  Press enter to view the current value. Use the +/- keys to change the value between Systeme International (Si) and Imperial Units (iu), press enter. Press the service key to escape out of the menu.  If you are finished configuring the box, escape all the way back out of the service menu before disconnecting the M/STAT.  Disconnecting in configuration mode can leave the stat displaying “00” or other incorrect numbers.

Issue When downloading a controller in the Vista System Plug-in, messages are received saying the System Plug-in is waiting for the controller to restart, but this never completes successfully. This message may be shown many times. Environment Vista System Plug-in LonMaker Xenta programmable controllers Xenta 280, 281, 282, 283, 300, 301, 302, 401, 401:B Cause There may be several different causes including communications errors or a corrupted application. However, by taking the controller offline in LonMaker, any extraneous interaction with the controller is temporarily ignored during the download. Resolution First, please double check the Vista ToolPack version that is installed, and make sure the version matches TAC Vista Server version. If not, please uninstall the Vista ToolPack and install the correct version of ToolPack. TAC Vista ToolPack can be download from Extranet (Software and Firmware > Engineering Tools). In LonMaker force the controller's neuron chip into a configured, bypass mode: Right-click the controller and select "Manage" In the LonMaker Device Manager window click "Offline" Download the controller in the Vista System Plug-in. In LonMaker set the controller's neuron chip back to configured, online mode: Click "Online" in the LonMaker Device Manager window then close window

Issue An I/STAT or M/STAT plugged into a Xenta 102-AX will display the room temperature but it is not possible to enter service mode -- none of the buttons do anything. Environment Xenta 102-AX M/STAT I/STAT Cause There are different versions of the I/STAT and M/STAT for the Xenta and I/NET product lines. Resolution For use with a Xenta 102-AX, use an I/STAT-A or M/STAT-A For use with an I/NET MR-VAV-AX use either an I/STAT or I/STAT-A, or M/STAT or M/STAT-A

Issue When Zbuilder is opened from LonMaker the setpoints revert to default values: US - 50°F SI - 10°C Environment LonMaker 3.x Zbuilder 5.1.4 - 5.1.5 Cause If the Region format is English (United States) but the Measurement system is Metric then the value provided to Zbuilder from LNS server is handled improperly. Resolution Change the Region Settings Open the Windows Control Panel and access the Region and Language settings. Click the Additional Settings button to change the Measurement System to U.S. Change the format of the Setpoints Open the LNS browser for any Xenta 121 controller in this database. Find the scptSetPnts and right click and select Change Format. Change the format to scptSetPnts#US.

Issue Use L-IP and NL220 to compose Vista LNS database. How to move the database from the engineering PC to the site PC? Environment Vista 5.X.X LNS Network NL220 Loytec L-IP Cause Due to the complexity of LNS network, it is recommended to follow the steps listed below to move the LNS database and Vista database from an engineering PC to a site PC. Otherwise, it may result controllers offline, Vista database opens extremely slow or freeze. Resolution NL220+L-IP is the most common combination for LNS network. How to move the database completed on the engineering PC to the site PC? The following steps can be followed: The software needed to be installed on site PC: Vista Server, Vista ToolPack, NL220.   A NL220 dongle is needed.  (The dongle does not need to be locked to the site PC for moving database purpose; however, it is recommended to have the dongle locked to the site PC for future maintenance purpose.)   Backup the LNS database on the engineering PC. (Select “Backup Project” in the NL220.)   Make a copy of Vista database.   Copy both backups (LNS and Vista) onto the site PC. NOTE: It is recommended to keep the paths of both databases the same. Otherwise, it may results graphic pages lost.   Specify the folder path of Vista Server on site PC to the backup database.   Add the L-IP interface in the Control Panel.   Plug the NL220 dongle onto the site PC. Open NL220, create a new project and select the interface as L-IP.   Close the project, select “Restore Project” and specify it to the backup database for NL220.   Open the NL220 project again and select the System Plug-in.   Update the LNS database to Vista Server in the System plug-in again.   Select the “Commence Communication” to start the communication.   Open TAC Vista Workstation. Then the LNS interface in the Workstation should be online. NOTE: without a NL220 dongle plugged in the site PC, TAC Vista workstation should operate normally. However, it is impossible to make any change to the LNS database.

Issue When using RS-232 port to download Menta program, the neuron ID of I/O modules can't be downloaded. When downloading Menta program to Xenta 280/300 (with /N/P) through RS-232 port, the LED besides Service Pin flashes red. When plug OP onto the controller, only “No Answer” shows. Environment Vista 5 Xenta programmable controllers Xenta 280, 281, 282, 283, 300, 301, 302, 401, 401:B Xenta I/O modules Cause The network configuration can't be downloaded through RS-232 port. Resolution When downloading Menta program to Xenta 280/300 (with /N/P) through RS-232 port in Vista 5, the normal method can't download the network configuration information to the controller, such like the blueprint, the neuron ID of controller and I/O modules. Then the following steps can be followed: Create the Xenta 280/300 controller in the Workstation. The LTA interface can be the Xenta Server, Loytec port or Echelon Port. It does not matter. Assign the Menta file to the Xenta 280/300 controller. Also manually type the neuron IDs of the controller and I/O modules in the Workstation. Right click on the Xenta controller and click “Edit” to open the Menta interface. Press F12 and “Online” button to download the Menta program into Xenta 280/300 controller. The controller or I/O modules should work fine now.

Issue Vista IV Remote Workstation pulling the Workstation license from the server PC shows the error "The object involved has disconnected from its clients." If the alarm is acknowledged, Remote Workstation does not work. Restarting the Remote Workstation restores functionality. Environment Vista IV Remote Workstation Aladdin Privilege Administrator 2.01 Remote license hosting Cause The Aladdin Privilege Administrator 2.01 licensing tool that comes with Vista IV did not handle remote licensing of Workstation very well. If trying to read the Workstation license from the server at the remote PC, it occasionally will time out and result in this error. Resolution Install a Workstation license/dongle on the remote PC. This will prevent it from trying to read a license from the server PC and resolve the issue.

Issue Disable FTP (File Transfer Protocol) in all X5/7/9xx controllers Environment Xenta 511, 527, 527-NPR, 555, 701, 711, 721, 731, 913 Cause In some high security project installations, local IT groups require that FTP (File Transfer Protocol) be disabled on all devices within their network. Resolution FTP into the Xenta 5/7/9xx controller by typing FTP://x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x is the IP address of the controller) in the Windows Explorer address bar. Login with the root username and root password. Browse to the sys/system/ftp.cfg file and copy it to the desktop of the local machine. Open the ftp.cfg file with notepad on the local machine. Set the FTPMaxUsers="4" line to FTPMaxUsers="0" and save the file. Copy the file back to the FTP session on the controller and paste / replace it over the existing file. Logout of the FTP Session Cold start the controller Now the Xenta 5/7/9xx controller will not have FTP access. If there is a need to re-enable FTP please follow this steps on the Xenta 511, 527, 555, 701, 711, 721, 731, & 913 Login into the controller via the web interface with the root level username and password. Navigate to Configuration > Servers > FTP Server Set the Max. number of users back to a valid number of 1-5 and click save. Cold start the controller. If FTP needs to be re-enabled on the Xenta 527-NPR the only option will be to reload the system program. This is because the 527-NPR does not have a full web configuration interface like all other Xenta 5/7/9xx controllers to set the number of users.   Update note: In later versions of the Xenta Server, FTP is disabled by default (the number of users are set to 0). If you still can't login to FTP, try to format the controller, reload the system program and try it again. Then it should work now.

Issue Can I send live data over SNMP? How many trap pages can I define? Environment Xenta Servers Xenta 511, 527, 555, 701, 711, 721, 731 Cause All Xenta Servers (except Xenta 913 and Xenta 527-NPR) have a built in SNMP agent. However, the SNMP protocol in them cannot handle sending live data over SNMP. It can only send alarms along with specific fields of those alarms.   Resolution The Xenta Server supports SNMP version 1 and SNMP Traps. It can only be used to send SNMP and not to receive. The first step to setting up SNMP is to create alarms in XBuilder and link the points to the alarms that are to be monitored. Then, the filters used by the SNMP traps should be defined. This is done using SNMP trap pages. SNMP Trap Page The SNMP trap page is where you define a set of rules in Xbuilder of when to send a trap to the SNMP manager. This includes severity of the alarm or a wildcard string based on the address of the point.  In XBuilder you can create up to 10 SNMP trap pages, which will give you possibilities to define 10 different alarm filters. An SNMP trap page is created by right-clicking a folder in the System pane of XBuilder and then selecting New > Page > SNMP Trap Page. (It is recommended that a separate folder be created for SNMP trap pages and that this folder be restricted to only system administrators.) Once the SNMP trap page has been created it is then configured by right-clicking on the SNMP trap page object and selecting SetupSNMP Trap Filter.   SNMP Field Configuration The SNMP field configuration is where you define what 8 pieces of data will be sent to the SNMP manager (due to the UDP limit of 8 fields). That data consists of things like date/time, type, address, priority, description, etc. The SNMP field configuration is accessed by clicking on the Tools menu and selecting SNMP Field Configuration.     For more information on SNMP in Xenta Servers please see the TAC Xenta Server - TAC Networks Technical Manual, section 16. Note: SNMP is only supported by Xenta Server devices and is not supported by TAC Vista.  

Issue Can the RPTR-ECH-WW repeater be used on a TP/FT-10 LON trunk? Environment RPTR-ECH-WW; a wire-wire repeater for use with Echelon NIMs (GCM-ECH-001, GCM-ECH-001, or DMS-ECH-001) TP/FT-10 LON trunk ( under a UNC, ENC, or LNC-100, for example) Cause The RPTR-ECH-WW is for use on a trunk using the Echelon TP/XF-1250 transceiver, which use a different communications protocol than the TP/FT-10 transceiver does. Devices using different transceivers will not communicate with each other. Resolution No, the RPTR-ECH-WW cannot be used on a TP/FT-10 LON trunk such as the UNC, ENC, or LNC-100s support.

Issue When logging in once the login screen appears again Environment Vista Webstation Windows 2003 Windows 2008 Cause Windows 2003 server and 2008 server have different default security  settings for Internet Explorer and may deny cookies, this problem should not appear in Windows XP if default settings are used, you can also check if it works with Firefox, if it do so its ought to be the security settings in Internet Explorer. Resolution When the problem occurs, there should be a notification after the address bar. Click on that and allow an exception for the IP address for the Xenta.

Issue The priority attribute was not specified as configurable. (Subsystem: NS Connections, #11) lcaErrConnPriNotConfigurable An attempt was made to modify the priority attribute; that attribute was not specified as configurable. For network variables, the priority keyword may be included as part of the connection information in the Neuron C variable declaration.  The config and nonconfig keywords specify whether the priority designation can be modified with a network management tool. The default is config. The priority keyword affects output or polled input network variables.  Please refer to the Neuron C Reference Guide for more information. Environment LonMaker Cause Applying a connection description to a new binding that causes a connection error, such as applying a connection description with the priority attribute set to a connection that does not support it, causes this error message to be displayed. Subsequent attempts to add any connection with the default connection description will result in the same error message. Resolution Exit LonMaker Re-open the LonMaker tool.  Then add the connection.  Alternatively, explicitly select a valid connection description other than "Default."

Issue Setpoint button may break if forced outside of movement range. Environment STR-106 Cause Excessive force used to turn setpoint button outside of movement range. Resolution Report faulty unit through Warranty Claim System. Replacement button carries component no 372069900.

Issue Can't see the Xenta Server Menta  program online in the browser Menta program is working but it is not possible to view it online All other viewers work correctly Product Line TAC Vista Environment Xenta 731 Xenta 711 Xenta 721 Xenta 701 Xbuilder Menta Cause One reason could be that there are texts (comments) in the Menta application that does not have any font specified. Resolution Edit the Menta file form Xbuilder Find any comment/texts Double click to edit Click on font Select a font and save Download the Xbuilder project again

Issue Modifying alarm tripped text and reset alarm text on a Xenta programmable controller under a Xenta Server is not reflecting these changes. Environment Vista 5.x.x/4.5.0 Xbuilder 5.x.x/4.5.0 Cause When the Xenta programmable controller is added to the LonWorks network under a Xenta Server an alarm object is created in Xbuilder with the Tripped Alarm Text and Reset Alarm Text from the MTA file. Updates to the MTA file or alarm object in Vista server does not update the Xbuilder project. Resolution Edit the Xenta Server object and modify the Tripped Alarm Text and Reset Alarm Text for the in the Alarms folder under the programmable controller in the Network pane of Xbuilder.

Issue What resources are available to get more information on the M-Bus protocol? Product Line Andover Continuum, Field Devices, Other, Satchwell MicroNet, Satchwell Sigma, TAC IA Series, TAC INET, TAC Vista Environment M-Bus Cause The M-Bus protocol information is available on www.m-bus.com. Select The M-Bus: A Documentation Rev 4.8 Resolution The M-Bus protocol specifications is broken down in multiple chapters. Basics of Serial Bus System Overview of the M-Bus Physical Layer Data Link Layer Telegram Format, Meaning of Fields, Communication Process Application Layer Structure of fixed and variable data blocks. Network Layer Appendix Table of units, medium, data field codes, VIF extensions.

Issue The Xbuilder device editor by default only allows 200 lines, and some integration efforts require more than 200 points to be programmed. Environment Xbuilder Device Editor Cause The device editor only has 200 rows by default. Resolution The device editor is designed with excel functionality meaning, new rows can be added to allow for more points to be programmed. To add rows to the device editor follow these steps: Open the device editor. Right click on the row number. Choose insert row. Type in the desired number of rows (up to 100) If more than 100 are needed repeat steps 2-4.

Issue When a SQL query is run on taclogdata to view events or trend logs, the time stamps returned differ by an hour or more from the those of the same events when viewed in Vista. Environment TAC Vista 4.3 and higher MS SQL Server Cause All time stamps are stored in taclogdata as UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) regardless of your local time zone and DST (Daylight Saving Time) settings. When you view events or trend logs in Vista, the Time Zone and DST settings of your Workstation are added to the UTC time so that you see time stamps synchronized with your local time. This does not occur when a SQL query is run directly on taclogdata. Resolution If you need to query the Vista SQL database directly, you could use the DATEADD function to calculate your local time from the UTC values, e.g. in SQL Server Management Studio run the following query to show the EventId, UTC time and local time for all events that occurred in the last 24 hours. USE taclogdata; SELECT EventId, EventDatetime, DATEADD(hour, datediff(hour, getutcdate(), getdate()), EventDatetime) AS LocalTime FROM Event WHERE EventDatetime > DATEADD(day, -1, GETUTCDATE()) Please note:  DATEADD adds a fixed offset to the input time.  It does not compensate for start and end dates of DST. 

Issue Multiple FLEXnet License File errors warn that the license file is about to expire or has already expired. Errors may be logged in Windows system log that may look something like this: (2372) Feature: Micronet.VisiSat.Core, expires on 30-apr-2011. This is a two week notice. Multiple errors may pop up at once or may only occur daily. Here are two examples of messages you might see. Event Type:      Warning Event Source:    taclic_LicenseServer Event Category:          FLEXnet License File Event ID:        718 Date:            30/04/2011 Time:            12:00:52 AM User:            N/A Computer:        BMSSERVER Description: (2372) Feature: Micronet.VisiSat.Core, expires on 30-apr-2011. This is a two week notice   Event Type:      Error Event Source:    taclic_LicenseServer Event Category:          FLEXnet License File Event ID:        716 Date:            5/17/2012 Time:            2:55:15 PM User:            N/A Computer:        G15HVAC Description: (2516) This license (Vista.Server.LNS) has expired. Environment FLEXnet License Server Cause A valid site license and demo license have been left in the Vista license directory. The system message is letting you know that the demo license will or has already expired. Resolution Remove or relocate the demo license once it is no longer required on site. This will prevent this error message from appearing in the Windows Event Viewer.