Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue For a high temperature application, how can a TS-8204 be programmed to read accurately when connected to a MNL controller? Environment TS-8204 Cause Require instruction on configuring the TS-8204 temperature sensor for accurate reading. Resolution Connect the TS-8204 sensor and install a 2.49 kohm resistor in parallel (1% resistor or better). Set the Analog Input object to Balco and link the output to a Curve Fit object. Curve Fit objects are supported only on controllers with Rev.3. They are not supported on VAV controllers. Configure the Curve Fit X and Y data points as follows: Data Point X1 10.8 Data Point X2 34.5 Data Point X3 57.0 Data Point X4 78.0 Data Point X5 97.8 Data Point X6 116.4 Data Point Y1 200 Data Point Y2 240 Data Point Y3 280 Data Point Y4 320 Data Point Y5 360 Data Point Y6 400

Issue The MicroNet VAV Flow Balance program version 2.0 cannot connect to any MNL VAV controllers on the trunk.  An Echelon USB adapter is being used. Environment MicroNet VAV Flow Balance program version 2.0 MNL VAV controllers Echelon USB adapter Cause MicroNet VAV Flow Balance program doesn't support Echelon's USB driver. Resolution The MicroNet VAV Flow Balance program version 2.0 is not compatible with Echelon's USB adapter.  It does not interface to the new ldv32.dll driver file. The compiled code of this program is the issue. It was written before Echelon released its USB adapter. The only adapters that can be used are the PCLTA-10 / PCLTA-20 / PCLTA-21 / PCC-10 cards using the LonWorks Plug & Play interface.

Issue What's the difference in enabling / disabling the receive-heartbeat for a nvi programmed in any of the MNL controllers? Environment MNL controllers (all models and revisions) Cause Preventing a nvi from dropping to its fallback value. Resolution With the receive-heartbeat enabled, the nvi can be set to fallback to a local sensor or value when communications fails. With the receive-heartbeat disabled, the nvi will hold its last value until the controller either is reset or a new value is received at the nvi. Being a nvi, the value is volatile (held in RAM).

Issue In a Niagara R2 UNC station, running the LonWorks Service, there are duplicate node addresses. How can they be resolved? Environment Niagara R2 UNC Cause Duplicate subnet-node address conflicts abort the learn process. Follow the instruction in the resolution to apply unique addressing to learned devices. Resolution There are two ways: Change the subnet/node address(es) of the "duplicate" device(s) already in the station. Now, when a Learn function is performed, the newly learned node(s) addresses will not conflict with existing ones. Set the "duplicate" node(s) in the station to unconfigured. Then do a Learn function and ignore unconfigured devices. The unconfigured node(s) need their shadow object(s) copied manually into the station and then Matched / Commissioned using the Device Manager. For more details, see the Niagara LonWorks Integration Guide, page A-1 to A-3.

Issue Is there a way to get damper position out of a MNL VAV controller? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment WorkPlace Tech Tool Cause The hardware does not provide for direct damper feedback position. Resolution Click on the link below for objects can be added to an existing application to provide a calculated damper position. V2-23012-PosInd for Visio2002.zip

Issue When a PDA is used to calibrate a MN-Sx sensor, the calibration offset value is stored in the controller. How can the value be preserved within the application drawing? Environment PDA MN-Sx sensor Cause The offset is not stored as a nci so a “Read NCI Values” command will not preserve it. Resolution The calibration offset is a plus or minus temperature and / or humidity value. These values must be entered in the hardware wizard - sensor config area. Once entered, the values remain with the application drawing (make sure to re-download the controller).

Issue This video details some of the troubleshooting and diagnostics tools available in the Macrovision/Flexnet License Server LMTools. Product Line TAC Vista Environment LMTools Cause See below for a video tutorial of LMtools diagnostic utility overview.   Resolution

Issue What are the email addresses used for I/A Series license requests? Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A series license Cause Request license to upgrade existing devices. Resolution All TIP and end customer WorkPlace Tech license requests and Niagara license requests are emailed to: bms.licensing@se.com

Issue In Workplace Tech 5.x, the properties of any object on the drawing do not appear. The properties option is selectable, but nothing appears. Environment Workplace Tech 5.x Cause Possible cause: COM add-ins is enable cache issue Resolution Try the following two changes: 1. Uncheck the com add-ins checkbox within the Visio security settings. Open Workplace Tech and uncheck the Com Add-ins box in the Visio options area. For Visio 2003, the Com Add-ins is located in the Visio - Tools - Security tab area. Under Macro Security, uncheck the "Enable COM add-ins" checkbox. 2. Close Workplace Tech and search for the content.dat file (typically located under the C:\Documents and Settings\ \Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Visio directory). This is a hidden file, so make sure the search is setup to include hidden files. Move this file out of the directory and run Visio 2003 (not Workplace Tech). This will cause Visio to force a rebuild of the Visio cache. Then close Visio 2003 and open Workplace Tech. The cache may update again.

Issue Unable to create/edit Reports or Schedules with Windows Authentication enabled on the Workstation.   1. All fields greyed out when attempting to edit a Report object   2. See a "Security error: Security logon rejected" error when attempting to create a new Schedule object. Environment Continuum v1.94 Continuum v2.0 Cause With Windows Authentication enabled, Continuum user credentials were being used for certain internal processes to effectively login to Windows. Since the credentials may not match the authentication would fail. This has been corrected with Continuum v2.0 SP1 Resolution The issue has been resolved in Continuum v2.0 SP1. Download Continuum v2.0 SP1 installation files from here.

Issue LON bindings stop updating in a Niagara R2 UNC station. The following message also appears in the standard output window: MESSAGE: Unmatched LonWorks response received! [LonCommReceive.run] The LON bindings are re-bound but the problem re-occurs. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment  Niagara R2 UNC Cause This message indicates that a LON controller is sending a message to the UNC's subnet/node address that the UNC cannot match to its LON database. This happens when a controller has not had its binding table updated. Resolution Make sure the UNC is the only LON network management tool used on the associated controllers. Compare the UNC's LON database information to the data actually held in the associated controllers. Right click on the LonWorks Service and select Lon Utilities Manager. Leave the "device" to 'localLonDevice' and set the "Command" to 'reports' and the "SubCommand" to 'verify.' The resulting output will show any mismatches in the various tables. To correct, re-commission the localLonDevice, re-commission all other devices (which clears their tables), and then re-bind all listed bindings. Re-run a 'reports' > 'verify' to ensure all devices are up and running on the network.

Issue How to permanently purge all alarms in Vista and start fresh. Product Line TAC Vista Environment Vista Workstation alarm queue Cause Sometimes alarms can get stuck in the alarm queue during certain engineering processes. In later versions, these can be erased using the purge feature. Resolution To get rid of all old alarms in Vista, browse to the database location: C:\Program Files\TAC\TAC Vista 5.x.x\Db\$thisdb Note: The example is using the default database path for Vista. If you are unsure of the database location, go to Vista Server Setup where your Vista Database path is from the Vista Database tab. Shutdown the Vista Server if it is currently running. In the vista DB folder, rename $this.alr and $this_bp.alr to something else (e.g. this.alr.old) for future offline use, or delete the files permanently. Restart the Vista server, and the alarms should be cleared with the exception of current active alarms.

Issue Every time the computer reboots, LMGRD errors are shown at startup.   LMGRD encountered a problem and needed to close. lmgrd.exe - Application Error The instruction at "0x0012e854" referenced memory at "0xffffff91". The memory could not be "written". Product Line Other, Satchwell MicroNet, Satchwell Sigma, TAC Vista Environment Vista Server 5.0 FlexNet Licensing Remote Alarm Manager Sigma BAS2800+ Micronet Errors Cause There is a known issue with the new license server from Flexnet. The LMGRD.exe is actually crashing during shut down of the PC. Resolution This is nothing dangerous. What happens is that when you turn off the PC, something is happening with the license server during the shutdown phase. Since LMGRD runs as service, it can not display this error message during this shut down. The error message is shown the next time the PC is started. It will not affect anything since the error messages is queued from the last shutdown sequence, NOT during the startup. We think it has something to do with having a license server installed and not using only an entitlement license. In some situations, placing a customer license file from any project into the license folder along with the monthly demo license stops the LMGRD error. The license server may read the customer license, note that it is invalid, then use the monthly license. Flexnet is looking into this issue. Look for a fix in upcoming versions. On Sigma, BAS2800+, and Micronet systems where Remote Alarm Manager is installed, the TAC license server can be uninstalled as it is not used.

Issue In LonMaker drawing, the TAC device stencils have disappeared. Environment LonMaker Visio Cause Either the TAC ToolPack was not installed, or the stencil view has been closed. Resolution To open the TAC stencils, click on File menu, go to Shapes and select desired stencil group. If the stencil is not available from this menu, then the TAC ToolPack was not successfully installed.

Issue What is the process required to upgrade application drawings done with Workplace Tech 3.1? Environment Workplace Tech 3.1 Cause Use the application drawings done with Workplace Tech 3.1 on newer Workplace Tech. Resolution The first step is to convert the drawings using Workplace Tech 3.2 Service Pack 1 (and Visio 2000). Then the drawings can be converted using Workplace Tech 5.x and Visio 2002 or Visio 2003.

Issue Vista Webstation 4/5 is installed but only displays HTTP error 500 Environment Vista Webstation IIS Cause If the local host page cannot be displayed then the problem lies within IIS more so than Vista Webstation. Resolution The first thing to do is check if the IIS will display any webpages (http://localhost/ for example). If it will not then follow these steps to correct the matter: From Administrative Tools, Open Component Services MMC and delete IIS related packages (IIS In-Process Applications, IIS Out-of-Process Applications, and IIS Utilities) if the Files cannot be deleted, Right click on the object, select properties, select Advanced Tab, uncheck "Disable deletion". Open a command prompt and navigate to the %windir%\system32\inetsrv folder and enter the following commands: rundll32 wamreg.dll,CreateIISPackage regsvr32 asptxn.dll Restart IIS via IISRESET entered at a command prompt.

Issue Local security policy may prevent Niagara R2 Workplace Pro from running properly. Environment Niagara R2 Workplace Pro Cause The Local Security Policy settings and blocking port 3011 might prevent the WorkPlace Pro from accessing the local computer (Localhost). Resolution Workplace Pro's "Admin Tool" software requires network access to the local computer (Localhost) to allow it to connect to a station. The typical cause is Firewall software or other security software on the computer blocking access to port 3011. If the port in the internal firewall has been opened and "Admin Tool" still cannot run, local security policy may be preventing access to the computer. To verify the local security policy settings, open the "Local Security Policy" function, found under "Administrative Tools" in the Windows Control Panel. Within the "User Rights Assignment" under the "Local Policies", there are two rights that must be configured properly. The first of these two policies is "Access this computer from the network". In the "Security Setting" for this policy, the "Administrators" group must be present. The second of these two policies is "Deny access to this computer from the network". The exclusions in this policy are a bit more complex to configure and requires an understanding of the group membership of the user attempting to run Workplace Pro. To configure this setting, the user's name must not be listed and any security group to which the user belongs must not be listed in the "Security Setting" list. With typical user security settings, the user's name and the "Administrators" group must not appear in the "Security Setting" list. After making changes to the Local Security Policy, the user must log off and log back into the computer to force these policies to be activated.

Issue Error "Initialization Failure" when starting I/NET on a PC that has just been upgraded Environment I/NET Seven I/NET Host Tool Cause Upgrading the version of I/NET on a PC requires that the database also be upgraded. Resolution Verify that the log in name that is used has Admin rights to I/NET Close I/NET and I/O Server, then start DB Create - log in Select the Upgrade Database radio button Force an upgrade on the database to reassign the passwords again Restart I/NET again and it should come up and give you the log in box, put your user name and password and it should start.

Issue MNB Controller firmware upgrade failed, which resulted in the device showing a blinking-red status LED. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment I/A Series MNB Controllers (ASC) (All firmware revisions) Note: This does not apply to the MNB-1000 Cause A blinking-red status LED means the MNB controller is in Boot Loader mode and it cannot reboot. It is now a "slave" unit, listening to traffic, not initiating communication. Resolution Using the WorkPlace Commissioning Tool, click on the File pull-down menu and select "Add MS/TP Slave". If asked to select from IP, Ethernet or MS/TP, select MS/TP. (Note: It's a good idea to have the controller isolated from the trunk, so the firmware upgrade process runs less risk of being interrupted.) At the prompt for the address, enter the address set on the controller DIP switch. The controller should get added to the list. If it is already in the list, a message will indicate that there's a duplicate address. Answer prompts in such a manner to get the controller added to the list. The 'slave' controller may show up with a blank name. Do the firmware upgrade again. This procedure works 80% of the time. If the upgrade fails, put the controller into Dedicated Boot Loader Mode. Take the controller off the MSTP trunk, set the DIP switch address to 254, cycle power, and try another firmware upgrade (keep it addressed as 254). Following a successful firmware upgrade, set the DIP switch back to the correct controller address and cycle power to the controller.

Issue Using a Xenta 527-NPR to connect to an I/NET system and cannot see it in Network Configuration, although it can be reached over the web. Environment Xenta 527-NPR Cause There could be several things that are causing this to occur. It may be a setting on the device, or the device may just need to be rebooted. Resolution  Please check the following settings on the device: Verify that the port setting 50069 is opened If it is connected to other controllers, verify that it has its own address, otherwise it will cause LAN Reconfigurations In the I/O Configuration, verify that the device shows up in the Online Devices If these settings are all correct and you are unable to see the device, the following steps will send the device back to boot and then set it up again: Download the most recent bin file for that device from the Web, Type dsh/format when the prompt comes up, Re-enter the IP address when asked Download the bin file to the device again Once completed, put back the reference hosts IP etc so that it can talk to I/NET again. If this fails then return the device and get a replacement.