Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue How to configure the Network 8000 Interface for ASD overrides Part 1 of 2 Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Automation Server (All) I/A Network 8000 ASD controllers Cause Requirements and configuration specifics for ASD controller override in the Network 8000 interface Resolution

Issue What are the basic steps when doing a conversion from TAC Vista to EcoStruxure Building Operation (EBO)? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Vista Server Cause When doing a conversion from TAC Vista to EcoStruxure Building Operation (EBO), a tool called TAC Vista Conversion tool is used to build the EBO database using an export file from TAC Vista. Resolution This video shows a basic conversion of a TAC Vista database to EBO, and the steps that needs to be taken for a successful conversion.

Issue Updating an exposed property in Webstation doesn't change the exposed attribute. An example is an ellipse having the Fill color attribute exposed, but when updating the exposed property the ellipse does not change color. Right click the graphic in the tree view and choose Properties. Click the Exposed tab Update the property (1) and click OK (2) The fill color of the ellipse does not change This works fine in Workstation. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Webstation Cause The Expose object has a property called Public. This value should be True if the exposed property should be visible and editable from Webstation or Workstation. The cause of this problem is that the value is true instead of True. TGML is case sensitive. Workstation is more forgiving, so the color is updated when doing the same procedure in Workstation. Resolution Update the value of the Public property in the Expose object from true to True. If there are many objects to be checked, a search and replace can be undertaken in the Source view.

Issue Can the I/NET SCU controller connect to Security Expert SP-C directly instead of being imported from the I/NET system? Product Line Security Expert,TAC INET Environment I/NET SCU 1284 Security Expert Controller Security Expert Cause Required to use New I/NET SCU1284 controllers on a Security Expert site. Resolution It is not possible to configure and commission SCU1284 door controllers without the use I/NET on Security Expert. Explanation of why this is not possible: In I/NET, door controllers i.e SCU1284 are on a subLAN that connects to a 779x host device. In the 779x host device, controller parameters such as its reader type, PIN functionality, LED operation, etc are configured for each door. The configuration parameters for each door controller gets stored in the 779x host device, then the host device’s data is saved to a SAV file (i.e., a backup file of the 779x device). To integrate I/NET door controllers with Security Expert, The subLAN (779x host device ) is then disconnected from the door controllers and connected to an SP-C (the SP-C replaces the 779x host device). The 7798x host device’s SAV file is then downloaded to the SP-C as a binary blob.  The SP-C needs this SAV file to know how to communicate with each door controller and to configure these devices if a cold restart is ever experienced.

Issue 'Failed to connect to SQL Server (local\TACVISTA). "[18470] Login failed for user 'xxx\xxxxx'. Reason: The account is disabled." message appears when trying to install Vista using another account than the account that is logged on to the server. Product Line TAC Vista Environment TAC Vista 5.1.X SQL installation/connection Cause The TAC Vista installer SQL configuration settings page states 'Select authentication and specify SQL Login or Windows account and password to set how TAC Vista Server will access the SQL server.' This means how TAC Vista will access the SQL server when Vista is running, not during installation. Resolution Ensure that the user running the TAC Vista installer has the correct permissions to install an SQL server (if this is a new database) and configure it. The specified user will be used during runtime, but the launching user during installation. The installing user can then be removed from the SQL server security settings after installation is complete.

Issue SmartX Living Space Sensor Touchscreen SXWSCDXSELXX display has a background color indication for the "Heating cooling status" setting in Workstation, but the Heat/Cool/Off colors Red/Blue/White are very faint and it is nearly impossible to tell them apart. The colors are a bit better when viewed from an angle, but when looking straight at the display they are very faint. The photos below show the states Cool (Blue), Heat (Red) and Off (White) in that order from left to right.       Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation SmartX Living Space Sensor Cause Low color quality of the SmartX Living Space Sensor Touchscreen SXWSCDXSELXX display. Resolution This is a hardware limitation in the current version of the touchscreen display SXWSCDXSELXX. The issue will be resolved in a coming release of the display.

Issue It is not possible to change Primary or Secondary Reader Formats as they are greyed out. Product Line EcoStruxure Security Expert Environment Security Expert Client, Security Expert Server Cause When the Reader Expander Port network type is set to Schneider Electric RS485 the Reader format is edit locked and unable to be changed. Resolution The Port network type on the Reader Expanders General tab needs to be temporarily changed to Wiegand.  Under the Reader tab the Reader Format and Reader Secondary Format can now be changed. Repeat this process for Reader 1 and/or Reader 2 as required. On the Reader Expanders General tab change the Port network type back to Schneider Electric RS485. Save your changes, perform a download and update the Reader Expander.

Issue Sometimes just looking at the error message you get from e.g. TAC Vista or SmartStruxure when you try to send an email and it fails can lack information. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC Vista Environment TAC Vista SmartStruxure WireShark Cause It is not necessarily all SMTP error messages and their explanation that are implemented in the software. Resolution For general information on WireShark usage read Using WireShark to analyse communications on an Ethernet network. If McAfee antivirus with HIPS is installed on the PC, use RawCap to capture the communication, as you will not see traffic originating from your PC online in WireShark. Additional reference for this article: Enhanced SMTP status codes   First of all when working with WireShark logs, it's a good idea to filter and focus the communication type you want to look at. In this case it's SMTP, so simply type smtp in the display filter and hit enter.   The easiest way to isolate a single smtp "conversation" between client and server, is to find one of the packets in the conversation, and in the "Analyze" menu click on "Follow TCP Stream".   This will give you the complete conversation in a separate window.   When you have used "Follow TCP Stream" be sure to set the display filter to "smtp" again when closing the window.   This is what happens if authentication is needed by the SMTP server but the client is not using authentication.   Here is the same attempt to send an email, but this time the client has enabled authentication   A little trick when using authentication is that WireShark can actually decrypt the Base64 encoded username and password. Simply right click on any SMTP packet, click "Protocol Preferences" and click "Decrypt AUTH parameters".   He are the packets decrypted   An error not easily detected by e.g. TAC Vista is error 535 "Incorrect authentication data". As stated in the enhanced status code table linked above, it simply means that either username, password or both is incorrect.   Though the product used may not have support for SSL and TLS, you can encounter SMTP server requiring it. Here is an example of a SMTP requesting SSL     For further info on troubleshooting sending emails from TAC Vista, please read Troubleshooting Sending Emails from a Vista Server.

Issue VisiSat 2.1 Build 196 Service Pack 1 provides the five following corrections: In the ARCnet debug Excel spreadsheet, the property editor can now be run. (Defect 1633) Exporting points to MNView or XBuilder, now allow up to 32 characters for the name and up to 50 characters for the description. (Defect 1706) In StruxureWare Building Operation WorkStation, MicroNet Interfaces can no longer be exported/imported. All MicroNet engineering should be done in VisiSat first and then imported into StruxureWare. (Defect 1765) Newly created blank points lists can now be saved without production an error message. (Defect 1784) Exports to StruxureWare no longer produce Memory leaks. (Defect 1808) Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, Satchwell MicroNet Environment VisiSat 2.1 build 196 StruxureWare Building Operation Version 1.4 Onwards Cause Correction of five known defects. Resolution This Service Pack should only be added to VisiSat 2.1.196 Note: When installed, the VisiSat 2.1 Build version/build number increases to 2.1.200. (due to one of the files in 'Program Files'). VisiSat will still show as Build 2.1.196 in Control Panel - Programs - Programs and Features - Uninstall or change program. Installing VisiSat Service Pack 1 =============================== Shutdown VisiSat and the VisiSat-Server. Run "VisiSat 2.1.196 Service Pack 1.exe". Extract to VisiSat installation root drive. (or extract to another location and move the Satchwell folder, created when extracted to the root of the C: drive). To the question 'Would you like to replace the existing file', select 'Yes to All' Restart VisiSat. Download VisiSat 2.1 Build 196 Service Pack 1. See VisiSat version 2.1 Build 196 service pack 2 where information on VisiSat 2.1 Build 196 Service Pack 2 can be found and the service pack downloaded.

Issue Is it possible to prevent a 3rd party BACnet Operator Workstation (BOWS) from deleting the BACnet objects in an Enterprise/Automation server? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Cause Current version of EBO/SBO puts the responsibility of creating & deleting BACnet objects to the site administrator.  The enhanced security on this issue will be added in the later version. Resolution The following video demonstrates how to protect the BACnet objects in ES/AS by utilizing shortcut objects.    

Issue SSC or EP1501 is bouncing offline and online Product Line Access Expert Environment Access Expert Controller Cause Not configuring the DNS suffix or misconfiguring the DNS IP or DNS suffix, may cause Access Expert to lose connection to the controller. Resolution Add in the DNS IP and DNS suffix for a local DNS server DNS resolution issues can happen when using a site’s internal DNS. It is recommended to use Google's DNS of 8.8.8.8 to resolve any names to our hosted servers. Per the documentation https://support.feenics.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019852374-Mercury-Controllers See the “Configuring a Controller for IP Client” section Note: You will need your Feenics login credentials. If the 2 options above do not correct the issue, increase the retry interval to 20 seconds. (5 is the default) If needed, as a test, configure a controller with the Host IP field as connect.feenics.com This will reach the V3 US stack

Issue A BACnet devices can contain 1000's of objects, performing an upload on these devices can take upwards of 30 minutes to complete when only a few objects are required for integration. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation Automation Server Premium Cause Uploading all objects in a controller can take a lot of time and is often not required. Resolution From version 2.0 Open the device discovery view / BACnet - then Discover All. Once the Device is hosted, click on the device (in the Device Discovery window) and open the right-hand Object pane. Drag/drop the required Object into the hosted BACnet device Application folder. Alternatively, the Hardware folder can be used, this was the best method for some earlier versions Perform the BACnet discovery, then view the Hardware folder at /ServerName/System/Hardware/BACnet devices. Navigate to the required Device/Object, then Drag and drop the Device and Object as above.

Issue Unable to discover BACnet devices from CyberStation running in the machine with multiple Network Interface Cards Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum Cyberstation Cause Metric settings for the network interface not configured correctly Resolution The following video will help us understand, Common Continuum issues when running in  Workstation with multiple NICs Using Wireshark and Windows 'route print' command to troubleshoot the problem Configuring a preferred interface when multiple routes are available

Issue Using the OPT Block with a StruxureWare Time Schedule Object. Environment Function Block Editor Cause The Xenta Time Schedule which the OPT Block has the ability to send a positive or negative minutes till next change. The StruxureWare Time Schedule dose not include this item. This is the online help article that defines the parts of the OPT Block Resolution In the Function Block Editor, create 3 RI blocks. One will be bound to the Value attribute of the Analog Schedule One will be bound the ScheduleDefault attribute of the Analog Schedule One to the TimeToNextTransition attribute of the Analog Schedule Create an XPB block with the function "A!=B". Connect the Value RI to A and the ScheduleDefault RI to B. Label this XPB "Status". Create an XPI block with the function "a?B*-1:B". Connect the status XPB block to "a" and the TimeToNextTransition RI to B. This Block can be connected to the TmL input of the OPT block. This is an export of the demo application below which shows the bindings. (right click and choose Save link as...)

Issue How can the IP address of an MPX controller that is configured for DHCP be determined when there is no attached display Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Multi-purpose Controller Cause It is necessary to know the IP address of an MPX that does not have a display for troubleshooting and commissioning multiple MPXs,  Resolution

Issue There is potential for confusion around the backward compatibility offered in EcoStruxure when the version of Enterprise Server differs from that of Automation Servers in the same system Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server Building Operation SmartX Servers Cause The 3.1.1 Release Notes refer to a new 'Multi-version system' with the possibility of a v3.1 Enterprise Server but with v3.0 Automation Servers able to function long term within the same system (albeit with some engineering limitations).    This implies that AS running earlier versions than v3.0 cannot coexist, attempts to add AS running v2.0 to ES running v3.0 have produced errors. However........ The System Upgrade Reference Guide refers to 'Runtime Compatibility' with Version 3.1 that states that Automation Servers running v1.8, 1.9, 2.0 and 3.0 can all coexist with an ES running 3.1 without issue Resolution Both documents are true, but there are two possible situations that need to be considered: Situation 1) A site has a v1.9 or v2.0 system which is required to be upgraded to v3.1. When upgrading, the ES is usually the first device to be upgraded, then depending on the number of AS onsite it may take a period of time to upgrade all the AS (especially if some of these servers are used in hospital theaters etc). For this reason EBO has an Upgrade Runtime Compatibility from v3.1 back to to v1.8, 1.9, 2.0 and 3.0, which means that an AS already in the system when the ES is upgraded to 3.1 will maintain connectivity and functionality while the upgrade takes place. Situation 2) A site has an external v1.9 or v2.0 AS whichis required to be added to an ES which is already running at v3.1. When trying to add in a new controller to a v3.1 ES, an error is produced stating that the version of the AS being added needs to be updated to before it can be added. Error Message when adding v2.0 AS to v3.0 ES Error message when adding 2.0 AS to 3.1 ES (better explanation) To summarize EBO does have Runtime Compatibility from v3.1 back to 1.8 as stated, but only for AS already in the system at the time of upgrade. Once upgraded to v3.1 the multi-version environment can be used to operate AS at v3.0 but adding AS running versions before 3.0 will generate a descriptive error.

Issue How can you use Loytec's LPA software with the AS as the interface Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Automation Server Loytec LPA Cause A Loytec LPA can be a valuable troubleshooting tool to diagnose communication problems on a LON Fieldbus. Resolution As the Automation Server uses Loytec's Lon chip, it is possible to use Loytec's LPA software over the Lon port on the AS. Some Prerequisites:   A license is required to use the LPA software. Either the "LPA-IP" or the "LPA-IP-SW" package depending on your setup. LPA (loytec.com) shows a product overview.   Downloads | Software - Device Firmware and Readme (loytec.com) to download the software. Create a free login in order to download software from Loytec's home page For additional help Buying and registering the LPA software read LonTalk Protocol Analyzer Software License and Registration Steps Lonworks troubleshooting read Troubleshooting LON Network Communication Troubleshooting Lon communication with TAC Xenta's read Actions for reducing Bandwidth in a Vista network There is a limitation when using LPA through an AS. Refer to Not all traffic on a segment is captured when using the LPA through an Automation Server Please make sure that you have a LonWorks interface configured in the Automation Server before proceeding. You will also need to add a Local Node to the interface and to commission it. Make sure to set the LPA state to Enabled under the Advanced tab in the properties for the LonWorks Interface: Once the above have been checked and understood the following steps can be performed:   Start the LPA software Click on "Profile -> Network Interface..." Click on "Remote LPA Assignment" Click on "Add Device" Enter the IP address of the Automation Server, click on "Get Info" and click on "Add Device and Restart Search" Select the Automation Server device and click on "Assign/Add" Select the interface you want to assign to the Automation Server, and click "Assign" With the interface assigned, click "OK" Select the Building Operation interface and click "OK" Now the LPA software is using the Automation Server as the interface Start a new LPA log

Issue Analog consumer values referencing the temperature of a SmartX Sensor shows in metric units when setup to display imperial units. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment EcoStruxure Building Operation Building Operation Multi-Purpose Controller Building Operation Multi-purpose VAV Building Operation Room Controller Building Operation IP-IO Building Operation SmartX Sensor Cause SmartX Sensor is configured in the device as metric measurements (SI System). Setting Fahrenheit in Display of SmartX Sensor does not convert the values from metric to imperial. Consumer values are configured to use the object being referenced and do not convert measurements. Unit conversion is done within the binding and not the device itself. Resolution There are two workarounds: Option 1: Create an analog value and then bind to consumer value Step 1: Create an Analog Value. Setup unit settings to (°F) and Save.  Step 2: Bind Analog Value to temperature from SmartX Sensor and Save Step 3: In the created Consumer Value, bind the Analog Value to the input binding reference and setup unit settings to (°F) and Save   Option 2: Bind to Consumer Value directly and keep the value in metric Step 1: In the created Consumer Value, bind the SmartX Sensor temperature to the input binding reference Step 2: Setup unit settings as configured in the object (°C) and Save.

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 SQL Database is full, or the partition the SQL is installed is full Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Report Server Cause If a site is using SQL Express 2008, the limit is 10 GB. If using the full version(s), it is unlimited. If the database or the partition where the Reports Server resides is full, here are some steps to reduce the SQL table volume and offer a short-term solution. Resolution Before continuing, make sure there is a good backup of the database. Using SQL Server Management Studio, highlight the StruxureWareReportsDB and select New Query Use the following Script in that Query: SELECT t.NAME AS TableName, s.Name AS SchemaName, p.rows AS RowCounts, SUM(a.total_pages) * 8 AS TotalSpaceKB, SUM(a.used_pages) * 8 AS UsedSpaceKB, (SUM(a.total_pages) - SUM(a.used_pages)) * 8 AS UnusedSpaceKB FROM sys.tables t INNER JOIN sys.indexes i ON t.OBJECT_ID = i.object_id INNER JOIN sys.partitions p ON i.object_id = p.OBJECT_ID AND i.index_id = p.index_id INNER JOIN sys.allocation_units a ON p.partition_id = a.container_id LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.schemas s ON t.schema_id = s.schema_id WHERE t.NAME NOT LIKE 'dt%' AND t.is_ms_shipped = 0 AND i.OBJECT_ID > 255 GROUP BY t.Name, s.Name, p.Rows ORDER BY t.Name Select Execute to run that Query as shown in the screen capture below: The Results show each of the tables and the size of those tables as shown in the screen capture below: Purely for example purposes, a script to reduce the number of Events would be delete from tbEvents where DATEDIFF(day, datetimestamp, getdate()) > 180 To gain back the space after deleting rows, right-click on StruxureWareReportsdb > Tasks > Shrink > Database

Issue Need to perform a damper calibration using eCT Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation eCommissioning Tool (eCT) Cause There is no documentation on how to perform this via eCT. Resolution Ensure your MP-V is not in a hosted state within EBO. Connect to your MP-V device using Windows 10, iOS, or Android via Bluetooth, WiFi, or ethernet connection Expand the menu in the top left corner and select "Browse Objects"  Scroll down until you find the DamperCommand object, select it and tap/click OK  In the Initiate damper calibration Property ID, select False and type in True then click Save