Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Is it possible to configure Workstation so that certain users see certain alarm categories? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment StruxureWare Building Operation Cause There may be a need to restrict access to certain alarms on a site, if for example a site is comprised of two or more buildings, it may be appropriate for users in Building 1 to only see alarms from Building 1, and not the others. Resolution To achieve this filtering a workspace, alarm view and user group must be configured. Start by creating an Alarm View object in Workstation. Edit the Alarm view and set an appropriate filter i.e. the alarm priority to be displayed. Next create a new Workspace. Ensure that an Alarms Pane is added and that the Initial Path property is set to the Alarm View created in step 1.  Create a new user group and add the Workspace created in step 3 to the group's Selected Workspaces. On the Software Permissions tab for the group, give the group Read permission for the Alarm View created in step 1. Add other appropriate permissions as required. Lastly, create a user a make them a member of the User Group created in step 5. Log in to workstation with the new user. You should then only be able to see the filtered alarms and the user should not be able to change the filter. Also check out the SmartStruxure Software Permissions Quick-Help video on the Exchange.

Issue The output of the actuator block in a MNB-Vx sometimes shows 'NaN' (Not a Number) instead of a valid position. The only way to clear it is to drive it fully open or fully closed. The issue is intermittent and it is not specific to the same installed controllers. It appears on different controllers at different times. Product Line TAC IA Series Environment MNB-Vx Cause The actuator can be initialized to avoid displaying 'NaN'. The setting in the VAV actuator block is called InitMode. Here's a description of this setting from the WorkPlace Tech Engineering Guide Supplement (F-27356): Abbreviation Configuration Property Description Range InitMode Initialization Mode Class: Enumeration - The initialization mode configuration property controls synchronization of the VAV object position output after a rest. 0 - No automatic synchronization of the position output. Synchronization occurs when normal control causes the actuator to drive full open or full closed. 1 - Actuator drives full closed after a controller reset to synchronize position output 2 - Actuator drives full open after a controller reset to synchronize position output 0-2 If InitMode = 0, and the actuator doesn't drive full open or full closed for a long period of time, the NaN value will continue to be displayed. Resolution Ensure InitMode is set to either 1 or 2 so that it synchronizes after a power cycle or database download.

Issue The Continuum icon in the system tray does not respond to a right click when attempting to logon to Cyberstation  via a remote desktop connection. Restarting the Cyberstation application will temporarily correct this issue. This problem is usually found when multiple remote machines are accessing the same Cyberstation workstation via Remote Desktop. Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Microsoft Windows 10 Cause Windows Remote Desktop behavior can be affected when several RDU hosts whose screen resolutions are not the same and connecting to a remote workstation.  Resolution Ensure the various machines accessing Continuum Cyberstation over Windows Remote Desktop use the same windows resolution aspect ratio.

Issue Modem commands for the internal modem for the 9680 are needed Environment 9680 RAS Cause Troubleshooting the modem in the 9680 may require knowledge of the Microtech modem and the commands Resolution The Netcontroller II Operation and Technical Guide references "RJ Modem AT Commands Reference" in order to customize the modem initialization string Click her to download RJ Modem AT Commands Reference There is no option for changing the DTMF frequency Guide"

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 for assistance. Issue When trying to add a SmartX server to an ES, or when trying to rename an ES, you see the following error message: "All subserver must be online at least once before adding" Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Enterprise Server (version 2.0 or later) Cause This issue is caused by a mismatch between the content in the folders called MountPoints and Versions in the ES database folder. Resolution Before doing this make sure you have a good backup of the ES database. Identify and delete the files in the ES database folder called Versions which don't have representation in the ES database folder called MountPoints. The files have the same GUID-name in both folders, but not the same content, so you cannot copy paste between the folders. It requires a manual comparison. Procedure to identify files to remove (for version 2.0): 1. Check files in C:\ProgramData\Schneider Electric EcoStruxure\Building Operation 2.0\Enterprise Server\db\System\MountPoints 2. Check files in C:\ProgramData\Schneider Electric EcoStruxure\Building Operation 2.0\Enterprise Server\db\System\Versions 3. In Versions only remove the files which don't have a representation in MountPoints. Comparing the files in MountPoints (1) to the ones in Versions (2 & 3). Here they are identical and all is OK.

Issue Graphics not working in Webstation. Only the menu bar is shown. Some graphics might work. The graphics are working fine in the Workstation and in the editor. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Workstation Building Operation Webstation TGML Cause Some images (PNG, JPEG, BMP) can have wrong information in the image file. In some cases, this corrupted image information will block the graphic from being rendered in Webstation although it works fine in the editor and in Workstation. Resolution Make a copy of a graphic that is not working and delete all the images in the graphic. If the graphic can now be viewed in Webstation, delete the images one at a time viewing the graphic in Webstation after each save.  This will allow the location of the image(s) having the issue. Open the image in a graphics editor such as PaintBrush and save it with a new name. Import the new image and save the graphic. Check that the graphic can be viewed in Webstation Another option to easier find the file image having the issue, is to extract the images from a graphic that is not working in Webstation with the "TGML Image Extract" tool, and run all the images through an image checker, such as "Bad Peggy" or "Corrupt JPEG Checker"

Issue With triac digital outputs, such as those in the i2866-V, what is the fastest they can switched for Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) applications? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum controllers with triac digital outputs. Cause Require information on using triac outputs for Pulse Width Modulation control. Concerns over minimum pulse times and frequent switching. Resolution The triac outputs on some Continuum controllers (such as the i2866-V) will be able to perform pulse width modulation from a minimum of 0.1s pulses. As apposed to relays, outputs using triac's have negligible wear and tear during extended use. Switching the outputs frequently, such as once a second, should not cause any premature failure issues.  Further data on the triac outputs on the i2866-V: Specification sheet Installation Guide for wiring details. i2 Technical Reference Manual

Issue What are the main differences between Continuum v1.94 SP1 and Continuum v2.0? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum v2.0 Cause Required a quick list of differences between the versions of Continuum to evaluate if a site upgrade to v2.0 was beneficial. Resolution The main features that Continuum v2.0 has over v1.94 are listed below. Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 32 bit support SQL Server 2012  Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 32 bit support Software licensing Support. See Software Licensing for Continuum 2.0 and StruxureWare Solution. Email SMTP Support. See SMTP Email Alarm Configuration in Continuum 2.0. Extended Custom Wiegand Card* (ACX Series Only). See Extended Custom Wiegand features available for ACX57xx controller released in V2.0. Support for new door attribute 'ValidAttempt' see New Door attribute 'Valid Attempt' added in Cyberstation 2.0 for more information. You can also find more details in the v2.0 Feature Blast. And further information on Continuum v2.0 with the links in Continuum 2.0 Product Announcement, Feature Blast, Compatibility Matrix and Installation Guides.

Issue Trend log values from two or more M-bus meters under a Xenta Server are intermittently mixed up, also when viewing a trend log page in the Xenta Server's web interface. Values from meter 1 are (sometimes) logged in meter 2's trend log and/or vice versa. Environment Xenta 913 Xenta 701 Xenta 711 Xenta 721 Xenta 731 M-bus meter Cause When secondary addressing is used for the meters, there is an extra telegram sent from the Xenta Server before asking for the actual values/data. The M-bus meters then replies to this telegram so that the Xenta Server knows which secondary address belongs to which meter. In some cases (only seen with a few meters) these addresses seems to be intermittently mixed up and this will cause the issue described above.  Resolution Use primary addressing for the M-bus meters.

Issue When sending BACnet devices to database the operation does not return an error but NO objects (or only some objects) are created in the DB. Inspection of ACCTrace shows the following... In the case at hand the device had 28 objects which the system identified correctly as seen below, but trying to add each object to the database resulted in error inserting the object in the dictionary. Error inserting a row into the object dictionary. [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Maximum stored procedure, function, trigger or view nesting level exceeded (limit 32) Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation Cause The ContinuumDB's recursive triggers property has somehow been changed to ON (1) from its default of OFF (0) The following query can be used to determine what the value of the property is using SQL Management Studio select DATABASEPROPERTYEX ('ContinuumDB', 'IsRecursiveTriggersEnabled) Resolution Close all Continuum workstations Reset recursive triggers to its default of OFF with the following query using SQL Management Studio ALTER DATABASE ContinuumDB SET RECURSIVE_TRIGGERS OFF

Issue How can the Continuum version and features that are activated be viewed on a Keyless license? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment HASP Keyless License Hasp Key Utility Cause It is not known what version and features are enabled on the keyless license. Resolution From the Program Files\Continuum folder, launch the HaspKeyUtility application. Select the button labled Show Key Information. The license information will be displayed.

Issue When viewing a graphic (or other object requiring a Java plugin) in Google Chrome you get the message "This plug-in is not supported" where the graphic should have been shown Environment Webstation Xenta Server I/A Series G3 version 3.8.xx or earlier Cause Google Chrome has disabled Java in version 42 and above Resolution 1: Open Google Chrome 2: In the address field, enter the following: chrome://flags/#enable-npapi 3: Click on "Enable" to enable the feature so it looks like this 4: Click on relaunch to restart Chrome   More information from Java's web site

Issue When a Room Controller device is created under an MPM using one of the predefined devices in Building Expert, a number of its BACnet objects are mapped to AVs in the MPM. It is not possible to tell from the AV properties if the BACnet objects are read-only or read/write. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Expert Environment MPM SmartStruxure Lite Cause When a Room Controller device is added under an MPM using one of the predefined devices in Building Expert, a number of its BACnet objects are mapped to AVs in the MPM.  The BACnet objects made visible to the MPM are a small subset of the total number of BACnet objects in the device and consist of several different BACnet types, some of which are read-only and others are read/write.  Regardless of the BACnet type, they are all mapped to AVs whose properties do not distinguish between read-only and read/write objects. Resolution There is little documentation available on the predefined devices found in Building Expert. The best source of information is in PIC Statements and BACnet - Integration Guides. As an example I will use the SE8600UxB room controller. The "SE8600 Series BACnet - Integration Guide" is available on Exchange Download Center. In the MPM we have created a Lua script which monitors the occupancy status of the SE8600 and under certain conditions sets it to UnOccupied then turns it off after a delay. For this to work we need to know which AVs we can monitor and write to. Among the AVs mapped to the MPM for this device are "Occupancy Command", "Effective Occupancy" and "System Mode", which would seem to be suitable. The "SE8600 Series BACnet - Integration Guide" lists hundreds of BACnet properties of various object types, only 12 of which are mapped to the MPM. These 12 properties all appear as AVs in the MPM, regardless of their original BACnet object type. Also, although the object tables in the document list the read/write status of most of the objects, they do not list it for the objects mapped to the MPM. The only way to find out is to scan through the various tables of objects until you find one whose name matches one of the AVs in our example. Make a note of which table it is in. In our example: "Occupancy Command" and "System Mode" are in the MV table "Effective Occupancy" is in the MI table On page 35, under "Summary for Integrators", there is this line: "AI’s, BI’s & MI’s are not writable and are typically only used for status". "Effective Occupancy" appears in the MI object table, so it is read-only. As "Occupancy Command" and "System Mode" are in the MV table they are read/write. This procedure is applicable to all the Room Controllers available via the "Add Devices" command in Building Expert.

Issue After having discovered a b3 device attempting to download results in a failure. Error details show device as being offline. Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment SmartStruxure Automation Server with b3 device on BACnet MSTP network Cause This issue can be caused by a missing serial number for the device. Resolution Check to see that the serial number of the device is set. This can be viewed by right-clicking the device and selecting Properties and then going to the Advanced tab. By default, the serial number is part of the Object ID and the BACnet name. You can extract the numeric portion then paste it into the Serial number field and then try to download again. The serial number can also be found on the tag on the device itself.

Issue When a MPM is replaced on a BACnet IP network, a "Duplicate network identifier" alarm is generated Product Line EcoStruxure Building Expert, EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment MPM Automation Server Cause If the BACnet name and instance number in the new controller is not exactly the same as the original MPM, the Automation Server will consider that an additional device has been installed and an alarm will be triggered stating that the new device has the same BACnet ID as an existing device. Resolution Steps to replacing a MPM to prevent the Duplicate ID alarm being triggered: When replacing the original MPM, note the BACnet name and Instance ID. Install the new MPM and enter the same BACnet name and Instance ID. Refer to BACnet device can't be discovered due to duplicate name for more information about duplicate BACnet names.

Issue Since the introduction of Integrated Access Control and the ability to monitor Supervised Inputs, Technical Support Services has received many inquiries on how to make supervised DI/DA points work in I/NET 7700. Questions range from "Can I run the wire 100 feet or 300 feet? Do I use 1% resistors or 5% resistors? Some of the controllers are more flexible than others with respect to these issues. Since there are many variables which affect the operation of supervised inputs, this document should give you enough information to make DI/DA supervised points work in almost any situation. Environment Supervised Input High Security Areas Cause There are 3 basic categories of I/NET 7700 controllers in regards to how they handle the supervision of inputs. The first group consists of the 7716 PCU, 7718 PCU, and 7756 PCU. The second is the DPU 7910, DIU 7930, and the DIO 7940. Finally the DPU 7920 is in a group by itself. None of the other CSI controllers were designed to handle supervised inputs. What distinguishes these groups is that they require different voltages to change from one state to the next. Resolution The following (Table 1) lists what voltage each controller expects to see at its input terminals in order to report the correct state. 7716, 7718, 7756 7910, 7930, 7940 7920 For 2-resistor supervision: State LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH STATE short 0 2.34 2.5 2.89 0 1.26 3 closed 2.03 3.12 2.89 3.59 1.26 2.94 1 open 2.81 3.90 3.59 4.35 2.94 4.19 0 cut 3.59 5.00 4.35 5.00 4.19 5.00 2 For 1-resistor supervision: State LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH STATE closed 0 2.34 2.50 2.94 0 1.27 1 open 2.03 3.12 2.94 4.15 1.27 3.75 0 cut 2.81 5.00 4.15 5.00 3.75 5.00 2 Table 1 As you can see, the voltage values for the first group (7716, 7718, 7756) overlap from one state to the next. In this case, the point will remain in the current state until its’ upper or lower limit is crossed, much the same as a temperature differential. The various installation guides for each of these DCU types differ as to what value of resistor and what length of wire can be used; but, if the end result of the circuit produces these voltages, the supervised DI/DA will work. Therefore, you can vary the resistor values and/or wire length but these voltage levels must still be achieved. Don’t let the order in which the state descriptions appear in Table 1 mislead you. The order you see in the table is not the order in which the system expects to find them. They should be entered as OPEN-CLSD-CUT-SHRT (in that order) in the State Description editor for a 2-resistor DI/DA point and OPEN-CLSD-CUT for a 1-resistor DI/DA point. For check out purposes, the STATE number can be viewed from the Hand Held Console when displaying the DI/DA point. The state values are 0-3, which are found in the last column of Table 1. Another useful technique for displaying these voltage values within I/NET 7700 is to temporarily assign the input as an AI. The conversion coefficient can be determined using the I/NET 7700 calculator (see Figure 1.). The Equipment counts high is 4095 for the 7716PCU, 7718PCU, and the upper board inputs of the 7756PCU; 32,767 for the lower board on the 7756PCU; and 255 for the 7910, 20,30, and 40. Engineering units low and high are 0 and 5 respectively for all controllers. The value of the point can now be viewed from the screen or the Hand Held Console. 05/23/95 14:21:31 Tue Conversion coefficients Host 00 (shm) Link 01 [020 link] DCU 02 [PCU 7716] Select (Linear Flow) # M B --+------------+------------ 0 0.001221 0 Conversion equation Linear 1 0 0 2 0 0 Equipment counts low 0 3 0 0 Equipment counts high 4095 4 0 0 Engineering units low 0 5 0 0 Engineering units high 5 6 0 0 7 0 0 8 0 0 9 0 0 10 0 0 11 0 0 12 0 0 13 0 0 14 0 0 15 0 0 Press ESC to copy to M & B Figure 1 Keep in mind that the 7718PCU is switchable for the pull up voltage to either 5 or 15 VDC. For the supervised DI/DA points to work properly, jumper J38 must be set to 5V. A simpler approach to ensure a DI/DA supervised point will work correctly is to limit the length of the wire and thus the resistance that the wire adds to the circuit. If you use 1% 1000 ohm resistors(as recommended), the maximum total resistance that your wire can add for the supervised point to work properly is listed below. DCU Type 1-resistor configuration 2-resistor configuration 7716, 18, 56 650 ohms 1250 ohms 7910, 30, 40 300 ohms 400 ohms 7920 325 ohms 325 ohms Table 2 Note: The value for 1 resistor configuration should be within +/-10 ohms and 2 resistor configuration should be within +/-20 ohms to account for resistor tolerances. These values include both conductors of the wire (shorted together at one end and measured from conductor to conductor at the other end). They allow for (in the case of 2-resistor supervision) the short to be detected at any point on the wire (all the way out to the contact). These are the maximum resistance values and the actual resistance should be kept as low as possible. These values were calculated using the voltages in Table 1 and assume that the supervision resistors are exactly 1k ohms. The values for the first group take into account the overlap of voltage levels between states and are intended to avoid those zones. These values might lead one to believe that a supervised DI/DA point can be wired with ten or twenty-thousand feet of wire. This is not the case due to the noise which wire can pick up and make the input unstable. So the distance should be kept as short as possible.

Issue When reloading a Net Controller II you receive an OMS error. A send to database doesn't complete Environment Continuum 1.92 Windows XP NetController 1/II Cause Programming Busy Controller Resolution First Method: Go to off line editing. Export the programs and save them to the desktop. Delete the programs. Go onLine. Reload the controller. Go to off line editing. Import the programs for the saved export file. Go onLine. Reload the controller. Second Method: Go to off line editing. Web over to the NCII  http://ip-address Select  "Clear Database Backup" Commit Changes. Go Online. Reload the Controller. Note: At times if the reload is still not working and is failing on certain objects, reloading class by class allows the reload to go through. Delete programming half of the code at a time to find out what code is causing the issue by process of elimination. Use a laptop with wireshark installed and a hub and connect to the NC directly and try the reload or send to db and examine the capture. Replace the controller and see if it works, if so, the controller may need to be permanently replaced.

Issue In a Vista system how do you get alarm sounds on only selected alarms Product Line TAC Vista Environment Vista 5.x.x Cause It is not clearly defined how to associate alarm sounds to a specific set of alarms. Resolution To add alarm sounds to specific alarms in Vista follow these steps. Locate the alarms that are required to sound and alarm at the PC. Set a unique ID that will be able to be filtered on. A good example would be use a unique alarm priority. Priority 7 has been used in this example. Add a new Alarm Viewer in Your Vista  Database. Right click on the new Alarm Viewer and select properties then select the Alarm Priorities tab. Add the priority 7 to the viewer. This will allow only alarms with priority 7 to be displayed in this viewer.   Then set that Alarm Viewer to sound on an alarm. In the new Alarm Viewer right click in the alarm area and select customize. Then select the Miscellaneous tab and check the Alarm Buzzer option. This will result in a new alarm viewer that only receives priority 7 alarms and will trigger the alarm buzzer when an alarm is received. This Alarm Viewer will need to be added to the program settings of the user. To change the alarm sound use the Window's Sound option (found in Control Panel) and locate the Vista alarm sound. You can then browse to a new sound if required. A tool has been developed to streamline this process: TAC Vista Alarm Notifier

Issue Need the procedure to create an Unlock Door Schedule. Product Line EcoStruxure Access Expert Environment Version 2 Hosted Version 3 Hosted Premise Cause How to create a schedule for a door to unlock during business hours and then relock afterwards. Resolution To unlock a door or doors during a particular time, a schedule needs to be created for that duration and then assigned to the Mode of the necessary doors. The following steps describes how this should be done: 1. Create a schedule for the time duration 2. Select the particular doors from the Hardware Tree 3. Select the Mode Tab on the door editor 4. Add Mode to the Door based on what is being accomplished 5. Click on the Schedule Icon to add the necessary Schedule    6. Add Schedule, Action and Access Method  7. Save and Close the Editor 8. Once the controller verifies the configuration, the Door will follow the Mode

Warning Hazard of Electric Shock: Remove all power from all devices before removing any covers or doors of the system. Disconnect power at the device and at the power source. Electrostatic Discharge Required: Always discharge static electricity from your person by touching metal prior to handling any hardware. Failure to do so may result in damage to devices.   Issue If you lose access to your comms expander or need to reset all of the settings how do you default the module? Product Line Security Expert Expert Environment Security Expert SP-MNR2 Firmware 1.0.27 (and higher) Cause A physical link is needed to default the module Resolution These are the settings that are resets Password to admin Repeater Mode to RS-485 mode UDP IP/Host to 192.168.1.2   1. Link the N+ N- NA and NB connections between all three COM ports 2. Cycle power to the device   Please note: this does not reset the IP address, so you may need to default the IP address separately. 1. Unlink all COM3 terminals and leave COM 1 and 2 linked 2. Cycle power and connect to the built-in web interface at 192.168.111.222 3. Configure IP address as desired