Building Automation Knowledge Base

Issue Configure a Xenta 5/7/9xx for no timeout log out. Environment Xenta Servers Xenta 511, 527, 555, 701, 711, 721, 731, 913 Cause A Xenta 5/7/9xx controller is set up with certain predefined time out durations for logging out inactive users.  While you cannot disable this feature, you can set the duration sufficiently long to effectively eliminate the log out if desired. Resolution Generate a certificate.  To avoid the certificate error every time you connect to the Xenta 5/7/9xx, go to XBuilder, and generate a certificate that has the same name as the IP address of the Xenta. Edit the file viewuser.html.  Connect to the Xenta using FTP.  For example Internet Explorer ftp://:@ viewuser.html is located in the folder www/config.  Save the file on your hard drive.  Edit the file with Notepad, and add the following correction to viewuser.html Line 159:  Add another Option tag with a value of "259200000" and description of 3000 days following the form of the previous entries. Carry out the changes.  Connect to the Xenta using FTP.  Change the name of the file in the Xenta (Backup) Copy the file the you have on your hard drive to the Xenta. Activate "no logout."  Go to the configuration page in the Xenta.  Select "3000 days" for log out

Issue When executing a Find New BACnet Device a third party controller (Trane) would not come into the system.  Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum BACnet Trane Cause BACnet Network ID was assigned to 1 in the third party device. Both the CyberStation Device node ID and the third party device Node Id can not be set to 1.  Resolution Have the vendor change the device node ID from 1 to a unique value on the network. See Could not learn in a new 3rd Party BACnet device.  

Issue Creating a bar code for Time Management and the format is not working. Product Line EcoStruxure Access Expert Environment Win 8.1 and above Premise  Hosted Version 2 Version 3 Cause Kronos Bar code scanner unable to read the format printed on the card from Access Expert Resolution BarCode in Access Expert needs to be setup accordingly and the size of the bar dictates what it will read for the scanner. The following screen shots shows how this should be set up: 1. From the General Configuration tab select Badge Types and Add New Badge Type 2. Create a card for with both front and back views, design accordingly 3. Click on the Two Sided tab then click on the Back button 4. Click on the Barcode and select the type of format you want to use, in this example I chose Code 39 5. A bar code will appear on the screen, please modify the layout so it matches existing cards from previous systems, with layout and sizing 6. Edit the expression if a card number or other field is needed such as Employee Number if Time Tracking is being utilized, default is shown here 7. Add the expression by clicking Insert and delete the 0 as can be seen below 8. Once finished click on Save and Close 9. Select a user that this format will be applied to then select the Badge Preview tab 10. This is a the format and layout of the card that can be printed and given to the user

Issue Port 23 is opened through Telnet and can provide a security access breach into a system. Product Line TAC INET Environment All versions of I/Net Software on All Supported Operating Systems. Cause When the Delta Debug tables are set to 1 or 2, it opens up port 23 for use but also Telnet can be used as well. Resolution The following steps need to be followed to resolve this issue: Go to Run and type regedit Open up HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Expand the Software tab and expand CSI-Control Systems International On x64 Based Systems the above folder is located under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node Open up the Configurations tab and click on the Active Configuration that is currently running in I/Net On the right side window, scroll down to Debug Tables, right-click and modify the setting Change the value to a 0, close out of it, close I/Net and I/o server and restart it again. P.S. This should close that port but be aware that Telnet would not be able to function when this is done.

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.

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 Alarms are being logged but are not being delivered to all Cyberstations Environment CyberStation, MSMQ Cause MSMQ issues Resolution When enhanced alarm delivery is selected and Cyberstations are taken offline, they will not receive alarms until Cyberstation is restarted. Occasionally you can get into a state where even though Cyberstation has been restarted you no longer receive alarms and there are a lot of messages building up in the MSMQ queues. Event Notifications Eliminate Cyberstations that no longer exist or are often offline and are setup as recipients on event notifications. These Cyberstations should be removed as recipients to avoid alarm messages from building up in the MSMQ queues. Three Reasons MSMQ does not deliver messages and some analysis tools According to MS there are several reasons why MSMQ messages do not get sent/received and in order of precedence are Connectivity, Security and Resource depletion Connectivity In Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Services & Applications>Message Queuing>Private Messaging>accalarmchannel, columns can be added to the queue messages line by right clicking, select View, add/remove columns Add Recipient queue and Response queue This gives you visibility into what workstations are receiving messages Ping - The amount of time that a ping test takes to respond can indicate a problem, as can the fact that such a test succeeds only intermittently. (The latter would indicate such issues as name resolution failing and the computer falling back to doing broadcasts for name resolution or network saturation). ping machinename -t this will run until stopped by pressing Ctrl-C, some baselines on each of the machines to the other machines would be good. Once a machine starts building up messages in queues, perform this ping command again to see if there's a difference. Ethereal (now Wireshark) Use Ethereal on one of the machines that is building up messages in a queue, it would be helpful to get an ethereal capture to look at the MSMQ traffic. Security A Firewall can affect MSMQ delivery. Some firewalls allow configuration down to which specific machines are allowed for the MSMQ service. Here's a Microsoft link to what ports need to be opened for MSMQ in addition to what we require for Continuum. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/183293 Resources MSMQ has a size limitation for the total amount of space used by queuing messages. If this total size has reached 1.4 Gig then more than likely the storage capacity of MSMQ has been exceeded and the MSMQ service may not start and therefore not deliver messages. Determine if the MSMQ capacity has been exceeded On each of the WS that should receive messages, go to My Computer c:\windows or c:\WINNT\system32\msmq\storage, right click on the storage folder and go to properties, note the Size. Perfmon- is a utility that can be run to take a look at resources on a machine and the MSMQ Service attribute Total Message can be added. Go to Start> Settings> Administrative Tools> Double click on Performance Keep the defaults that are listed, there should be 3 items listed for memory, Physical Disk and Processor Click on the "+" button to add a counter In the performance object drop down, select MSMQ service and under Select counters, select "Total messages in all queues" Click Add, then Click Close Right click on Total Messaging and select properties, select a color and width that will stand out, click Ok Keep an eye on the resources that are being used and adjust the machine or add resources accordingly. Logging - if it is determined that you need to log some of this info, there are some additional instructions from Microsoft on doing that at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/150934

Issue Under multiple PC environments, the time of a DCU changes automatically for a specific period. The time of the Server/Filemaster is correct. Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Multiple PCs environment Cause For multiple PC environments, the time setting of each PC does not synchronize. The time of Server/Filemaster is correct, but the time of Remote Client/Equalized Client may be not correct. If there is a DCU Synchronization function set on the Remote Client/Equalized Client, the wrong time will synchronize to the DCU for specific period set in the function of DCU Synchronization. Resolution Synchronize the time on Remote Client/Equalized Client with Server/Filemaster through NTP or manually. The other way is only to set DCU Synchronization function on Server/Filemaster, not on Remote Client/Equalized Client. The NTP as of March 1, 2013 no longer works. See Time sync is no longer working for suggestions

Issue Description of LED patterns on access readers, and how to change them Product Line Andover Continuum Environment Continuum site Cause Description of LED patterns on access readers, and how to change them Resolution How to control LED patterns on access readers ****For all Continuum controllers that support access control and modules except AC1 and AC-1A**** NOTE: AC1 and AC1A only support the Alternate LED pattern. Card Reader LED Patterns The LED pattern of the card reader is determined by the creation of an InfinityNumeric called AccessLEDPattern. TAC LED Pattern (AccessLEDPattern=0) This pattern is transaction based, meaning the reader LED indicates the state of the access transaction. Solid Red No door configured for this reader channel. The system will not process any transaction coming from this reader. Solid Green Door configured on this reader channel. System is ready to process an access transaction. Solid Red for 3 seconds following an access transaction Invalid attempt. Rapid flashing following an access transaction Valid access Slow flashing following an access transaction System is waiting for information needed to process the transaction. For example, transaction is being processed (remote validation) or the system is waiting for user entry. (PIN needed after card swipe.)   Alternate LED (Default) Pattern (AccessLEDPattern=1) This pattern follows the state of the door lock itself. This is the default LED pattern.  Solid Red Door is locked Solid Green Door is unlocked Rapid flashing following an access transaction Invalid attempt Slow flashing following an access transaction System is waiting for information needed to process the transaction. For example, transaction is being processed (remote validation) or the system is waiting for user entry. (PIN needed after card swipe.)   The above LED patterns are the most commonly used. LED Patterns 3 and 4 are for CardKey and Dorado Model 780 ABA Reader/Keypad please refer to the documentation in the ACX II Controller Operation and Technical Reference Guide for more information on these readers and further information on LED Patterns

Issue Utilize the RS-232 port to send text out to a third party device such as CCTV Product Line TAC INET Environment I/NET Seven Cause Integration Assistance Resolution This V-Doc describes the way text output can be set up in I/NET to be sent out to third party hardware such as CCTV through the RS-232 port. The port that will be used for this application cannot be one that is already being used by the serial port section, A/C reader port, or printer port in the peripheral section of the configuration profile.   For the guide of integration with Pelco analog matrix, refer to How to integrate I/NET with Pelco Analog Matrix.

Issue When importing a file from TAC Menta into StruxureWare Building Operation Functional Block Editor, the import of the application file fails. Environment TAC Vista TAC Xenta StruxureWare Building Operation Cause The following characters are not allowed in object names in StruxureWare Building Operation. • / • " • ? • * • ~ • White space is not allowed in the beginning or the end of an objects name. • . (period) is not allowed in the beginning of an objects name. Colon (:) is not allowed either, but will automatically be replace by an underscore (_) when importing   In TAC Vista, signal names could contain the character "/". In SmartStruxure, this character is not allowed. Resolution Remove illegal characters from object names in the Function Block program.

Issue After importing a new template into AET, the different folders and objects are all different colors. What does each color represent? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment AET Folder View Cause Each color indicates a different status for the object. Some must be resolved before proceeding and others are information only. Resolution Below is the list of the different status colors and their meanings:  Red – Duplicated object. This must be corrected. Green – Existing folder. Orange – Folder with duplicated object below. Black – New object or folder. Blue – Existing object in EcoStruxure system tree Brown – Device that will be created automatically by AET Light Blue – Empty IO Channel

Issue How to find the MAC address / Physical Address of a computer. Product Line Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation, Other, Satchwell MicroNet, Satchwell Sigma, TAC IA Series, TAC INET, TAC Vista Environment All computers Cause The MAC address of a computer may be required when working on licensing issues. MAC stands for Media Access Control and is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. Resolution Go to the Start > Run.   Type "cmd" into the Open field. In the CMD window, type the command "ipconfig /all". Locate the connection that the computer is currently using (For this example it is the Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection). You will find the Physical Address (MAC address).

Issue   Xenta 700 Menta viewer in Internet Explorer displays some blocks at half-size Environment Xenta Server Xenta 701, 711, 721, 731 Menta Internet Explorer Cause Illegal characters in the description field of the point has caused problems with the web interface live Menta viewer. Resolution Verify that there are no strange characters in the description field of the point. In the most recent case, the = sign caused the block to shrink.

Issue Xenta 102-AX temperature sensors reading in the range of 130°F (54.4°C) when they should be closer to room temperature. Wiring has been checked and everything appears correct. What kind of temp sensor do I use for a 102-AX? Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation, TAC Vista Environment Xenta 102-AX ETD-1xx duct temperature sensors ETR-1xx room temperature sensors STR-1xx room thermostats Cause Every other Xenta controller uses a 1.8k-ohm thermistor as a standard. Because the Xenta 102-AX is a modified version of the I/NET MR-VAV-AX, it still uses the 10k-ohm thermistors native to the I/NET product line. Resolution The Xenta 102-AX uses 10k-ohm thermistors. See 10k Thermistor compatibility with Xenta controllers for detailed information on the thermistor curve that is acceptable. Approved sensors are: ETD-2xx duct temperature sensors ETR-2xx room temperature sensors STR-2xx room thermostats STD-2xx duct temperature sensors

Issue If the result of a divide by zero is sent to a physical AO, Vista Workstation will display this value as -2. The physical output, however, will be sending out the maximum specified voltage (default 10V). In Menta simulation mode, if a divide by zero scenario is simulated, the following error will pop up: tam32 Division by zero Connected to a controller viewing live Menta, a divide by zero equation will result in a displayed value of 1.#QNAN. All subsequent equations using this value will also output 1.#QNAN. Environment Xenta programmable controllers Xenta 280, 281, 282, 283, 300, 301, 302, 401, 401:B Menta Cause Division by zero results in an invalid value that is interpreted differently by the controller's physical outputs, the Menta application, and the Vista Workstation. The application will continue to run, but any output affected by the invalid value will not act as expected. Division by zero is not usually intentional (there's no equation that says "A/0"). Instead, it is usually the result of an unforeseen sequence of events where complex equations result in a 0 in the denominator of an equation, and simulations did not ever produce this unique situation. Resolution To troubleshoot whether a divide by zero is occurring: The best solution is to connect live to the controller with a serial cable and watch the live Menta. Look for any values that read 1.#QNAN and trace it back to the source. If live Menta is no available, the simulation mode can be helpful. Recreate the scenario as best as possible with all inputs set to the real life instance. To prevent a divide by zero error: Never allow an equation to write to the denominator of a division equation without programming divide by zero prevention. Add an expression block prior to the division equation that says "if the value is zero, then output a safe value" Add a max block to the input that compares the value with 0.0001, so that a zero will never pass through.

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 During the installation of the EBO package, an error is displayed about PCT_temp.vbox already in existence.   ERROR_(3), UNABLE_TO_EXECUTE__COMMAND(99), reason=VBo xManage.exe: error: Machine settings file Product Line EcoStruxure Building Operation Environment Building Operation Project Configuration Tool (PCT) Cause Leftover folder/file from previously failed installation Resolution Close PCT if running Take note of the folder/file that the error refers to, in this case "C:\Users\sesaxxxxxx\.VirtualBox\PCT_temp\PCT_temp.vbox Make a backup of the folder/file as a precaution (in case it has to be put back) Delete the folder or file, in this case, delete the PCT_temp folder Re-launch PCT and attempt to install the EBO package once again

Issue IDWorks 6.x (on a Remote Client) does not connect to the SQL with Windows 7 64 Bit. Product Line TAC INET Environment Datacard IDWorks 6.x Windows 7 64-bit I/NET 2.43 and above Cause You have to manually install a 32 Bit ODBC connection for this to work correctly. Resolution To resolve this issue, start the EXE file located at: C:\Windows\SYSWOW64\odbcad32.Exe. NOTE: This is NOT the ODBC that is in the Control Panel on the PC. Once you start the EXE file, set this new ODBC Connection up by following the steps that are listed in Setting up ID Works on a Remote Client PC.

Issue If steps used in creating a LNS network are performed in an incorrect order, you can get many errors which can be easily avoided. While this should not replace the Engineering LNS Networks manual  it can be used as a quick reference. Follow this link to access the complete Manual Environment LonMaker 3.X Vista System Plug-in Cause There are several steps to perform in order to create and update an LNS Network using LonMaker. Resolution LonMaker Cheat Sheet Create new LNS Network in LonMaker Set path to Vista DB in Server Setup Start TAC Server Open TAC System Plug-In Drag and drop Devices from Stencils Assign .MTA to Xenta Devices You will be prompted to Resynchronize, say no. Assign I/O Modules Set Neuron IDs Update Vista DB Create Group Bindings Resynchronize drawing (fix up) Download Application and Parameters Commission Base Units and Modules Commence Communication

Issue Which communication paths are secured with encryption when Continuum network security (IPSec) is enabled? Product Line Andover Continuum Environment CyberStation NetController II - CX9680 ACX II - ACX5740, ACX5720 Cause Information required on Continuum network security. Resolution Continuum IPSec implementation secures communications between Continuum controllers and CyberStations.     The following paths are secured: CyberStation to CyberStation CyberStation to controllers Controllers to controllers. Controllers can be configured to allow communications with other controllers that do not support network security such as the CX9900. Consult the Network Security Configuration Guide for further information.   Securing the communication path between workstations running CyberStation and the DB server is outside the scope of the Continuum implementation and is left up to the site’s IT department to put in place.