[foxboro] AW: Alarm Silence on Common Group Alarm Panels at 8.4.2

Good Morning, 
if the QF will not help, you can use this Workaround describe below:

Global Client Support

View: EMPLOYEE | 
 Recommend Content | 
 Printable Version | 
 Submit Comments | 
 Close Window | 
 

About This Article
Document ID: SOL213

Version: 1

Author: Tom Wisnieski - 

Categories
Product Family > I/A Series > ALARM > Alarm Mgt. System 
Solution
Cannot call up Foxview displays based on Annunciator keyboard button presses; 
the commands associated with Annunciator keys are not executing.
February 25, 2008

  

Problem Description
The AApan configuration file, located in the directory d:\usr\fox\alarms, is 
used to associate commands and/or Foxview displays with annunciator keys. 
Following a workstation reboot,  the displays specified in the AApan file were 
no longer being called into Foxview when annunciator keys were pressed. 

Fix/Resolution
The problem described here is commonly observed following the reboot of a 
workstation because of a race condition that exists between the Alarm Server 
Task (ast.exe) and the gcio_task.exe. The gcio_task is the process that 
actually interfaces with the GCIO/Annunciator hardware. The ast  receives 
annunciator keypress events from the gcio_task and processes them based on the 
information it reads from the AApan file. The race condition exists because the 
gcio_task is started as a Windows service while the ast is started by 
FoxMonitor.  Following a reboot, it is possible for the ast to attempt to 
initialize with the gcio_task before the gcio_task is ready to accept the 
initialization request. If this happens, the ast will fail its interface with 
the gcio_task and will not receive events from the annunciator hardware. 

To resolve this, you must delay the start of the ast. The processes started by 
FoxMonitor are defined in the file d:>\usr\fox\exten\foxboro.loc. Execution of 
the ast can be delayed at boot time using the following steps.

1)  Create a command script named delay.cmd in the directory 
d:>\usr\fox\wp\ams\bin containing the following commands:

call %NCDIR%\bin\ncenv.cmd 
%NCDIR%\mksnt\sh.exe \usr\fox\wp\ams\bin\delay

 

2)  Create a Korn shell script named delay.ksh in the directory 
d:>\usr\fox\wp\ams\bin containing the following commands:

#!/bin/sh
sleep 30
/usr/fox/exten/fox_notify SIGUSR1 

 

3)  Make a backup copy of the file d:>\usr\fox\exten\foxboro.loc.

4)  Add an entry to foxboro.loc so that the delay.cmd script gets executed 
immediately preceeding the launch of the ast.exe:

ONCE               WAIT    NO_NOTIFY 0       \usr\fox\wp\ams\bin\delay.cmd 

ALL_RESP      WAIT    NO_NOTIFY 0       \usr\fox\wp\ams\bin\ast.exe -sig 

As a quick fix, the ast.exe can simply be restarted. When the ast.exe is killed 
(using the Windows Task Manager for example), it is automatically restarted by 
FoxMonitor. When it restarts, it will re-initialize with the gcio_task and 
commands and display callup should begin working again. This is a quick way to 
verify that the problem is in fact the result of the race condition and not 
caused by a hardware issue or some other configuration problem.

Supporting Information
Note that the race condition described above also exists betwen the gcio_task 
and the aaServer task of the AMS. The aaServer reads the AAtab configuration 
file and uses the compound:block-to-annunciator key associations in it to drive 
the annunciator LEDs. It also receives annunciator keypress events from the 
gcio_task which it interprets as horn silence commands. If the aaServer starts 
too quickly, it will fail its interface to the gcio_task, and thus the LEDs 
will not light and the horns will not be silenced when annunciator keys are 
pressed. The fix described above involving the delay.cmd script will correct 
issues with the aaServer task as well. In addtion, if the aaServer is simply 
restarted, the issues will be resolved.

Troubleshooting
A common cause of issues with annunciator keyboards and Foxview display callup 
is improperly named AApan files. For the AApan file to be read by the ast.exe, 
it must be named <workstation logical name>AApan (ex. SVRWP1AAtab). A common 
mistake is to use the letterbug of the workstation rather than the logical name 
as the prefix to AApan. Verifying the name of the AApan file is a good first 
step when debugging similar annunciator issues.  In addtion, the debug command 
prtalmpnl can be used to verify that the AApan file was read correctly. This 
command dumps to file  the contents of the table built from the AApan file as 
read by the ast (see B0700AP for more information on this command). 

Operating system
Windows XP
Windows Server 2003

Environment Information
The problem is most commonly observed on I/A version 8.2 systems, but can occur 
on any 8.* system.

 

Copyright © 2009 Invensys Process Systems All Rights Reserved

Best Regard 
Ben

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Im 
Auftrag von Jack.Easley@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 19. März 2009 04:29
An: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Betreff: Re: [foxboro] Alarm Silence on Common Group Alarm Panels at 8.4.2

Thanks Russ, we'll try it tomorrow...
Jack Easley
Sr. I&C Technician
Luminant Power, Martin Lake Plant
Phone 903.836.6241
jack.easley@xxxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Boulay, Russ
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:10 PM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] Alarm Silence on Common Group Alarm Panels at 8.4.2

there is a alarm manager qf at v8.4.2 that fixes several issues ...new aaserver 
QF1011694
 
Also any combination of a V8.4.2 co-existing with a lesser version needs a QF 
on the lesser version..
________________________________

From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Jack.Easley@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed 3/18/2009 10:30 PM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [foxboro] Alarm Silence on Common Group Alarm Panels at 8.4.2



We just upgraded one Unit to MESH 8.4.2 from 8.2 and have encountered a
problem with all Annuciator keyboards in this area being able to silence
alarms from any WP in this area as still correctly defined in
/usr/fox/wp/data/commgrp.cfg. The annunciator key-boards tied to the
alarm destination WPs work fine, but the other annuciator keyboards on
WPs not receiving alarms no longer silence alarms, even though they did
at 8.2.


Anyone else experience this problem yet?



Jack Easley
Sr. I&C Technician
Luminant Power, Martin Lake Plant
Phone 903.836.6241
jack.easley@xxxxxxxxxxxx




Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including any attachments,
contains or may contain confidential information intended only for the
addressee. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, be
advised that any reading, dissemination, forwarding, printing, copying
or other use of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this message in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply message and delete this email message and any
attachments from your system.



_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html

foxboro mailing list:             http://www.freelists.org/list/foxboro
to subscribe:         mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=join
to unsubscribe:      mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=leave






** Confidentiality Notice:
This e-mail, including any associated or attached files, is intended solely for 
the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This e-mail is confidential 
and may well also be legally privileged. If you have received it in error, you 
are on notice of its status. Please notify the sender immediately by reply 
e-mail and then delete this message from your system. Please do not copy it or 
use it for any purposes, or disclose its contents to any other person.

This email is from the Invensys Process Systems business unit of the Invensys 
Group, a group of companies owned by Invensys plc, which is a company 
registered in England and Wales with its registered office at Portland House, 
Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BF (Registered number 166023).  For a list of 
European legal entities within the Invensys Group, please go to 
http://www.invensys.com/legal/default.asp?top_nav_idw&nav_id€&prev_idw.  

You may contact Invensys plc on +44 (0)20 7821 3848 or e-mail 
inet.hqhelpdesk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx This e-mail and any attachments thereto may be 
subject to the terms of any agreements between Invensys (and/or its 
subsidiaries and affiliates) and the recipient (and/or its subsidiaries and 
affiliates).


 
 
_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
 
foxboro mailing list:             http://www.freelists.org/list/foxboro
to subscribe:         mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=join
to unsubscribe:      mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=leave
 

Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including any attachments, 
contains or may contain confidential information intended only for the 
addressee. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, be 
advised that any reading, dissemination, forwarding, printing, copying
or other use of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this message in error, please notify the sender 
immediately by reply message and delete this email message and any
attachments from your system. 
 
 
_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
 
foxboro mailing list:             http://www.freelists.org/list/foxboro
to subscribe:         mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=join
to unsubscribe:      mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=leave
 


** Confidentiality Notice:
This e-mail, including any associated or attached files, is intended solely for 
the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This e-mail is confidential 
and may well also be legally privileged. If you have received it in error, you 
are on notice of its status. Please notify the sender immediately by reply 
e-mail and then delete this message from your system. Please do not copy it or 
use it for any purposes, or disclose its contents to any other person.

This email is from the Invensys Process Systems business unit of the Invensys 
Group, a group of companies owned by Invensys plc, which is a company 
registered in England and Wales with its registered office at Portland House, 
Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BF (Registered number 166023).  For a list of 
European legal entities within the Invensys Group, please go to 
http://www.invensys.com/legal/default.asp?top_nav_id=77&nav_id=80&prev_id=77.  

You may contact Invensys plc on +44 (0)20 7821 3848 or e-mail 
inet.hqhelpdesk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx This e-mail and any attachments thereto may be 
subject to the terms of any agreements between Invensys (and/or its 
subsidiaries and affiliates) and the recipient (and/or its subsidiaries and 
affiliates).

 
 
_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
 
foxboro mailing list:             http://www.freelists.org/list/foxboro
to subscribe:         mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=join
to unsubscribe:      mailto:foxboro-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=leave

Other related posts: