Operating Instructions

Chapter 5 – Troubleshooting
38 Siemens Building Technologies, Inc.
OPC server is listed in the browse panel, but cannot be browsed.
The OPC browse interface on OPC servers is an optional feature. Not all OPC servers support it. You can,
however, still create shared points with OPC items from a non-browseable server by manually entering
the item ID in the Add Shared Point dialog box. Consult the vendor supplied OPC server manual for the
item ID syntax of your OPC server.
OPC Item Issues
Can see the points on a third-party server, but point commands are not accepted.
In the OPC Data Manager settings, list the third-party server as one that should be accessed in
synchronous mode.
Redundancy Issues
OPC Data Manager says that its sibling has failed, but it is merely busy configuring its points.
Increase the wait time before the OPC Data Manager starts checking for heartbeats.
OPC Data Manager says that its sibling has failed, but it is up.
Check how often the OPC Data Managers send and check for heartbeats. The check rate of one OPC Data
Manager must be greater than the send rate of its sibling OPC Data Manager, plus communication time
between the two units.
OPC Data Manager takes a long time to locate its sibling.
This problem may be unavoidable. Setting up DCOM communications between two OPC Data Managers
can take a long time if used in a Workgroups setting.
OPC Data Manager says that its sibling has failed, has started, and then immediately shuts down.
If the OPC Data Manager start time is significant or its sibling OPC Data Manager is experiencing
“brown-outs,” situations where the server fails and then immediately recovers, the OPC Data Manager
may not have time to become fully active before its sibling comes back up.
If feasible, increase the amount of time each OPC Data Manager waits before it considers that its sibling
has failed.
OPC Data Manager cannot see its sibling.
The following solutions are possible:
• Check DCOM settings to make sure that the user IDs on the two computers have permission to talk to
each other.
• Check Windows Entire Network to make sure that Windows can see the computer.
• Make sure that the sibling computer name setting is correct.
OPC Data Manager shuts down with an error when starting.
Check your OPC Data Manager settings. Make sure that one OPC Data Manager is configured as the
Primary and the other OPC Data Manager is configured as a Hot or Warm backup.