When using the EIB/KNX driver FBox "EIB driver FT1.2" with PG5 2.0.200 (and the EIB FBox library SP2.6.210) the build of the project fails due to a fatal error.

 

Symptom
When using the EIB/KNX driver FBox "EIB driver FT1.2" with PG5 2.0.200 (and the EIB FBox library SP2.6.210) the build of the project fails due to a fatal error. The according error messages are :

Assembling: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Saia-Burgess\PG5_20\Libs\App\EibDrvG5.srx
Assembling: eibdrvf5.srl
Fatal Error 1304: eibdrvf5.srl: Can't open file
Assembly complete. Errors: 1 Warnings: 0
Linking: _Device1.obj + Fupla.obj + InitODM.obj + EibDrvG5.obj + eibdrvf5.obj
Error 2006: Obj\eibdrvf5.obj: Can't open file
Lib files: sfuplib3.obl
To: Device1.pcd Device1.map
Error 2021: Fupla.obj: Unresolved external symbol: _eib_group.CH_1._FB.RECEPT12

Reason
The reason for this problem is a missing file in the EIB FBox libraray version SP2.6.210.

Solution
Please update your EIB / KNX driver FBox library to version $2.6.212 or later (available on the support site) or later.

Remark
This problem is solved with PG5 2.0.220 (which installs the EIB library 2.0.220).

 

The online help of the EIB library 2.6.210 (in German) mentions that the possible range is 0..2047 but the FBoxes only allow the addressing range 0...255.

 

Reason
The reason is that the help in German isn't up to date! The older EIB FBoxes and ETS 1 allowed addressing from 0..2047 but in the newer FBoxe version for ETS2 and 3 supports the adressing 0..255 (but group addresses in the format x/x/x)!

Remark
The FBox online help will be corrected in the German in the next EIB Library Version.

 

It can happen that the PCD has not the time to read some EIB telegrams if the cycle time is long.

 

If the PCD cannot reach to read a telegram the EIB network will do 3 "retries". But sometimes this is not enough and the telegram is lost.
To avoid this situation we made a new EIB library with which one this is possible to use XOBs to read the EIB telegrams. This way there is no more problems of timing.

The library PG5 1.4 that allows to use XOBs is the version 2.5.312 or newer. This library is available on the support pages.
This library (not the same version) is directly installed with PG5 2.0.

 

This FAQ lists the differences between the FBox Library 2.5.303 and 2.5.312 for EIB/KNX.

 

The modifications are the following:

• In binary commands unused bits could be set and cause the receiver to see the value as different to 0/1. Now the unused bits are always cleared.
• When several "Send switch" FBoxes get a short pulse of one CPU cycle, only the first FBox is executed (sent). Now the Send Switch FBoxes store short pulse commands.
• Multi-telegram buffer has been implemented. The new option "Rx buffer size" with value 1..10 (replaces the option "Number of telegram per cycle").
• The own IP address is taken from SMP configuration if set to 0.0.0.0 (needs an SPM which publish this value as system symbols).
• Sending time and date was wrong on EIB-Net/IP. Fixed.
• The actual FBox does not return the Day of Week that is sent with the time over EIB network. The actual option PCD format and EIB format have been renamed:
  - PCD, without DOW
  - EIB, without DO
  Two new options have been added:
  - PCD with DOW
  - EIB with DOW
  Note that with the format 'PCD with DOW', the value for the day of week is received with the time telegram but output with the next reception of the date telegram.

When working with a Siemens 5WG1 148-AB04 connected on e.g. a PCD3.F121 module, the following points need to be considered for successful operation.

 

Symptom
In the above mentioned constellation EIB telegrams are received but the transmission of EIB telegrams is not working.

Reason
This phenomenon can be caused by either an incorrect wiring or if the EIB group address of the BCU unit (coupler) doesn't fit.

Solution
Make sure that

• the EIB address of the BCU unit fits the EIB network
• the DTR/DSR lines are connected as in the wiring shown below 

Wiring of PCD3.F121 to BCU FT1.2
§ix101119§

 

If the cycle time is bigger than 100ms and a load on the network is heavy, the driver can have difficulties to communicate with a BCU 1 coupler.

 

Symptom
If the cycle time is bigger than 100ms and a load on the network is heavy, the driver has difficulties to communicate with a BCU1 coupler. This can have the following effects: 

• RCV-Timeout errors are displayed
• Cycle time warning are displayed
• The number of 'Collision' warning is high
• Loss of reception telegrams. Values are not always correctly updated. 

Reason
The BCU1 coupler does require the PCD to receive the telegrams byte by byte. In case the CPU has a cycle time of 100 ms or higher and a high EIB bus load is present, the PCD can no longer properly receive every telegram.

Solutions
There are two possibilities.

1. The recommended one is to use a BCU2 coupler (using the FT1.2 protocol). This kind of coupler does transmit telegram by telegram and communicates at a higher baud rate with the PCD. This way every telegram transmitted on the EIB bus can be transferred to the PCD.
2. Alternatively the FBox driver can be configured in a way that it reads more frequently from the BCU1 coupler. Please note that there can still be telegrams lost because the BCU1 coupler can not transmit as many telegrams as the EIB bus itself can transmit! If a BCU2 coupler is used, the transmission speed between the PCD and the coupler is higher than on the EIB bus, and as a result all telegrams can be transmitted even also on a loaded EIB bus.

For reading more frequently from a BCU1 coupler, please follow the steps below:

• Use the latest EIB Driver FBox library (in every case version $2.5.032 or later).
• Configure the EIB Driver to use an XOB interrupt, for that this cyclic XOB is used for reading the characters from the BCU coupler in a fix time interval of 10 ms.
  This allows to improve greatly the reaction time of the driver.
    

Remark
For new projects the FT1.2 is strongly recommended in every case!

 

 

An example regarding this topic is available in the getting started / examples section of www.sbc-support.ch .

 

The EIB FBoxes support S-Mode. All other EIB modes (like LTE mode) are not supported.

 

 

The new EIB FBox library 2.5.142 (distributed together with PG5 1.4.200) does support the FT1.2 interface (also known as BCU2). Further on also EIBnet/IP (also known as KNXnet/IP) is supported with this library.

 

Supported interfaces
The interfaces listed below are supported by the library version 2.5.142 and higher. The version 2.5.142 is distributed together with PG5 1.4.200.

BCU1
Using the standard BCU1 interface, this well known driver FBox now has been extended to reinitialize the communication by triggering a re-poll all inputs and re-send all outputs using a single trigger input into the driver FBox.

In case communication problems are encountered, the EIB driver FBox can be exchanged with the EIB Extended where specific options are available to tune the interaction with the BCU.

Note: It is NOT recommended to use a BCU1 interface anymore if a higher bandwidth is expected OR if NO telegrams from EIB should get lost! Instead choose a FT1.2 (BCU2) or an KNXnet/IP (EIBnet/IP) solution (see below) for those projects!

FT1.2 (also known as BCU2)
A new driver FBOX for the SIEMENS Gamma Instabus Interface 5WG1 148-1AB04 using the FT1.2 protocol is available from the EIB library version 2.5.142 on. Since this protocol is far more performant than the one specified for the BCU1, no more telegrams are expected to be lost even if the PCD is well charged so Fupla is running below 30 cycles per second.

Note: This solution is recommended for installations without Ethernet and for those where the BCU1 solutions fails to meet the expectations.

KNXnet/IP (also known as EIBnet/IP)
As of today this driver FBox has been tested with the SIEMENS Gamma Instabus Interface 5WG1 148-1AB21. Field tests have also reported that the same FBox can be used with the SIEMENS Gamma Instabus Router 5WG1 146. No more serial cable is needed since the Ethernet port will be connected to the EIB Interface/Router.

Note: This solution is the recommended solution for all new installations with Ethernet!

Other new features of library version 2.5.142

• All driver FBoxes now have two additional trigger inputs. With them the initial polling or sending commands at startup (to be configured in each RCV/Send FBox) can be forced anytime at running time. This is very useful if a communication problem, such as a partial power outage and power return has been detected.
• When the communication interface is to be changed in an existing project, such as the migration from a BCU1 to a BCU2 or KNXnet/IP (EIBnet/IP) , ONLY the driver FBox needs to be replaced! All other EIB FBoxes do not need any modification!

ETS requirements
In order to have the latest components available it's recommended to use ETS3.0 Patch A. The component libraries for ETS can be found on the respective manufacturers home pages.

 

For BCU1 protocol not all communication interfaces of a PCD3 or a PCD2.M5540 can be used. On the other hand there is no problem using the newer FT1.2 protocol which is supported by all RS232 interfaces of the PCD3 and the PCD2.M5540.

 

Supported communication interfaces for EIB/KNX driver
The table below shows the supported communication interfaces for connecting an EIB coupler to PCD3-, PCD2.M5540 and PCD1.M2120 systems. On other systems (e.g. PCD2.M170) all RS232 interfaces can be used for connecting an EIB/KNX coupler.

	CPU type	PCD3.M5/6xx0 - PCD2.M5540	PCD3.Mxxx0	PCD3.Mxxx0	PCD2.M5540	PCD1.M2120
	Communication interface	PGU port (onboard)	PCD3.F121	PCD3.F2xx	PCD7.F121s	PCD7.F121s
	BCU1	ok	ok	not supported	not supported	t.b.c
	FT1.2	ok	ok	ok	ok	t.b.c

Remark
We strongly recommend using FT1.2 (also known as BCU2) for new projects as this implementation is more performant (due to a higher baudrate supported and telegram oriented transmission control rather than character-oriented transmission control which is used by BCU1). The table above represent functional tests; there is no relation to the communication performance.

 

Using PG5 1.4 with the EIB library < 2.5.121 the BCU might "hang" when colliding messages (from and to the PCD) with a certain traffic level occurs. This does happen with any CPU used.

 

Symptom
Using PG5 1.4 with the EIB library < 2.5.121 the BCU might "hang" when colliding messages (from and to the PCD) with a certain traffic level occurs. This does happen with any CPU used.

Solution
Please install the latest EIB FBox library version (which can be found on the support site in the section "Product information"-->"Software"-->"PG5"-->"FBox libraries").

 

Since the PCD itself does not feature an interface to the EIB (European Installation Bus), a dedicated EIB coupler is required.

 

Requirement of the coupler to be used
For connecting a PCD to an EIB a "BCU coupler" is required.
The connection to this coupler is to be realized using RS232 (1:1 cable) or over an Ethernet network. The coupler needs to support the S-Mode. Please refer to the list below for tested interface devices.

BCU2 (FT1.2) serial interface (RS232)


We advise to use BCU-2 protocol. The BCU-1 (older) protocol can cause telegrams to be lost

between the gateway and the controller!

EIB KNXnet/IP interface


We advise to use the following interfaces:

Remark:
- The Siemens Gamma Instabus interfaces (5 WG1 148-1AB04 using FT1.2 protocol and 5 WG1 148-1AB21)
 we have advised in the past are not anymore available.