Release Notes: NX4 Firmware Release 2.01.11 January 26, 2008

NOTIFICATIONof MANDATORYSOFTWAREPATCH

NetAXSimage02.01.11.bin

Description:

A new patchhas been released for NetAXS. This patch is designated “2.01.11” and is deemed as a mandatory update, as it resolves an issue where after an indeterminate time,NX4 panels would lock-up after multiple reboots enteringan unrecoverable state. In order to prevent your panel from exhibiting this problem, please update to this revision of software. This is a cumulative patch, and as such, contains all functionality from revision 2.01.03 as well as all corrections contained in patch revisions 2.01.06, 2.01,07, and 2.01.11. There are no operational differences between revisions 2.01.10 and 2.01.11, therefore both should be considered the most recent firmware available at this time. See Relationship to previously released patches for further details.

Resolved issues are:

  1. DHCP Timeout was too long causing significant boot delay (> 10 minutes) perceived by customers as a panel lock-up without Run LED blinking.
  2. In the Web Interface, the Enable/disable feature on the interlock table was not functional.
  3. Supervisor cards and VIP cards were not in events on the Web Server page.
  4. Events were maintained after the factory default configuration wasrestored (setting all dipswitches to 0.) This has been changed to remove the events.
  5. An attempt to overwrite an interlock using the ASCII P command with NO_ACTION NO_ACTION would not clear the interlock until the next time the panel is reset or power cycled
  6. When reader 1 is not selected for card access in Win-Pak, a time zone of 1 is automatically assigned resulting in reader 1 allowing access even though reader 1 is not enabled
  7. If card & pin was enabled for one reader through Win-Pak, card & pin would be enabled for all readers in panel.
  8. If an input was used as a reacting component, when selecting actions, Timed Shunt Actions werenot available via the web page.
  9. After several hours, days, or weeks of operation, the Run LED would stop blinking, access control would halt, and the panel would become unresponsive to Win-Pak or Web access. Power cycle or restoring factory default configuration did NOT correct this, and factory service of panel was required to recover from this failure. The symptom was being caused by the Event Buffer file becoming too fragmented, causing latency in the system. This new version keeps the file defragmented during run-time, but also checks for fragmentation at boot-time and defragmentsduring boot-up if needed.
  10. If there were a large number of un-acknowledged alarms, the panel could reboot while all alarms were being acknowledged (“Acknowledge All” was clicked).
  11. If a firmware upgrade is interrupted during loading (either network connection delays or power failure), in some cases an incomplete firmware set is loaded and activated causing unpredictable behavior.

2.1.7

-Web server could become unresponsive, although access control was still operational requiring panel reboot.

-There may be issues connecting to web server through Wide Area Network (WAN) or other limited speed TCP/IP network.

2.1.6

-M command issue conflicts with I command E option removing or overwriting interlocks on inputs 1, 3, 5, and 7

Relationship to previously released patches:

Patch release 2.01.11 is functionally identical to firmware revision 2.01.10 with an improvement, enumerated as number 11 in the list on page 1, which improves the reliability of the installation of this patch. There are no operational differences between revisions 2.01.10 and 2.01.11, therefore both should be considered the most recent firmware available at this time.

The previous 2.01.06 patch fixed an issue in 2.01.03 that can occur when the ASCII “M” command is

used; a command used to buffer and un-buffer the panel in various configurations. However an issue was identified between the “M” command and the “I” command “E” option Free Egress, which causes interlocks for inputs 1, 3, 5, 7 to be removed or overwritten, depending on how the panel is configured. Web based NetAXS panels should not see this issue only the Win-Pak supported panels.

Required Update

It is required that all NetAXS panels be upgraded from releases 2.01.03, 2.01.06, or 2.01.07 to this new 2.01.11 patch release.

NOTE: 2.01.11 contains all the fixes from 2.01.07 so there is no need for someone at 2.01.03 to go to 2.01.06 or 2.01.07 first, they can go straight from 2.01.03 to 2.01.11, or any other patch release.

Patch file name

The 2.01.11 patch is known as “NetAXSimage02.01.11.bin”. This patch file contains all 2.01.03 functionality, as well as all corrections contained in patch revisions 2.01.06, 2.01.07, and 2.01.11 as described above.

Upgrade Procedure

1)NOTE: Upgrading to 2.1.11from 2.1.3 or 2.1.6 is not reliable over the types of connections addressed by the 2.1.7 patch. For instance, upgrading over a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection or over a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection can take too long or time out. If your upgrade takes too long or appears to time out during the firmware upload, you should use a Local Area Network (LAN) or direct connection Ethernet connection using an Ethernet crossover cable.

2)Connect to your Gateway panel using the instructions from: NetAXS: Access Control Unit User’s Guide, section 1-2 Connecting to the NetAXS Web Server.

3)Once logged into your Gateway panel, go to the Configuration: – System – File Management tab.

4)Before proceeding, if the panel is currently configured by web mode only, it is recommended that a backup be made of the panel configuration. This can be done on the File Management tab under the selection called Upload (from panel): select "All" and click on the Upload button. The panel will spool up a copy of the database and using a pre-formatted name that contains the date and time of the upload, it will ask the user to save once it is ready. NOTE: all panels on a web based loop that are being upgraded will need this step, step 3, done for each of them as uploads are on a per panel basis

5)Now in the File Management tab under Download (to panel): select the Browse button and navigate to where the NetAXSimage02.01.11.bin file is stored on your local PC’s hard drive, and select it.

6)With the file now listed in the text box next to the browse button click on the Download button to begin the download process.

7)The download will prompt you as it moves along. A full download to a Gateway panel should not take more then 10 minutes, 4-6 being the usual amount of time.

8)Multi-drop panels can be upgraded similarly, the user connects to the Gateway panel and in the Select Panel column the user selects the Multi-drop panel that they wish to upgrade and follow steps 2-6. Multi-drop panel downloads at present are very slow, taking on average about 2 hours to complete. In order to reduce the time required to install this patch, each down stream panel can be removed from the loop and configured as a Gateway panel by setting DIP switch 6, and connecting directly to each panel via a Local Area Network or direct-connect Ethernet connection, returning their configuration back to a downstream panel once the upgrade has been successfully completed. Refer to NetAXS: Access Control Unit User’s Guide, section 1-2 Connecting to the NetAXS Web Server for each of the downstream panels on a loop.

NOTE: To configure a multi-drop panel as a gateway panelthe user must set DIP switch 6 on the

panel to the ON position and reset the panel.

9)Once you have upgraded successfully, please follow the Browser Cache clearing instructions below.

How to Clear the Cache in the Internet Browsers used by the NetAXS Web Server

The NetAXS supports Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator and Netscape Browser. It is recommended that the cache be cleared following a successful upgrade.

To clear the cache using Internet Explorer 7 (IE7);

  • Go to Tools on the menu bar, Delete Browsing History. A “Delete Browsing History” popup will appear.
  • Click on the “Delete files” button.
  • A Delete Files popup will appear confirming “Are you sure you want to delete all temporary Internet Explorer files?”
  • Click on the Yes button.
  • With the Delete Browsing History screen still open click on the “Delete cookies” button.
  • A Delete Cookies popup will appear confirming “Are you sure you want to delete all cookies in the Temporary Internet Files folder?”
  • Click on the Yes button on the popup.
  • Click on the Close button on the Delete Browsing History screen.

To clear cache using Internet Explorer 6 (IE6);

  • Go to Tools, Internet Options, General tab.
  • Click on the Delete Cookies button.
  • A Delete Cookies popup will appear confirming “Delete all cookies in the Temporary Internet Files folder?”
  • Click on the OK button.
  • With the Internet Options screen open click on the “Delete Files” button.
  • A Delete Files popup will appear confirming “Delete all files in the Temporary Internet Files. You can also delete all your offline content stored locally.”
  • Click on the OK button on the popup.
  • Click on the OK button on the Internet Options screen to close it.

To clear cache using Mozilla Firefox;

  • Go to Tools, Clear Private Data. A Clear Private Data screen will appear.
  • Ensure the Cache and the Cookies checkboxes are enabled.
  • Click on the Clear Private Data Now button. The Clear Private Data screen automatically closes.

To clear cache using Netscape Navigator (version 9.0.0.5);

  • Go to Tools, Clear Private Data. A Clear Private Data screen will appear.
  • Ensure the Cache and the Cookies checkboxes are enabled.
  • Click on the Clear Private Data Now button. The Clear Private Data screen automatically closes.

To clear cache using Netscape Browser (version 8.1.3);

  • Go to Tools, Options. An Option popup will appear.
  • Under Security and Privacy side click on the Privacy icon. A Privacy – Options screen will appear.
  • Click on the Clear button for Cookies then click on the Clear button for Cache.
  • Click on the OK button at the bottom to close the Options – Privacy screen.

 2008 Honeywell International TDxxxx NX4 Firmware 2.01.11 Release Notes