Discover BACnet objects in Boss’nX and fix discovery errors

BACnet discovery in Boss’nX queries a declared device through its gateway and retrieves the list of its objects: analog, binary or multistate inputs, outputs and values. You run it from the device list, read its result, complete a partial discovery and handle the error messages.

Intended for administrators and installers. Discovery does not create any supervision component: the objects obtained are then used to configure datapoints.

Before you start

• Your role has Manage BACnet in the relevant supervision.
• The device is declared with the installation’s parameters. The Configured indicator on its row shows the declaration; discovery then checks that the device responds.

Run the discovery

1. Open the supervision, then Menu → BACnet devices, in the Integration family; if it is folded, click its title first. On a tablet or phone, Menu is at the bottom of the screen, to the right of the bar.
2. Find the device by its name, gateway, address and instance. Empty an unsuitable search with Clear.
3. On its row or card, click the radar icon Discover objects. The button stays unavailable during the operation: wait for the result before running it again.

Check the result

1. Read the displayed message. ✓ 4 objects discovered, a fictional example, shows the number of objects obtained.
2. Read the summary under the device name: number of objects, discovery date and, if applicable, the Partial badge.
3. If objects are available, click the View discovered objects eye to examine their list.

The date places the discovery in time. It indicates neither how fresh the measurements are nor whether the whole installation works correctly.

After the discovery, follow configure a BACnet datapoint in a component to choose the device, select the object and save the datapoint, or use BACnet import to add several objects to a component at once.

Complete a partial discovery

Partial discovery: … objects retrieved, re-run to complete and the Partial badge indicate an incomplete result.

1. Look at the objects already present.
2. Check the device parameters with the installer.
3. Run the discovery again.
4. Close and reopen the objects window to examine the new result.

Examine each new result on its own: a new run does not necessarily add up the previous lists. If the discovery remains partial after these checks, contact support rather than running it again without new information.

Troubleshooting

No object or eye icon missing

Check that you ran the discovery on the right device and read its result. The eye only appears when a non-empty list is available. An empty list does not establish on its own that the device contains no BACnet object: have the address, the port, the instance and the network access checked.

Datapoints reference undiscovered objects

The message … datapoints reference undiscovered objects means that configured datapoints refer to objects missing from the received result. The warning does not delete these datapoints, and the device has not necessarily lost these objects. Have the installer check the references, taking a possible partial discovery into account. Keep the datapoints: deleting them would only hide the warning.

Depending on the error message

Displayed message	Check or useful next step
Gateway offline, discovery unavailable	Check that the right gateway is associated with the device. Have the installer check its access, then try again once the connection is restored.
Timed out, please retry	Try again once. If the timeout repeats, have the parameters and the reachability of the device checked before concluding that there is a hardware failure.
Realtime connection lost, please retry	Check your connection, reopen the supervision, then try again.
Session expired, please sign in again	Sign in again, open the right supervision and run the discovery again.
You do not have permission to run discovery on this project	Have the Manage BACnet right and the access to this supervision checked.
Device not found on the server	Leave and reopen BACnet devices and check that the entry still exists in the right supervision before recreating it, to avoid a duplicate.
Discovery failed on the gateway side. Make sure the BACnet device is reachable on the network.	Have the address, the port, the instance and the network access between the gateway and the device checked.
The gateway returned an invalid response. Update the KloudnX gateway and try again.	Have the installer or support organize the appropriate update, then try again. This page does not provide an update procedure.
Objects were discovered but saving them failed, please retry.	Consider the result as not saved. Try again, then check the result and the list; if the message comes back, contact support.
Unknown error during discovery	Note the message and try again once; if it comes back, contact support.

Contact support

For a persistent failure or a discovery that remains partial, write to support@can-nx.com. Specify the product, the supervision, the device name, the exact text of the message, the result obtained (number of objects, badge) and the steps already tried. A screenshot without sensitive data can help; no password, key or internal log is needed.

French labels: Menu → Appareils BACnet, Intégration, Découvrir les objets, Afficher les objets découverts, Partielle, Passerelle hors-ligne, découverte impossible, Délai dépassé, réessayez.