B

Basic Troubleshooting Guidelines

The following information is provided to allow some basic troubleshooting of the equipment in a
digital Paging System, such as the 510/520ACS or 1x00ACS based systems. This includes
components such as digital mic stations, Titan digital power amplifiers and other Titan peripheral
components. These basic actions could/should be performed before calling the support contractor
or equipment vendor technical support. In the event of one-time or very infrequent problems, this
may be all that is required.
However, for repeat problems the technician may want to escalate the problem to the available
technical support resources for further investigation. If possible, this escalation should be done
without taking corrective actions first (e.g., don’t reboot problem equipment, but leave it in a
failed/faulted state).

Basic Principles
When an off-normal condition occurs, the most basic externally observable issues to investigate
are:
1. Does the unit have power?
2. Does the unit appear to be operating (internal firmware running)?
3. Is the unit able to communicate over the network?
Some of the steps described below amount to the various ways to determine the above
observations for the different types of equipment encountered. Other actions to further
diagnose or remediate the problem are also presented.
The starting point for a problem investigation could either be a report from a user (e.g., mic
station doesn’t work or audio not heard in an area) or a fault reported by the system supervision
portion of the paging system. In the information below, the text of fault reports that might be
observed and the internal type numbers are noted.

Note: All of these investigations assume the equipment had been working and then went
to a non-working or problem state. If instead, somebody recently reconfigured a
device, then the root cause of the problem could be due to a configuration error,
such as a bad IP address or subnet mask, or the wrong mic ID or group ID in a mic
station. Investigating configuration errors are not covered in this document.

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Mic Station Control Line Failure (fault type 2)

This is an indication from the Announcement Control System (ACS) that it cannot communicate
with the indicated microphone station. The checks that can be done and possible remedial
actions to further diagnose this condition are listed in Table B-1 below.
Table B-1: Mic Station Communication Checks/Actions
Check Check Procedure Remedy Actions

IED528: Display is lit. Press any key to If PoE powered: Check network connection to
Microphone take microphone station out of power the unit
Station is saver mode, first. If non-PoE powered: Check that electrical
Powered Up IED524: Green power indicator in adapter is connected and plugged into hot
upper left corner is lit. power source.

IED528: Press and hold both the 1 and

3 keys on the keypad. Microphone If no response, reboot the microphone station,
station should display a yellow preferably by removing power (e.g., network
Unit is background status window. Press the cable if PoE), waiting a few seconds and re-
Operating [Enter] key to go back to the normal applying power. Wait for the microphone
screen. station to boot up and then re-test.* (see note
IED524: Press any key. Busy/Ready below)
LEDs should light.

Verify network connectivity. Possible actions:

IED528: Unit is not displaying a status 1. PING this microphone station from the
box with “Waiting For Host”. Or, when same equipment room as the ACS
Unit is action is initiated status box “Contacting 2. Relocate this microphone station to the
Communicating Host” does not remain up for several same network switch as the ACS and re-test
w/ the ACS seconds (a brief flash of this box is OK). connectivity.
IED524: Pressing PTT switch causes mic 3. Seek help from local network administrator
station to go to active or busy state. (e.g., network port enabled, properly con-
figured, on the right VLAN, etc.)
* Note: Some network switches can take 30-60 seconds to turn on PoE power after a connection is made. One may have to be patient at this point waiting for the
switch to re-apply power to the network port.

Titan Amplifier Card Fault (fault type 4)

This condition indicates that an amplifier card in a Titan amplifier frame (T9160) is not working.
If the Titan amplifier frame has a backup amp card, this failed card could be automatically
backed up (if first/only amplifier in fault). If it is not being backed up, one may see an additional
fault in the system supervision list that says “Faulted Amplifier Not Backed-Up”. One can make
the following checks at the Titan frame:
1. The power LED on the front of the amplifier card is not lit indicating it is not powered up.
2. The power switch on the front of the amp card is in the ON position. One may try switch-
ing it to the OFF position and back to ON just in case the switch wasn’t fully in the ON
position previously.
3. The amplifier card is fully seated into the frame and the two retaining screws are fully
screwed down. Remove and re-seat if uncertain.

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Note: Note: If the amplifier card is removed from the Titan frame, this fault will clear and
the automatic backup will stop. If one desires to continue to have audio in the zones
affected by the failed amp card, one should replace the failed amp with a spare
amp, or move the backup amp from slot 9 to the now empty slot

Titan Amp Frame Internal Card Fault (fault type 4)

This condition appears with fault descriptions such as:
• Communication Fault AIO Unit 1 or 2 (Titan IPAU)
• Communication Fault MTC Unit 1 or 2 (Titan IPAU)
• Communication Fault LVIO Unit 1or 2 (Titan IPAU)
This indicates that one of the several circuit boards in the top portion of a Titan amplifier frame
(T9160) is not communicating properly with the main circuit board in the frame. (AIO, MTC and
LVIO are the card types. There are two of each type card in a T9160 frame, indicated by unit 1 or
unit 2 in the fault description.) There is little that can be diagnosed externally about this
condition. One can try clearing the fault condition by powering down the Titan amplifier frame,
waiting at least 10 seconds and then re-powering the frame. If the condition continues or re-
appears often, then the manufacturer should be contacted for further investigation or repair of
the frame.
The urgency or criticality of getting a Titan frame with this fault repaired or replaced may depend
on which card is faulted and the tolerance the facility has for partial loss of functionality. For
example, if the error indicates loss of functionality on the upper 8 channels (5A through 8B), and
there are no amps installed in those slots, then perhaps the fault doesn’t hurt anything in the
system, and getting it resolved quickly is not a priority. Below in Table B-2 is a list of what
functions are tied to which internal cards.
Table B-2: T9160 Internal Card Functions
Internal Card Functions Impacted

Channels 1A through 4B inputs on the back of the frame

Amplifier outputs to channels 1A through 4B

AIO Unit 1 Note: It is possible that an AIO card will continue to pass audio even when the card is
experiencing communication faults. The digital audio to/from the card is passed via a
separate connection. One may wish to evaluate whether audio is still flowing to
determine whether this fault condition is critical or not.

Channels 5A through 8B inputs on the back of the frame

AIO Unit 2
Amplifier outputs to channels 5A through 8B

Supervision of amplifier voltage outputs and speaker line current sensors for channels 1A
MTC Unit 1
through 4B.

Supervision of amplifier voltage outputs and speaker line current sensors for channels 5A
MTC Unit 2
through 8B.

LVIO Unit 1 Supervision of Ground Faults for channels 1A through 4B

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Supervision of amplifier good status lines and amplifier temperature sensors for channels
1A through 4B
Supervision of all Fan statuses (1 – 4)

Supervision of amplifier good status and amplifier temperature on the

backup amplifier (slot 9)
Control of power on the backup amplifier (slot 9)
Control of all backup amplifier switching relays.
In summary: Loss of backup amplifier switching functionality.

Supervision of Ground Faults for channels 5A through 8B

LVIO Unit 2 Supervision of amplifier good status lines and amplifier temperature sensors for channels
5A through 8B

Titan Amplifier Frame Environmental Fault (fault type 5)

This condition covers over-temperature on amplifier heat sinks, cooling fan failures and ground
faults on speaker lines. These appear in the system supervision listing with descriptions such as
the following examples:
• Amplifier Card 1 Over Temperature (Titan IPAU)
• Fan 2 Fault (Titan IPAU)
• Channel 3A Ground Fault (Titan IPAU)
For the temperature and fan faults (which may be inter-related), one can do the following
checks at the indicated Titan amplifier frame (T9160):
1. Are fans all running?
2. Any obstructions in the fan vanes?
3. Any foreign objects/sheets covering the air openings (front and back of the frame)?
4. Unusually warm/hot ambient air in the equipment rack of the affected Titan frame?
If desired, the ground fault condition can be verified by removing the speaker line connection
from the back of the amplifier frame and checking the impedance between each speaker line
and earth ground using a multi-meter.

Communication Channel Fault (fault type 9)

This condition indicates that the system supervision software has failed to communicate over the
network to the indicated device. This fault occurs for non-microphone station devices and can
be due to either the unit not being powered up, the unit not operating or a problem in the
network connection to the unit. Table B-3 below lists the checks and possible remedial actions
that can be done to further diagnose this fault condition. In the table, the description “1RU
Titan” indicates all other non-amplifier products like the T9040NLR, T9032LVIO, T9032NS and
similar.

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Table B-3: Unit Communication Fault Checks/Actions

Check Check Procedure Remedial Actions

T9160: Check that both power cords are firmly pushed in,
T9160: Green power
Unit is Powered Up the power switch is on and the cords are plugged into a
indicator on top/front is lit.
hot source.

1RU Titan: If the unit is powered using an external power

supply module, check that the power adapter is plugged
1RU Titan: Green power into the unit and into a hot source. Perhaps try substituting
indicator on the back a new power adapter.
below the network
connector is lit. If the unit is powered using PoE from a powered Ethernet
switch, verify that it is connected to a port with PoE
enabled and operating.

T9160: System LED

If not blinking, try rebooting unit by turning off the power
Unit is Operating indicator on top/front is
switch, waiting a few seconds and re-powering.
blinking.

1RU Titan: System LED

indicator on the back If not blinking, try rebooting unit by removing power,
below the network waiting a few seconds and re-powering.* (see below)
connector is blinking

1. Verify network cable

is plugged in. 1. Correct any local switch connection issue (switch
2. Verify that network con-
powered?)
nection light is on and
2. Relocate this unit to the same network switch as the
Unit is the network traffic light
ACS and/or system supervision server and see if unit
Communicating blinks.
can communicate then.
over the Network 3. Verify the unit can be
3. Consult local network administrator to investigate fur-
PINGed from the
ther.
equipment room
(e.g., port enabled, configured, on VLAN)
where the ACS is
located.
* Note: Some network switches can take 30-60 seconds to turn on PoE power after a connection is made. One may have to be patient at this point waiting for the
switch to re-apply power to the network port.

Monitor/Test Point Failure

This condition indicates that the reading for a test point taken during the last automated or
manual test (or last two consecutive tests in the case of a 20K test failure) differs from the “Set
value” by more than the established deviation (e.g., 3 dB). The fault report in system supervision
listing will be of the form:
<Test>: <Zone Description> - <Point Type> (<Device/channel>)
So for example, it might say something like:
20kHz Test: Concourse A North – Amp Output (Titan 1, Channel 1A)

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The descriptions will depend on what was entered in Enterprise for the zone descriptions. The
most useful portion of the description in terms of possible follow-up diagnoses is the Point Type
portion. The possible values for this field, what it means and what further investigations might
be done are listed below in Table B-4.

Note: A possible cause of any Monitor/Test fault are configuration changes to the frame
or speakers attached to a frame without re-running the test calibration to get new
Set values. The table below assumes this possible configuration error has already
been addressed.

Table B-4: Monitor/Test Point Types and Actions

Point Type Meaning Possible Further Investigation

Internal May indicate a problem in the one of the DSPs of the

An internal digital domain
Ambient Out unit and will have to involve the manufacturer for
(DSP) point.
Selector Out resolution.

The analog audio being May indicate an internal problem such as an AIO
Amp Input fed to the power amp is board problem. Resolution will have to involve the
out of tolerance. manufacturer.

1. Is the power amplifier turned off or failed?

2. If Amplifier Input fault also occurring for this chan-
The voltage out of the
nel, then that is the root cause – investigate first.
Amp Output power amp is out of
tolerance. 3. If it is not apparent that amp is failed, one could
try putting a spare/different amp (of the same
model) into the slot and seeing if the fault clears.

1. If Amp Input or Amp Output fault also occurring

for this channel, then that is the root cause –
investigate first.
2. If Ground Fault also occurring for this channel,
The speaker line current
Speaker Circuit then that may be the root cause (ground faults can
draw is out of tolerance.
cause higher current draws) – investigate first.
3. Speaker line detached from Titan frame or a break
in the line?
4. Some speakers on the line failed? (see below)

If initial investigation determines that the problem may be in a speaker line driven from the Titan
frame or in the speakers attached to that line, one can investigate further using the Circuit Test
feature in the Enterprise software. With this feature, one can turn on a test tone for a selected
amplifier channel and then go out into the zone space and “walk the speaker line” listening for tone
coming out of each speaker.

Note: This test tone feature has an automatic time out of a few minutes so it doesn’t get
left on accidentally forever. One may need an assistant at the computer console to
re-start the test tone periodically.

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From the evidence gathered, one may be able to infer whether there are individual speaker problems
or there is a break in the speaker line somewhere. If, it is not desirable to put a tone out to the space
due to the presence of the public in the area at that time, then a substitute may be to assign
background music to that zone (and possibly remove the music from neighboring zones) and then
listen to the individual speakers.

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