Note: selecting the modbus status option from the AcquiSuite console does not cause the AcquiSuite to search for new
devices. The AcquiSuite checks for new devices in the background all the time, taking about 2.5 minutes to complete each
pass through all 255 possible addresses. The modbus test console option simply displays the number of devices the
AcquiSuite presently knows about.
Upload Data Now: If the AcquiSuite is configured to upload data using HTTP/POST to a webserver/database such as BMO,
this option will cause the AcquiSuite to upload all stored data immediately.
Reboot
: This option will reboot the AcquiSuite.
Shutdown
: This option will stop the data logging processes and secure the flash memory. When secured, the console will
state that the power may be disconnected. It is important to shut down the AcquiSuite cleanly prior to disconnecting the
power from the device.
The AcquiSuite has an advanced menu that can be used to perform system checks and clear all configuration options to the
default settings. To access the advanced menu, wait until the LCD shows “AcquiSuite Ready” and press both the Menu and
Select buttons at the same time. Hold both down together for about 10 seconds. When the advanced menu is displayed, you
may release the two buttons. The following is a tree display of the advanced menu.
[Advanced Menu]
Console on COM1 (RS485 port)
Check flash disk
Erase Log/Config
(previous menu)
The
Check Flash Disk
option will force the AcquiSuite to check the entire flash disk for file system integrity. This will
require you to reboot the AcquiSuite.
The
Enable Console
feature will provide a shell prompt on the serial port for remote diagnostics. This is intended to be
used by Obvius technical support only.
The
Reset Configuration
option will remove all the user settings, data, and passwords that have been configured and will
return the AcquiSuite to the factory default settings. This is mainly useful when reconfiguring an AcquiSuite that has been
used previously on a different job or project.
Log File Data
The AcquiSuite stores data from the modbus devices in text (csv) log files. One log file is created for each modbus device
on the system. On a daily basis, the log files are "rotated", that is the current log file is renamed and compressed with gzip
compression, and a new log file is started. This allows the AcquiSuite to make efficient use of the flash memory. When the
storage capacity is beyond 95% full, the oldest log file will be removed from the system.
Log File Status
The AcquiSuite can display a list of log files in the "log file data/status" web configuration page. A bar graph will show the
amount of storage capacity that is used by the existing log data. Below, a list of modbus device log file will be displayed
along with the file size and timestamp when the file was last modified.
Each modbus device may have multiple log files. The log file name starts with “mb-xxx.” where xxx is the modbus device
id number. One file, with the .log extension is the file where the most recent data is being stored. Other log files have a .gz
extension. These are older log data files that have been compressed to save space.
The file name will be a link that will open up a browser window to view the contents of the single log file. Clicking on the
single log file will only show the contents of that log file, and not all historical data for the device. Use the log export
feature if all log data is required.
Log File Format
Once you have downloaded the data from the AcquiSuite, you will need to process it. The file is an ASCII text file with
comma delimited data. One line is recorded for each log cycle. The file will look something like the following example from
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A8810 AcquiSuite – Data Acquisition Server
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