APC Back-UPS650_CS [solved]

[AussieJohn]

I have just installed the above named UPS and the apcupsd rpm (for Mandriva).

I have read through the Help? files of apcupsd but find it very confusing and hard to make any sense of.

In MCC...System.....Enable or disable the system services, I have noted that .....apcupsd is running,........upsd is running........upsmon is stopped although it is ticked to start at boot and does not start by clicking its Start button. acpi and acpid are also stopped ( I have them both stopped from reboot ).

 

Can someone tell me how to open apcupsd to see the current settings and to monitor the data ??? I cannot find apcupsd anywhere in the Start Menu.

 

The apcupsd.conf reads as follows.........

 

## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##

#

# for apcupsd release 3.13.12 (27 January 2007) - mandrake

#

# "apcupsd" POSIX config file

 

#

# ========= General configuration parameters ============

#

 

# UPSNAME xxx

# Use this to give your UPS a name in log files and such. This

# is particulary useful if you have multiple UPSes. This does not

# set the EEPROM. It should be 8 characters or less.

#UPSNAME

 

# UPSCABLE <cable>

# Defines the type of cable connecting the UPS to your computer.

#

# Possible generic choices for <cable> are:

# simple, smart, ether, usb

#

# Or a specific cable model number may be used:

# 940-0119A, 940-0127A, 940-0128A, 940-0020B,

# 940-0020C, 940-0023A, 940-0024B, 940-0024C,

# 940-1524C, 940-0024G, 940-0095A, 940-0095B,

# 940-0095C, M-04-02-2000

#

UPSCABLE usb

 

# To get apcupsd to work, in addition to defining the cable

# above, you must also define a UPSTYPE, which corresponds to

# the type of UPS you have (see the Description for more details).

# You must also specify a DEVICE, sometimes referred to as a port.

# For USB UPSes, please leave the DEVICE directive blank. For

# other UPS types, you must specify an appropriate port or address.

#

# UPSTYPE DEVICE Description

# apcsmart /dev/tty** Newer serial character device,

# appropriate for SmartUPS models using

# a serial cable (not USB).

#

#usb <BLANK> Most new UPSes are USB. A blank DEVICE

# setting enables autodetection, which is

# the best choice for most installations.

#

# net hostname:port Network link to a master apcupsd

# through apcupsd's Network Information

# Server. This is used if you don't have

# a UPS directly connected to your computer.

#

# snmp hostname:port:vendor:community

# SNMP Network link to an SNMP-enabled

# UPS device. Vendor is the MIB used by

# the UPS device: can be "APC", "APC_NOTRAP"

# or "RFC" where APC is the powernet MIB,

# "APC_NOTRAP" is powernet with SNMP trap

# catching disabled, and RFC is the IETF's

# rfc1628 UPS-MIB. You usually want "APC".

# Port is usually 161. Community is usually

# "private".

#

# dumb /dev/tty** Old serial character device for use

# with simple-signaling UPSes.

#

# pcnet ipaddr:username:passphrase

# PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol

# which can be used as an alternative to SNMP

# with AP9617 family of smart slot cards.

# ipaddr is the IP address of the UPS mgmt

# card. username and passphrase are the

# credentials for which the card has been

# configured.

#

UPSTYPE usb

DEVICE

 

 

# LOCKFILE <path to lockfile>

# Path for device lock file. Not used on Win32.

LOCKFILE /var/lock

 

# SCRIPTDIR <path to script directory>

# Directory in which apccontrol and event scripts are located.

SCRIPTDIR /etc/apcupsd

 

# PWRFAILDIR <path to powerfail directory>

# Directory in which to write the powerfail flag file. This file

# is created when apcupsd initiates a system shutdown and is

# checked in the OS halt scripts to determine if a killpower

# (turning off UPS output power) is required.

PWRFAILDIR /etc/apcupsd

 

# NOLOGINDIR <path to nologin directory>

# Directory in which to write the nologin file. The existence

# of this flag file tells the OS to disallow new logins.

NOLOGINDIR /etc

 

 

#

# ======== Configuration parameters used during power failures ==========

#

 

# The ONBATTERYDELAY is the time in seconds from when a power failure

# is detected until we react to it with an onbattery event.

#

# This means that, apccontrol will be called with the powerout argument

# immediately when a power failure is detected. However, the

# onbattery argument is passed to apccontrol only after the

# ONBATTERYDELAY time. If you don't want to be annoyed by short

# powerfailures, make sure that apccontrol powerout does nothing

# i.e. comment out the wall.

ONBATTERYDELAY 6

 

#

# Note: BATTERYLEVEL, MINUTES, and TIMEOUT work in conjunction, so

# the first that occurs will cause the initation of a shutdown.

#

 

# If during a power failure, the remaining battery percentage

# (as reported by the UPS) is below or equal to BATTERYLEVEL,

# apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.

BATTERYLEVEL 5

 

# If during a power failure, the remaining runtime in minutes

# (as calculated internally by the UPS) is below or equal to MINUTES,

# apcupsd, will initiate a system shutdown.

MINUTES 3

 

# If during a power failure, the UPS has run on batteries for TIMEOUT

# many seconds or longer, apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.

# A value of 0 disables this timer.

#

# Note, if you have a Smart UPS, you will most likely want to disable

# this timer by setting it to zero. That way, you UPS will continue

# on batteries until either the % charge remaing drops to or below BATTERYLEVEL,

# or the remaining battery runtime drops to or below MINUTES. Of course,

# if you are testing, setting this to 60 causes a quick system shutdown

# if you pull the power plug.

# If you have an older dumb UPS, you will want to set this to less than

# the time you know you can run on batteries.

TIMEOUT 0

 

# Time in seconds between annoying users to signoff prior to

# system shutdown. 0 disables.

ANNOY 300

 

# Initial delay after power failure before warning users to get

# off the system.

ANNOYDELAY 60

 

# The condition which determines when users are prevented from

# logging in during a power failure.

# NOLOGON <string> [ disable | timeout | percent | minutes | always ]

NOLOGON disable

 

# If KILLDELAY is non-zero, apcupsd will continue running after a

# shutdown has been requested, and after the specified time in

# seconds attempt to kill the power. This is for use on systems

# where apcupsd cannot regain control after a shutdown.

# KILLDELAY <seconds> 0 disables

KILLDELAY 0

 

#

# ==== Configuration statements for Network Information Server ====

#

 

# NETSERVER [ on | off ] on enables, off disables the network

# information server. If netstatus is on, a network information

# server process will be started for serving the STATUS and

# EVENT data over the network (used by CGI programs).

NETSERVER on

 

# NISIP <dotted notation ip address>

# IP address on which NIS server will listen for incoming connections.

# This is useful if your server is multi-homed (has more than one

# network interface and IP address). Default value is 0.0.0.0 which

# means any incoming request will be serviced. Alternatively, you can

# configure this setting to any specific IP address of your server and

# NIS will listen for connections only on that interface. Use the

# loopback address (127.0.0.1) to accept connections only from the

# local machine.

NISIP 127.0.0.1

 

# NISPORT <port> default is 3551 as registered with the IANA

# port to use for sending STATUS and EVENTS data over the network.

# It is not used unless NETSERVER is on. If you change this port,

# you will need to change the corresponding value in the cgi directory

# and rebuild the cgi programs.

NISPORT 3551

 

# If you want the last few EVENTS to be available over the network

# by the network information server, you must define an EVENTSFILE.

EVENTSFILE /var/log/apcupsd.events

 

# EVENTSFILEMAX <kilobytes>

# By default, the size of the EVENTSFILE will be not be allowed to exceed

# 10 kilobytes. When the file grows beyond this limit, older EVENTS will

# be removed from the beginning of the file (first in first out). The

# parameter EVENTSFILEMAX can be set to a different kilobyte value, or set

# to zero to allow the EVENTSFILE to grow without limit.

EVENTSFILEMAX 10

 

#

# ========== Configuration statements used if sharing =============

# a UPS with more than one machine

 

# NETTIME <int>

# Interval (in seconds) at which the NIS client polls the server.

# Used only when this apcupsd is a network client (UPSTYPE net).

#NETTIME 60

 

#

# Remaining items are for ShareUPS (APC expansion card) ONLY

#

 

# UPSCLASS [ standalone | shareslave | sharemaster ]

# Normally standalone unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS

# card.

UPSCLASS standalone

 

# UPSMODE [ disable | share ]

# Normally disable unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS card.

UPSMODE disable

 

#

# ===== Configuration statements to control apcupsd system logging ========

#

 

# Time interval in seconds between writing the STATUS file; 0 disables

STATTIME 0

 

# Location of STATUS file (written to only if STATTIME is non-zero)

STATFILE /var/log/apcupsd.status

 

# LOGSTATS [ on | off ] on enables, off disables

# Note! This generates a lot of output, so if

# you turn this on, be sure that the

# file defined in syslog.conf for LOG_NOTICE is a named pipe.

# You probably do not want this on.

LOGSTATS off

 

# Time interval in seconds between writing the DATA records to

# the log file. 0 disables.

DATATIME 0

 

# FACILITY defines the logging facility (class) for logging to syslog.

# If not specified, it defaults to "daemon". This is useful

# if you want to separate the data logged by apcupsd from other

# programs.

#FACILITY DAEMON

 

#

# ========== Configuration statements used in updating the UPS EPROM =========

#

 

#

# These statements are used only by apctest when choosing "Set EEPROM with conf

# file values" from the EEPROM menu. THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NO EFFECT ON APCUPSD.

#

 

# UPS name, max 8 characters

#UPSNAME UPS_IDEN

 

# Battery date - 8 characters

#BATTDATE mm/dd/yy

 

# Sensitivity to line voltage quality (H cause faster transfer to batteries)

# SENSITIVITY H M L (default = H)

#SENSITIVITY H

 

# UPS delay after power return (seconds)

# WAKEUP 000 060 180 300 (default = 0)

#WAKEUP 60

 

# UPS Grace period after request to power off (seconds)

# SLEEP 020 180 300 600 (default = 20)

#SLEEP 180

 

# Low line voltage causing transfer to batteries

# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter

# of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:

# D 106 103 100 097

# M 177 172 168 182

# A 092 090 088 086

# I 208 204 200 196 (default = 0 => not valid)

#LOTRANSFER 208

 

# High line voltage causing transfer to batteries

# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter

# of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:

# D 127 130 133 136

# M 229 234 239 224

# A 108 110 112 114

# I 253 257 261 265 (default = 0 => not valid)

#HITRANSFER 253

 

# Battery change needed to restore power

# RETURNCHARGE 00 15 50 90 (default = 15)

#RETURNCHARGE 15

 

# Alarm delay

# 0 = zero delay after pwr fail, T = power fail + 30 sec, L = low battery, N = never

# BEEPSTATE 0 T L N (default = 0)

#BEEPSTATE T

 

# Low battery warning delay in minutes

# LOWBATT 02 05 07 10 (default = 02)

#LOWBATT 2

 

# UPS Output voltage when running on batteries

# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter

# of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:

# D 115

# M 208

# A 100

# I 230 240 220 225 (default = 0 => not valid)

#OUTPUTVOLTS 230

 

# Self test interval in hours 336=2 weeks, 168=1 week, ON=at power on

# SELFTEST 336 168 ON OFF (default = 336)

#SELFTEST 336

 

 

I hope someone has an idea or two (or three).

 

Cheers. John.

[ianw1974]

apcupsd is just the daemon for enabling the UPS to do it's stuff. I'd have expected there to be some other app that's meant to parse and read the log files for your information, or whatever it is you want this program to do.

 

Did you have this functionality before with the previous program? What was it you were using?

[AussieJohn]

Hello Ian.

My previous UPS had NO monitoring capability. No USB and no Serial Port.

 

This new one has USB so it is all new to me.

 

I too thought there should be some kind of front end and that apcupsd was simply the backend.

 

Thanks for coming in on this, hopefully it will attract others as well.

 

Cheers. John.

[AussieJohn]

I did find a frontend. A gnome one called gapcmon and not bad looking either.

 

Although the UPS is detected and shows up in MCC ........Hardware.... it still won't show up in gapcmon.

 

I can't see anything similar in kde.

 

Cheers. John.

Edited May 11, 2007 by AussieJohn

[AussieJohn]

This partly a bump.

 

I also have the following text:-

 

[root@localhost john]# udevinfo -a -p /sys/class/usb/hiddev0

 

Udevinfo starts with the device specified by the devpath and then

walks up the chain of parent devices. It prints for every device

found, all possible attributes in the udev rules key format.

A rule to match, can be composed by the attributes of the device

and the attributes from one single parent device.

 

looking at device '/class/usb/hiddev0':

KERNEL=="hiddev0"

SUBSYSTEM=="usb"

DRIVER==""

ATTR{dev}=="180:0"

 

looking at parent device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0':

KERNELS=="1-1:1.0"

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb"

DRIVERS=="usbhid"

ATTRS{modalias}=="usb:v051Dp0002d0006dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00"

ATTRS{bInterfaceProtocol}=="00"

ATTRS{bInterfaceSubClass}=="00"

ATTRS{bInterfaceClass}=="03"

ATTRS{bNumEndpoints}=="01"

ATTRS{bAlternateSetting}==" 0"

ATTRS{bInterfaceNumber}=="00"

 

looking at parent device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0/usb1/1-1':

KERNELS=="1-1"

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb"

DRIVERS=="usb"

ATTRS{configuration}==""

ATTRS{serial}=="QB0652237320 "

ATTRS{product}=="Back-UPS CS 650 FW:817.v4.I USB FW:v4"

ATTRS{manufacturer}=="American Power Conversion"

ATTRS{maxchild}=="0"

ATTRS{version}==" 1.10"

ATTRS{devnum}=="3"

ATTRS{speed}=="1.5"

ATTRS{bMaxPacketSize0}=="8"

ATTRS{bNumConfigurations}=="1"

ATTRS{bDeviceProtocol}=="00"

ATTRS{bDeviceSubClass}=="00"

ATTRS{bDeviceClass}=="00"

ATTRS{bcdDevice}=="0006"

ATTRS{idProduct}=="0002"

ATTRS{idVendor}=="051d"

ATTRS{bMaxPower}==" 0mA"

ATTRS{bmAttributes}=="e0"

ATTRS{bConfigurationValue}=="1"

ATTRS{bNumInterfaces}==" 1"

 

looking at parent device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0/usb1':

KERNELS=="usb1"

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb"

DRIVERS=="usb"

ATTRS{configuration}==""

ATTRS{serial}=="0000:00:10.0"

ATTRS{product}=="UHCI Host Controller"

ATTRS{manufacturer}=="Linux 2.6.17-14mdv uhci_hcd"

ATTRS{maxchild}=="2"

ATTRS{version}==" 1.10"

ATTRS{devnum}=="1"

ATTRS{speed}=="12"

ATTRS{bMaxPacketSize0}=="64"

ATTRS{bNumConfigurations}=="1"

ATTRS{bDeviceProtocol}=="00"

ATTRS{bDeviceSubClass}=="00"

ATTRS{bDeviceClass}=="09"

ATTRS{bcdDevice}=="0206"

ATTRS{idProduct}=="0000"

ATTRS{idVendor}=="0000"

ATTRS{bMaxPower}==" 0mA"

ATTRS{bmAttributes}=="e0"

ATTRS{bConfigurationValue}=="1"

ATTRS{bNumInterfaces}==" 1"

 

looking at parent device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0':

KERNELS=="0000:00:10.0"

SUBSYSTEMS=="pci"

DRIVERS=="uhci_hcd"

ATTRS{modalias}=="pci:v00001106d00003038sv00001043sd000080EDbc0Csc03i00"

ATTRS{local_cpus}=="ffffffff"

ATTRS{irq}=="18"

ATTRS{class}=="0x0c0300"

ATTRS{subsystem_device}=="0x80ed"

ATTRS{subsystem_vendor}=="0x1043"

ATTRS{device}=="0x3038"

ATTRS{vendor}=="0x1106"

 

looking at parent device '/devices/pci0000:00':

KERNELS=="pci0000:00"

SUBSYSTEMS==""

DRIVERS==""

 

[root@localhost john]#

 

 

According to the apcupsd help files this seems to confirm that I am mostly there but I can't seem to be able to go that extra little bit to get it to fully work.

As you can see, it has detected the brand, the model, the version and even the serial number, and that it is usb.

 

Please, any help welcomed. John.

[AussieJohn]

It seems like nobody here at MUB uses power backups and therefore don't have problems with them setting up . Sigh.

 

I guess I will just have to give up on MUB on this topic. :wall:

 

Cheers. John.

[jagwah]

I use power backups, but as I never leave my PC's running while I'm not there, I never bothered connecting them to the USB ports, or setting up that side of things. If the power goes off when my PC's are running, I'm always there, so I just do the shut downs manually, I have no need for the other side of things.

 

Sorry to see you having problems, hope you can get it figure out.

[AussieJohn]

Hi Jagwah.

 

Actually I don't really want the system so much for automatic shut down but principally to monitor the battery and its system.

With my earlier unit I had no idea the battery had failed until I had a short blackout and the system immediately shut down about 2weeks ago.

Now I realize that the Battery could have been failed for up to 3 months earlier but there was nothing to indicate that. Also these type of battery's do not usually suddenly fail, they just deteriorate over a period and monitoring can show that. Fortunately at the time of the blackout I was simply browsing the web so I didn't lose any data. I realize now that I was only protected against voltage surges and nothing else. The same protection obtainable from a relatively cheap anti-surge unit.

 

For months I was vulnerable to data loss due to power out without knowing it

Since the unit has the facility and ability to be monitored then I would like to use it.

 

Cheers. John.

[jagwah]

Oh, Doesn't your unit do a start up test?, I'm pretty sure mine does, I'll have to dig out the book and check, but I seem to remember that it did some tests at start up which covered that. Hmmm, I'll have to check now to make sure myself.

 

[Edit] Yes I just checked, and mine does indeed run checks, and will both beep and flash to draw your attention to any faults or battery problems, maybe your new unit does this as well?

Edited May 18, 2007 by jagwah

[AussieJohn]

Yes it does and I get your point.

That works if you constantly switch off your system. I don't, so by the time that the battery starts to fail it is already too late to get a replacement battery before actual failure. (It takes about 3 working days to get a replacement battery shipped to Cairns from Sydney or Brisbane).

 

APC recognize this point which is why they have the USB monitor setup made available, otherwise they would not bother with it and just simply rely on the on-unit monitoring. On-unit only shows failure and not a progression to coming failure whereas constant monitoring by the user via the software can see it coming. The only way to achieve some of this ability without the software would be to have an on battery DC voltmeter mounted on the unit plus an Amp meter as well. Plus you would need an AC voltmeter for the Inverter output to your computer and an additional AC Ammeter. The software monitoring gives all kinds of data, for example to inform you of Computer and Devices load to name just one.

 

The 4 leds on the front don't give much info at all :- 1. On Line, 2. On Battery, 3. Overload and 4. Replace Battery.

 

When the Mains Power fails obviously the UPS gives an audible alarm signal so you can do a manual shutdown if you are not setup for auto shutdown. But even here I would like to know how much time I have to shutdown in relation to what I am working on at the time. The usb monitoring system would give me this info.

 

I also have a new 950Watt 240Volt AC emergency generator so such info would tell me whether I had enough time to start it up and switch over to it in time to avoid shutdown.

 

I have given this a lot of thought over a number of years and would have used it on my old unit had it been available in those days, but unfortunately it wasn't.

 

I mention all these points for all other members to consider. A UPS is not a luxury if you really value your equipment that you have spent so much of your hard earned money on.

In the past one could perhaps reasonably use the argument that they were a bit too expensive to consider but not so nowadays.

My new unit is a 650va with USB monitoring and cost me lot less (A$240) than my original 500va with NO monitoring capability (A$350) bought all those years ago.

 

Cheers. John.

[ianw1974]

Hi John,

 

Sorry I've not been able to contribute more to your post than the first post I made. I don't have a UPS, least an APC one to try and test. I've not even configured my father's server to use the Belkin UPS that he has yet. I daren't do it remotely in case something goes wrong. Then I have to get a plane ticket and fly back to the UK to fix it.

 

It's one of the rare occasions I have nothing to suggest to help.

[AussieJohn]

Hi Ian. No need to apologize. You give a hell of a lot of help over time. Not just to me but everyone.

 

I think this is one of those rare occasions where I am using a technology that is not widely used by MUB members.

It means I will have to hunt much further afield.

 

Cheers. John.

[AussieJohn]

I think I have made a little progress. Note I have already installed nis-utilities as well as apcupsd-gapcmon.

See attached snapshots. You can also see the error signals.

Can anyone contribute a clue please ???.

 

Cheers. John.

[AussieJohn]

This a print of the APC test.

 

 

2007-05-21 09:28:19 apctest 3.14.0 (9 February 2007) mandrake

Checking configuration ...

Attached to driver: usb

sharenet.type = DISABLE

cable.type = USB_CABLE

 

You are using a USB cable type, so I'm entering USB test mode

mode.type = USB_UPS

Setting up the port ...

apctest FATAL ERROR in linux-usb.c at line 649

Cannot find UPS device --

For a link to detailed USB trouble shooting information,

please see <http://www.apcupsd.com/support.html>.

apctest error termination completed

 

 

I have looked at a number of lines numbered 649 but all they seem to contain is the text "fatal error in linux-usb.c at line 649" . It doesn't say what the error is.

The thing that bothers me is that there is nothing after "setting up the port..."

 

Does this give anyone a clue ???.

 

The so called support.html is next best to useless, talking in terms of generality and appears to be 2yrs out of date.

 

Cheers. John.

Edited May 21, 2007 by AussieJohn

[ianw1974]

Your nis error could be because it's not listening on localhost, but actually listening on the IP address of your network card instead. I'd suggest a gui method, but, this is the only way I know to check the protocols to find out what is listening and where. So, in a console:

 

netstat -tunlp

 

this will list the port, and then to the far right what app is listening for what port. You can also see whether it is listening on 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1 or something else. This could then mean to reconfigure instead of using localhost, but the IP instead.