APC UPS Support

[Savell Martin]

Hi guys.

I'm having an issue with getting FreeNAS to see my UPS.
It is a APC Smart-UPS SC 1500.

I have it connected via USB on ugen1.4.
I am running FreeNAS 9.2.1.8.
And using the APC ups 2 Smart USB driver (usbhid-ups)

And I am getting this error:

Code:

Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: nut not running? (check /var/db/nut/upsd.pid).
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: nut_upsmon not running? (check /var/db/nut/upsmon.pid).
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: nut_upslog not running? (check /var/db/nut/upslog.pid).
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: nut not running? (check /var/db/nut/upsd.pid).
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.38 (2.7.1)
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: USB communication driver 0.32
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: No matching HID UPS found
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: Driver failed to start (exit status=1)
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.7.1
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas root: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nut: WARNING: failed precmd routine for nut
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nut: WARNING: failed precmd routine for nut
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: nut_upsmon not running? (check /var/db/nut/upsmon.pid).
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: Starting nut_upsmon.
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: kill: No such process
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: UPS: ups (master) (power value 1)
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: nut_upslog not running? (check /var/db/nut/upslog.pid).
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: Starting nut_upslog.
Oct 10 00:13:45 freenas notifier: Warning: initial connect failed: Connection failure: Connection refused
Oct 10 00:13:46 freenas notifier: Stopping nut_upslog.
Oct 10 00:13:46 freenas notifier: Waiting for PIDS: 26783.
Oct 10 00:13:46 freenas notifier: Stopping nut_upsmon.
Oct 10 00:14:10 freenas upsmon[26754]: upsmon parent: read
Oct 10 00:14:10 freenas notifier: Waiting for PIDS: 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755, 26755.
Oct 10 00:14:10 freenas notifier: nut not running? (check /var/db/nut/upsd.pid).

Can anyone help me get my UPS sorted?

 

[no_connection]

Try apcsmart driver instead of usbhid-ups and see if that helps.

 

[Savell Martin]

Sorry I have tried that too, and most other APC drivers.
Same thing over and over.

 

[no_connection]

Download pfSense and run it from CD/USB. Install NUT plugin and see if that recognize it. (or any other release that can run NUT).
Or for that matter windows. Does any other OS see the UPS?

 

[Savell Martin]

Worked on Windows Server just not on FreeNAS.

 

[saurav]

I posted my experience with configuring my APC UPS (not same as yours) here:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...re-the-ups-service-for-apcs-be700y-ind.23830/

It could help you dig in further.

 

[Darren Myers]

Does FreeNAS support shutdown/power on via a APC with a network card? Such as configured with powershute

 

[saurav]

FreeNAS does support shutdown over USB. For network card, my guess would be a strong YES, if that event can be detected by NUT.

Note that detection of line/battery power is actually implemented by NUT. FreeNAS wouldn't care over which interface (USB or network) NUT detects UPS events and should behave uniformly.

 

[Fraoch]

Advice on an APC UPS: check for firmware updates!

I have an APC Smart-UPS C 1500. I can't find Savell Martin's Smart-UPS SC 1500 on APC's website, but I'm guessing they're similar.

With the default 0.95 firmware I was getting near-constant "data stale" and disconnect messages, about every minute. I tried altering every setting I could in Services - UPS but there was no change.

I updated to 0.98 firmware and haven't had an issue since. Finding the updater and firmware wasn't easy, it's buried in Schneider Electric/APC's confusing website and the firmware listed for my unit wasn't firmware at all, it was a .MIB file for SNMP.

The firmware updater is here:

http://www2.schneider-electric.com/...0/FA164737/en_US/FirmwareUpgradeWizard4_0.exe

and the firmware images are here:

http://www2.schneider-electric.com/...64000/FA164737/en_US/FirmwareUpdateImages.zip

Guide:

http://www2.schneider-electric.com/resources/sites/SCHNEIDER_ELECTRIC/content/live/FAQS/164000/FA164737/en_US/Firmware Upgrade Wizard Manual.pdf

Windows only.

It's article FA164737, accessible through here:

http://www.apc.com/site/support/index.cfm/faq/

(I can't even post the article, the URL does not change. Awful website.)

 

[Ericloewe]

Windows only? Looks like Java to me.

 

[Fraoch]

Windows only? Looks like Java to me.

Good catch - it is Java, compressed into an .exe. Sure enough, it uncompresses fine in Linux. However the program itself is an .exe and my Linux doesn't want to run it without WINE. I suppose if you found the right Java file to launch the whole thing it might work, but there are a lot of Java files mixed in with a lot of other .exe files.

 

[Ericloewe]

Good catch - it is Java, compressed into an .exe. Sure enough, it uncompresses fine in Linux. However the program itself is an .exe and my Linux doesn't want to run it without WINE. I suppose if you found the right Java file to launch the whole thing it might work, but there are a lot of Java files mixed in with a lot of other .exe files.

All the disadvantages of Java without the big advantage. Makes you wonder what kind of people they employ as programmers.

 

[Fraoch]

All the disadvantages of Java without the big advantage. Makes you wonder what kind of people they employ as programmers.

Yes, although the hardware is excellent, APC's website and software could do with improvement.

I was floored at how simple PowerChute is. You can monitor a few parameters and that's about it. I couldn't see where you could schedule tests or alter any settings at all. I have an old Belkin UPS - despite it being Belkin, the Bulldog software allowed you to schedule various types of battery tests and alter many settings in the (rather simple) UPS.

 

[Savell Martin]

Thanks guys.

Didnt even know there were firmware updates!
Let me update and report back.

 

[trionic]

Savell - did you get this working? I have a (serial only) APC SmartUPS SC1500i with an RS232 connection which I cannot get to work. Does your UPS have a native USB port or are you using an adapter?

 

[Savell Martin]

Unfortunately not :(

I gave up and got busy with other things.

Mine is a Serial to USB adapter as well.
Think the exact same as you are describing.

If you or anyone else gets this to work PLEASE let me know.
Also as a side note, I have not tried 9.3 yet.

 

[trionic]

I'm using the APC 940-0020B "simple signalling" serial cable (RS232 only - no USB adapter). Need to get this thing working before I lose the whole pool (64TB) to a power cut.

Currently the server is powered from the UPS but of course without shutdown-on-AC-failure.

Did you upgrade the UPS's firmware?

 

[Darren Myers]

I'm using the APC 940-0020B "simple signalling" serial cable. Need to get this thing working before I lose the whole pool (64TB) to a power cut.

Currently the server is powered from the UPS but of course without shutdown-on-AC-failure.

Did you upgrade the UPS's firmware?

out of curiosity i looked up your APC model hoping it would have an addon card ability...it doesnt....that's a TERRIBLE APC model lol.

i have two old smart UPS 1000 and 1500 and they both thankfully have the ability to have an addon card (only the 1500 does) do you have to have a rack-mountable APC? Otherwise i'd sell that one for whatever you can get for it and buy a newer (ish) model from ebay

 

[Ericloewe]

You sure you've got quality USB to serial adapters? Most of them are worthless. I think the only good ones used an FTDI controller chip. Careful with the knockoffs, though.

 

[Savell Martin]

I have a original APC Serial to USB cable, and another 2 for testing none work.