<div dir="ltr">Hi Ted<br><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">there was a drift from the initial topic.<br></div><div class="gmail_extra">worth a new thread!<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div dir="ltr">2014-07-27 9:13 GMT+02:00 Ted Mittelstaedt <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tedm@mittelstaedt.us" target="_blank">tedm@mittelstaedt.us</a>></span>:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div>On 7/26/2014 12:18 PM, Arnaud Quette wrote:<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div>
Hi Eric,<br>
<br>
sorry for the lag, summer time...<br>
<br>
I'm first seconding Charles comments<br>
<br>
2014-07-09 12:31 GMT+02:00 Eric S. Raymond <<a href="mailto:esr@thyrsus.com" target="_blank">esr@thyrsus.com</a><br></div>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:esr@thyrsus.com" target="_blank">esr@thyrsus.com</a>>>:<div><div><br>
<br>
I think the time for me to get involved in NUT documentation has come<br>
again.<br>
<br>
<br>
welcome back<br>
<br>
Late last week I had to buy a UPS under time pressure. The Eaton unit<br>
that thus project gifted me with in 2006(?) died during a severe<br>
thunderstorm watch, so it was off to MicroCenter to get a replacement<br>
pronto.<br>
<br>
I wound up buying an APC BN700MC. It was what they had in the<br>
performance range I needed. The removable battery door was pleasing.<br>
</div></div></blockquote><div><div>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
Based on the experience, I have updated the UPS HOWTO:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.catb.org/esr/ldp/UPS-HOWTO.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/esr/ldp/UPS-HOWTO.html</a><br>
<br>
The bad news, however, is that (a) this is not a NUT-supported device,<br>
<br>
<br>
I've logged an entry for the APC Modbus:<br>
<a href="https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/issues/139" target="_blank">https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/issues/139</a><br>
<br>
and (b) the (poorly documented) NUT process for discovering and<br>
customizing a driver failed at the first step. Running upsstart<br>
gave a driver fail message containing no clues as to how to recover.<br>
<br>
<br>
yup, definitely room for enhancement!<br>
I've got some ideas, beside from the obvious need to improve the<br>
documentation, that I'll like to discuss.<br>
<br>
This is definitely USB and probably a fairly generic hidups device.<br>
There is no good reason for customizing a driver profile to be<br>
so difficult.<br>
<br>
<br>
well, I'm unsure since I'm just opening this "APC Modbus Pandora box"<br>
but if I understand correctly, your new unit is a microlink one.<br>
</blockquote>
<br></div></div>
MAYBE.<br>
<br>
HIS UPS is a BackUPS not a SmartUPS. Originally the APC BackUPS DID NOT<br>
SUPPORT any Smart protocol (the original UPSLink protocol)<br>
<br>
But over the years it's been observed that APC has somewhat "fudged" on<br>
the BackUPS UPSes. Newer ones did appear to implement the UPSlink protocol over USB.<br>
<br>
Microlink protocol is officially only for APC SmartUPSes. Officially,<br>
what your supposed to get with a BackUPS is dumb signalling only. But,<br>
with the newer BackUPSes that have USB output, some seemed to act like<br>
SmartUPSes even though they were not.<br>
<br>
APC has very much blurred the line on the model BN UPSes. These are the<br>
APC UPSes that look like an oversized power strip. That's the one that he has. They seem to have dropped monitoring ports completely on these UPSes that are under 700VA in size. They used to make monitoring ports<br>
on these UPSes all the way down to 350VA. But the current models, only the 700VA unit like the one he bought, still support the monitoring port. That port is the special wide RJ45 that has 10 conductors not 8.<br>
It is selectable between serial and USB depending on what cable is used<br>
with it.<div><br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
though the serial version should be Modbus only,<br>
</blockquote>
<br></div>
There is no "serial only" APC UPS that supports Modbus, in fact no APC smart UPS since the Microlink protocol was implemented has been "serial only", all have been dual-use Serial and USB.<div>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
I can't say at first if<br>
the USB ones implement if full Modbus over HID or any other mean.<br>
I would need traces to give more info.<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br></div>
The BackUPSes with USB ports might implement full UPSlink over HID.<br>
<br>
Or they might implement Microlink over HID<br>
<br>
Or they might implement nothing like either of that.<br>
<br>
But they definitely don't implement Modbus.<br>
<br>
It is best I think to refer to BackUPS and SmartUPS in the documentation. Please do not refer to APC UPSes in a generic fashion. And please don't assume that any APC BackUPS implements any particular<br>
protocol over USB or Serial unless you have directly tested it. APC<br>
BackUPS upses are the "cheap, poor relations" and are for consumers and<br>
penny-pinching businesses that are too cheap to spend a couple hundred bucks on decent gear. Purchasers who want full functionality should be<br>
encouraged to buy an APC SmartUPS.<span><font color="#888888"><br></font></span></blockquote><div><br></div><div>thanks for these details, still too blurry for the little time I currently have!<br></div><div>my aim there is not to understand APC offering. I don't have time nor interest in that!<br>
</div><div>my aim is simply to have people happy, which generally means supporting their unit, so developing code. period.<br></div><div><br></div><div>So, if someone (maybe you):<br>1) can clarify APC situation WRT protocols (both serial and USB ; microlink / UPSLink / whatever-nameLink)<br>
2) and has access to unit(s) to provide sniff<br><br>I can check to develop some generic code in "blind mode" (no access to devices), for modbus or else, that also supports APC.<br></div><div><br></div><div>cheers,<br>
</div><div>Arno<br></div><br></div>
</div></div></div>