Hi all,

I built a custom table for a Back-UPS Pro 1400 that I've refurbished following these instructions:

(under "Simple Signaling Cable for "dumb" UPSes" - http://www.fatblokeracing.org/ApcupsdCableConfiguration.shtml)

 

The percentage value is way off and I'm wondering if anyone can help.

 

I've attached the cable to the unraid server via a usb to serial interface that I've used for years for other things. It was detected and created the device /dev/ttyUSB0

 

Jul 31 17:33:54 Tower kernel: usb 4-1: new full-speed USB device number 2 using ohci_hcd
Jul 31 17:33:55 Tower kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
Jul 31 17:33:55 Tower kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver pl2303
Jul 31 17:33:55 Tower kernel: usbserial: USB Serial support registered for pl2303
Jul 31 17:33:55 Tower kernel: pl2303 4-1:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
Jul 31 17:33:55 Tower kernel: usb 4-1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0

 

My apcupsd configuration file:

#apcupsd configuration
SERVICE="enable"
UPSCABLE="simple"
CUSTOMUPSCABLE=""
UPSTYPE="dumb"
DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"
BATTERYLEVEL="10"
MINUTES="20"
TIMEOUT="300"
KILLUPS="NO"
SHOWFULLSTATUS="yes"

 

I've attached two images that show what the plugin is giving me on the settings page.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated

So which download link should I be using? Just got a APC unit and would like to get this setup. I see on the first page there is a link to the unraid app/plugin page. Do I download that one and install via same directions? The one on the unmenu page is .3 should I use that?

 

Also should I have all hooked up to the APC before installing?

There are three difference versions available on the unMENU packages page.  If you do not see them, use the check for updates button on the user-scripts page..

 

You should plug the UPS in before trying to get its status.

OK I thought this problem was solved ...

 

I'm on rc16 with Tom's test UI plugin.  With version Apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-3dl.plg everything works just fine.  But with Apcupsd-3.14.10-i486-4_rlw.plg I still have the problem where if i try to scroll down the log it keeps popping back up to the top. 

 

my other plug-ins are:

openssh_overbyrn.plg

screen-4.0.3-i468-1atv.plg

PlexMediaServer-0.9.7.28.33-f80a4a2-unRAID.txz (installed but not running)

powerdown-1.02-noarch-unRAID.tgz

I built a custom table for a Back-UPS Pro 1400 that I've refurbished following these instructions:

 

 

No responses so far. Anyone have any ideas on why this might be happening?

 

Thanks,

Ben

OK I thought this problem was solved ...

 

I'm on rc16 with Tom's test UI plugin.  With version Apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-3dl.plg everything works just fine.  But with Apcupsd-3.14.10-i486-4_rlw.plg I still have the problem where if i try to scroll down the log it keeps popping back up to the top. 

 

my other plug-ins are:

openssh_overbyrn.plg

screen-4.0.3-i468-1atv.plg

PlexMediaServer-0.9.7.28.33-f80a4a2-unRAID.txz (installed but not running)

powerdown-1.02-noarch-unRAID.tgz

I applied a fix to the Apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-3dl.plg that has not been applied to the 3.14.10 version.  My fix is not a good long term solution because it delays the start of the APC UPS daemon until after the start of the array.  This could potentially leave your system unprotected by a UPS shutdown signal if the array does not start. 

 

I was hoping Tom or someone would get back to me on a better way to get this to work, or someone better at writing plugins would get it to work.

 

Until it gets sorted out, just continue to use the 3.14.3 version.

OK I thought this problem was solved ...

 

I'm on rc16 with Tom's test UI plugin.  With version Apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-3dl.plg everything works just fine.  But with Apcupsd-3.14.10-i486-4_rlw.plg I still have the problem where if i try to scroll down the log it keeps popping back up to the top. 

 

my other plug-ins are:

openssh_overbyrn.plg

screen-4.0.3-i468-1atv.plg

PlexMediaServer-0.9.7.28.33-f80a4a2-unRAID.txz (installed but not running)

powerdown-1.02-noarch-unRAID.tgz

I applied a fix to the Apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-3dl.plg that has not been applied to the 3.14.10 version.  My fix is not a good long term solution because it delays the start of the APC UPS daemon until after the start of the array.  This could potentially leave your system unprotected by a UPS shutdown signal if the array does not start. 

 

I was hoping Tom or someone would get back to me on a better way to get this to work, or someone better at writing plugins would get it to work.

 

Until it gets sorted out, just continue to use the 3.14.3 version.

 

Wow how long ago was that fix?  I grabbed the plugin a while ago, I think it was like maybe even before 3.14.10 was released / turned into an UnRaid plugin.  But I suppose I might have later grabbed an updated version [shrug].  In any case, not being protected until after array starts is just fine with me. 

 

Out of curiosity, can you explain the change / cause?  Seems many other people running 3.14.10 do not have the problem and I'm curious why.

 

Thanks.

I have had my APC for a few weeks now and am using plugin version Apcupsd-3.14.10-i486-4_rlw. Well I believe everything is setup up and running correct. Times are at default and it set to Kill UPS, well I had my first power outtage today at work and not sure if it worked properly. I came home and APC was powered up and the computer was in sorta a frozen state. It was on and stuck on a copyright screen, not sure if it never finished booting or what. Is there something I am missing or that I can show you to maybe help explain better? This has been my first issue with unraid since starting about 8 months ago so not sure what is next step.

 

Thanks

 

I have had my APC for a few weeks now and am using plugin version Apcupsd-3.14.10-i486-4_rlw. Well I believe everything is setup up and running correct. Times are at default and it set to Kill UPS, well I had my first power outtage today at work and not sure if it worked properly. I came home and APC was powered up and the computer was in sorta a frozen state. It was on and stuck on a copyright screen, not sure if it never finished booting or what. Is there something I am missing or that I can show you to maybe help explain better? This has been my first issue with unraid since starting about 8 months ago so not sure what is next step.

 

Thanks

 

First impression it sounds like it got stuck booting up again. If you have your server set to power back up after power is restored in my opinion it's better to have it set to stay off. At my house power doesn't always just come back on and stay on. Sometimes it goes out for a bit then when it tries to come back on later it may flicker a bit before staying fully on. If I'm home I can monitor and turn it back on. If I'm not well the server being off for a bit isn't going to kill anyone.

 

Just because it says you have 10mins or 10 percent of runtime etc doesn't always mean that's the case. Also could multiple power issues have actually drained your batteries and when the power came back on then flickered? Best thing to do would be to test it yourself by cutting the power and monitoring it. At least then you can observe what is actually going on on power loss then it may be just a matter of adjusting your settings.

 

Test using a high percentage to shut down at at first so that way if something isn't working you have time to intervene and you're not just hard killing your server over and over. Also unraid has to spin up all your drives before shutting down. This will cause more of a power drain on your UPS so when you're testing test it with all the drive spun down. That way when the power down script kicks in all the drives will spin up. This will allow you to get a more accurate picture of what minimum power you may need.

When i used the unmenu 3.14.3-i486-1kjz.tgz, unmenu allowed to 'use serial port' in the settings which i could configure to /dev/ttyUSB0 sand cable type to 'smart'. this was the only way to get my APC 1500 to work with unraid.

 

Ive tried a few settings for this program but i cannot get it running - any suggestions?

Thanks for your work on this.  My UPS is a Smart-UPS with an AP9617 Web/SNMP card, which I monitor via the network (UPSCABLE:ether, UPSTYPE:pcnet), and I have uncovered a bug that prevents this configuration from working with the default PCnet authentication phrase "admin user phrase".  The GUI accepts this as valid input, and stores it correctly in config/plugins/apcupsd/apcupsd.cfg, but when it subsequently applies the stored configuration to /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf prior to starting the daemon, it truncates the string at the first space, leaving only "DEVICE 192.168.0.102:apcadmin:admin"

 

In order to work around this, I had to change my passphrase to one that doesn't include spaces.

 

It all appears to be working fine now, but while I was futzing with it, I also discovered that the Device field is limited to 40 characters.  As luck would have it, that is exactly the number of characters in my DEVICE string, but if my IP address, username, or passphrase were even one character longer, I'd be SOL.  You might want to consider extending that field as well.

Hello.

Is this plugin compatible with version 5.0 final?

Thanks

It is what I have been using for ages, and still do now I am on the final 5.0 release.  I have not tested with a real power failure since I upgraded, but it was fine under all recent RC releases.

 

 

When i used the unmenu 3.14.3-i486-1kjz.tgz, unmenu allowed to 'use serial port' in the settings which i could configure to /dev/ttyUSB0 sand cable type to 'smart'. this was the only way to get my APC 1500 to work with unraid.

 

Ive tried a few settings for this program but i cannot get it running - any suggestions?

 

Just bumping this again, has anyone come across this problem?

I've added my fix to the 3.14.10 plugin that stops the constant log refreshing.  What I did was delay the startup of the APCUPS daemon until the array has started.  While there is potential for unRaid to be unprotected by the UPS if the array does not start, the impact would probably be minimal if power failed and the UPS did not shut it down.  If the array is not running, I don't think there would be much risk of file damage if the power is lost.

 

Anyway, my changed plugin is attached.  I added my initials to the name so you can see which version this is, but in no way do I take any credit for the plugin.

Apcupsd-3.14.10-i486-4_rlw-dl.txt

I have a Smart-UPS 1500 that is connect with a serial cable.  Can anyone tell me what settings I should use?

 

This is what I'm using but not sure if it is correct, also how do I see the status of it?

On the System Info tab in UnMenu just click on UPS Status.

 

OK, guess something is wrong because I get this

 

(from /sbin/apcaccess status)

Error contacting apcupsd @ localhost:3551: Connection refused

 

any idea?

Are you sure the serial port is active on your system?    Check the BIOS to be sure it's not disabled.

 

Are you sure the serial port is active on your system?    Check the BIOS to be sure it's not disabled.

 

I will check that, do I need anything in device?

i have the APC-Smart 1500 and the only way i can get it to communicate with unraid is to edit the apcupsd.cfg file as below

 

#apcupsd configuration

SERVICE="enable"

UPSCABLE="smart"

CUSTOMUPSCABLE=""

UPSTYPE="apcsmart"

DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"

BATTERYLEVEL="10"

MINUTES="10"

TIMEOUT="300"

KILLUPS="yes"

SHOWFULLSTATUS="yes"

 

the main difference is using the DEVICE ="/dev/ttyUSB0" otherwise it will not be connected.

 

EDIT: if i try to add the above using the GUI it does not work. Only editing the cfg seems to work

i have the APC-Smart 1500 and the only way i can get it to communicate with unraid is to edit the apcupsd.cfg file as below

 

#apcupsd configuration

SERVICE="enable"

UPSCABLE="smart"

CUSTOMUPSCABLE=""

UPSTYPE="apcsmart"

DEVICE="/dev/ttyUSB0"

BATTERYLEVEL="10"

MINUTES="10"

TIMEOUT="300"

KILLUPS="yes"

SHOWFULLSTATUS="yes"

 

the main difference is using the DEVICE ="/dev/ttyUSB0" otherwise it will not be connected.

 

EDIT: if i try to add the above using the GUI it does not work. Only editing the cfg seems to work

 

How is yours connected, serial?  Where is the config file?

Sorry didn't make that clear

 

No I could not get it working with the serial cable and eventually got it working with the usb as per above config

 

I use APCUPSD plg with the new web gui (not through unmenu) so its located in boot/config/plugins/ APCUPSD folder

 

This is what I am getting now after playing with it a little.  Is this OK, I have both the USB and serial cable connected to it

 

APC      : 001,018,0459

DATE    : 2013-09-16 16:45:47 -0400 

HOSTNAME : Tower

VERSION  : 3.14.10 (13 September 2011) slackware

UPSNAME  : Tower

CABLE    : Ethernet Link

DRIVER  : PCNET UPS Driver

UPSMODE  : Stand Alone

STARTTIME: 2013-09-16 16:45:42 -0400 

STATUS  :

MBATTCHG : 10 Percent

MINTIMEL : 10 Minutes

MAXTIME  : 300 Seconds

NUMXFERS : 0

TONBATT  : 0 seconds

CUMONBATT: 0 seconds

XOFFBATT : N/A

STATFLAG : 0x07000000 Status Flag

END APC  : 2013-09-16 16:46:00 -0400 

Only use the usb cable and change cable setting  to 'custom cable smart'

 

Then if comfortable simulate a power failure to see if it shuts down unraid.

 

 

OK, looks like I got it running with USB and Network a the settings, thanks for helping

 

Daemon: Running UPS: Online Batttery Charge: 100.0% Time Left: 109.0 Minutes

 

Settings

 

Enable APC UPS Daemon:

UPS Cable: Network

UPS Type: USB

Device:

Battery Level: 10

Minutes: 10

Timeout: 300

Kill UPS: YES

Show Full Status: YES

 

APC UPS Status

 

APC 001,043,1061

DATE 2013-09-17 14:05:31 -0400

HOSTNAME Tower

VERSION 3.14.10 (13 September 2011) slackware

UPSNAME Tower

CABLE USB Cable

DRIVER USB UPS Driver

UPSMODE Stand Alone

STARTTIME 2013-09-17 14:05:27 -0400

MODEL Smart-UPS 1500 RM

STATUS ONLINE

LINEV 121.6 Volts

LOADPCT 9.1 Percent Load Capacity

BCHARGE 100.0 Percent

TIMELEFT 109.0 Minutes

MBATTCHG 10 Percent

MINTIMEL 10 Minutes

MAXTIME 300 Seconds

OUTPUTV 121.6 Volts

SENSE High

DWAKE -01 Seconds

DSHUTD 090 Seconds

LOTRANS 106.0 Volts

HITRANS 127.0 Volts

RETPCT 000.0 Percent

ITEMP 23.8 C Internal

ALARMDEL 30 seconds

BATTV 27.7 Volts

LINEFREQ 60.2 Hz

LASTXFER No transfers since turnon

NUMXFERS 0

TONBATT 0 seconds

CUMONBATT 0 seconds

XOFFBATT N/A

SELFTEST NO

STESTI 14 days

STATFLAG 0x07000008 Status Flag

MANDATE 2010-07-18

SERIALNO AS1029123029

BATTDATE 2010-07-18

NOMOUTV 120 Volts

NOMBATTV 24.0 Volts

FIRMWARE 667.19.D USB FW:11.

END APC 2013-09-17 14:06:12 -0400