Problem connecting APC UPS Back-UPS 850 (BE850G2) - Lost communication

[syrys]

I just recently picked up an APC BE850G2 UPS. Ive also recently just built a new Unraid system. Was trying to connect up the new UPS into the new system, and im unable to get it connected. Basically what i did was, connect up the data port of the UPS to the Unraid server, then used the built in UPS settings to enable APC UPS Daemon, and it always just says "Lost communication".

 

Screen looks like this:

 

 

Ive tried different USB ports (incl USB 2.0 ports according to the MB manual), still no difference.

 

ive done `lsusb` on command line and it doesnt show anything that implies the UPS
 

root@Mounty:/etc/apcupsd# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 174c:3074 ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1074 SuperSpeed hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0951:1666 Kingston Technology DataTraveler 100 G3/G4/SE9 G2/50
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 174c:2074 ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1074 High-Speed hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0b05:19af ASUSTek Computer, Inc. AURA LED Controller
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 8087:0026 Intel Corp. AX201 Bluetooth
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

 

 

As i mentioned, i also already have an OLD Unraid server that also has an OLD APC UPS connected to it. So to test things, i connected the new UPS to the old server (using the same OLD cable that already works on the same USB port that already works on the old server), and the old server doesnt detect this either (same "Lost communication"). So, its not the USB port, its not the USB cable. Its either the software, drivers, or faulty UPS. 

 

New Unraid running on "6.12.8". Old Unraid running on "6.8.3". 

When googling around, ive seen comments from other users implying that this model of UPS works fine with unraid (for them).

ive also tried using NUT (i dont think i actually need to), but what ever i try, it seems to imply that it cant find a device. 

 

Can anyone help me debug this or let me know if they have any suggestions? Assume in a bit of a noob. Any help is appreciated, im at the end of the line atm. I guess the next thing to try is to plug it into a windows machine and see if that can detect the UPS (unsure how to test this, but ill try figure that out over the weekend). 

[syrys]

just to clarify the new Unraid server that i was testing this on has never had any other ups plugged in (still now). its a fresh install of unraid (couple of days ago). So there shouldn't be any older config to worry about.

 

The older unraid server i used to double check the UPS on however had another UPS plugged in (and that ups works just fine using the built in apc ups daemon).

[Rysz]

That sounds a lot like your UPS data port or UPS USB controller is damaged and not sending any information if it's not showing in "lsusb" on two different computers with two different cables. If your UPS is still in warranty I would return it to APC.

[syrys]

3 minutes ago, Rysz said:

That sounds a lot like your UPS data port or UPS USB controller is damaged and not sending any information if it's not showing in "lsusb" on two different computers with two different cables. If your UPS is still in warranty I would return it to APC.

 

Unfortunately its not under warranty as far as im aware as i purchased it secondhand (new/unused/unopened but dont have any original paperwork for warranty). 

Is damaged USB controller a common issue? do you know if there is anything i can do to make sure that this is the case, or is my debugging basically prove it already? Or do these things have like firmware upgrades sort of thing that i may need to do (never had to do anything like that for the old UPS, but this seems more modern than the old one i have)?

[Rysz]

1 hour ago, syrys said:

 

Unfortunately its not under warranty as far as im aware as i purchased it secondhand (new/unused/unopened but dont have any original paperwork for warranty). 

Is damaged USB controller a common issue? do you know if there is anything i can do to make sure that this is the case, or is my debugging basically prove it already? Or do these things have like firmware upgrades sort of thing that i may need to do (never had to do anything like that for the old UPS, but this seems more modern than the old one i have)?

 

I wouldn't say it's a common issue, but I've certainly seen it happen so it's not impossible. Do you perhaps have a Windows PC that you can try connecting the UPS to and see if it shows up there? Just to rule out that this is a Linux driver issue...

[syrys]

3 hours ago, Rysz said:

 

I wouldn't say it's a common issue, but I've certainly seen it happen so it's not impossible. Do you perhaps have a Windows PC that you can try connecting the UPS to and see if it shows up there? Just to rule out that this is a Linux driver issue...

 

Im just playing around with it on windows. The powerchute software complains that it cant find the device. When i plug it in, sometimes windows device manager's USB section displays nothing new. But sometimes device manager shows "unknown usb device (device descriptor request failed)". 

 

[Rysz]

16 minutes ago, syrys said:

 

Im just playing around with it on windows. The powerchute software complains that it cant find the device. When i plug it in, sometimes windows device manager's USB section displays nothing new. But sometimes device manager shows "unknown usb device (device descriptor request failed)". 

 

I'm afraid that really looks like something is faulty on the UPS itself and not the devices it's connected to. 😞 

[caplam]

i have an apc ups (smart ups 1000). I have to choose ups type: modbus to be able to pull data.

[Rysz]

4 minutes ago, caplam said:

i have an apc ups (smart ups 1000). I have to choose ups type: modbus to be able to pull data.

Yeah that's a ModBus UPS that you're using. His UPS isn't though, so that won't help in his case I'm afraid.

[caplam]

You have to make sure you use the right cable. 

 

 

[syrys]

2 hours ago, caplam said:

You have to make sure you use the right cable. 

 

 

 

The cable that was on the box looks like that, are there variants of the cable that I should be concerned about? Also the cable from my old apc ups also looks like that (this was maybe 8 years old), and I also tested with that cable. 

[Rysz]

10 hours ago, syrys said:

 

The cable that was on the box looks like that, are there variants of the cable that I should be concerned about? Also the cable from my old apc ups also looks like that (this was maybe 8 years old), and I also tested with that cable. 

 

AP9827 is the most common cable and used by almost all APC UPS for USB - I'm pretty sure you have that one if it came with the UPS. But everything in this thread is guesswork at best, what we know for sure so far is that you tried it with two different cables (one of which is known to work with another UPS) on three different computers/OSes. That alone very strongly points to a fault with the UPS itself - I'm sorry I can't be of more help there.

 

[syrys]

2 hours ago, Rysz said:

 

AP9827 is the most common cable and used by almost all APC UPS for USB - I'm pretty sure you have that one if it came with the UPS. But everything in this thread is guesswork at best, what we know for sure so far is that you tried it with two different cables (one of which is known to work with another UPS) on three different computers/OSes. That alone very strongly points to a fault with the UPS itself - I'm sorry I can't be of more help there.

 

 

No absolutely, i think sadly everything implies faulty UPS. It is what it is, unfortunately its just a bad purchase for me. atleast on the bright side, i can repurpose it for a non smart usecase - battery backup my router or something (the UPS is still very functional, just not the data). 

 

Thank you for all the sanity checks and suggestions