Anyone successfully using modbus-usb with apcupsd?


highspeed

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Running unRAID 6.1.9 w/ an APC SMT750 running the latest 9.3 firmware. modbus is enabled on the UPS front panel. Connecting via USB I can get limited info in unraid by setting cabletype and upstype to "usb". When I switch to upstype to "modbus" communication is lost.

 

Has anyone been able to use modbus over USB on any UPS platform?  I suspect there may be an issue with the implementation of apcupsd on unRAID.

 

Bonus: Has LT upgraded to the latest 3.14.14 version of apcupsd in 6.2? There are some fixes specific to modbus: https://sourceforge.net/p/apcupsd/svn/HEAD/tree/tags/Release-3_14_14/ReleaseNotes

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UPDATE:

 

I got this figured out. I found that apcupsd needs to be built with the './configure --modbus-usb' flag in order to enable this functionality. It doesn't appear that the  binary in unRAID was built like this. For anyone wanting modbus over USB, I used a full slackware dev system to build a package with the correct flags. I'd be happy to share it. I've got it sitting in /boot/extra for now and it works great.

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Hi,

 

What are the real benefits to use modbus instead of the normal USB in unRAID scenario?

I tried to find some useful info about this but with no real success.

I have an APC Back-UPS RS 900G and I'm looking for any kind of improvements.

 

In my UPS section i get this data:

 

root@Tower:~# apcaccess status

APC      : 001,036,0880

DATE    : 2016-09-19 20:28:07 +0300

HOSTNAME : Tower

VERSION  : 3.14.13 (02 February 2015) slackware

UPSNAME  : Tower

CABLE    : USB Cable

DRIVER  : USB UPS Driver

UPSMODE  : Stand Alone

STARTTIME: 2016-09-18 04:40:04 +0300

MODEL    : Back-UPS RS 900G

STATUS  : ONLINE

LINEV    : 228.0 Volts

LOADPCT  : 8.0 Percent

BCHARGE  : 100.0 Percent

TIMELEFT : 128.2 Minutes

MBATTCHG : 30 Percent

MINTIMEL : 10 Minutes

MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds

SENSE    : Medium

LOTRANS  : 176.0 Volts

HITRANS  : 294.0 Volts

ALARMDEL : 30 Seconds

BATTV    : 27.3 Volts

LASTXFER : Unacceptable line voltage changes

NUMXFERS : 0

TONBATT  : 0 Seconds

CUMONBATT: 0 Seconds

XOFFBATT : N/A

SELFTEST : NO

STATFLAG : 0x05000008

SERIALNO : 3B1608X20796

BATTDATE : 2016-02-28

NOMINV  : 230 Volts

NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts

NOMPOWER : 540 Watts

FIRMWARE : 879.L4 .I USB FW:L4

END APC  : 2016-09-19 20:28:09 +0300

 

 

Do I get more settings or more info if i use modbus instead?

 

Thank you.

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Unfortunately, I don't think the RS series supports modbus. Modbus has been added mainly to their "Smart-UPS" line, and even then only the very latest firmware. Devices older than ~2013 generally won't support it at all. The main difference is that modbus is an open protocol, allowing better support for third-party monitoring of the UPS by things like unRAID(apcupsd).

 

In my case I have an SMT750 that provided only very basic information over USB. I couldn't even see load percent:

APC      : 001,027,0653
DATE     : 2016-09-19 19:14:17 -0600
HOSTNAME : NAS
VERSION  : 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) slackware
UPSNAME  : NAS
CABLE    : USB Cable
DRIVER   : USB UPS Driver
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2016-09-19 19:14:09 -0600
MODEL    : Smart-UPS 750
STATUS   : ONLINE
BCHARGE  : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 40.0 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 30 Percent
MINTIMEL : 10 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds
ALARMDEL : 30 Seconds
BATTV    : 27.1 Volts
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT  : 0 Seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 Seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
STATFLAG : 0x05000008
MANDATE  : 2013-03-04
SERIALNO : AS1310110083
NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts
FIRMWARE : UPS 09.3 / ID=18
END APC  : 2016-09-19 19:14:18 -0600

 

After enabling modbus, I'm able to collect much more data:

APC      : 001,039,0902
DATE     : 2016-09-19 19:11:58 -0600
HOSTNAME : NAS
VERSION  : 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) slackware
UPSNAME  : APCUPS
CABLE    : USB Cable
DRIVER   : MODBUS UPS Driver
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2016-09-17 20:28:53 -0600
MODEL    : Smart-UPS 750
STATUS   : ONLINE
LINEV    : 122.4 Volts
LOADPCT  : 17.5 Percent
LOADAPNT : 14.3 Percent
BCHARGE  : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 41.0 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 30 Percent
MINTIMEL : 10 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds
OUTPUTV  : 122.4 Volts
DWAKE    : 0 Seconds
DSHUTD   : 90 Seconds
ITEMP    : 28.8 C
BATTV    : 27.1 Volts
LINEFREQ : 60.0 Hz
OUTCURNT : 0.88 Amps
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT  : 0 Seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 Seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : OK
STATFLAG : 0x05000008
MANDATE  : 2013-03-04
SERIALNO : AS1310110083
BATTDATE : 2013-03-04
NOMOUTV  : 120 Volts
NOMPOWER : 500 Watts
NOMAPNT  : 750 VA
FIRMWARE : UPS 09.3 / 00.4
END APC  : 2016-09-19 19:12:00 -0600

 

The main factor for me was that I wanted to see realtime load in watts and percent utilization.

 

The good news is it looks like your RS 900G gives quite a bit of data over the standard USB protocol. More than my SMT750 did.

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Thank you for your reply.

As far as I can tell from your results, it looks like I was getting better results with normal USB anyway. As you can see, mine already showing the power consumption and also the remaining time on battery.

 

I'm looking forward to find a way to stop a particular docker container if the UPS runs on battery. That's why I asked if you get new settings if you use modbus instead.

 

Thank you again.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 2 years later...
On 9/19/2016 at 5:55 AM, highspeed said:

UPDATE:

 

I got this figured out. I found that apcupsd needs to be built with the './configure --modbus-usb' flag in order to enable this functionality. It doesn't appear that the  binary in unRAID was built like this. For anyone wanting modbus over USB, I used a full slackware dev system to build a package with the correct flags. I'd be happy to share it. I've got it sitting in /boot/extra for now and it works great.

Hi, I have the same Issue as you did. Ups is APC750I and trying to use with HASSIO and apcupsd plugin. Could you please explain how I can build apcupsd - do I need to fork apcupsd and do something with it, then install modified version?

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