APC SmartUPS Setup


SavellM

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  • 3 weeks later...

im having same issue on a recently acquired APC Smart-UPS 1500 (SUA1500RM2U) worse part is that with brand new batteries im only seeing 5min run time with 100% charge and 14-16% load (doesnt sound right at all considering same load on my APC 1300  Backup shows 34min run time)

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I wish I could be more helpful here but I only have personal hands on experience with that particular model UPS in my earlier post since it is the model I personally own.  I would assume that if there is no display, you should have some sort of console or serial port to manage the UPS.  It's possible the settings I am referring to exist in the console.  I would recommend calling up APC for support.  Don't tell them you are trying to get the UPS working with a montioring system in linux or anything like that as they wont know how to help.  Just ask them if your UPS support ModBus(or the other options unRAID supports) and ask how to enable it.  Id be happy to assist beyond that step if you like but I am by no means an expert.  I work for an MSP providing level 2/3 tech support for enterprise clients but our company does not work much in the Linux world, mostly Windows. Though I still pick up enough info here and there to connect the dots that others may not notice if you catch my meaning.  I have good resources and can ask my engineering team for advice if there is something over my head as well.

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  • 2 months later...
On 4/10/2019 at 9:44 PM, Aegisnir said:

So I had the same issue but the solution made me feel like an absolute idiot....spent a good 20-30 minutes trying to figure this out but eventually got it:

1. Enable advanced config options on your UPS via the on screen display
2. Open configuration options and scroll down until you find ModBus

3. Change ModBus to Enabled.  It is disabled by default on all APC UPS units.

4. In unRAID UPS Setting menu, set the "UPS Cable" to USB and set "UPS Type" to ModBus.  No additional settings like /dev/tty** are required.  It may take a minute or two for the info to load but it will.

***Make sure you use the USB-A to USB-B cable to connect your UPS to the server, not the RJ-45 to USB-A.  ModBus does not seem to work with the RJ-45 port on the UPS***

Screen Shot 2019-04-10 at 4.42.25 PM.png

 

This worked for me too - BUT - I had to update the firmware on my UPS first.  I have a Smart-UPS 1500 which was reporting firmware 8.3.  There was no Modbus option in the advanced configuration menu until I updated to current firmware (version 9.4 as I write this).  

 

Download from Schneider's site here...  https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/content/?id=FA281865

 

Note - you need to have the PC doing the update (and ideally its monitor) powered direct from the mains, since the UPS outputs will be turned off during the update process.  It takes just two or three minutes.  My screen was still on the UPS so I lost that during the update, and although I could see that it had completed on the UPS screen, I then had to manually re-enable the output on the UPS to get the screen back.  🙄

Edited by S80_UK
  • Upvote 1
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Damn,

reading this thread I was thinking, that this might be the solution for something that I tried to get my head around for ages. 

Unfortunately my SmartUPS 1500 (SMT1500I from 2012) is running firmware 5.0 which can only be upgraded to 7.1. (Big thanks to @S80_UK for providing the link, and the firmware you started from for that matter ;) ) 

So no ModBus for me, but glad that It helped a couple of us. 

I will check the values in questions as always by looking below my table where the UPS resides ;) 

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Thanks - I just picked up a secondhand unit last week.  My unit is also the SMT1500I.  I guess I got lucky with the build date.  The updated software seems to read some of the voltages a bit differently (mains and battery) and includes a battery calibrate function which I did not find in the earlier firmware.  My batteries were replaced only about a year ago, but I ran the calibrate anyway.  It's a very nice UPS.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...

I just replaced my UPS and I am running into the problem of not getting all the stats. I followed the instructions to enable modbus, but within NUT, that is not an option to use that as a device type. Has anyone got this working with NUT?  I have 2 unraid servers so I need NUT so the 2 servers can talk with the one UPS.

 

 

 

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15 minutes ago, jaj08 said:

I have 2 unraid servers so I need NUT so the 2 servers can talk with the one UPS.

I just use the built-in UPS tools in Unraid (and I use the Modbus method).  Main server is set to master, the other is set to slave.  Timings are set to ensure the slave will shut down first.

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/18/2019 at 10:40 AM, megalodon said:

BradJ did you ever get this working? Im on the latest version of Unraid with the APC SMC1000i-2UC and I can't get any load readings.

Negative.  I upped my firmware from v10 to v12 and that did not help. 

 

Any other ideas?

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/10/2019 at 9:44 PM, Aegisnir said:

So I had the same issue but the solution made me feel like an absolute idiot....spent a good 20-30 minutes trying to figure this out but eventually got it:

1. Enable advanced config options on your UPS via the on screen display
2. Open configuration options and scroll down until you find ModBus

3. Change ModBus to Enabled.  It is disabled by default on all APC UPS units.

4. In unRAID UPS Setting menu, set the "UPS Cable" to USB and set "UPS Type" to ModBus.  No additional settings like /dev/tty** are required.  It may take a minute or two for the info to load but it will.

***Make sure you use the USB-A to USB-B cable to connect your UPS to the server, not the RJ-45 to USB-A.  ModBus does not seem to work with the RJ-45 port on the UPS***

You absolute legend, that worked perfectly for me, thank you, it was driving my OCD nuts seeing those blanks :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

meh, need some help.

Unraid to UPS ping successful

UPS to Unraid ping successful

 

running a Smart-UPS-2200 w/AP9631 

____________________________

Start APC UPS daemon: Yes

UPS cable: Either

Custom UPS cable:

UPS type:PCnet

Device:ipadrr:username:pass

____________________________

 

AP9631 not compatible w/Unraid?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, Tolete said:

meh, need some help.

Unraid to UPS ping successful

UPS to Unraid ping successful

 

running a Smart-UPS-2200 w/AP9631 

____________________________

Start APC UPS daemon: Yes

UPS cable: Either

Custom UPS cable:

UPS type:PCnet

Device:ipadrr:username:pass

____________________________

 

AP9631 not compatible w/Unraid?

I don't have the network card, but I was looking at one for a while, ended up using USB with MODBUS protocol. 

 

However, I found this thread that may help - looks like it can be made to work with the network card...

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/10/2019 at 4:44 PM, Aegisnir said:

So I had the same issue but the solution made me feel like an absolute idiot....spent a good 20-30 minutes trying to figure this out but eventually got it:

1. Enable advanced config options on your UPS via the on screen display
2. Open configuration options and scroll down until you find ModBus

3. Change ModBus to Enabled.  It is disabled by default on all APC UPS units.

4. In unRAID UPS Setting menu, set the "UPS Cable" to USB and set "UPS Type" to ModBus.  No additional settings like /dev/tty** are required.  It may take a minute or two for the info to load but it will.

***Make sure you use the USB-A to USB-B cable to connect your UPS to the server, not the RJ-45 to USB-A.  ModBus does not seem to work with the RJ-45 port on the UPS***

 

Ive been on this for about a week off and on between work & sleep.  This worked!  Thank you very much!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wanted to share my settings that finally got it to work with my brand new APC UPS. I bought this unit from Amazon. It's a 1500VA BX1500M model.

 The settings in the above posts didn't work for me. Ironically, the most obvious ones did. Just set both cable and type to USB and it will work.

I have two servers on it which is probably why the runtime is only 17 minutes. I was hoping for more. Oh well.

 

image.thumb.png.a5fd5de57d0bee1027f39120ec190573.png

 

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6 minutes ago, frakman1 said:

I bought this unit from Amazon. It's a 1500VA BX1500M model.

 The settings in the above posts didn't work for me. Ironically, the most obvious ones did. Just set both cable and type to USB and it will work.

I have two servers on it which is probably why the runtime is only 17 minutes. I was hoping for more. Oh well.

WHY?  You really want ample battery reserves left when the final shutdown is completed.  The reason being that when the power comes back on, it will take eight-plus hours to fully recharge the batteries.  If you don't wait for the recharge to finish before you restart the servers, you may not have a enough charge to shut the servers down if you have a second outage.

 

What I suggest  is that you consider what type of power outages you have and how long they last.  In my area, if the power is out fifteen seconds, it will out for a couple of hours minimum!  So I have the power-on-battery set to thirty seconds. 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all,

 

I wanted to report an issue I have with my brand new APC UPS SMC1000IC (tower model) on my DIY Unraid server (6.9.0 beta 30).

 

I first updated the UPS to the latest firmware (v 04.1) and enabled ModBus communication protocol via the LCD display. It is disabled by default, even though the operation manual states the contrary ...

After setting up apcupsd accordingly (UPS cable USB, UPS type ModBus), I plugged the UPS in the server (USB-A to USB-A), and all information were properly populated, especially the nominal power and load percent. So far, it was plug and play, what a good surprise after the various posts I had read in this forum !

 

But, there's a but, as you may have guessed ... After a reboot, all info were wrong, except for "runtime left" : a fully charged battery was reported as 6% charged, no nominal power nor load percent, and many other tags were absent or totally out of range, including an output voltage of 400+ volts ...

 

After many attempts stopping and starting the daemon, with the UPS plugged or unplugged, I finally reached a stable behaviour :

- when the server boots with the UPS plugged in, the daemon gets fanciful information, and the workaround is to unplug the UPS, restart the daemon, plug the UPS back, and everything is back to normal

- when the server boots with the UPS unplugged, and I plug it after the boot process is over, communication with the UPS is established, and all information are correct at first sight

 

So, I highly suspect the apcupsd dameon establishes the communication "a bit" too early, at a stage where the USB "stack" on my server is not totally ready (sorry for the improper words, I'm not an Unraid/Linux expert...). To try and sort it out, I thought that delaying the launch of the apcupsd plugin / daemon might be a solution, but I didn't find any setting or thread on this forum to do so.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and help on this issue.

Edited by Gnomuz
  • Thanks 1
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8 hours ago, Gnomuz said:

Hi all,

 

I wanted to report an issue I have with my brand new APC UPS SMC1000IC (tower model) on my DIY Unraid server (6.9.0 beta 30).

 

I first updated the UPS to the latest firmware (v 04.1) and enabled ModBus communication protocol via the LCD display. It is disabled by default, even though the operation manual states the contrary ...

After setting up apcupsd accordingly (UPS cable USB, UPS type ModBus), I plugged the UPS in the server (USB-A to USB-A), and all information were properly populated, especially the nominal power and load percent. So far, it was plug and play, what a good surprise after the various posts I had read in this forum !

 

But, there's a but, as you may have guessed ... After a reboot, all info were wrong, except for "runtime left" : a fully charged battery was reported as 6% charged, no nominal power nor load percent, and many other tags were absent or totally out of range, including an output voltage of 400+ volts ...

 

After many attempts stopping and starting the daemon, with the UPS plugged or unplugged, I finally reached a stable behaviour :

- when the server boots with the UPS plugged in, the daemon gets fanciful information, and the workaround is to unplug the UPS, restart the daemon, plug the UPS back, and everything is back to normal

- when the server boots with the UPS unplugged, and I plug it after the boot process is over, communication with the UPS is established, and all information are correct at first sight

 

So, I highly suspect the apcupsd dameon establishes the communication "a bit" too early, at a stage where the USB "stack" on my server is not totally ready (sorry for the improper words, I'm not an Unraid/Linux expert...). To try and sort it out, I thought that delaying the launch of the apcupsd plugin / daemon might be a solution, but I didn't find any setting or thread on this forum to do so.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and help on this issue.

Strange but interesting.

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/19/2020 at 4:48 PM, Gnomuz said:

Hi all,

 

I wanted to report an issue I have with my brand new APC UPS SMC1000IC (tower model) on my DIY Unraid server (6.9.0 beta 30).

 

I first updated the UPS to the latest firmware (v 04.1) and enabled ModBus communication protocol via the LCD display. It is disabled by default, even though the operation manual states the contrary ...

After setting up apcupsd accordingly (UPS cable USB, UPS type ModBus), I plugged the UPS in the server (USB-A to USB-A), and all information were properly populated, especially the nominal power and load percent. So far, it was plug and play, what a good surprise after the various posts I had read in this forum !

 

But, there's a but, as you may have guessed ... After a reboot, all info were wrong, except for "runtime left" : a fully charged battery was reported as 6% charged, no nominal power nor load percent, and many other tags were absent or totally out of range, including an output voltage of 400+ volts ...

 

After many attempts stopping and starting the daemon, with the UPS plugged or unplugged, I finally reached a stable behaviour :

- when the server boots with the UPS plugged in, the daemon gets fanciful information, and the workaround is to unplug the UPS, restart the daemon, plug the UPS back, and everything is back to normal

- when the server boots with the UPS unplugged, and I plug it after the boot process is over, communication with the UPS is established, and all information are correct at first sight

 

So, I highly suspect the apcupsd dameon establishes the communication "a bit" too early, at a stage where the USB "stack" on my server is not totally ready (sorry for the improper words, I'm not an Unraid/Linux expert...). To try and sort it out, I thought that delaying the launch of the apcupsd plugin / daemon might be a solution, but I didn't find any setting or thread on this forum to do so.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and help on this issue.

 

i have the same issue , thank you for the solution :) .

i hope they fixit .

my UPS is SMT1500

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On 10/19/2020 at 9:48 AM, Gnomuz said:

Hi all,

 

I wanted to report an issue I have with my brand new APC UPS SMC1000IC (tower model) on my DIY Unraid server (6.9.0 beta 30).

 

I first updated the UPS to the latest firmware (v 04.1) and enabled ModBus communication protocol via the LCD display. It is disabled by default, even though the operation manual states the contrary ...

After setting up apcupsd accordingly (UPS cable USB, UPS type ModBus), I plugged the UPS in the server (USB-A to USB-A), and all information were properly populated, especially the nominal power and load percent. So far, it was plug and play, what a good surprise after the various posts I had read in this forum !

 

But, there's a but, as you may have guessed ... After a reboot, all info were wrong, except for "runtime left" : a fully charged battery was reported as 6% charged, no nominal power nor load percent, and many other tags were absent or totally out of range, including an output voltage of 400+ volts ...

 

After many attempts stopping and starting the daemon, with the UPS plugged or unplugged, I finally reached a stable behaviour :

- when the server boots with the UPS plugged in, the daemon gets fanciful information, and the workaround is to unplug the UPS, restart the daemon, plug the UPS back, and everything is back to normal

- when the server boots with the UPS unplugged, and I plug it after the boot process is over, communication with the UPS is established, and all information are correct at first sight

 

So, I highly suspect the apcupsd dameon establishes the communication "a bit" too early, at a stage where the USB "stack" on my server is not totally ready (sorry for the improper words, I'm not an Unraid/Linux expert...). To try and sort it out, I thought that delaying the launch of the apcupsd plugin / daemon might be a solution, but I didn't find any setting or thread on this forum to do so.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and help on this issue.

 

40 minutes ago, MXS said:

 

i have the same issue , thank you for the solution :) .

i hope they fixit .

my UPS is SMT1500

I hope that one of the two of you will create a Bug Report   for the version that you are currently running.   That is the only way that you can bring this to a attention of the developers and get it on the schedule to be corrected.

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4 hours ago, Frank1940 said:

 

I hope that one of the two of you will create a Bug Report   for the version that you are currently running.   That is the only way that you can bring this to a attention of the developers and get it on the schedule to be corrected.

Thanks for jumping in @Frank1940. As I saw reviving this thread gave no result, I created a new post a month ago :

 

So far, it had little to no success, even after two bumps 😉. The only suggestion from @jonathanm was about using NUT instead of the built-in apcupsd, which I had already tried before posting and is not an alternative for me, as explained.

Btw, would you have any clue on how to delay the apcupsd start in the whole boot process, because I highly suspect it starts too early and somehow the USB device is not properly initialized when the daemon initiates the communication. It thought it was a hardware-specific issue on my side, but at least we are two on the same boat... My motherboard is AsrockRack X470D4U-2T fyi.

@MXS, please reply on my quoted post, it may attract attention of some helpful community members, or even the developers ! My UPS is also brand new (manufacture date 2020-05-28), and I received it on 2020-09-14. Your UPS is a different model and wattage (SMT1500 vs SMC1000IC)

Let's cross our fingers for a better diagnostic or fix, because booting with the UPS USB interface unplugged is a workaround for planned reboots, but doesn't make any sense in the case of a power outage, which is precisely the use case of a UPS ...

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