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