[ale] help mint13 / mate ups not recognized usb cable

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com> wrote:

>On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
><atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
>> Actually, I did try installing apcupsd while running the Mint live
>DVD.  It didn't seem to have any affect on the mate power manager
>subsystem.  I was under the impression that using the built in power
>manager or the apcupsd were two different ways to do the same thing.
>
>
>As far as I know, the GUI power managers query the daemons for
>information about such devices. Why rewrite what is already written?

Arrrg!  I found this on the apcupsd.com website:

quote on ->

Do Not Purchase The Following UPSes

Recently APC has begun shipping UPSes that utilize a new communication protocol called "Microlink". To date, APC has refused to release details of this protocol to the apcupsd team so that we can add support for it to apcupsd. Consequently, the apcupsd team recommends you DO NOT purchase the following APC UPS models (this list may be incomplete; please send any additions to the apcupsd-users mailing list):

SmartUPS SMX/SMT 750, 1000, 1500 SmartUPS RT 3000XL, 5000XL

These UPSes have the following restrictions with respect to compatibility with apcupsd:

The serial (RS232) port CANNOT be used with apcupsd at all. The USB port will work with apcupsd but will only convey very basic information such as on-battery/on-line and run time remaining. Other readings such as voltage, frequency, etc. are not available.

If you already own one of these models:

You can purchase an AP9620 Legacy Communication Card from APC that will allow the UPS to communicate with apcupsd via USB or serial and this interface will contain more data than the native USB interface. However, the "green energy" features of newer UPSes will NOT be accessible. Also, use of the AP9620 may require a firmware upgrade to your UPS and the card is not compatible with all Microlink UPSes. Contact APC to find out if this is an option for your UPS. Alternatively you can purchase a Web/SNMP card from APC and utilize the SNMP or PCNET protocols with apcupsd. Again these protocols will provide more data than the native USB interface. You should notify APC that you are unhappy with their policy requiring you to purchase additional hardware in order to manage your UPS with open source tools such as apcupsd.

<- quote off

My UPS is the APC SMT 750.  So, it looks like it's impossible to use it with apcupsd without buying additional hardware, except at a very basic level.  I did do some additional configuration on apcupsd and started the daemon.  I still get no charge data from mate power manager.  I guess I expect that, now that I read the above.  While the PC was on battery, the daemon was able to turn off the pc after a certain amount of time based on a timer, I presume.  The screen showed plugged into AC all the time.  It was also somehow able to direct the UPS to turn off.  I guess I don't know any way to monitor this particular UPS from Linux.  This is very frustrating.  The Windows power monitor sees it just fine.  I may have to retract my recommendation of this unit.

Sincerely,

Ron



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Ron Frazier
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