Tripp Lite UPS and Mandrake 9.1

fredws · 11-17-2003, 10:30 AM

Does anyone have any experience with this? I am looking for a UPS system that will automagicly shutdown the system if I am not there. Any of your suggestions would be much appreciated!

dalek · 11-17-2003, 11:15 AM

You can use UPSMON ot nut or the one I use called powstatd. Basically you connect the UPS through a serial cable and install the software.

Mine works fine.

Post back if you need help with powstatd. I can do that one.

Later

fredws · 11-17-2003, 12:05 PM

do you know if it works with USB?

dalek · 11-17-2003, 12:13 PM

I have read that it can be done. I have no clue how though. I use serial.

Can you get a adapter or do you not have any serial ports?

Later

Hmmmm, you may want to search for UPS USB shutdown or something similiar. Someone may have done that before.

paul.nel · 01-11-2004, 10:26 AM

I have a similar kind of question, it pertains to RedHat though and not Mandrake. I have downloaded and installed powstatd and ran it in test mode, ie powstatd -t and get this funky table

Code:

powstatd: master of 192.168.0.2
powstatd: online (master), watching /dev/ttyS3.
CTS DSR DCD RNG   DTR RTS   STATUS
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK

Unfortunately I get no status change when I switch the power to the UPS off. I do however get the following status when I pull the serial cable:

Code:

powstatd: master of 192.168.0.2
powstatd: online (master), watching /dev/ttyS3.
CTS DSR DCD RNG   DTR RTS   STATUS
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   1   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   0   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   0   0   0     1   1    OK
 0   0   0   0     1   1    OK

I have a Mecer UPS that ships with it's own software wicht works fine on my rh9 box. I does not have the ability to shutdown a slave and hence I wish to use powstatd.

I am at a loss and would appreciate any help offered.

Tx
p.n

dalek · 01-11-2004, 10:51 AM

Where did you get that /dev/ttyS3? Do you have a card or something. If you only have two ports, they should be ttyS0 or ttyS1.

If that port is correct then something is wrong with cable or the UPS one. You may want to plug into a known good serial port and retest.

I'm waiting on them to get powstat ready for Gentoo. The guy is working on it for me. Hope the lights stay on. <saying a little prayer here>

Back later

paul.nel · 01-11-2004, 11:42 AM

I popped one of my serial ports a while back due to a power surge, hence my UPS acquisition. I installed a new serial card with two ports and now have 3 working ones. I did indeed try it on all the other operational ports but I still do not get any joy. I see no status change on any of the input lines.

Another reason why I suspect that the port is fine is because the software that shipped with the UPS (UPSmart from http://www.ups-software-download.com) works fine on ttyS3. It senses mains failure and initiates a system shutdown.

I suspect that the UPS does not use the 4 input lines to communicate the UPS status. The software also logs info such as system voltage, frequency etc. If this is the case, do you have any ideas on how to get access to these signals? Or maybe your contacts working on the Gentoo solution could have an idea?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards
p.n

dalek · 01-11-2004, 11:55 AM

You need to go into the powstat directory and then type in "make doc". That will make a how to of sorts. You can open it as a pdf I think. It is not text like for Kwrite though. On page two close to the bottom, it tells which lines it monitors. Mine would sense the ones displayed. Yours may vary.

Give that a look see. If it doesn't see the change, it won't work.

Post back what you get.

Later

paul.nel · 01-11-2004, 12:17 PM

Yip, got that doc already printed. I think I am outa luck with this one. I'll have to find another way of signalling a shutdown to my SuSE box. Sure there must be a way, maybe a shutdown script of some sort? Anyway, I'll plod along and see if I can get something to work.

Thanks for your help.

p.n

dalek · 01-11-2004, 12:39 PM

You may want to try nut, apcups. They are likely on the CD. I'm sure nut is. Powstat should work though. You can configure that thing to do anything with a serial port.

I read where someone hooked a modem to the serial port and turned it on. When the power failed one of the lines went low and signaled the system that the power was out. Of course you have to plug the modem into the wall, not the UPS.

Post back when you get it working.

Later

paul.nel · 01-12-2004, 01:04 AM

Quote:

I read where someone hooked a modem to the serial port and turned it on. When the power failed one of the lines went low and signaled the system that the power was out. Of course you have to plug the modem into the wall, not the UPS.

Brilliant idea! I tried my modem and it works 100% in detecting a powerfail. It does not send the signal high again when I restore power to it, but at least we are getting somewhere now!

Thanks for the tip.

Cheers
p.n