Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Nut - MEC0003 protocol - instant shut down as soon as nut starts?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved pfSense Packages
    11 Posts 4 Posters 6.4k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • S Offline
      Sander88
      last edited by

      The UPS reports an empty battery. So probably a driver issue in this case. I would just try different drivers and see which one is working. At least that's how I got mine working.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • A Offline
        Andrew453
        last edited by

        OK. Thanks.  I'll keep trying.

        Do you know what these options are for please?

        Local UPS Generic Type
        Local UPS Cable Type

        The options don't seem to be specific to the selected UPS type?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • A Offline
          Andrew453
          last edited by

          … it looks like those extra options are needed for some of the drivers.

          I do wonder if some of the drivers are missing from the port though. Selecting a number of the drivers from the pull down menu in pfSense gives a "file not found" for the corresponding driver that should be in /usr/local/libexec/nut/ but isn't.

          e.g. Selecting the Mustek UPSs give the following error:
          [2.3-RELEASE][admin@pfsense.home]/root: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nut.sh start
          starting megatec
          Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.7.3
          Can't start /usr/local/libexec/nut/megatec: No such file or directory
          megatec failed to start

          Similarly, selecting the Cyber Power UPSs give the following error:

          [2.3-RELEASE][admin@pfsense.home]/root: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nut.sh start
          starting cyberpower
          Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.7.3
          Can't start /usr/local/libexec/nut/cyberpower: No such file or directory
          cyberpower failed to start

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • T Offline
            tha_toadman
            last edited by

            Andrew,

            I had similar troubles when I first started using NUT. I was told that if your battery is USB, to always use:

            APC Back-UPS USB

            I have a CyberPower battery and this has always worked for me, even though that drop down menu is present and all. From my experience with it, that menu is useless.

            I hope this helps!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • dennypageD Offline
              dennypage
              last edited by

              It seems that the NUT package was originally written against a pretty old version of NUT.

              Looking at the NUT hardware compatibility list

              http://networkupstools.org/stable-hcl.html

              neither "megatec" not "cyberpower" are valid drivers in the current release.

              Looking at NUT release notes, it appears that megatec driver was merged into into the blazer_ser and blazer_usb drivers, which are subsequently being replaced by the nutdrv_qx driver. Old CyberPower UPSs are now handled by the powerpanel driver.

              Although the drivers are installed in the filesystem, there is no way to select the blazer_ser, nutdrv_qa or powerpanel drivers in the current version of the package. I believe the guys that did the port were kicking around the idea of updating the package config to be based on NUT drivers rather than UPS models, which would address the issue.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • A Offline
                Andrew453
                last edited by

                Ok,  thanks.  That sounds like a sensible approach, not least because it would make it much clearer what drivers to try if you don't know which is compatible with your UPS.  If you work through the list at the moment, you try the same driver loads of times and/or pick some that are not installed at all,  which makes a trial and error approach to setting it up more challenging.

                I might try configuring the driver manually in the conf files to see if I can get it to work.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • A Offline
                  Andrew453
                  last edited by

                  I've tried every single driver combination - none of them work.  The UPS isn't recognised at all on the other drivers.  The Blazer USB driver is the only one that recognises the UPS, but using any subdriver gives the same result - instant power down of the firewall.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • dennypageD Offline
                    dennypage
                    last edited by

                    My recommendation would be to disable the NUT package in the UI and then work directly with NUT commands and configuration files (/usr/local/etc/nut) to see if there is a NUT configuration that works with your UPS. This will give you better information and allow you to avoid a shutdown with drivers that don't work. There appear to be several sub drivers for the blazer usb driver. This might be a place to start.

                    The best place for direct help with NUT would be their support page:

                    http://networkupstools.org/support.html

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • A Offline
                      Andrew453
                      last edited by

                      Yes,  I was working from the command line and was referencing each driver in the driver directory rather than working through the UI. No luck unfortunately.

                      I also tried another UPS with the MEC0002 protocol - same result.

                      Is the FSD command generated by the UPS,  or at the driver level by comparing voltages to thresholds etc?  If the latter could it be something to do with the voltage configuration?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • dennypageD Offline
                        dennypage
                        last edited by

                        FWIW, looking at the NUT user support list, there are several references to the MEC0003 protocol. These are probably worth a read. There are references to both the blazer_usb and nutusb_qx drivers, and both of these drivers have a ton of configuration items that appear to be required.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • First post
                          Last post
                        Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.