apcupsd status Unknown COMMLOST

Josho_SAI

Hi Netgate Community,
I've recently purchased a Netgate 8200MAX (23.05-RELEASE) plus an APC UPS SRT 1500 with the Network Management Card 3 (NMC3). The APC UPS came with a USB console cable (USB-A to USB Micro-B) which is connected to the Netgate 8200MAX. The NMC3 card has an IPv4 address provided by the pfSense DHCP service, is on the network, and I can access the WebUI of the UPS no problems. APC's NMC3 card latest firmware was applied also.

On the pfSense appliance, running a "dmesg | grep usb", the command returns the below output

usbus0 on xhci0
usbus0: 5.0Gbps Super Speed USB v3.0
ugen0.1: <Intel XHCI root HUB> at usbus0
uhub0 on usbus0
uhub0: <Intel XHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 3.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus0
ugen0.2: <American Power Conversion NMC3 CDC> at usbus0
umodem0: <CDC> on usbus0

I've tried a number of differing variants of the apcupsd settings (separated by the commas below). the apcuspd package version on the pfSense appliance is shown in the output below.

UPS Name = apcups01
UPS Cable = usb, smart
UPS type = usb, modbus
Device = (blank)

I've also manually tried every specific USB cable type provided on the apcupsd general page...nothing works

apcupsd
Running: apcaccess -h 0.0.0.0:3551 

APC      : 001,018,0470
DATE     : 2023-06-29 14:15:27 +0800  
HOSTNAME : pfsense.pxxxxxxxx.xxxxx.lan
VERSION  : 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) freebsd
UPSNAME  : apcups01
CABLE    : USB Cable
DRIVER   : MODBUS UPS Driver
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2023-06-29 14:15:22 +0800  
STATUS   : COMMLOST 
MBATTCHG : 10 Percent
MINTIMEL : 5 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT  : 0 Seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 Seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
STATFLAG : 0x05000100
END APC  : 2023-06-29 14:15:34 +0800

the apcupsd status constantly shows as "COMMLOST". I'm at a loss with this now and any assistance is greatly appreciated.

viragomann

@Josho_SAI said in apcupsd status Unknown COMMLOST:

UPS Cable = usb, smart
UPS type = usb, modbus

Why stating multiple options?
If the UPS is connected with an USB cable to pfSense, enter "usb" into both fields for the "UPS Cable" and "UPS Type".

Josho_SAI

@viragomann said in apcupsd status Unknown COMMLOST:

If the UPS is connected with an USB cable to pfSense, enter "usb" into both fields for the "UPS Cable" and "UPS Type".

which did not work. To clarify the options used and their outcomes

UPS Name = apcups01
UPS Cable = usb
UPS type = usb
Device = (blank)
did not work

UPS Name = apcups01
UPS Cable = usb
UPS type = modbus
Device = (blank)
did not work

UPS Name = apcups01
UPS Cable = smart
UPS type = usb
Device = (blank)
did not work

UPS Name = apcups01
UPS Cable = smart
UPS type = modbus
Device = (blank)
did not work

anthonys

Hi @Josho_SAI
Are you able run usbconfig to see if your netgate-UPS serial connection is OK?
E.g., albeit different hardware to yours (sg-1100 and CS650), on a system I have:

Josho_SAI

@anthonys Thanks for the interaction!

executed command "usbconfig" on the Netgate device. Output below

ugen0.1: <Intel XHCI root HUB> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen0.2: <American Power Conversion NMC3 CDC> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (0mA)

anthonys

@Josho_SAI
OK. Unfortunately, my working config matches your first test

UPS Cable = usb
UPS type = usb
Device = (blank)

which doesn't help you.
The only other thing I can think of might be to try is to setting UPS Cable to the specific cable you have. BUT with the caveat, for me, setting this to my cable type (940-0127E) broke connectivity - only the generic setting of "usb" works for me.

Josho_SAI

@anthonys how were you able to find the USB cable type? I actually tried ALL the USB cable types listed in the apcupsd page on the pfSense firewall, plus searching for the USB cables types (using Dr Google) but only found details on the USB termination types (USB-A, Micro USB etc etc)

anthonys

@Josho_SAI said in apcupsd status Unknown COMMLOST:

how were you able to find the USB cable type?

The cable that came with my UPS has the cable's type stamped on the USB-A plug end.

Josho_SAI

@anthonys Thanks again. Unfortunately the USB-A to Micro-USB cable that came with my APC UPS has no identifiers on either plug-ends. The only identifiers are on the outer sheath of the cable itself (temp rating, voltage, manufacturer name).

viragomann

@Josho_SAI
So try to connect it via the network protocol with SNMP, since the UPS has a network management card.

Josho_SAI

@viragomann
SNMP will be what I'm going to do. Thanks for all your help with this! Mucho appreciated.