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    apcupsd status Unknown COMMLOST

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    • Josho_SAIJ
      Josho_SAI
      last edited by 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.

      V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • V
        viragomann @Josho_SAI
        last edited by

        @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_SAIJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Josho_SAIJ
          Josho_SAI @viragomann
          last edited by 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

          A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • A
            anthonys @Josho_SAI
            last edited by

            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:

            7f37b61f-1e68-4156-9914-c3ea70e24512-image.png

            Josho_SAIJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Josho_SAIJ
              Josho_SAI @anthonys
              last edited by

              @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)
              A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • A
                anthonys @Josho_SAI
                last edited by

                @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_SAIJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Josho_SAIJ
                  Josho_SAI @anthonys
                  last edited by

                  @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)

                  A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • A
                    anthonys @Josho_SAI
                    last edited by

                    @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_SAIJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Josho_SAIJ
                      Josho_SAI @anthonys
                      last edited by 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).

                      V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • V
                        viragomann @Josho_SAI
                        last edited by

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

                        Josho_SAIJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • Josho_SAIJ
                          Josho_SAI @viragomann
                          last edited by

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

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • stephenw10S stephenw10 moved this topic from pfSense Packages on
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