From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 22 11:07:25 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 33EBB16A422 for ; Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:07:25 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from tedm@toybox.placo.com) Received: from mail.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com (mail.web-strider.com [65.75.192.90]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E79D843D46 for ; Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:07:23 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from tedm@toybox.placo.com) Received: from tedwin2k (nat-rtr.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com [65.75.197.130]) by mail.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com (8.11.1/8.11.1) with SMTP id k1MB7Lu50995; Wed, 22 Feb 2006 03:07:21 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from tedm@toybox.placo.com) From: "Ted Mittelstaedt" To: "manish jain" , Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 03:07:21 -0800 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.6604 (9.0.2911.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1506 In-Reply-To: <20060221140925.84974.qmail@web34007.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Importance: Normal Cc: Subject: RE: Making APC 500 Back UPS (basic) work with FreeBSD X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:07:25 -0000 Years ago the APC BackUPSs did come with a serial port. APC sold the BackUPS and the SmartUPS. Both had serial ports, both could be used to shut down the system. The difference was you could query the Smart UPS to findout how much life was left in the battery. Then 2 things happened, first APC realized that a lot of consumers out there didn't know or care that their UPS had a serial port that could shut down the computer, and second sales of BackUPS were cannibalizing sales of SmartUPS. So APC renamed the normal BackUPS with the serial port into the BackUPS Pro, and came out with a consumer el-cheapo line of throwaway UPS's they named the BackUPS. It is no wonder your confused because most documentation on the Internet for UPSes talks about backups, but what they are meaning is pre-apc-getting-greedy-backups upses, not post-apc-getting-greedy-backupses-that-are-named-the-same -as-their-predicessors. Fortunately, the used market is awash in UPSes that have burned out batteries. Just find the local supplier of lead-acid gell cells and make friends with him and your in like flyn. Any large city has at least 1 of them. Quite a large number of businesses out there find that it is cheaper to toss an old 600VA ups and buy a new one when the battery dies, rather than pay some tech for an hours worth of time to pull the old battery and replace it, then test the UPS to make sure it's still working. Also, a lot of techs misdiagnose UPS battery failures and don't know how to test them anyway. I've found old APC UPSes for sale very cheap and very few of them have failed. Testing is very easy. Just plug the new batteries in, and before plugging the UPS into the wall, clip a voltmeter on the battery terminals. If you get any voltage rise at all, even a half a volt, when the UPS is plugged in, the charging circuit is OK. Then plug a computer into the UPS, turn it on, and unplug the UPS from the wall and if the inverter goes on, then the inverter is working and the UPS is perfectly OK. This test does not work with old batteries because old batteries often fail in unusual ways. And the new batteries should not be at 100% of charge, which they won't be if they have been on the shelf for a month or so. Ted >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org >[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org]On Behalf Of manish jain >Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 6:09 AM >To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org >Subject: Making APC 500 Back UPS (basic) work with FreeBSD > > >Hi, > > I just purchased an APC 500 Back UPS (the basic model, not >the pro/smart one). It does not have any serial/usb interface. >Can I get apcupsd or any other daemon to work with it so that >the system automatically shuts down before backup supply runs out ? > > If someone can attach a sample configuration file, I shall be >grateful. > > Thanks > Manish Jain > > > >--------------------------------- > Yahoo! Mail > Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. >_______________________________________________ >freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list >http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions >To unsubscribe, send any mail to >"freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > >-- >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.12/265 - Release >Date: 2/20/2006 >