Nut upsuser - Apr 2015 - NUT and non-APCC UPSs doing calibration runs

I'm looking to buy some new UPSs and am thinking of parting ways with APC to
explore other brands.

Can anyone suggest another brand that handles doing calibration runs (or maybe
another brand doesn't need them) that I can automate with NUT?

Thanks,

  -Ben

On Apr 8, 2015, at 11:16 PM, Ben Kamen <bkamen at benjammin.net> wrote:
> I'm looking to buy some new UPSs and am thinking of parting ways with
APC to explore other brands.
> 
> Can anyone suggest another brand that handles doing calibration runs (or
maybe another brand doesn't need them) that I can automate with NUT?
As a starting point, you might want to search the NUT Device Dump Library (DDL)
for 'test.battery' and 'test.interval':
https://github.com/networkupstools/nut-ddl (GitHub's search works, or you
can clone the repository and use 'git grep' locally for a more concise
listing.)

Not all entries in the DDL have the commands listed, unfortunately, so absence
of a test command does not guarantee that it is not supported.

I would argue that any UPS with a lead-acid battery needs to perform some sort
of calibration to properly report a) runtime to empty and b) when the battery
needs replacement. Whether or not the UPS does that calibration automatically
(or manually, or both) is a different story.

-- 
Charles Lepple
clepple at gmail

[please CC the list]

On Apr 10, 2015, at 7:55 AM, Ben Kamen <bkamen at benjammin.net> wrote:
> On 2015-04-09 9:48 PM, Charles Lepple wrote:
>> On Apr 8, 2015, at 11:16 PM, Ben Kamen <bkamen at benjammin.net>
wrote:
>> 
>> As a starting point, you might want to search the NUT Device Dump
Library (DDL) for 'test.battery' and 'test.interval':
https://github.com/networkupstools/nut-ddl (GitHub's search works, or you
can clone the repository and use 'git grep' locally for a more concise
listing.)
> 
> Will do.
> 
> I know on APC, there's a difference between "test" and
"calibrate" -- so in your sentence above, should I look for the same
in the drivers?
That's an interesting point - most of the other drivers seem to have a
"quick test" and "deep test", but no "calibrate"
command. A lot of the names are the closest match to the vendor's software
user interface.
>> Not all entries in the DDL have the commands listed, unfortunately, so
absence of a test command does not guarantee that it is not supported.
> 
> gotcha.
> 
>> I would argue that any UPS with a lead-acid battery needs to perform
some sort of calibration to properly report a) runtime to empty and b) when the
battery needs replacement. Whether or not the UPS does that calibration
automatically (or manually, or both) is a different story.
> 
> I would too.
> 
> I've been thinking of CyberPower - I've used them for less critical
things and they seem decent. So hopefully....
I have no experience with CyberPower. Maybe others on the list can comment.

-- 
Charles Lepple
clepple at gmail

Don't choose mini-box OpenUPS. No instant commands. No reporting of power
fail. No replies to emails to support. Otherwise perfect!

I have mine working with support from Charles but not ideal.

Regards, Philip.

Sent from my iPhone
> On 9 Apr 2015, at 05:16, Ben Kamen <bkamen at benjammin.net> wrote:
> 
> I'm looking to buy some new UPSs and am thinking of parting ways with
APC to explore other brands.
> 
> Can anyone suggest another brand that handles doing calibration runs (or
maybe another brand doesn't need them) that I can automate with NUT?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -Ben
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Nut-upsuser mailing list
> Nut-upsuser at lists.alioth.debian.org
> http://lists.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser

Hey all,

  I ended up picking up the module listed in Subject line.

I switched over my config but apparently not all going smoothly.

My config is:

[office]
         driver = powerpanel
         port   = /dev/ttyS0
         desc   = "Office UPS"



When I test the driver running power-panel as a test, I get:
> [root at cornelius init.d]# powerpanel -a office -D -D -D -D
> Network UPS Tools - CyberPower text/binary protocol UPS driver 0.25 (2.6.5)
> Warning: This is an experimental driver.
> Some features may not function correctly.
>
>    0.000000     debug level is '4'
>    0.011515     Trying binary protocol...
>    0.213611     send: (2 bytes) => 46 0d
>    0.667149     read: timeout
>    0.667192       \_: (0 bytes) =>
>    0.768409     send: (2 bytes) => 46 0d
>    1.223223     read: timeout
>    1.223270       \_: (0 bytes) =>
>    1.324495     send: (2 bytes) => 46 0d
>    1.777587     read: timeout
>    1.777634       \_: (0 bytes) =>
>    1.798033     Trying text protocol...
>    1.898845     send: (2 bytes) => 0d 0d
>    1.999995     read: (3 bytes) => 23 2d 32
>    2.151843     send: (3 bytes) => 50 34 0d
>    2.399718     read: (52 bytes) => 23 50 52 31 35 30 30 4c 43 44 52 54
58 4c 32 55 61 20
>    2.399766      20 20 20 2c 34 2e 33 35 30 2c 50 53 55 45 56 32 30 30 30
31 31 33 2c 43 59
>    2.399794      42 45 52 20 50 4f 57 45 52
>    2.399818     CyberPower UPS with text protocol on /dev/ttyS0 detected
>    2.551420     send: (3 bytes) => 50 33 0d
>    2.703743     read: (29 bytes) => 23 31 32 2c 34 78 31 2c 39 2c 30 30
2c 30 30 35 2c 34
>    2.703786      38 30 2c 31 32 2c 34 78 32 2c 39
>    2.855643     send: (3 bytes) => 50 32 0d
>    2.996719     read: (31 bytes) => 23 31 35 30 30 2c 31 33 35 30 2c 31
32 30 2c 34 37 2c
>    2.996765      36 33 2c 31 32 2e 30 2c 35 33 2c 35 37
>    3.148635     send: (3 bytes) => 50 31 0d
>    3.249251     read: (21 bytes) => 23 31 32 30 2c 31 35 30 2c 30 38 30
2c 33 35 2c 30 30
>    3.249287      33 30 30
>    3.401125     send: (3 bytes) => 50 36 0d
>    3.615723     read: (44 bytes) => 23 31 34 30 2c 31 34 31 2c 31 34 32
2c 31 34 33 2c 31
>    3.615799      34 34 2c 31 34 35 2c 31 34 36 2c 31 34 37 2c 31 34 38 2c
31 34 39 2c 31 35
>    3.615823      30
>    3.767688     send: (3 bytes) => 50 37 0d
>    3.964712     read: (44 bytes) => 23 30 38 30 2c 30 38 31 2c 30 38 32
2c 30 38 33 2c 30
>    3.964781      38 34 2c 30 38 35 2c 30 38 36 2c 30 38 37 2c 30 38 38 2c
30 38 39 2c 30 39
>    3.964806      30
>    4.116667     send: (3 bytes) => 50 38 0d
>    4.256708     read: (30 bytes) => 23 32 30 2c 32 35 2c 33 30 2c 33 35
2c 34 30 2c 34 35
>    4.256746      2c 35 30 2c 35 35 2c 36 30 2c 36 35
>    4.408610     send: (3 bytes) => 50 35 0d
>    4.509005     read: (3 bytes) => 23 2d 32
>    4.660827     send: (3 bytes) => 50 39 0d
>    4.761975     read: (4 bytes) => 23 d5 df f0
>    4.863075     send: (2 bytes) => 43 0d
>    4.964149     read: (2 bytes) => 23 30
>    5.064982     send: (2 bytes) => 44 0d
>    5.266667     read: (35 bytes) => 23 49 31 31 39 2e 30 4f 31 31 39 2e
30 4c 30 31 38 42
>    5.266710      31 30 30 54 30 32 37 48 30 36 30 2e 30 46 30 36 30
>    5.266834     Parsing status string failed
>    5.266876     Communications with UPS lost: Status read failed!
>    5.267201     dstate_init: sock /var/run/nut/powerpanel-office open on fd
5
>    5.368488     send: (2 bytes) => 44 0d
>    5.569134     read: (35 bytes) => c0 88 80 57 00 81 0d 23 49 31 32 30
2e 30 4f 31 32 30
>    5.569183      2e 30 4c 30 31 38 42 31 30 30 54 30 32 37 48 30 36
>    5.569208     Parsing status string failed
>    5.569231     Communications with UPS lost: Status read failed!
>    7.374181     send: (2 bytes) => 44 0d
>    7.575264     read: (35 bytes) => 23 49 31 32 30 2e 30 4f 31 32 30 2e
30 4c 30 31 38 42
>    7.575313      31 30 30 54 30 32 37 48 30 36 30 2e 30 46 30 36 30
>    7.575351     Parsing status string failed
>    7.575377     Communications with UPS lost: Status read failed!
Maybe better off just switching to different driver?

(is the USBHID worth using?)

I'm running CentOS 6.7 on this system. not sure if the gnome USB UPS drivers
are installed. (meh)

Thanks,

  -Ben