Nut upsuser - Jun 2018 - Apple iMac OS X 10.13.5 | Powershield Defender 1200 UPS

Hi All,

I am trying to install and configure NUT [ 2.7.4 ] to shutdown my iMac [
10.13.5 ] via my Powershield Defender 1200 UPS when the UPS reaches a
specified lower battery condition.

The Defender 1200 attaches to the iMac via USB.

The Defender appears on the the HCL - The required driver is
'blazer_usb'

The UPS is visible on the USB bus as:

        USB to Serial:

          Product ID: 0x5161
          Vendor ID: 0x0665
          Version: 0.02
          Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
          Manufacturer: INNO TECH
          Location ID: 0x14400000 / 25
          Current Available (mA): 500
          Current Required (mA): 100
          Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

I have placed an entry in ups.conf for the UPS.

I have created modified nut.conf MODE=standalone

I have also created upsmon.conf

If I run 'upsdrvctl start' as root I get:

h-3.2# ./upsdrvctl start
Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.7.4
Network UPS Tools - Megatec/Q1 protocol USB driver 0.12 (2.7.4)
Can't claim USB device [0665:5161]: Function not implemented
Driver failed to start (exit status=1)

I can see that the VendorID and ProductID appear correctly but the
driver fails to start.

I have tried searching for other people using the Defender 1200 with a
Mac ( in recent times ) but I appear to have 'struck out'.

Does anyone know of a relatively recent guide to getting this UPS
running on a newer version of OS X? I am aware that Apple have been
re-engineering their startup process so I expect that getting the driver
to work may be the least of my problems.

Thanks,
Walter

-- 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ,-_|\  Walter HILL
/     \	
\_,-._/ email: hill(at)ieee(dot)org
     v



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On Jun 6, 2018, at 5:18 AM, Walter HILL <hill at ieee.org>
wrote:
> 
> Does anyone know of a relatively recent guide to getting this UPS
> running on a newer version of OS X? I am aware that Apple have been
> re-engineering their startup process so I expect that getting the driver
> to work may be the least of my problems.
> 
To be honest, I have not seen much demand for NUT on OS X over the years, so I
haven't put a lot of effort into documenting the process end-to-end. I
don't mind answering questions, though.

IMHO, the quickest way around the macOS USB mess is probably to run the driver
on an embedded Linux or FreeBSD system  (e.g. Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone), and
have the iMac connect to the embedded system as a slave. This has the
disadvantage of adding another potential point of failure (or two, if you count
the network) into the system, and there is a potential issue if the Mac is
asleep when the power goes out, but if we had more frequent power failures in my
area, that's what I'd do (using Wake-on-LAN to ensure that the Mac gets
the shutdown signal).

Whether or not you run the driver on the Mac or elsewhere, you are correct about
the startup process (this page is out-of-date:
https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/NUT-on-Mac-OS-X since it refers to
StartupItems) If you put a launchd plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons/, it should
work with 10.13. Here is some information on that:
https://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/nut-upsuser/2012-March/007449.html

Another option for running the driver locally might be to find a Cypress
USB-to-serial driver that recognizes your UPS. If that works, it would create a
/dev node that makes the device look like a classic serial port to the drivers,
so you could use the serial-based "blazer" driver, or
"nutdrv_qx" (the latter also can communicate over USB, but on macOS,
it will likely run into the same "Can't claim USB device" error).

To have NUT directly access the UPS over USB, you would need a fake kernel
extension ("codeless KEXT" in some documentation) to prevent the OS
from claiming the device (which is what causes the "Can't claim USB
device" error). This can be difficult to debug, since the OS does not
easily give up information about the driver matching/claiming process.

For reference, which version of libusb are you using, and did you install it
with a package manager such as Fink, MacPorts or Brew?

I got my USB ups reporting on macOS, but it was quite a while ago, I’ll have to
dig into how I did it..

I do remember is wasn’t simple..  ( actually is was long drawn out pain in the
…. )

Maybe search for posts from me, I’ll check what I did on the weekend and get
back to you..

Or, buy an APC.. as they will just appear in Energy Saver.. 

> On 6 Jun 2018, at 15:41, Charles Lepple <clepple at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Jun 6, 2018, at 5:18 AM, Walter HILL <hill at ieee.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Does anyone know of a relatively recent guide to getting this UPS
>> running on a newer version of OS X? I am aware that Apple have been
>> re-engineering their startup process so I expect that getting the
driver
>> to work may be the least of my problems.
>> 
> To be honest, I have not seen much demand for NUT on OS X over the years,
so I haven't put a lot of effort into documenting the process end-to-end. I
don't mind answering questions, though.
> 
> IMHO, the quickest way around the macOS USB mess is probably to run the
driver on an embedded Linux or FreeBSD system  (e.g. Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone),
and have the iMac connect to the embedded system as a slave. This has the
disadvantage of adding another potential point of failure (or two, if you count
the network) into the system, and there is a potential issue if the Mac is
asleep when the power goes out, but if we had more frequent power failures in my
area, that's what I'd do (using Wake-on-LAN to ensure that the Mac gets
the shutdown signal).
> 
> Whether or not you run the driver on the Mac or elsewhere, you are correct
about the startup process (this page is out-of-date:
https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/NUT-on-Mac-OS-X since it refers to
StartupItems) If you put a launchd plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons/, it should
work with 10.13. Here is some information on that:
https://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/nut-upsuser/2012-March/007449.html
> 
> Another option for running the driver locally might be to find a Cypress
USB-to-serial driver that recognizes your UPS. If that works, it would create a
/dev node that makes the device look like a classic serial port to the drivers,
so you could use the serial-based "blazer" driver, or
"nutdrv_qx" (the latter also can communicate over USB, but on macOS,
it will likely run into the same "Can't claim USB device" error).
> 
> To have NUT directly access the UPS over USB, you would need a fake kernel
extension ("codeless KEXT" in some documentation) to prevent the OS
from claiming the device (which is what causes the "Can't claim USB
device" error). This can be difficult to debug, since the OS does not
easily give up information about the driver matching/claiming process.
> 
> For reference, which version of libusb are you using, and did you install
it with a package manager such as Fink, MacPorts or Brew?
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