AP7951 Switched Rack PDU: Communications lost.

[Anonymous user]

Hi

My AP7951 web interface was not responding so we pushed the reset button in, This then allowed us to load/login to the web interface however it now says "*Switched Rack PDU: Communications lost*." I've read forums and others say resetting it again should fix it, however i've found this does not fix the problem.

We had a 2009 Firmware, so i installed the latest 2010 firmware hoping this may fix the problem but sadly not 😞

We can't disconnect the bar as we cant take any of our servers down.

Can anyone help me fix this?


Model Number: AP7951
Hardware Revision: B2
Manufacture Date: 05/12/2006
Management Uptime: 0 Days 0 Hours 11 Minutes


Application Module

Name: rpdu
Version: v3.7.3
Date: 02/24/2010
Time: 11:32:52

APC OS (AOS)

Name: aos
Version: v3.7.3
Date: 02/02/2010
Time: 17:05:14

[Anonymous user]

Update

We tried several resets by pressing in a pin for a couple of seconds. It'd not helped I also logged in and chose reset and keep tcp settings but still same error 😞

[BillP]

generally this means that the Network Management Card has lost internal communications with the Rack PDU. If you'd like, maybe try downgrading the firmware to 3.7.0 (available on apc.com) and see if it does anything but if an upgrade didn't help, i can't guarantee this will fix it either. my only other suggestion is to power cycle it for 30 seconds which i know you cannot do it currently. that is why i suggest a firmware downgrade first, since you don't have to take it down for that.

thus, if the firmware downgrade doesn't work, i'd suggest planning to power cycle it for 30 seconds to see if there is a change. if not, it may need to be replaced - whether under warranty or on your own cost.

you probably also will see an Er on the LCD on the unit to indicate this issue as well.

[Anonymous user]

so a power cycle is the only solution for my problem ?

it's next to another ap7900..

if i push the reset buttons for many seconds, what will it do?

Message was edited by: tvtm

[Anonymous user]

Hi

Thank you very much for the reply.

Can I ask... If I hold the reset pin in for 30 seconds would this cause the power to go off on the device ie my servers to go off???

[BillP]

i am not sure what it will do. the reset button on that unit is only used for doing a soft reboot on the network management card interface and resetting the password. other than that, any other behavior would be unexpected and could cause something like that to happen. i wouldnt recommend doing it.

i really urge you to try and power cycle it at some point, ensuring you do it for 30 secs.

:-)

[Anonymous user]

hi
we did a full reset and connected via console to reprogram the TCP settings

Console gave us this after resetting it

American Power Conversion Network Management Card AOS v3.7.3
*(c) Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved Rack PDU APP v3.7.3*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name : RackPDU Date : 04/23/2011
Contact : Unknown Time : 11:46:08
Location : Unknown User : Administrator
Up Time : 0 Days 0 Hours 0 Minutes Stat : P+ N? A+

Switched Rack PDU: Communication Established

However when we reopen the web interface it still says


Load Management
Communication has been lost to the device!

[BillP]

what exactly is a full reset? reset to defaults including TCP/IP? this most likely will not help but was worth a try. we probably need to still power cycle it for any hope..

[BillP]

Hi,

1. Put reset button in long cycle won't make trip PDU (except some bug firmware but not your case) since Netcard not control the Switch PDU, it's the interface to get your command only.

2. If you still can work in console mode you can key the Network parameter again with rebot Network Card Interface.

3. Event the Netcard damage firmware, you can use the console to push it's under binary mode , push AOS first and APP later.
(read the instruction in the txt in your dowload firmware)

4. If Netcard damage hardware, you still can use it's as basic PDU 😞

[Anonymous user]

i got the exact same problem!

but i don't have access physicly to it.

Is there any remote solution or i'll have to drive 3 hours to power cycle it ?

[BillP]

first, tell us what the version numbers and names are under Administration Tab->General->About

What does it say for AOS, and APP - can you give a screenshot of that entire page? the app name is important too.

[Anonymous user]

i've downgraded to 3.7 and then went back to 3.7.3 same problem!

Hardware Factory
Model Number:
AP7900
Serial Number:
ZA0637038052
Hardware Revision:
B2


Manufacture Date:
09/09/2006


MAC Address:
00 C0 B7 29 E1 C8

Management Uptime:
0 Days 1 Hour 8 Minutes
Name:
rpdu
Version:
v3.7.3
Date:
02/24/2010
Time:
11:32:52


APC OS (AOS)


Name:
aos
v3.7.3



Date:
02/02/2010



Time:
17:05:14

Message was edited by: tvtm

[BillP]

ok and one last thing, can you send me just the event.txt via these instructions? i dont need config.ini or data.txt.

http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9321

[Anonymous user]

there ya go

by the way is there a way to reset the management by ftp ?

sometimes i can'T access it by web,ssh but i can by ftp. and i need to pay someone to get put a paper clip in the reset hole and it works

but this times i get the communication errors...

Message was edited by: tvtm

[BillP]

the reset button on this unit is only used for resetting the password or resetting the management interface. i am not sure when you hold it down for many seconds - possibly unexpected results.

yes, a power cycle might be worth it or a new unit if it persists.

[BillP]

yeah it seems fairly frequent unfortunately. do you know what its installed next to? when did this start happening? sometimes EFI/EMI can cause stuff like this so that is why i ask.

via web/ssh/telnet - you can request a reboot management interface command. on the web, its done via Administration->General->Reset/Reboot->reboot management interface. via telnet/ssh, you go to the system menu->Tools->Reboot management interface i think.

via FTP, this is for file transfers. the only way to reset it would be to upload a configuration change or do a firmware upgrade to force a reboot. this isnt really for management

you could try resetting the unit to defaults but its not too likely that it will help from my experience.

[Anonymous user]

the power cycle did the trick

thanks!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

😄

[Anonymous user]

i've got the same problems again.

I tried to reset a server through my android browser and the web interface crash again!

am i the only who's having problems with his android brower crashing the web interface ??

there is no way to reboot remotely the management card ?

you said this : via FTP, this is for file transfers. the only way to reset it would be to upload a configuration change or do a firmware upgrade to force a reboot. this isnt really for management

is it true ?? if i upload a new firmware it will reboot the management card ?

Message was edited by: tvtm

[BillP]

to reboot the NMC, you can login via local console, telnet/ssh, or the web to issue a reboot command of the management interface.

yes, if you upload new firmware to the device, whether its a different or the same version, it will force the NMC to reboot after each file (total of 2) files are transferred to the device. instructions for an upgrade are in [knowledgebase 768|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/768/].

[BillP]

that is an NMC1.

[Anonymous user]

Use the finder tool which locates the MAC address to then allow you to setup the IP address you want.

If the finder tool comes up empty reset the PDU with the reset button *using paperclip or something that fits in the small hole."

OR

If you can telnet to the PDU do so and go under system to reset all to default.

Make sure to logoff as this is the only way the actions you want to do get implemented.

Upon reboot you should see the MAC via the MAC tool.

Using the MAC tool again. Hopefully you can now set the IP.

From here don't try logging in again via HTTP; it will most likely still fail.

In the location you extracted the firmware app find iplist.txt

Edit the user/pass to be both: apc

Save the file.

Now run the update via the update app entering in the correct IP and user/pass of: apc.  Should proceed to work properly with successful completion.

Try the web interface. 

These are the steps I took to work this problem.  From what I can tell, the firmware updates successfully (if iplist has wrong info) , but then the web services update fails (when the password read from this file is not the right one that your PDU uses.

Hope that helps .

[Anonymous user]

I have an ap7900 is it nmc or nmc2 ??

[Anonymous user]

I have same model pdu. but with a different problem.

when I change outlet setting, then that setting implement. then I log out but when I restart the pdu then pdu go to default settings.

but after I change the outlet settings, then I go to configure the setting of the outlet. and I make the same setting here and set the delay time to 5 seconds. then I log out and restart the pdu then settings won't go to default.

my question is what is the right procedure for saving settings?

application module version is v 1.0.2

apc os version is v 1.1.6