AP9617 IP Address

[Anonymous user]

My first post here so "Hi" and yes, I know there are lots of similar posts because I've read them and tried everything that I've seen suggested but seem to be nowhere nearer a solution unfortunately. I'm happy to accept I've missed something obvious as I really have no idea what I'm doing but I'm at a loss as to what I've got wrong.

I've just purchased a second-hand SmartUPS 750VA and an AP9617 NMC from different vendors. The UPS works fine but I just cannot seem to connect to the NMC.

I contacted the NMC card vendor to see if he had any idea what the IP settings might be but he just sells them.

The tick/cross light on the card is green, the RX/TX light is flashing orange from which I gather the IP configuration is good and it is seeing traffic.

I've set option 43 to 1APC on my DHCP server (Draytek Vigor 2960n+) so the NMC should get an IP address from there if the card is configured to do so but it hasn't.

I have a Fing box so I get sent an email whenever anything new joins the LAN but have received nothing about the NMC.

The NMC MAC address isn't mentioned in the router's ARP table.

I've run both the Fing and Advanced IP Scanner apps but they can't see the NMC.

I've tried the device IP Configuration utility both over the LAN and via a crossover cable connected from my PC to the UPS but it couldn't see the card.

I've tried to set the IP address via ARP but that didn't seem to do anything. The ARP -s command was accepted but the subsequent ping failed.

I then read the suggestion about packet sniffers so installed Wireshark and limited it to the NMC's MAC address. It's seeing packets but I have no idea what they mean nor if they point to what's wrong but here's a sample:

3024 62.951091 American_6a:4a:f4 Broadcast ARP 60 Who has 10.2.0.1? Tell 10.2.0.230
204335 4881.179054 American_6a:4a:f4 Broadcast ARP 60 Who has 10.2.0.21? Tell 10.2.0.230
202691 4866.298981 American_6a:4a:f4 Broadcast ARP 60 Who has 10.2.0.22? Tell 10.2.0.230
202711 4867.076203 American_6a:4a:f4 Broadcast ARP 60 Gratuitous ARP for 10.2.0.230 (Request)
203850 4876.606159 10.2.0.230 224.0.0.100 IGMPv2 60 Membership Report group 224.0.0.100
202818 4868.232206 10.2.0.230 224.0.0.100 IGMPv2 60 Membership Report group 224.0.0.100


These are repeated multiple times. I tried to ping and telnet each of the addresses mentioned on the off-chance it might work but all failed.

I don't have an APC serial cable and, from my reading of the forum, suspect I could probably resolve this if I did but the cheapest I can find one for is about £46/$58 then I need to buy a serial to USB adapter. I can't imagine using it more than once so if that's the only way I'm going to be able to resolve the issue I think a safer bet would be to discard this card and spend £75/$95 on one from eBay for which I can specify the IP address and have it preconfigured.

I've spent hours and hours searching this forum, Googling and reading so this post is pretty much my last attempt to resolve the issue.

Before I go down the route of buying another card I'd appreciate any other suggestion I can try (and if it's me being an idiot please feel free to say so as long as you tell me what I've done wrong!).

Thanks.

Kevin

[B-DoubleE_apc]

Hi Kevin,

By default, the IP address of an AP9617 will be all 0's, and the boot mode is DHCP/BootP (it will make alternating requests using both protocols until it gets an IP). If the status light is solid green, then that would mean that the NMC has a "valid" IP address. If this is a second hand card, it's likely that whoever had the card before you did not wipe the IP configuration, so the NMC would retain the previously configured IP. Does the ARP broadcast IP 10.2.0.230 make sense on your network? If not, I think it's possible that is the currently configured IP of the NMC, and it's trying to find devices it used to be in communcation with (like old PCNS clients).

Unfortunately with an old card like the AP9617, there isn't an easy way to reset it to defaults (on newer cards you can hold down the reset button for 30 seconds to set it back to factory default). It might take some trial and error, but if my hunch is correct and 10.2.0.230 is the configured IP, then you could try to make a one-to-one network connection between the NMC and a computer, and manually set the computer to have an IP that the NMC would see as "valid" - you'd have to make some guesses to the configured subnet mask and default gateway though, so it would probably be time consuming and tedious. Alternatively, assuming the card is still set to DHCP you could wait for the lease to expire and the NMC to pull a new IP, but who knows how long that would take.

Definitely the easiest way would be a serial cable to directly connect to the card and set it back to factory default. I'll send you a PM with my contact info, if you don't have any luck with the direct connection send me an email and I'll see if there's anything else we can do to help you out.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your response.

On 10/21/2019 9:40 AM, Matt said:

Does the ARP broadcast IP 10.2.0.230 make sense on your network?

It doesn't as local devices are all 192. and I too thought that may be the UPS' IP address but when I was unable to ping it I assumed that was incorrect. With hindsight perhaps it's not possible to ping a 10. address from a 192. device (as I said earlier, I haven't a clue what I'm doing!).

On 10/21/2019 9:40 AM, Matt said:

Definitely the easiest way would be a serial cable to directly connect to the card and set it back to factory default.

I'm sure you're right and have just ordered (hopefully the correct) one.

Thanks again.

Kevin

[B-DoubleE_apc]

Hi Kevin,

Correct, on a standard network you would not be able to ping a 10.x.x.x address from a 192.x.x.x address. We've got some instructions here on creating a direct network connection between a PC and NMC: https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA156366/

If you're feeling adventurous, you could use those instructions to change the IP of you PC to be something that should work on the network the NMC is configured to look for (for example, 10.2.0.231). You would need to make some guesses as to the subnet mask and default gateway, but if you get lucky (or with enough trial and error) you could eventually get to the point where the PC has an IP address that works with what the NMC is currently configured for (10.2.0.230), and typing that IP into a web browser would pull up the NMC web UI. That would, however, be an annoying exercise in patience 😄

The serial cable you would need is the 940-0024 (or 940-1524) cable. That would go from the serial port on the UPS, to the USB/Serial converter you would need. You would then follow the instructions here to set the card back to default: https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA156064/

Good luck! And just post back if you need anything else.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I'm there. You were right Matt, it was very easy once I had the serial cable. It did have a fixed address which was 10.2.0.230 but now gets it from DHCP.

Thanks very much for your help, I really appreciate it.

Now all I have to figure out is how to set up an SNMP service and connect it to our QNAP and Synology NAS' so they shut down in the event of a power outage. Every day is a learning day :).

Kevin