Bug PowerChute 3.0.2 PE

[milloy_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 3/16/2013

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I am experiencing a bug with Windows 8 Pro and PowerChute 3.0.2 Personal Edition.

I have a Windows 8 Pro computer with the APC Back-UPS ES 550 and PowerChute 3.0.2 Personal Edition. The Win8 Pro computer has no monitor, I connect to it using Windows Remote Desktop from my laptop.

If I connect using Windows Remote Desktop Client then - even if I have disconnected but left the session active - PowerChute will not hibernate the computer in the event of power loss. I tried turning off hibernation (powercfg /h off) to see if it would do a shutdown instead, but that didn't work either.

In addition, if PowerChute's time has expired (e.g. if I set it to hibernate the computer after 1 minute, and 1 minute has passed), then even if I logout of the session, PowerChute does not retry the shutdown and it continues running until the battery is empty. Note that in the case of an actual power loss, I would not be able to logout anyway, the session would just be disconnected.

This is a serious bug, but it is easy for your developers to fix!

One possible option is that PowerChute could allow the user to chose between hibernate and shutdown, and if the user selects shutdown, then the shutdown could be a forced shutdown, which would close any open remote desktop connections. Another possibility would be to allow users to specify an external script (so I could shut down specific services, including the Remote Desktop service).

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 3/18/2013

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We are aware of the issue and it has to do with the OS and how it handles remote connections/logins. It'd have to be addressed in a future revision of PowerChute software. I am not aware of when the next release is scheduled though unfortunately.

[petrbilik_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 3/21/2013

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Thanks Milloy, I expect to buy an off the shelf product, install SW, run it and use it. Unfortunately this does not work in this case. Approximately 200USD spent without promised functionality. I did not buy UPS from less expensive vendors just to avoid troubles. Ha!

Does it exist any other SW from APC e.g. PowerChute Business Edition which works fine with Win 8 even with remote user connected?

Is there any chance to get money back and return APC Back-UPS CS 650, if it does not work according to APC manuals and informations?

Thanks for APC response.

[petrbilik_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 3/21/2013

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I am experiencing the same bug with Windows 8 Pro and PowerChute 3.0.2 Personal Edition when connected via RemoteDesktop.

You can see, that this issue has been reported on Jun 29, 2012 4:08 PM by froudeg>  Powerchute wont shutdown pc if a user is remote desktop'ed inPowerchute wont shutdown pc if a user is remote desktop'ed in

"...The problem also affects a normal non server windows 7 machine as another PC of mine has the same issue if i am remote desktop'ed into it..."

Seems to me APC is not taking care to their SoHo customer if the issue has been reported half year ago without solution. And they claim in compatibilty table dated October 2012, that PowerChute 3.0.2 Personal Edition is Win8 compatible:

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SFPCPE302&tab=documentation

Please inform how to solve this issue, what should I install instead? Can APC provide some other SW which will work with my APC Back-UPS CS 650 I?

Regards Petr

[milloy_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 3/21/2013

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You are correct, they apparently aren't interested in SoHo, because it is such an easy problem to fix. Win8 hibernation command (from the command-line) works just fine when using a Remote Desktop, APC apparently just doesn't have the hour to spare to fix their program.

If you want an alternative, Petr, and you are able to write BAT scripts, you might want to try apcupsd. I've installed it and it works fine, plus it gives you the ability to run your own scripts. If you want to try it, you can get it here: Apcupsd, a daemon for controlling APC UPSes

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 3/21/2013

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Unfortunately, only PowerChute Personal Edition is intended for and works with APC Back UPS products.

FYI: Bill P.

[petrbilik_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 3/21/2013

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Thank you for answer to my first question. Could you please answer the second one question also?

Is there any chance to get money back and return APC Back-UPS CS 650, if it does not work according to APC manuals and informations?

Thank you.

Petr

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 3/21/2013

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I think it'd have to be returned to where you purchased it. If that doesn't work, you can try to contact your local support center in your region to see what they can do for you. They might be able to offer to you something that does work. There is an issue logged on this and I have added this thread to it in order to convey how upset our users are so that the product managers can understand how this is affecting the users.