Continuous Environmental Monitor events being generated - fault?

[Anonymous user]

We have a Smart-UPS RT 8000 RM XL: APC8000 and the system has worked perfectly since it was installed about a year ago. However, suddenly today we keep getting the following messages appearing in the event log:

Environment: Lost the local network management interface-to-integrated Environmental Monitor (Universal I/O at Port 2) communication.
Followed by
Environment: Restored the local network management interface-to-integrated Environmental Monitor (Universal I/O at Port 2) communication.

They are being generated once every few seconds and the log is looping around.

I tried a management interface restart, but it hasnt helped stop the events being generated.

I have turned off email notification as it was continually emailing alerts. From the look of the errors, it sounds like an internal temperature sensor failure and therefore a hardware fault?

Do you guys recommend we call APC for warranty support?

Thanks in advance guys.

Howard

Message was edited by: outey

[BillP]

hi howard,

can you tell me what is physically attached to the AP9631? and what port its in?

is it possible for you to provide me what you have for an event.txt? you can get it via FTP -> http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9321/ - this will also tell me the NMC firmware version.

also, if you'd like, you can delay this message or disable it from emailing if you need to while we figure out what the issue is. you can do this under Administration->Notification->By Event->and find the event on this list and uncheck any notifications you dont want.

[BillP]

hi howard,

universal I/O ports only currently support two main things - ambient environment probes (temp and temp/humidity - AP9335T or AP9335TH) and dry contact accessories (AP9810). you cannot use a network management card with powerchute business edition in any manner so you need to remove this. this could indeed have damaged the ports on the network management card..

the USB ports are used for upgrading firmware currently and are not for console connections. only the jack labeled console is for connecting serially to.

the AP9631 ships with one of the AP933T probes and this should be the only thing you can currently connect to the AP9631 that you have that is supported.

the input contacts and output relay can be left alone. these are for use with dry contacts with the AP9810 accessory.

if you just want to be notified of critical issues, just leave the LAN cable connected to ethernet and that is it. the software that is to be used with a network management card is powerchute network shutdown. the network management card would communicate over the network to any servers running powerchute network shutdown when it is time to shutdown. there are also other configuration options.

powerchute business edition is only for use with serial connections to a UPS when you are not using a network management card. is another way of monitoring via a serial cable and graceful shutdown instead of doing everything over the network.

i hope this helps - let me know if you need further clarification.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for you reply, much appreciated 🙂

I have disconnected the serial which i used originally to configure the unit and have now also removed I/O lead 1 to USB, so just the network card remains now.

Is there a way of silencing these alerts? they are nowhere near as frequent as before, but they still get generated on the Event log, or do you think the AP9631 has been damaged and hence why the alerts are there?
please see attachment, i have done a small screenshot of the Home tab.

Howard

[Anonymous user]

as suggested I did a clear alarm and a reboot and pleased to say the log is now clear of errors. I suppose the cable being connected was generating the faults, now that its just the LAN cable, its working again.

You live and learn!

Many thanks for all your guidance, it was very much appreciated 🙂 i have marked as question answered.

Kind regards and happy new year to you!

Howard

[BillP]

glad to hear it howard. you're welcome. happy new year!

[Anonymous user]

Hi there, thanks for coming back to me. I have unticked the alerting now, so we are no longer getting the emails, but they are getting sent to the event log.

In terms of the AP9631, it has the following cables.

1. Network port has a 10/100 LAN cable that is live and working. We can connect to the management interface on its configured IP address, so we know that works ok.
2. Universal port 1, has an RJ45>USB cable which is now (see below!) connected to a Windows 2008 server, with APC PowerChute Plus BusinessEdition Basic on it.
3. Universal port 2 is empty
4. USB Console ports are empty.
5. Serial cable connects to the same Windows 2008 server via serial lead.

I've just found out that there was some server work undertaken just before I logged this post, that may have dislodged some cables. The person involved admits that they found a USB cable disconnected and connected it back to the server they thought it came from. I think this was the Universal Port 1 and when I looked this morning, that cable was in the wrong server (not the one with the Powerchute software on)

We are no longer getting one of the alerts " Environment: Lost the local network management interface-to-integrated Environmental Monitor (Universal I/O at Port 1) communication" but are still getting "Environment: Lost the local network management interface-to-integrated Environmental Monitor (Universal I/O at Port 2) communication"

I've noticed on the Environment tab of the AP9631 web interface, there are some options for Port 1 relay and Port 2 relay. I assume these relate to the Universal port cable. As there isnt anything connected to Port 2, can I set the "Output Relay: Port 2 " to "Closed" in the management interface and that will clear the error?

Could you explain the purpose of Universal Port? I would have thought that the network cable suffice for our monitoring purposes? we only want to be notifed by email for critical issues etc.

Regards
Howard

[BillP]

Hi Angela,

I am using AP9631 in APC Smart-UPS 3000, Can you confirm AP9335TH Temparature/Humidity sensor supporting or not because I am getting same error.

Regards

Manoj MohananoJnfSNDeSCv3TKyCMIofag%3D%3D.png

[Terry_Kennedy_apc]

I am using AP9335TH on the AP9631 card with no problems. Based on your screenshot, you are running an older version of the NMC2 firmware. You can download the latest version here. That's what I am using on my cards.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

I agree with Terry - AP9335T/TH are the appropriate probes for AP9631 Network Management Card 2. For this type of issue, I'd remove anyting from the Universal I/O (UIO) ports on the AP9631 and reboot the card - either by removing/reinserting it in your UPS to power cycle the NMC (with no harm to your UPS) or issuing the reboot management interface command under Administration->General->Reset/Reboot.

I'd want to see if the issue goes away with nothing connected to the UIO ports on the AP9631. If it does not, then the UIO ports could be damaged or faulty. If it does go away, we may have a damaged sensor causing the issue. And you may want to guess and check with the sensor and try it in port 1 and 2 by itself and reboot between each one to try and clear any lost communication alarms during your troubleshooting.