APC UPS Data Center & Enterprise Solutions Forum
Schneider, APC support forum to share knowledge about installation and configuration for Data Center and Business Power UPSs, Accessories, Software, Services.
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Posted: Saturday . Last Modified: Saturday
Hi there,
I've recently purchased a APC UPS SMT2200RMI2U for my homelab after my old UPS died.
Well, battery pack was dead, batteries replaced and the UPS could be startet.
In addition, this UPS is having a NMC 9630v2 that I was able to reset and login to the WebUI.
The FW on the NMC was outdated, so I updated the NMC 9630v2 to v7.1.2 sucessfully.
Next step was to update the FW on the UPS as this was still the 06.5 version. I've pivked the ID18 "SMT18UPS_15-0.enc" and started the FW update from the WebUI of the NMC to the UPS with no calbles connected to the UPS except the LAN cable to the NMC.
The FW was started to be uploaded to the UPS and nothing happens for the next 30+ minutes. The WebUI was still "uploading", the front panel of the UPS was showing "Upgrade in progress" (German language).
Since I was able to connect to the UPS via FTP client, I've copied the FW file "SMT18UPS_15-0.enc" to the "/tmp" folder, hoping that the UPS will start the upgrade automatically upon reboot, but nothing happens - but the FW file might still be there in the "/tmp" folder.
Non of the keys on the front panel was causing any reaction, so finally I decided to power off the UPS and unplug the battery pack for a while. Plug the battery pack again and power on the system was not restarting the upgrade process or doing anythig else.
The four LEDs on the front are all ON, the display empty. The NMC was telling me that the UPS can not be found, but the WebUI is still working.
Later on I've read that this process was is not ideal, but there was no way back now.
I've then removed the NMC and tried to get access to the UPS with a console cable and got no answer from the device at all. Console cable was tested and is working fine.
Are there any ideas how to get the UPS up and running again? The appliance is dated back to 2012, so RMA is not an option here.
Somebody was writing to use "xmodem" to establish a connection to the UPS. Any experience on this recommendation, as I have never used xmodem yet?
Thanks in advanced,
Frank
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Posted: Monday . Last Modified: Monday
Hi Frank,
Did you turn off the outputs on the system as instructed to in the APC Firmware FAQ?!?
How did you confirm the serial cable operates correctly? Are you able to SSH into the system?
If I assume you did turn off the output as outlined. You have a valid serial cable on hand and it does allow you to SSH into the UPS.
You may try the following steps and see what happens.
Power: Disconnect the battery and AC Mains.
NMC: Remove the NMC from the unit
USB: Connect a USB cable to the UPS and the target computer that has the FUW (Firmware Update Wizard).
Serial: Connect the RS-232 to your computer and the RJ50 directly to the back of the UPS.
Power: Reconnect the battery cartridge and apply AC Mains to the system.
Launch the FUW and confirm it finds the connected UPS. If you follow the prompts it will indicate the (Only) valid firmware for the system on hand! ☝️
When the software indicates to proceed with the firmware process it may complain / cry about the USB cable. Ignore it for now and press continue than disconnect the USB cable.
You may also try to connect the USB cable while the serial cable is attached. Both steps (sometimes) forces the firmware to proceed.
Let me know what you see and observe on the computer and UPS LCD (LED). 👍
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Posted: Monday
Hi Teken,
yes, the outputs have been turned off as described and all devices pluged-off too. The NMC has also been removed.
The serial cable has been tested and is working on another device (a Sophos appliance) perfectly and the COM-port is assigned to it.
Allthough, the last time I was able to SSH into the UPS was during the upgrade process, that lateron failed.
Currently no connaction via SSH or Telnet can be established.
Battery pack and the power cord have been off now for three days.
So I did what you said and put the USB-A/USB-B cable to the UPS and the computer, same with the serial-2-USB cable mentioned above, then reconnected the battery-pack and the power-cord.
After the battery pack was reconnected all 4 LED's on the panel went "ON", the LCD panel left blank.
I've startet the FUW (as admin) and let it go to check the COM ports. When it gets to the serial-2-USB cable the cable indicates some traffic, but finally no connection could be established.
Message from the FUW: "Communication could not be established with the device from this computer. Possible causes: ..." You may know the rest of this message.
The LCD panel is still empty, the LED's are all "ON".
Is there some kind of pins on the PCB to perform a BIOS reset when this pins are bridged or something similar? I haven't seen any kind of BIOS battery so far to force a "brain dead" for the UPS - just an idea ...
Thanks & kind reagrds,
Frank
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Posted: Tuesday
Hi Frank,
Did you try to add the USB cable vs just starting the FUW with the USB cable in place?
X-Modem is really the next step in trying to recover the unit. There is no battery in the system as it relates to the MCU.
The only possible way is to have an identical system on hand and dismount the chip, read it, than write the same to the bad one.
Lastly, before you go forward with the other method. Insert the NMC while both the serial & USB are in place.
Go to the UPS firmware upgrade tab and see if you can load the file indicated by the FUW.
If the system allows you to select and load firmware there’s hope. Obviously if there is a resume button present you’re golden.
As stated earlier play around with the USB cable while doing so. As an aside, you may find several threads in this forum about simply leaving the UPS for days while the firmware is loading via NMC.
I call this out because there’s a less than 2% that could happen.
Let me know what happens either way. 👍
Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.
Create your free account or log in to subscribe to the board - and gain access to more than 10,000+ support articles along with insights from experts and peers.