How to connect the serial cable to network management card AP9617?

[johnmen_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 5/28/2013

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Hi there,

This problem costs me hours but still to no avail.

I have an old APC network management card AP9617 that is plugged into a new UPS Smart-UPS 2200 XL.  The card seems to work fine but I lost the administrator access.  The only login that works for me is the default username "device" with password "apc", but this login appears to be not an administrator login, it doesn't allow me to go into some management menu if I Telnet into the card.  So I decided I want to reset the card back to factory defaults.  And this is where the problem starts.

The AP9617 card only has one port, RJ45 network port.  It can only connect a network cable to it.  All the forums posts and manual are talking about connect the supplied serial cable 940-0024.  I do have a cable that comes with the new Smart-UPS 2200 XL and it has the number "940-0024E" on it.  I assumed this is the right cable to be used.  However, this cable has RS232 plug at both end, one male and one female, which means I needed to find a RS232 port from the network management card to connect this cable.  The problem is that THERE IS NO SUCH SERIAL PORT ON THE NETWORK MANAGEMENT CARD!  As I mentioned, the card ONLY comes with a RJ45 network port.  How the hell do I connect a serial cable to a network port?????

There is however a serial port on the UPS chassis itself, but I am not sure if this is the one to be used for establishing a serial connect to the network management card!  I tried connecting this serial port to a computer with the cable 940--0024E but the terminal shows nothing whatsoever!

So my questions are:

1. How to connect the serial cable to the AP9617 network management card when the card doesn't have serial port?

2. Is the cable 940-0024E that I have is the right cable for this work?

Your help will be much appreciated.

Johnmen

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 5/29/2013

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You should connect your 940-0024E (The E is just the revision of the cable and doesn't matter) cable to the DB-9 port on your UPS and one end to your computer as you have attempted. This allows passthrough access to the management card installed in the UPS.

There are specific port settings and stuff to access the management card in this manner and this is all outlined in our knowledge base (http://www.apc.com/site/support/index.cfm/faq/) step by step. Search for article ID FA156075 and refer to Network Management Card 1 (NMC1) steps since AP9617 is a NMC1.

Let us know if you get stuck.

[johnmen_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 5/29/2013

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Hi Angela,

Thanks for the reply.  I have in fact had the serial cable connected to the UPS's serial port and my computer, and I have followed the document to try all different combinations of port settings, 9600, 2400, you name it.  None of the setting work, my terminal window never responded to me.  The cable is brand new, UPS is brand new, the network management card however is 8 years old.  Guess the card might have problem being inserted into the new UPS.

Regards.

Johnmen

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 5/30/2013

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I see a lot of people in my training classes accidently put scroll lock on which can cause a problem - it might be mentioned in that kbase that I gave to you but have you verified that wasnt on?

Are there LEDs on the card? If so, what colors and are they solid and flashing? If you look at the card, the LED on the bottom left of the jack is the link LED and the one on the right is status LED.