PBE Incompatability with Win8.1

[mr.natural_apc]

As described in a previous thread (Bugcheck 9F (usbhub / usbhid) BSOD after Installing Windows 8.1), I've now confirmed that PBE v9.1.1 as well as previous versions exhibit a conflict with Windows 8.1.  v9.1.0 caused frequent system crashes (from an hour to a day or so after system restart).  v9.1.1 is more stable, causing my system to crash only after several days.  After uninstalling PBE, system stability has resumed for nearly a week.  Hopefully, APC will address and correct this issue.  Diagnosing it was a serious waste of time.

[BillP]

I'll defer to Bill P. on this but in our defense, I do not see Windows 8.1 listed on the current version of the PowerChute Business Edition compatibility chart yet... http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE-6Z5QEV/ASTE-6Z5QEV_R41_EN.pdf (just Windows 😎 - but I am not sure if that includes 8.1 or not since only Windows 7 (which has service packs) is listed too.

I have to imagine testing with Windows 8.1 is in progress if it is not yet supported.

[mr.natural_apc]

Thanks to Angela & Bill for responding.

When the crashes occurred, all three components were installed (Agent, Server, & Console).

I didn't poke around the event log, but did drill down into the system dumps (https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5e3bcc0c03734f3a#cid=5E3BCC0C03734F3A&id=5E3BCC0C03734F3A!1747).  They first pointed to usbdev.sys, then upon further digging, to usbhub.sys and usbhid.sys.  Not much help there, but since my UPS is listed as an HID device, I tried removing it (unplugged the USB cable), after which stability returned.  Updating PBE to v9.1.1 from v9.1.0 resulted in longer periods of stability (several days vs. several hours), but eventually, the crashes occurred.  Uninstalling PBE has returned my system to stable operation.

Hopefully, this will be corrected, since I've found it very useful to have PBE's monitoring data available, using it once to convince my power company that they did, indeed, have an issue with dirty incoming power.

[BillP]

Hi,

We have had PCBE 9.1.1 installed on clean / new install of Windows 8.1 and have not experienced any crashes. In your original post you listed the Smart-UPS as a SUA1500. Please confirm that is the UPS you have.

Also, What other USB devices do you have attached to the system?

Thanks, 

[mr.natural_apc]

Hi, Bill.

My UPS is, indeed, an SUA1500 (S/N ES0529000444).  There may be some confusion here, because I find that when I search APC's web site for support for that model, only shipboard units are listed.  Also, in the past, I seem to recall that I was frequently confused by APC's nomenclature:  it was often unclear which models were "Back-UPS", Smart-UPS", or whatever, or why.

For USB devices, I have a Logitech Performance MX mouse and K750 keyboard (both Bluetooth), an HP ScanJet 7400C scanner, a Microsoft LifeCam VX-7000, and the SUA1500.  I have disconnected each, one by one (even the mouse & keyboard, which I replaced with old wired units), and the only two things that made any difference were (1) the removal of the UPS (unplugging its USB cable) and (2) uninstalling PowerChute Business Edition.  Since doing the latter (with the SUA1500 USB reconnected), my system has been stable for a good couple of weeks.

I first experienced the 0x9F bugcheck crashes after upgrading from Win8 Pro to Win8.1.  I subsequently performed a clean install of Win8.1 Pro, and the crashes resumed with the same symptoms.

[BillP]

Hi,

Sorry for the inconvenience. The reason the SUA1500 does not appear on the U.S. APC web site is because it has been replace by model SMT1500. Here is a link to the SUA1500 web page http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SUA1500 for your reference.

Thanks for verifying the UPS model. I wanted to be sure we were / are testing the as close to the same configuration as you have.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

As Angela mentioned Windows 8.1 is not a supported OS for PCBE. When the system crashed what was logged in the system event viewer and what components of PCBE were installed Agent, Server, Console?