SUA communication lost on Server 2016 using agent v10

[BillP]

I have two SUA3000's, both connected to host machines via USB. One of the host machines is Windows 7, the other is Server 2016.

Both devices were communicating fine with the PCBE v9 agent but after upgrading to v10, the UPS connected to the Server 2016 box cannot communicate. I've tried the other lead from the working UPS but same story.

In the Server 2016 Device Manager, I'm getting an "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)" message with a Code 43 "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems." error in the properties.

Trying to update the driver fails as "The best driver is installed".

Has anyone else had this problem?

[BillP]

Hi,

I suggest uninstalling PCBE 10, disconnect the USB cable, rebooting the system, reconnect the USB cable. Check to see that HID UPS or APC UPS are shown under batteries in the device manager and the American Power Conversion UPS is listed under Human Interface Devices. If not follow the instruction in Schneider Electric FAQ FA164514 to load the APC UPS drivers. 

Once verify the driver has loaded run the PCBE installer. When asked to automatically search for the UPS select no. From the drop down menu select SUA for UPS model and click next. Select USB port and click next. PowerChute will install and should communicate with the UPS. 

[BillP]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your reply. I'll give this a shot and post how it goes.

[BillP]

Hi Bill,

I've followed your steps and the steps outlined in the article but nether have worked. I noticed the OSs referenced in the article do not include Server 2016 but whether this is simply an oversight or the OS is not supported, I don't know.

In the Device Manager, there is no entry called Battery or APC UPS. There is an entry under Universal Serial Bus controllers which appears when I connect the USB communications cable called "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Failed Request)". Trying to update the drivers for this item results in failure as "The best driver software for your device is already installed" and I get a pop-up appear in the system tray saying Windows does not recognise this device.

Thanks

[BillP]

Hi,

When a UPS is first connected to the system Windows should automatically recognize the UPS and install HID UPS Battery in the Device Manager under Batteries. At a minimum the system should list the internal battery in the device manager. Since the system does not list any batteries that indicates system corruption. 

To correct the issue you will need to roll the system back to a known good point, restore, or reinstall if there is no restore point. 

[BillP]

Hi Bill,

Rolling the server OS back or reinstalling is not an option really, it was working fine with the v9 agent and nothing else has changed.

Server 2016 does detect there is a device connected but cannot recognise it for some reason. Interestingly, when I connect another SUA device (identical model originally on Windows 7 machine), Server 2016 picks it up immediately with no problem suggesting it is not a problem with the OS. Conversely, when the problematic device is connected to the Windows 7 machine, which has also recently been updated to the v10 agent, it fails to be recognised there too.

This makes me think the problem lies at the UPS end. Do you think it could be firmware incompatibility with the v10 agent?

Thanks in advance

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The OS should discover the device as a APC UPS irregardless of PowerChute being installed. As mentioned earlier when the UPS is first connected it should be displayed in the Device Manager under Batteries as HID UPS Battery. 

Since the issue follow the UPS you could uninstall PowerChute, disconnect the USB cable, brain dead the UPS (see Schneider Electric FAQ FA156611), restart the OS. Verify if HID UPS Battery is available in the Device Manager. 

If the UPS is recognized properly install PowerChute. If it is not then that indicates and issue with USB comm. At that point the option would be to brain dead the UPS and connect using Serial comm. Then install PowerChute. 

Something else you can use to check USB comm is USBDeview.exe See FAQ FA283181