SYMIM2 debug mode

[ksquare_apc]

While requesting a formatted dump of all power module status via the serial port on the Battery Communications panel, I get only a partial record (sometimes 398 bytes, sometimes 409 bytes). Returned records are always truncated. The firmware rev on the SYMIM2 that I am testing with is 112. I am running at the correct baud rate and have successfully placed the MIM in debug mode. It's acting like the MIM processor gives up in the middle of my request. Any help?

[Anonymous user]

It sounds like you are losing bytes over a long serial line. What serial cable do you have? Are you using the correct APC serial cable, part number 940-0024C? Also some usb to serial converters can lose received packets. The only trouble I have had in debug mode is the different strings received from different Intelligence Modules such as SYMIM, SYMIM2, and SYMIM3.

[BillP]

I was not aware the SYMIM2 had a debug mode.. can you post a screenshot of what you received? I was curious if you were really talking to the Network Management Card or a different interface. SYMIM5 on Symmetra LX has a special debug/diagnostic port for APC use usually and then larger 3 phase Symmetra MIMs like SYMIM4 and SYMIM6 offer some logs...

This UPS you have is a Symmetra Power Array, correct?

[ksquare_apc]

Hi Angela,

Yes I am working on a Symmetra Power Array. No, I am not talking to the Network Management Card. I am usng the DB9 serial connection labeled Computer Interface.

GvRsYtiE898WnGsmNjS8cA%3D%3D.jpeg

I have found debug mode to work with SYMIM2, RM12000 & RM6000. It only partly works with the PX(SYMIM4), LX(SYMIM5) & SURT 6000XL. Besides debug mode, I am pulling lots of other data in real-time. Too much to describe here. Thanks Jamis. I also thought about a shorter cable. Mine is probably in excess of 50 feet. Will try.

[ksquare_apc]

I tried with a short cable (about 6 feet) but still get a truncated result. Here is what I get when requesting power module info in debug mode:

 [-------- UPS MODULE NUMBER -------]                        [01]    [02]    [03]    [04]    [05]                         0       0       0       0       1    001     Module_Control_1:   00      00      00      00      04        Module_Control_2:   00      00      00      00      00         Module_Status_1:   00      00      00      00      E1         Module_Status_2:   00      00      00      0

The only power module in the system was in level 5. Wondering where the rest of the data is?

[BillP]

Okay, you are either talking to the Network Management Card through that DB-9 port, as it communicates to the serial bus the management card is on or you may be talking UPS-Link directly to the UPS. Can you provide more details on the commands/sequence you're using to get this info?

[ksquare_apc]

Sure Angela but do you want that info published here?

[BillP]

Hi Ken,

You can post it. Depending on what I see, I can always remove it if it shouldn't be shared.

[ksquare_apc]

Hi Angela,

Here is what I'm doing. I send the following to place MIM in Debug Mode:

ALT129, ALT254

ALT129, ALT245

ALT129, ALT202

ALT129, ALT255

Then I send the character 4 to get power module info. The response to this request is the problem. It's not complete.

[Terry_Kennedy_apc]

It is possible that this is a flow control problem. If the program you are using for a terminal emulator sends a ^S to try to pause the MIM's output, the MIM may interpret that as a request to cancel sending the response.

I would not expect to see that problem on most modern systems / terminal emulators as they should be more than fast enough to receive data at the speed the MIM provides it, but anything is possible.

[BillP]

We don't do any type of debug for SYMIM2 in support so these instructions are new to me. I don't have any documentation on this mode either so I am at a loss on what the issue may be personally.

[voidstar_apc]

That's impressively obscure! I have to wonder how anyone found that debug mode. I can't find anything about it googling the public internet.

[Terry_Kennedy_apc]

Some of us have EPROM/microcontroller programmers

[ksquare_apc]

Terry - not using a terminal emulator. I'm using an actual program I wrote. It works with Symmetra - LX - PX - SUVT - SURT - Smart UPS 1000 - Smart-UPS 1000 XL - Smart UPS 1500 - Symmetra RM 12000 - Symmetra RM 6000 - Symmetra 16000 so far. It displays tons of info in real-time & saves reports. Works great except the problem I've mentioned here. This problem actually didn't exist until recently. The MIM was probably changed recently.

voidstar & Terry - I too have an EPROM/microcontroller programmer but not the huge amounts of time it would take to make sense of it all. I do have an APC manual that covers this stuff in great detail. I don't know where it originally came from but I've put it to good use. Everything the SNMP interface can provide comes from the MIM. I'm just bypassing SNMP and going directly to the MIM via the RS232 serial port.

Angela - As an APC/Schneider employee, this manual should be available to you internally. Email me & I'll give you the title. It's loaded with info (192pgs).

[ksquare_apc]

Sorry for the verbosity but I ran my test on three other Symmetra systems. I reformatted the output by removing non-printing characters and inserting CR-LF in useful places.

First is a "bad" system response:

SYMIM2
FW: 103
Slv: 203 Hw: 700

[-------- UPS MODULE NUMBER -------]
[01]    [02]    [03]    [04]    [05]
0       0       0       0       1    001
Module_Control_1:   00      00      00      00      04
Module_Control_2:   00      00      00      00      00
Module_Status_1:   00      00      00      00      E1
Module_Status_2:   00      00      00      0

Here is a "good" system response:

SYMIM2
FW: 137
Slv: 210

and

SYMIM
FW: A20
Slv: C16

[-------- UPS MODULE NUMBER -------]
[01]    [02]    [03]    [04]    [05]
0       1       1       1       0    001
Module_Control_1:   00      04      04      04      00
Module_Control_2:   00      00      00      00      00
Module_Status_1:   00      67      67      67      00
Module_Status_2:   00      5B      5B      5B      00
Module_Faults_1:   00      00      00      00      00
Module_Faults_2:   00      00      00      00      00
Module_Diagnostics:   00      C7      C7      C6      00
Module_Line_Status:   00      02      02      02      00
Module_Internal_Flags:   00      09      09      09      00
Output_Power: 0000.0  0360.0  0324.0  0342.0  0000.0  Watts
DC_Bus_Plus:  000.0   380.6   376.2   378.4   000.0  Vdc
DC_Bus_Minus:  000.0   378.4   376.2   378.4   000.0  Vdc
VAC_In:  000.0   235.5   235.5   243.2   000.0  Vac
V_Batt_In:  000.0   134.2   134.2   134.2   000.0  Vdc
PFC_Current_Plus:  000.0   001.2   001.0   001.0   000.0  Amps
PFC_Current_Minus:  000.0   001.0   001.0   001.0   000.0  Amps
I_MS:   00      04      03      03      00
Module Temperature:   00      62      62      62      00
OutputVoltage:  244.2   CurrentOutInAmps:  005.3
VA_OutInVA: 1302.6    PowerOutInWatts: 1315.0

As you can see, there is a lot of data missing on the "bad" system which otherwise seems to work fine. My program takes all that data, parses it and displays it in real-time.

[Terry_Kennedy_apc · Accepted solution]

Yowzah! That's an old MIM2 you have there. on my MIM3 (which sort-of tracked MIM2 versions for a while) I have 143/226 and that's from 8 years ago.

Can you contact me out-of-band? My contact info is a link at the bottom of every page on http://www.tmk.com - thanks!