SmartUPS 1500 Drops Communication (And Restores) at Same Time Nightly

[Anonymous user]

I have a SmartUPS 1500 at one of my locations that is managed using the powerchute software from another location. The agent is installed at the location of this smartUPS.

We have a really strange problem, in which the UPS drops communication EVERY evening within a few seconds after 11pm. Of the dozens of these in our enterprise, this is the only one that exhibits this behavior. There are no scheduled tasks on the server, and I have manually set the USB hub to "not power off to conserve energy".

The logs in windows don't seem to provide much assistance either, they say the same thing as the APC log.

Has anyone ever come across this?


9/16/11 00:07:20 Online (Green Mode) - Entered
9/15/11 23:11:29 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:11:23 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:10:54 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:10:41 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:10:02 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:09:41 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:09:06 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:08:53 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:08:32 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:08:29 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:08:04 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:07:45 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:07:29 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:07:13 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:07:00 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:05:15 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:04:55 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:04:45 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:02:14 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:01:25 Communication Lost
9/15/11 23:01:02 Communication Established
9/15/11 23:00:46 Communication Lost

[Anonymous user]

I have noticed the same issue on a clients server. They are running Windows Server 2008 R2, UPS is Smart-UPS 1500. They have the same communication lost issue occurring about one or two times a week. It will occur a few seconds after 7:00am or 12:00pm.

I checked all kinds of schedules on the server, and the only thing that corresponded was the Volume Shadow Copy kicking in at those times. You might want to check if that is also happening for you at your 11:00pm time period.

I have not found any solution to the issue or anyway to adjust the sensitivity of the APC/UPS agent losing connectivity. But I am leaning to it being related to the VSC process.

David

[Anonymous user]

Ah I understand 🙂

It says Just Smart UPS 1500 in the software, It has configurable outlet groups and also has an LCD screen.

There is not much of anything in the rack, it is located as low as you can go in the rack and the only thing along with it is a single 2u server which is what shows the errors on it at 11pm.

[BillP]

From the looks of it, it could either be an SMT or SMX unit since these two models are equipped with an LCD.

Like what i_picked_a_winna said, do you have any knowledge if there's any program that might be running around that time that could interfere with the USB communication? How about rebuilding/reinstalling the APC USB device on your device manager?

[Anonymous user]

We've removed and reinstalled the software several times, is there a way I can check the current firmware and if necessary, update it?

[BillP]

Since you are using USB, from your device manager it should come up either HID Battery or APC UPS. Which one do you have?

With regards to the firmware, if you are infront of the UPS you can use the LCD display and the buttons to navigate and grab the UPS firmware. It is located under About. The firmware can be updated but you have to call our Technical Support for it requires a special procedure and instructions and should only be done with the rep on the phone.

[Anonymous user]

Anyone got any ideas at all? 😞

[BillP]

Hi Kruzen,

What method of communication are you using? Is it USB or Serial? From your logs it shows that it happened last September, does it still occur today? Can you also provide the exact model number of the UPS and if it is an SMT/SMX unit can you tell us the firmware that is loaded on the UPS.

[Anonymous user]

Hey There,

The problem occurs every evening at 11PM on sharp. As mentioned previously, there is no server tasks or scheduled processes also occuring at 11PM. (or just before)

We are using USB, we have the latest version of the powerchute software installed as a server elsewhere in our enterprise and have the agent installed on this server. The two communicate just fine and we manage the UPS through the server software.

9.0.0.613 is the version of the business agent.

The model is a Smart UPS 1500, I'm not sure what more specific I can be abou the model. I also don't know what SMT/SMX means or how to find the firmware model.

[BillP]

for what JonPro asked for, does it say Smart UPS X 1500 on the unit in the software or just Smart UPS 1500? Do you know if the UPS has an LCD screen or just LEDs? Does it have outlet groups you can configure?

he just wants to know what model UPS it is since we have a few 1500s.

for the overall issue, it does sound like something is always running - what about something that runs around that time thats mounted above or below it in a rack or installed near it that might cause some interference on the USB cable?

[Anonymous user]

The UPS shows up as APC UPS in device manager.

I've attached a picture to show it's presence in other areas of device manager as well.

Unfortunately this server is about an hour and a half drive away so physical access isn't always easy, doing my best to trouble shoot before heading out there again (we've made several trips to re-connect and check connections trying to diagnose this)

[Anonymous user]

Hi All, anything else to look at?

[BillP]

so you were not able to find anything mounted above or below it that runs a task at around that same time? is trying a serial connection to see if it does it to a feasible option?

[Anonymous user]

Correct, there is nothing environmentally/locally located that would effect it at 11pm. I will look into the serial cable. Is there any other ideas I can try while on site?

[BillP]

well, i have not seen this on this type of UPS with an older firmware or anything. someone asked me about a ferrite bead for something else today randomly and now that is in my mind, i wonder if it would be good to try - if i understand how they work correctly. does the USB cable have one? i havent seen one in a while.

trying a serial cable might be a good option though to rule out the cable and an issue with the USB port on the unit. if you have tried a different USB port, then i am not sure what else to try. i also don't know if its possible to try and move it to a different computer for one night just as a test before we pursue other options like a replacement unit. i know it might be a hassle to do that.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for all the input..

I'll see if I can put some of the recommendations into practice and get back with more information, you've been super helpful!

[Unglood_apc]

I am getting this too.

Every night that the Server Backup runs. At 10:00pm the Backup starts and runs for 5 or 6 hours. Email notifications attached. (How do I stop either the Agent computer or the APC Server notifications. We don't need two).
Strangely enough there are also email notifications at 6:15am when Backup is not happening.

It's an SMT1500RM2U
It's on a Dell PowerEdge 2850 (W2K3) - you know Dell's always solid with their USB ports!!
I suspect moving the USB drive to a W2K8 Server is the quickest way to go on this.
There is also an SMT1500RM2U on a W2K8 member server. Never a glitch!

So, Why the APC comms lost over USB and How to stop dupl;icate emails?

Thanks.

[BillP]

if you go into the email configuration for powerchute business edition, it should allow you to edit your email notifications and disable/enable which ones you want. i think what your issue is that you have email configured using the powerchute business edition Agent web interface and then you also are using the powerchute business edition console GUI. only one or the other should be used to manage the UPS so you just need to disable one of these email alerts. are you familiar with accessing the web agent via https://:6547? the console is probably a program located in your start menu and opens in a purplish GUI versus the web browser.

[Unglood_apc]

Thanks for the tip on disabling the alerts. I disabled on the Web interface of the directly connected USB server. Now I only get 3 "Communication Lost" emails a night (10:30pm, 2:15am and 6:30am) instead of 6. Progress indeed!

In response to David's post above, "I have not found any solution to the issue or anyway to adjust the sensitivity of the APC/UPS agent losing connectivity. But I am leaning to it being related to the VSC process." There is no VSC process happening on the Server here in question. It is a (Dell) W2K3 DC, file server and Backup to USB server.

I think it must be related to the Backup in as much as this doesn't happen on the weekend! The Backup is just a simple xcopy batch file/script.

This communication does not occur on a (Dell) W2K8 Server with no backup occurring.

Does anyone have any solution to this irritating APC UPS agent losing USB connectivity to it's host? (Disabling the email alert is not a solution but, a workaround)

Thanks.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

USB cables are pretty well shielded and shouldn't require any sort of ferrite bead for interference reduction. The bead (a bit of a misnomer, it's a rectangular box about 1.5" long) shipped with UPS models that used the modular handset cable for communication to external battery packs (I2C bus). It was to keep electrical noise from getting out, not in.