SmartUPS 1500 with AP9617 network card - USB doesn't work?

[DazOG]

Hi,

Hoping that someone might be able to shed some light on this.

I've got a SUA1500I (APC SmartUPS 1500) UPS with an AP9617 network card installed in the slot. The network card functions fine - I can connect to the IP address, view logs, run diagnostics and change configuration etc. The unit is just over 3 years old, manufacture date 1st November 2005 - so out of warranty.

The problem I have is that the built-in USB port on the back of the unit seems to be non-functional. When I plug my computer into this port it does not even see the UPS (doesn't even show up as an unknown device). I've tried connecting other PCs to the USB cable including a Linux server and Mac laptop and none of them even register the USB as being connected. Since Windows does not even register the UPS as connected - the PowerChute software doesn't find the UPS either.

I'm 99% confident that this used to work when I first had the unit, I used to be able to see the UPS in Windows (XP) and have an icon on the systray where I could see the current status, battery charge, etc. I want to be able to get this native UPS-handling functionality back.

I read once that there was some kind of issue/feature with the SmartUPS which meant you couldn't use the serial port and USB port simultaneously, but I wasn't aware of any issue with running a network card alongside the USB and as mentioned I'm pretty certain I used to do this back when I first had the unit (it has had a network card installed from new).

I've tried brain-deading the unit to no avail - it just seems like the USB connector does nothing. Very strange - I've never heard of a USB port failing before which makes me think there is something trivial or undocumented that I'm missing.

Any help gratefully received.

Thanks,

Daz

[DazOG]

Ah right, so are you basically saying that if I have the network card installed I should expect the built-in USB and serial ports to stop functioning? Not that I'm doubting your answer but I can't see any kind of official confirmation of this behaviour in the documentation I have.

Also, I am fairly certain that at some point in time both USB and network card worked simultaneously - that is to say I was able to run network-aware software on my Linux box (apcupsd), and the native UPS support in Windows XP/Vista through the direct USB connection to the UPS..... ?

[BillP · Accepted solution]

The USB isn't really disabled, however as I said the Network Card is going to monopolize that communication line to the intelligent portion of the unit. As a result you 'may' periodically see communication through native support/PCBE etc on usb/serial but it is not going to be consistent, or is it supported.

The short of it is that, most likely you will not have this work with any form of consistency, and it was not designed to operate that way.

[DazOG]

Ok thanks, at least that puts my mind at ease - I just assumed it was faulty. Seems like strange behaviour though. 🙂

[DazOG]

Forgot to mention - this is the relevant version number info I get when I connect to the network card:

American Power Conversion Network Management Card AOS v3.6.1
*(c) Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved Smart-UPS & Matrix-UPS APP v3.5.8*

[BillP]

Durzel,

When the UPS has an attached Network Management Card, communication to the other forms of Power Chute, such as Business Edition will not work. The Network Management Card demands a great deal of communication to the unit itself, and when it is in the unit basically monopolizes the communication bus of the unit. This will cause you to see no overt communication on the other forms of connection with the unit itself, and only to the Network Management Card itself. At best you might see sporadic communication to something like PCBE but it will not function properly. They are not designed to work together.

If you prefer to use PCBE you will need to uninstall the Network Card, or if you wish to use the network card, you will not be able to use Business Edition.

Hope this helps.

Message was edited by: syn2083

[Anonymous user]

hi,
In SmartUPS 1500 USB should work with AP9617 card. The serial port and USB dont work at same time. USB has priority over serial if both serial and USB are plugged in.
your problem is something else. the network card does not monopolize the port as mentioned in posts above. USB commuinication should be consistent,

Message was edited by: ups_user

[DazOG]

Ok, so I was possibly right in my first assessment?

As mentioned originally I am sure that both network card and USB worked when I first installed the UPS.

[Anonymous user]

hi Durzel
your original interpretation is correct. network card and usb can work together.