Unable to factory reset AP9617

[Anonymous user]

Hey all,

I have a few AP9617's in my environment that we have lost the passwords to.. Following the procedure on the APC site to factory reset them, I am unable to get the username and password back to "apc".

Following the instructions, I have initiated the reset procedure by applying the reset button (and then re-applying it when the Status LED is flashing amber/green as per instructed). I then attempt to connect to it via a serial connection in HyperTerminal (using the 940-1524 cable, 2400bps, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit and no flow control) and am unable to communicate with the console.

The web interface still maintains the same IP address and I am able to connected to it, but unable to login with apc/apc.

Any ideas? These units are a bit old so I doubt APC will support them anymore as they're discontinued. Not sure where to go on this one.

Thanks,E

[Anonymous user]

Hey all,

I have a few AP9617's in my environment that we have lost the passwords to.. Following the procedure on the APC site to factory reset them, I am unable to get the username and password back to "apc".

Following the instructions, I have initiated the reset procedure by applying the reset button (and then re-applying it when the Status LED is flashing amber/green as per instructed). I then attempt to connect to it via a serial connection in HyperTerminal (using the 940-1524 cable, 2400bps, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit and no flow control) and am unable to communicate with the console.

The web interface still maintains the same IP address and I am able to connected to it, but unable to login with apc/apc.

Any ideas? These units are a bit old so I doubt APC will support them anymore as they're discontinued. Not sure where to go on this one.

Thanks,E

[BillP]

do you have something else in the second slot? that is the only thing that would matter, the rest is the same.

if both slots are full and something is installed in the wrong order, it could be preventing us from communicating with the AP9617. if there is something else in the other slot, let me know if it has a model number on it.

thanks!

[BillP]

we certainly will support these cards in this fashion.

did you follow [this article|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7879]?

you need to push the reset button, the status LED will flash rapidly. When that happens, you need to push the reset button a second time, where then the LED will go off. at that time, go to your serial connection in hyperterminal and keep pressing enter until presented with a username and password prompt. upon getting the prompt, enter apc/apc as you mentioned. once you've gained access, you need to go to the System menu to actually reset the username and password. this reset procedure only temporarily resets the credentials back to apc/apc.

you want to go to the system->user mananger menu and then select administrator to change.

hope that helps.

P.S. - this procedure only temporarily resets the user name and password. it will not reset any other settings, such as the IP address.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the reply.

As per my previous post, I did follow those exact instructions but I am unable to access the card.

Nothing appears in HyperTerminal (even bashing the enter key 100 times).

Here's exactly what I did

1) Preset the reset button
2) wait about 1 second until the status led flashed repeatedly amber/green
3) Press the reset button again (at this point the card re-cycles, turns off and turns back on)
4) In hyperterminal, I slam the enter key repeatedly
5) ... nothing happens.

I know the serial connection works because we've used it on another system (non APC UPS).

I'm getting the same problem with all 5 of my Smart-UPS's.. I can't get into any of them.

EDIT: I should add that I've also tried a different cable (940-1524)

Message was edited by: Stokkes

[BillP]

ok so even if you just connect, without pushing the reset button (and you dont know the password), you do not even get a user name and password prompt? do you have a different computer with a serial port to try? are you sure you are using the right COM port settings? i find it highly unlikely there is an issue with all (5) units not being accessible unless something else is going on

i have had some luck with doing the following in certain conditions:

1.) establish a connection at the aforementioned port settings (2400, etc)
2.) hang up the call in hyperterminal but leave the connection open
3.) go to the file ->properties menu
4.) click on configure and just "confirm" the port settings. click ok on all of the port dialog boxes
5.) re-establish the hyperterminal call with the device and at the bottom of the hyperterminal window, instead of autodetect, you should see 2400-8-N-1

sometimes when i do that, i get better luck with the actual hyperterminal program because even if you specify port settings, it seems to try and auto detect them.

if this does not work, i would try a port speed of 9600 using this method if you havent already. incase someone changed it.

[BillP]

nope, just an earlier revision of the cable. will work fine.

[Anonymous user]

Alright, so I went back and tried a few other things, but long story short, no success. I'm not sure what else I can do. To break it down, this is what I've done so far.

Essentially, when I plug the serial cable and hit enter in HyperTerminal, I don't get anything (either before or after the reset).

- Tried two different 940-1524c cables
- Tried your trick to reconfigure HyperTerminal - it went from "autodetect" at the bottom to "2400-8-N-1", but still wasn't able to connect
- Disconnected/reconnected a bunch of times just to see
- Tried bauds 1200 all the way to 19200
- Tried COM1 and COM4
- Tried 2 different PCs with serial ports
- Tried using HyperTerminal and PuTTY

And yes, it doesn't make sense that it's all my 5 UPSes, but it is.. I can't access any of them (I get a login prompt via the IP address of the UPS, but obviously can't login).

[BillP]

hmm ok. what if you remove the NMC from the slot on the UPS then connect at 2400 to the UPS serial port and do the command of Shift + Y - do you get anything?

this is what the back of that UPS looks like right?

http://www.apc.com/products/moreimages.cfm?partnum=SUA5000RMT5U&type=Back

with the serial port next to the blue EPO?

[Anonymous user]

Actually, it looks like: http://www.apc.com/products/moreimages.cfm?partnum=SU5000R5TBX135&type=Back
(but with the AP9617 in the empty slot you see in that picture).

Does that make a difference?

[BillP]

hmm ok. are you able to temporarily remove the AP9607 and try to get to the AP9617 when its installed by itself? i believe these are installed in the same order but i think that the AP9607 is blocking us.is the AP9607 actually connected to anything?

you should be connecting to the serial port on the UPS itself, not the one on the AP9607 by the way. if you are doing that, move the serial cable to the one on the UPS and retry at 2400. if you were using the serial port on the UPS the entire time, try to just unseat the AP9607 and try again.

[Anonymous user]

That fixed it.. Wow, what a pain.

Removing AP9607 and going through the reset procedure as the article states worked as expected. You'd think that would be documented somewhere.

Many thanks again for your assistance on this matter, it's much appreciated.

[BillP]

well i am in charge of updating that password reset procedure. certain accessories block the communication but most do not. i will update the knowledgebase to indicate that it may be required to remove additional accessories installed.

glad we're set!

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

My AP9617 is plugged into a Smart UPS 750 but I don't have a serial cable. I bought the card second hand, figured out its IP but cann't reset the un/pwd. Is there a way to to this without that cable ? In any case, is this cable a simple RS232 cable or is it something special ?

[Anonymous user]

The APC cables have varying levels of weird pinouts*, and a generic RS-232 cable won't work. The APC folks feel that the cable pinouts are proprietary and can't tell you how they're wired. But if you do a generic search on the Internet you'll probably be able to find the information. A Google search for "apc 940-1524 pinout" returns useful results. APC might tell you that using a non-APC cable will void your warranty (which you don't have if you bought a second-hand unit, anyway). A reading of 15 USC 2302(c) would be informative.

*Note: For historic reasons, this used to make sense. The earliest APC models didn't have microcontrollers with serial ports, so they did "dumb signaling" by asserting / deasserting signals which were then interpreted by the PC's serial port as "carrier detect", etc. The pinout was intentionally wierd so that using a normal cable didn't do strange things to either the UPS or the PC. When better microcontrollers were added to the UPS design, it was easier to use some of the previously-unused pins than to switch over to an industry-standard pinout. Plus, it meant that the software on the PC side didn't need to be changed as the old signals were still in the same place.

That's the history. I find it inexplicable that APC won't tell people the pinouts of their cables. And there have been some new abominations along the way, like a USB cable with the APC end being an RJ connector! (SU3000RM, for example)

None of this is a dig at the helpful APC folks here - they have to support the company's policies, regardless of how they may feel personally about the issue.

[BillP]

a non-APC serial cable wont void any warranties, it just won't work. in addition to 940-1524 cable, 940-0024 is a viable option and may be cheaper - they have the same pinouts, only one is 6ft and the other is 15ft (hence the 15 in 940-1524). There is no way to reset this model of card without the cable unfortunately.

[Anonymous user]

I'm just going by the contents of FA158607 which you posted here, which says:

+"We do not distribute cable assembly schematics to the public. Do not attempt to manufacture your own UPS communications cables, or purchase non-APC brand UPS cables. Doing so will void the warrantee of the connected APC device."+

[BillP]

ah yes. it is not an article i wrote but i imagine in relation to cables, it means if you make your own cable (using a schematic you find since we don't distribute it), we cant warranty that cable or connected in any way. we can't be responsible for any damage done with a cable not made by us.

anyway, if its out of warranty anyway, you can certainly try making your own cable or buying a used cable since there is no warranty left to void.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Just noticed that my cable is a 940-1524c .. does the "c" make a difference?