Monitor (2) Backups RS 1500 on same machine?

[Anonymous user]

I Have a large rackmount server that controls the automation, AV, etc for my entire house. I have a true, redundant power supply with (2) power cords feeding into the server. I have (2) APC Backups RS 1500 (each with the BR24BP) and a copy of Powerchute Personal Edition instilled on the server. Is there any way to get PE to monitor 2 devices, or is there a business addition of the Powerchute software that supports my devices?

[BillP]

Hi,

With Back-UPS and PowerChute you can only be monitored by 1 system at a time. With Smart-UPS that have Network Management Cards installed you could connect each to the Network and then install PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS). PCNS will monitor up to 4 UPS a a time.

I have seen a few post on the APCUPSD forum / list group where people are attempting to monitor multiple UPS (Smart-UPS and Back-UPS) from a single system. I don't recall the thread/s but APCUPSD my be a solution for you.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks Bill,

It looks promising, but I'll have to play with it abit to see if it will do what I'm looking for. I'm configuring it now, hopefully this will do the job. If you have a computer running your entire house, you have to make sure it's rock solid, AND keep a close eye on it lol.

[Anonymous user]

Well so far I haven't been able to get APCUPSD to recognise either one of my UPS's, let alone both. I've read every one of the install guides, tried every setting in the config file, etc. Both work fine with the PowerChute software, just can't monitor both at the same time, on the same machine that way 😞

[BillP]

Hi,

Since you are using Back-UPS communications must be over USB.  Did you install the APCUPSD USB driver? On Windows when I have install APCUPSD it asks me if I want to install the needed driver but the installation fails so I have to follow the instruction listed in install.txt to load the driver manually. The file install.txt is normally found in C:\apcupsd\driver. Once the driver is loaded communications is established. 

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I have it configured for USB, along with all the other recommended settings for USB type in the configuration file but no dice. The latest versions are preconfigured for USB devices anyways, but I verified everything matched the instructions none the less. I'm not 100% on the driver. I see the driver.ini file and I installed it. I can either of the UPS's to show up in device manager under BOTH batteries AND HID dvices, but still no communication. I manually specified the driver as instructed, and when it finishes, device manager shows a driver date of 2006/Microsoft. I have repeated this process many times,using every trickI can think of with the same results. I've uninstalled and reinstalled APCUPSD, restarted the server, etc. When I run the APCTEST utility (with APCUPSD services stopped) it always comes back with a fatal error during port configuration at line 321.