Problem with BP500UC rev B5 firmware ? ? ?

[Anonymous user]

We've been using the BP500UC for quite some time now with good results.
It seems that some time in the last 6 months or so the USB firmware changed
from rev B4 to rev B5, and now we're having problems.

What's happening is that upon a power failure, the system (windows 2k based)
runs on battery for a while, shuts windows down, and then powers off which is
all normal. At this point though, all the leds on the UPS start blinking (less the
overload led) which is not normal. Upon power being restored, the UPS remains
in this weird state, and will not power up. The only thing that will get the UPS out
of this state is the unplugging of the USB cable. Prior to rev B5 all worked fine during/
after a power failure.

FYI we've got an open case number at APC for this problem for the last week or so,
with no resolution yet.

Anyone seen this type of problem ?

- thanks -

[Anonymous user]

Tried 6 different BP500UC's and as many different USB cables. No difference.
Even tried an additional 2 more BP500UC's (which are RMA units to replace the
first 2 units that showed up with this problem), which have newer date codes but the
same firmware rev ... with same results. Everything I've tried (dozen's of units) with
date codes of week 36 of 2006 or older (with rev B4 or older firmware) work fine.
Everything I've tried with 2007 vintage date codes (and rev B5 firmware) don't appear
to work properly.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

As a note, one of our units should be in the able hands of the East Kingston, RI
engineers today. Hopefully they'll be able to reproduce the problem and have
a fix (assuming it's broken) soon.

[Anonymous user]

Just wanted to note that the problem was confirmed at APC's West Kingston facility
this past Friday, and that they have sent the BP500UC to an engineering group in
Maine for further analysis.

[Anonymous user]

Looks like APC has a good handle on what the problem is and
is working on a new firmware version. If there's any interest, let
me know and I can explain the details as they've been explained
to me by APC.

[BillP]

Interesting...This is good stuff. Hopefully it can get resolved as quickly as possible and help us narrow down problems faster in the future. I'd like to see how it turns out.

[Anonymous user]

We've been using the BP500UC for quite some time now with good results.
It seems that some time in the last 6 months or so the USB firmware changed
from rev B4 to rev B5, and now we're having problems.

What's happening is that upon a power failure, the system (windows 2k based)
runs on battery for a while, shuts windows down, and then powers off which is
all normal. At this point though, all the leds on the UPS start blinking (less the
overload led) which is not normal. Upon power being restored, the UPS remains
in this weird state, and will not power up. The only thing that will get the UPS out
of this state is the unplugging of the USB cable. Prior to rev B5 all worked fine during/
after a power failure.

FYI we've got an open case number at APC for this problem for the last week or so,
with no resolution yet.

Anyone seen this type of problem ?

- thanks -

[Anonymous user]

Have you tried a different USB cable? Is it going straight to the cpu, not through a USB hub?

You may want to have the UPS replaced, or at least try a separate cable.

Thanks.

[Anonymous user]

Oh hey everyone from this 9 year old thread. I don't suppose you happen to have that B4 firmware handy? The APC support pages removed the firmware a couple of years ago. I have a fleet of BP500UC units that really need it.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Jason,

The BP500UC firmware cannot be upgraded or downgraded unfortunately.