UPS does not auto shutdown PC.

[Anonymous user]

Hello ppl. I recently purchased an APC BE650Y UPS. Plugged in the cables, the USB, installed the PowerChute software for windows XP. The software recognizes the UPS, did a dry run with a power cut and the UPS displays whether the PC is on Power or Battery.
Now I edited the auto shutdown part to "Shutdown my PC when it has been on battery backup power for 5 mins". Did a dry run but the UPS did not shutdown the PC even after it was on for about 7 mins. The box where it says 'Estimated time before shutdown' mentioned the time as -- mins. My question is why did the UPS not auto shutdown the PC automatically?

Thanks in advance for answering 🙂

[Erasmus_apc]

What operating system are you running, and what version of PCPE is currently in use? Are you using the USB cable that came with the UPS or your own? Also, have you ever experienced any "lost communication" messages from the software? Many of our software offerings have built in delays to prevent a premature shutdown from causing issues with the OS...did you plug the UPS back in right at the 7 minute mark?

[Anonymous user]

OS - Windows XP, Version being used is 2.0, this is the one which came in the cd along with the UPS. I'm using the USB cable that came with the UPS. Haven't experienced any lost communication messages from the software. I ran the UPS for more than the scheduled time set in PowerChute Software but it didn't shut down the PC.
Thanks for replying.

[Erasmus_apc]

Are there any events shown in the Windows event log that relate to the OS shutting down or even any programs closing? You said that the UPS said it was on battery but did PowerChute recognize the power event in its own "events" display (should say "Blackouts = 1" basically)? Also, when looking at your taskbar do you have a different battery icon as if Windows itself thinks the PC is laptop or has a battery? If you go to "Power Options" in your Control Panel do you have a Power Meter tab that shows a battery charge level or the ability to set any on battery alarms?

Please paste a screenshot of the "Technical Details/Data" and "About" screens within PowerChute, and also a screenshot of your Device Manager in Windows showing the extended/expanded information for "Batteries" and "HID Devices".

[Anonymous user]

Yes PowerChute did recognize the blackout. When I put back the power on, a notification came that the UPS is running on AC Power. Evident from the SS




Technical Details:

Power Options:

About:

Device Manager:

[Techie_apc]

Does your Computer hibernate properly when you do it manually? Is the Hibernation enabled in Power Options?

[Anonymous user]

Yes Hibernation is enabled in Power Options. Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance.

[Erasmus_apc]

Did you install PCPE as the local system Administrator? Also, can you do another test after making sure Windows is logging System Events? There should be some record of the software interacting with the operating system.

[Anonymous user]

Yup, I'm the only user/Admin. See this SS.. it shows its running on battery with shutdown time as zero but the system continues to work as i type this.

And how do I make sure that Windows is logging System Events? Is there a chance that my Firewall (Zone Alarm) or Antivirus (Nod32) are interfering the PowerChute software? I don't get any notification in zonealarm asking for access, etc.

[Erasmus_apc · Accepted solution]

You should be able to go into your Local Policy settings via Administrator Tools in your control panel and turn on all System Event auditing, etc. If Windows is given a shutdown command it should show up in Windows specific logs or System logs, viewable through the Event Viewer in the Control Panel -> Admin Tools.

Yes, Anti-Virus tools can cause issues with our software, so please disable them for testing. They can control what services have what control over the system in many cases.