apcupsd 3.14.14 not finding Back-UPS 550 on Mac OS 10.14.5

[Anonymous user]

Hi, I have a Back-UPS 550 that I'd like to use to shut down two computers when the power goes out. I installed apcupsd 3.14.14 from http://www.apcupsd.org/ on the same Mac to which the Back-UPS is connected (via USB) and checked that /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf is appropriately configured. The defaults seem sane:

UPSCABLE usb
UPSTYPE usb
DEVICE
LOCKFILE /var/tmp
SCRIPTDIR /etc/apcupsd
PWRFAILDIR /etc/apcupsd
NOLOGINDIR /etc
ONBATTERYDELAY 6
BATTERYLEVEL 5
MINUTES 3
TIMEOUT 0
ANNOY 300
ANNOYDELAY 60
NOLOGON disable
KILLDELAY 0
NETSERVER on
NISIP 0.0.0.0
NISPORT 3551
EVENTSFILE /var/log/apcupsd.events
EVENTSFILEMAX 10

Yes, I gave the developer permission in System Preferences / Security & Privacy / General / Allow...

According to the docs, a simple kext is supposed to prevent Mac OS from finding the UPS and showing it under Energy Saver / UPS. However it still shows up under Shutdown Options as Back-UPS ES 550G FW:904.W1 .D USB FW:W1. I also checked, and though the kext is installed in /System/Library/Extensions/ApcupsdDummy.kext, kextstat doesn't show it as loaded. I also tried forcing it to load with sudo kextload. It still doesn't appear in kextstat -l. So I'm guessing there's a problem with the kext.

apcagent shows up in the status line with a red ?, shows UPS: , and under status shows STATUS: COMMLOST. 

Each reboot, an additional "Communications with UPS lost." appears under Events.

It seems that Mac OS is grabbing the USB connection to the Back-UPS, which prevents apcupsd from connecting to it.

Not sure if related, but Mac OS also warned that either apcupsd or apcagent would not be compatible with a future Mac OS version. They probably need to be built with a newer Xcode.

Any ideas? thanks

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I recommend checking the APCUPSD mail list. http://www.apcupsd.org/wordpress/email-lists/

If needed you can request assistance there of others that are running Mac OSX 10.14 with APCUPSD.