Apcupsd on Debian stretch 9 no connection to UPS?

Question

I'm trying to get apcupsd to work with my Ups (APC Back-UPS 700VA) with my server running Debian 9 stretch but can't connect to ups and get this when I run:

rene@odroidxu4-share:~$ sudo apcaccess status
[sudo] password for rene:
APC      : 001,018,0453
DATE     : 2019-01-13 18:44:10 +0000
HOSTNAME : odroidxu4-share
VERSION  : 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) debian
UPSNAME  : smartups750
CABLE    : USB Cable
DRIVER   : USB UPS Driver
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2019-01-13 18:44:00 +0000
STATUS   : COMMLOST
MBATTCHG : 5 Percent
MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT  : 0 Seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 Seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
STATFLAG : 0x05000100
END APC  : 2019-01-13 19:53:54 +0000

The problem is:

STATUS: COMMLOST - (No connection to UPS)

Despite I can see it's connected with:

rene@odroidxu4-share:~$ lsusb
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 152d:0578 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp.
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 051d:0002 American Power Conversion Uninterruptible Power Supply
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

(Bus 002 Device 002: ID 051d:0002 American Power Conversion Uninterruptible Power Supply)

Output of conf file:

sudo nano /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##
# 
# "apcupsd" POSIX config file

#
# Note that the apcupsd daemon must be restarted in order for changes to
# this configuration file to become active.
#

#
# ========= General configuration parameters ============
#

# UPSNAME xxx
#   Use this to give your UPS a name in log files and such. This
#   is particulary useful if you have multiple UPSes. This does not
#   set the EEPROM. It should be 8 characters or less.
UPSNAME smartups750

# UPSCABLE <cable>
#   Defines the type of cable connecting the UPS to your computer.
#
#   Possible generic choices for <cable> are:
#     simple, smart, ether, usb
#
#   Or a specific cable model number may be used:
#     940-0119A, 940-0127A, 940-0128A, 940-0020B,
#     940-0020C, 940-0023A, 940-0024B, 940-0024C,
#     940-1524C, 940-0024G, 940-0095A, 940-0095B,
#     940-0095C, 940-0625A, M-04-02-2000
#
UPSCABLE usb

# To get apcupsd to work, in addition to defining the cable
# above, you must also define a UPSTYPE, which corresponds to
# the type of UPS you have (see the Description for more details).
# You must also specify a DEVICE, sometimes referred to as a port.
# For USB UPSes, please leave the DEVICE directive blank. For
# other UPS types, you must specify an appropriate port or address.
#
# UPSTYPE   DEVICE           Description
# apcsmart  /dev/tty**       Newer serial character device, appropriate for 
#                            SmartUPS models using a serial cable (not USB).
#
# usb       <BLANK>          Most new UPSes are USB. A blank DEVICE
#                            setting enables autodetection, which is
#                            the best choice for most installations.
#
# net       hostname:port    Network link to a master apcupsd through apcupsd's 
#                            Network Information Server. This is used if the
#                            UPS powering your computer is connected to a 
#                            different computer for monitoring.
#
# snmp      hostname:port:vendor:community
#                            SNMP network link to an SNMP-enabled UPS device.
#                            Hostname is the ip address or hostname of the UPS 
#                            on the network. Vendor can be can be "APC" or 
#                            "APC_NOTRAP". "APC_NOTRAP" will disable SNMP trap 
#                            catching; you usually want "APC". Port is usually 
#                            161. Community is usually "private".
#
# netsnmp   hostname:port:vendor:community
#                            OBSOLETE
#                            Same as SNMP above but requires use of the 
#                            net-snmp library. Unless you have a specific need
#                            for this old driver, you should use 'snmp' instead.
#
# dumb      /dev/tty**       Old serial character device for use with 
#                            simple-signaling UPSes.
#
# pcnet     ipaddr:username:passphrase:port
#                            PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol which can be 
#                            used as an alternative to SNMP with the AP9617 
#                            family of smart slot cards. ipaddr is the IP 
#                            address of the UPS management card. username and 
#                            passphrase are the credentials for which the card 
#                            has been configured. port is the port number on 
#                            which to listen for messages from the UPS, normally 
#                            3052. If this parameter is empty or missing, the 
#                            default of 3052 will be used.
#
# modbus    /dev/tty**       Serial device for use with newest SmartUPS models
#                            supporting the MODBUS protocol.
# modbus    <BLANK>          Leave the DEVICE setting blank for MODBUS over USB
#                            or set to the serial number of the UPS to ensure 
#                            that apcupsd binds to that particular unit
#                            (helpful if you have more than one USB UPS).
#
UPSTYPE usb
DEVICE

# POLLTIME <int>
#   Interval (in seconds) at which apcupsd polls the UPS for status. This
#   setting applies both to directly-attached UPSes (UPSTYPE apcsmart, usb, 
#   dumb) and networked UPSes (UPSTYPE net, snmp). Lowering this setting
#   will improve apcupsd's responsiveness to certain events at the cost of
#   higher CPU utilization. The default of 60 is appropriate for most
#   situations.
POLLTIME 60

# LOCKFILE <path to lockfile>
#   Path for device lock file. This is the directory into which the lock file
#   will be written. The directory must already exist; apcupsd will not create
#   it. The actual name of the lock file is computed from DEVICE.
#   Not used on Win32.
LOCKFILE /var/lock

# SCRIPTDIR <path to script directory>
#   Directory in which apccontrol and event scripts are located.
SCRIPTDIR /etc/apcupsd

# PWRFAILDIR <path to powerfail directory>
#   Directory in which to write the powerfail flag file. This file
#   is created when apcupsd initiates a system shutdown and is
#   checked in the OS halt scripts to determine if a killpower
#   (turning off UPS output power) is required.
PWRFAILDIR /etc/apcupsd

# NOLOGINDIR <path to nologin directory>
#   Directory in which to write the nologin file. The existence
#   of this flag file tells the OS to disallow new logins.
NOLOGINDIR /etc


#
# ======== Configuration parameters used during power failures ==========
#

# The ONBATTERYDELAY is the time in seconds from when a power failure
#   is detected until we react to it with an onbattery event.
#
#   This means that, apccontrol will be called with the powerout argument
#   immediately when a power failure is detected.  However, the
#   onbattery argument is passed to apccontrol only after the 
#   ONBATTERYDELAY time.  If you don't want to be annoyed by short
#   powerfailures, make sure that apccontrol powerout does nothing
#   i.e. comment out the wall.
ONBATTERYDELAY 6

# 
# Note: BATTERYLEVEL, MINUTES, and TIMEOUT work in conjunction, so
# the first that occurs will cause the initation of a shutdown.
#

# If during a power failure, the remaining battery percentage
# (as reported by the UPS) is below or equal to BATTERYLEVEL, 
# apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.
BATTERYLEVEL 5

# If during a power failure, the remaining runtime in minutes 
# (as calculated internally by the UPS) is below or equal to MINUTES,
# apcupsd, will initiate a system shutdown.
MINUTES 3

# If during a power failure, the UPS has run on batteries for TIMEOUT
# many seconds or longer, apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.
# A value of 0 disables this timer.
#
#  Note, if you have a Smart UPS, you will most likely want to disable
#    this timer by setting it to zero. That way, you UPS will continue
#    on batteries until either the % charge remaing drops to or below BATTERYLEVEL,
#    or the remaining battery runtime drops to or below MINUTES.  Of course,
#    if you are testing, setting this to 60 causes a quick system shutdown
#    if you pull the power plug.   
#  If you have an older dumb UPS, you will want to set this to less than
#    the time you know you can run on batteries.
TIMEOUT 0

#  Time in seconds between annoying users to signoff prior to
#  system shutdown. 0 disables.
ANNOY 300

# Initial delay after power failure before warning users to get
# off the system.
ANNOYDELAY 60

# The condition which determines when users are prevented from
# logging in during a power failure.
# NOLOGON <string> [ disable | timeout | percent | minutes | always ]
NOLOGON disable

# If KILLDELAY is non-zero, apcupsd will continue running after a
# shutdown has been requested, and after the specified time in
# seconds attempt to kill the power. This is for use on systems
# where apcupsd cannot regain control after a shutdown.
# KILLDELAY <seconds>  0 disables
KILLDELAY 0

#
# ==== Configuration statements for Network Information Server ====
#

# NETSERVER [ on | off ] on enables, off disables the network
#  information server. If netstatus is on, a network information
#  server process will be started for serving the STATUS and
#  EVENT data over the network (used by CGI programs).
NETSERVER on

# NISIP <dotted notation ip address>
#  IP address on which NIS server will listen for incoming connections.
#  This is useful if your server is multi-homed (has more than one
#  network interface and IP address). Default value is 0.0.0.0 which
#  means any incoming request will be serviced. Alternatively, you can
#  configure this setting to any specific IP address of your server and 
#  NIS will listen for connections only on that interface. Use the
#  loopback address (127.0.0.1) to accept connections only from the
#  local machine.
NISIP 127.0.0.1

# NISPORT <port> default is 3551 as registered with the IANA
#  port to use for sending STATUS and EVENTS data over the network.
#  It is not used unless NETSERVER is on. If you change this port,
#  you will need to change the corresponding value in the cgi directory
#  and rebuild the cgi programs.
NISPORT 3551

# If you want the last few EVENTS to be available over the network
# by the network information server, you must define an EVENTSFILE.
EVENTSFILE /var/log/apcupsd.events

# EVENTSFILEMAX <kilobytes>
#  By default, the size of the EVENTSFILE will be not be allowed to exceed
#  10 kilobytes.  When the file grows beyond this limit, older EVENTS will
#  be removed from the beginning of the file (first in first out).  The
#  parameter EVENTSFILEMAX can be set to a different kilobyte value, or set
#  to zero to allow the EVENTSFILE to grow without limit.
EVENTSFILEMAX 10

#
# ========== Configuration statements used if sharing =============
#            a UPS with more than one machine

#
# Remaining items are for ShareUPS (APC expansion card) ONLY
#

# UPSCLASS [ standalone | shareslave | sharemaster ]
#   Normally standalone unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS
#   card.
UPSCLASS standalone

# UPSMODE [ disable | share ]
#   Normally disable unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS card.
UPSMODE disable

#
# ===== Configuration statements to control apcupsd system logging ========
#

# Time interval in seconds between writing the STATUS file; 0 disables
STATTIME 0

# Location of STATUS file (written to only if STATTIME is non-zero)
STATFILE /var/log/apcupsd.status

# LOGSTATS [ on | off ] on enables, off disables
# Note! This generates a lot of output, so if         
#       you turn this on, be sure that the
#       file defined in syslog.conf for LOG_NOTICE is a named pipe.
#  You probably do not want this on.
LOGSTATS off

# Time interval in seconds between writing the DATA records to
#   the log file. 0 disables.
DATATIME 0

# FACILITY defines the logging facility (class) for logging to syslog. 
#          If not specified, it defaults to "daemon". This is useful 
#          if you want to separate the data logged by apcupsd from other
#          programs.
#FACILITY DAEMON

#
# ========== Configuration statements used in updating the UPS EPROM =========
#

#
# These statements are used only by apctest when choosing "Set EEPROM with conf
# file values" from the EEPROM menu. THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NO EFFECT ON APCUPSD.
#

# UPS name, max 8 characters 
#UPSNAME UPS_IDEN

# Battery date - 8 characters
#BATTDATE mm/dd/yy

# Sensitivity to line voltage quality (H cause faster transfer to batteries)  
# SENSITIVITY H M L        (default = H)
#SENSITIVITY H

# UPS delay after power return (seconds)
# WAKEUP 000 060 180 300   (default = 0)
#WAKEUP 60

# UPS Grace period after request to power off (seconds)
# SLEEP 020 180 300 600    (default = 20)
#SLEEP 180

# Low line voltage causing transfer to batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter 
#  of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
#    D 106 103 100 097
#    M 177 172 168 182
#    A 092 090 088 086
#    I 208 204 200 196     (default = 0 => not valid)
#LOTRANSFER  208

# High line voltage causing transfer to batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter 
#  of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
#    D 127 130 133 136
#    M 229 234 239 224
#    A 108 110 112 114
#    I 253 257 261 265     (default = 0 => not valid)
#HITRANSFER 253

# Battery charge needed to restore power
# RETURNCHARGE 00 15 50 90 (default = 15)
#RETURNCHARGE 15

# Alarm delay 
# 0 = zero delay after pwr fail, T = power fail + 30 sec, L = low battery, N = never
# BEEPSTATE 0 T L N        (default = 0)
#BEEPSTATE T

# Low battery warning delay in minutes
# LOWBATT 02 05 07 10      (default = 02)
#LOWBATT 2

# UPS Output voltage when running on batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter 
#  of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
#    D 115
#    M 208
#    A 100
#    I 230 240 220 225     (default = 0 => not valid)
#OUTPUTVOLTS 230

# Self test interval in hours 336=2 weeks, 168=1 week, ON=at power on
# SELFTEST 336 168 ON OFF  (default = 336)
# SELFTEST 336

Someone who has a clue why I can't connect with my Apc ups?

Solution 1

I had the same problem with COMMLOST with a USB connection, after a lot of research I found by pure hazard that with a USB connection you should change DEVICE /dev/ttys0 to DEVICE in /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf with nothing after it, this way apcupsd search everywhere on the system to find the UPS and connect correctly, no more COMMLOST.

After that, restart apcupsd with:

$ sudo /etc/init.d/apcupsd restart

Gilbert

Solution 2

You can edit /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf:

UPSTYPE usb
DEVICE /dev/ttyS0

to:

UPSTYPE usb
DEVICE

It's worked for my Smart-UPS_1500.

Comments

[Rene Mortensen]

Yes Michael it is set to : Yes like you say - But stilll not working :/

[Michael Prokopec]

OK, I will review my setup and get back to you.

[Rene Mortensen]

Thank you mabye my apc bx700ui dosent support apcupsd :/ ?

[Michael Prokopec]

I had that same series just before I got my new ones and it worked great.

[Michael Prokopec]

This is my apcupsd.conf pastebin.com/embed_js/Mz0F05rc I only changed the UPSNAME to what you have. The only other things I can think of are file permissions and faulty cable and or one of the pins in the ups is stuck up away from contacting the terminal on the cable. RJ45 and old school phones have that type of issue some times.

[Rene Mortensen]

Now I have searched around the web and it turns out that maybe a kernel error in my odroid xu4: / forum.armbian.com/topic/8336-apcupsd-doesnt-work-on-odroid-x‌​u4

[Michael Prokopec]

O, good luck. I hope you get it fixed. All I know is that modal works in Debian 8 and 9. Wish I could help more. I am currently running 2 XS 1500's, they worked using those same settings as my UPS 700 series, I did not touch a thing from my old setup.

[Michael Prokopec]

This may be of use to you still? Look at the post dated: 12-03-2010, 06:46 PM by dguy, linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/…

[Kyle]

I had a similar issue after a Debian dist/full upgrade. This answer helped me. Thx

[Kyle Swanson]

This was the fix for my self as well. However, I needed a full reboot of the RPI(Buster). Simply restarting the service was not working.

[ProGirlXOXO]

I had to use /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf. I think you have a typo above.