Identify an Unusual USB Port

Question

The back of our APC Smart-UPS 2000 has a USB port so that it can be monitored from a server it supplies.

However, this USB port doesn't appear to be a standard USB connector. It looks a little like an RJ-45 connector, I tried an Ethernet cable in case the port was just mislabeled but that didn't fit either.

Can anyone help identify the type of USB it is?

Solution 1

That is a port for a UPS Communications Cable Simple Signalling - USB to RJ45 cable for connecting to a computer. The cable is included with many compatible APC devices.

Solution 2

That is an APC cable by Schneider Electric cable P/N AP9827

https://www.amazon.com/APC-AP9827-USB-cable/dp/B0002WYJSU

It looks like half an Ethernet cable with just four wires in 1 3 5 6

APC's user manual from one type of UPS is downloadable at: http://www.apc.com/salestools/JGNY-9X784R/JGNY-9X784R_R0_EN.pdf

And an excerpt with that connector is:

Comments

[Admin]

FWIW, if you are looking to buy new APC UPS units, the company has done something completely “crazy” and now that port is a standard USB port. Why it was this thing for years is baffling. Wonder if it was something connected to licensing or the USB standard and power supplies.

[Admin]

@JakeGould It's likely a legacy format rather than a licensing issue. RJ-45 connectors for serial ports have been around a long time. I know as recently as 2010 I had Cisco gear on my desk that used an RJ-45 to serial adapter to get a console connection. This question should help clarify serverfault.com/questions/629436/…

[Admin]

@Freiheit You know, you might be right. Back in 1991-1992 I had an AST Premium Exec 383SX/20 notebook computer that had an option for a modem or a serial port and the serial port was and RJ-45 port.

[Admin]

Technically that is an RJ-45. It just happens to be wired for USB instead of Ethernet.

[Admin]

I bet someone got a really nice bonus for that feature. (To quote Raymond Chen)

[Admin]

FWIW, I was trying to look up some specs if you wanted to “roll your own” cable and found this cheap custom USB to APC UPS DataPort cable this place called “Obsolete Laboratory” is selling. And also found a good discussion—with pinouts—on how to make your own APC USB to RJ-45 UPS cable.

[Admin]

Fun fact : USB male fit into a RJ45 slot. So when our user says "yeah I plugged it in" don't trust him...

[Admin]

@Freiheit: For console cables, RJ-45 might be quite intentional since a rollover cable greatly simplifies serial connections (no need to distinguish between regular and null-modem cables or use DTE/DCE gender changers, and of course no need for a massive DB-9 port).

[Admin]

@Freiheit RJ45 serial connectors are very common on enterprise network gear. My (freshly bought) Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite has an RJ45 serial connector.

[Admin]

@chrylis, well, if you trust Wikipedia, that's technically not an RJ45, but just a quite similar-looking modular connector.

[Admin]

@Goufalite That's way too real. I tried debugging a wireless issue of a client through the phone once. Turned out that the client had a wireless usb dongle plugged in to the RJ-45 port. Needless to say I was stunned.

[Thalys]

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

[Mathew Lionnet]

Very funny the fact that the DSub-9 is often used for serials but cannot be used with normal cables and the RJ45 is totally seldomly used for USB. Insane hardware of the past.

[Boris the Spider]

@eckes insane hardware of now - this is pretty much standard on UPSs.

[rackandboneman]

The UPS might be sold to a few customers that specify connectors to physically lock - which RJxx does and USBxx does not. Also, "generic" USB cables might be undesirable in environments where eg flammability standards are to be adhered to... OR, there are two versions (one with another serial, another with a USB port) sharing the same faceplate...

[Giacomo1968]

@rackandboneman All interesting ideas. But I bought a new APS UPS recently (APC Back-UPS 650VA) and I was stunned that it had a normal USB port on it when an older version of a similar consumer model had this RJ-45 thing on it.

[Owen Currie]

@eckes I had to wire a cable for a UPS years ago. From memory the circuit was just 4 resistors and swapping some wires in a RS232 cable. The reason is that the D-Sub9 port on a UPS is a control port, not a serial comms port, and D-Sub9 is just a generic connector design, not specifically for RS232 serial comms, even though pre-USB it became the most common serial connector for PCs. I haven't worked with UPS for years, but I had the impression everything had been redesigned to use standard serial comms. Interesting to see that the old designs persist on some devices