Re: New UPS

Top Page
Attachments:
Message as email
+ (text/plain)
Delete this message
Reply to this message
Author: Stephen
Date:  
To: Main PLUG discussion list
Subject: Re: New UPS
UPS' are designed to tell the system that power is off, and the
ncierones tell how much it has.

the OS then has to decide WTF to do with that data. a UPS will run
until it can no longer support the drain.

from there its a matter fo features ect. now with the software you can
get a no power event, then a im running out of juice event and have
actions accordingly. so you can get 30 min and the system knows then
the UPS says i have X min left and the system says crap time to shut
down now.

the most graceful test i will do is plug the ups into a power strip
and then switch off the strip. it will not cut ground.

and if the OS sees the event reported of no power/on battery then you
know the OS is seeing the vents. you will maybe need to check your
repo for UPS software to configure what to do with the events.

On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 2:13 PM, Dazed_75 <> wrote:
> Actually, I thought I had as one of the variations I tried googling.  Must
> not have though as I see those results are mostly Matt Behrens asking the
> same questions on a number of sites.  Still, it looks like people believe it
> should work using nut.  I'll give that a try.
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Dale Farnsworth <>
> wrote:
>>
>> Have you tried googling the therms "Tripp lite G1010USB ubuntu".  From
>> the results, it looks like it is supported and there are utilities for
>> you to determine status.  Disclaimer: I have no personal experience with
>> this.
>>
>> -Dale
>>
>> > Yep, that is my experience as well.  Back in the day, one needed to
>> > install
>> > software on the OS to process those notifications.  I believe [hope]
>> > some
>> > of those are built-ins based on standards.
>> >
>> > I know for sure that Ubuntu still has apcupsd in the repositories (and
>> > still installed from my previous UPS) to support some? APC UPS devices
>> > and
>> > powstatd for some Cyberpower units, one TrippLite model and "various
>> > older
>> > APC units".  There is also nut ("Network UPS Tools (NUT) is a
>> > client/server
>> > monitoring system that allows computers to share uninterruptible power
>> > supply (UPS) and power distribution unit (PDU) hardware. ").
>> >
>> > On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 11:17 AM, Kevin Fries <>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > > At least in any commercial operation I have worked in, this is the way
>> > > that it worked:
>> > >
>> > >  * power comes in from the wall to the unit
>> > >  * the unit then supplies power to the computer via the battery
>> > >
>> > > This way, when there is a power failure, there is no loss of power to
>> > > the device.  Generally most UPS units I have worked with, have
>> > > protected
>> > > and unprotected ports.  Therefore, if anything is plugged into the
>> > > unprotected ports, those devices will simply shut down on power loss.
>> > >
>> > > On loss of power from the wall, power is continued to be supplied to
>> > > the
>> > > protected devices until the battery power level drops below some
>> > > value.
>> > > On higher end units, this value is configurable, on cheaper units, it
>> > > is
>> > > prefixed at time of manufacture.  Once the power level drops to the
>> > > critical level, it will then signal the protected device that its
>> > > shutdown is eminent, allowing the software to begin an orderly
>> > > shutdown
>> > > of its own.
>> > >
>> > > I have even seen some high end units, have a two level protection,
>> > > where
>> > > it will first signal that it is on battery allowing for dropping of
>> > > cpu
>> > > power levels, dimming displays, and stuff like that.  It does that in
>> > > an
>> > > attempt to extend the battery life as long as possible.
>> > >
>> > > Only on the cheapest of units should a UPS begin an immediate
>> > > shutdown,
>> > > and that is because it does not have the AMPs to last very long, so
>> > > any
>> > > loss of wall power puts the unit into a critical configuration
>> > > immediately.
>> > >
>> > > Hope that helps
>> > > Kevin Fries
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > On Wed, 2011-12-21 at 11:03 -0700, Dazed_75 wrote:
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 10:47 AM, Lyle Tuttle <>
>> > > > wrote:
>> > > >         At 10:36 AM 12/21/2011, Dazed_75 wrote:
>> > > >         > The manufacturer states rather strongly that unplugging
>> > > > the
>> > > >         > UPS is a BAD way to test it since that also removes the
>> > > >         > ground circuit.  So far, my best idea is to go out to the
>> > > >         > electrical box and flip the relevant circuit breaker off.
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         > The point though, is even that only tests the UPS.  I
>> > > > would
>> > > >         > need to leave it off long enough for the UPS to request
>> > > > (via
>> > > >         > that USB cable) that the computer do an orderly shutdown
>> > > >         > which could take 30 minutes or more.
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >         Whoa!
>> > > >
>> > > >         My understanding is that when a power failure occurs, the
>> > > > UPS
>> > > >         takes over supplying power immediately - and also signals
>> > > > the
>> > > >         system to shut down in an orderly fashion....the 30 minutes
>> > > >         you mention, IMHO, deals with the amount of time the UPS
>> > > > would
>> > > >         run the system if it did not shut down
>> > > >
>> > > > Good point although I don't think it should immediately tell the
>> > > > computer to shut down either.  What the manual says is "can connect
>> > > > your UPS to a computer in order to automatically save open files and
>> > > > shut down the computer if it is left unattended during an extended
>> > > > power failure" (emphasis added).  This makes me think the
>> > > > notification
>> > > > would be issued by the UPS after battery power dropped to some level
>> > > > or estimated time remaining since the OS would have no clue how much
>> > > > battery time remained.
>> > > >
>> > > >         - on my system, by utilizing various power outlets on the
>> > > > UPS,
>> > > >         I can somewhat control WHAT components shut down right away.
>> > > >
>> > > >         What if you plug the UPS into a switchable power strip -
>> > > > then
>> > > >         turn it off?
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > Another good point, that should retain the ground connection.  Eric
>> > > > made the same suggestion.
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >         >  And worse, I would not know if a non-event meant a
>> > > > failure
>> > > >         > on the part of the UPS signaling system or the Linux side
>> > > >         > not making use of the signal event since I still have no
>> > > >         > idea what to check for.
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         > I bring all this up because my last UPS failed to protect
>> > > >         > the computer so now I am paranoid about it.
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         > On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 8:27 AM, Alex Dean
>> > > >         > <> wrote:
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >         On Dec 21, 2011, at 2:06 AM, Dazed_75 wrote:
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >         > I just put in a replacement UPS (Tripp-Lite
>> > > >         >         G1010USB) and connected the USB cable.  I see that
>> > > >         >         Ubuntu 10.04 does see it but I have no idea how to
>> > > >         >         tell if it will actually pay attention if the UPS
>> > > >         >         ever tells it to shut down.  Short of a power
>> > > >         >         failure, how can one know?
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >         Unplug the UPS from the wall?
>> > > >         >
>> > > > ---------------------------------------------------
>> > > >         >         PLUG-discuss mailing list -
>> > > >         >        
>> > > >         >         To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail
>> > > >         >         settings:
>> > > >         >
>> > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         >
>> > > >         > ---------------------------------------------------
>> > > >         > PLUG-discuss mailing list -
>> > >
>> > > >         > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail
>> > > > settings:
>> > > >         >
>> > > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > >
>> > > ---------------------------------------------------
>> > > PLUG-discuss mailing list -
>> > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>> > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry
>> >
>> > Please protect my address like I protect yours. When sending messages to
>> > multiple recipients, always use the BCC: (Blind carbon copy) and not To:
>> > or
>> > CC:. Also remove all of the addresses from the message body before
>> > forwarding the message. These simple measures prevent spy programs from
>> > capturing the addresses shown in the recipient list and the message
>> > body.
>> >
>> > -=-=-=-=-=-
>> > [Alternative: text/html]
>> > -=-=-=-=-=-
>> > -=-=-=-=-=-
>> >
>> > ---------------------------------------------------
>> > PLUG-discuss mailing list -
>> > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>> > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>> > -=-=-=-=-=-
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------
>> PLUG-discuss mailing list -
>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>
>
>
>
> --
> Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry
>
> Please protect my address like I protect yours. When sending messages to
> multiple recipients, always use the BCC: (Blind carbon copy) and not To: or
> CC:. Also remove all of the addresses from the message body before
> forwarding the message. These simple measures prevent spy programs from
> capturing the addresses shown in the recipient list and the message body.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> PLUG-discuss mailing list -
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss




--
A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from
rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

Stephen
---------------------------------------------------
PLUG-discuss mailing list -
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss