Re: [Apcupsd-users] Trouble installing apcupsd driver on Windows 7

SourceForge Headquarters 1320 Columbia Street Suite 310 San Diego, CA 92101 +1 (858) 422-6466

Daniel,

I think I did have that general idea of what computer was doing what. My
suggestion to experiment with a non-Windows10, non-HP-Elite computer as
an apcupsd Master and use your roof controller HP-Elite as the apcupsd Slave was
to take apcupsd out of the USB loop. The Master/Slave computers would be
communicating via ethernet, not USB and the UPS would be the only USB device
connected to the test Master. If that all worked and didn't crash, it would help
to isolate the problem.

I think you are right in that "there is a lot of USB activity this negatively
affects the APCUPSD driver somehow and it crashes." Why not give it a shot
removing apcupsd from using the USB? Note that even though it would be running
as a slave on your roof controller, it's still getting UPS information via
ethernet from the Master and will still shut down your computer in case of power
failure. 

--Mark

-----Original Message-----
> From: "Daniel Maloney" <tel...@gm...>
> To: "'Apcupsd Discussion List'" <apc...@li...>
> Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 03:20:21 -0600
> Subject: Re: [Apcupsd-users] Trouble installing apcupsd driver on Windows 7
>
> Mark,
>
> Just so you know I have five (5) HP Elite 8200 PCs (exact same configuration
> for each).  One of them is the roof controller PC, another is a weather
> station\sky quality monitor PC, the other three are for the three
> scopes\mounts in the observatory.  Each of these PCs has a dedicated UPS
> connected to them.  The scopes have CS-500's, the weather station PC has an
> ES-550 and the roof controller has an ES-550.
>
> When I mentioned the part about the driver crashing frequently when the roof
> is opening or closing that is the driver on the roof controller PC.  While
> the software that interacts with the roof controller is reading the magnetic
> sensor information from the roof (while it is opening or closing) this is
> when the APCUPSD driver starts crashing.  The driver crashing also causes
> the roof controller software to get serial read exceptions.  Note that when
> I stop the APCUPSD service and tray application and operate the roof
> controller software it never has serial read exceptions nor does it affect
> other applications using USB devices.  Also note the APCUPSD driver is only
> crashing on the PC the roof controller software is running (the roof
> controller PC).
>
> When I mentioned the issue with the APCUPSD driver crashing when interaction
> with the scope cameras, this is the APCUPSD driver instances on each of the
> HP Elite 8200 PCs that are connected to each scope\mount\camera setup (and
> each have their own dedicated CS-500 UPS).  For example, while a camera
> image is being downloaded from the camera (over USB) sometimes it will cause
> the APCUPSD driver to crash.  It is not all the time but is frequent.  This
> and the roof controller software also causing crashes with the APCUPSD
> driver made me deduce that if there is a lot of USB activity this negatively
> affects the APCUPSD driver somehow and it crashes.
>
> I just wanted to tell you all this so you got a good picture of the
> environment and the issues with the driver.  It is hard to explain
> everything in one message, there is a lot to this observatory operation
> since it is remotely operated.  
>
> Best Always,
>
> Daniel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Foley [mailto:mf...@no...] 
> Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 7:40 AM
> To: apc...@li...
> Subject: Re: [Apcupsd-users] Trouble installing apcupsd driver on Windows 7
>
> On Tue, 23 Feb 2016 20:45:04 Daniel Maloney <tel...@gm...>
> wrote:
>
> > I failed to mention I use to have the latest version of APCUPSD 
> > installed on the PC that this log came from but a month ago I 
> > installed a prior version just to see if it was any better (it is 
> > not).  On all the other
> > 8200 Elite PCs I still have the latest version installed.
>
> Daniel, in your message of 23 Feb, you said, "The APCUPSD driver often
> crashes several times while the roof is opening and\or closing.  It also
> crashes outside of the use of the roof motor controller but less
> frequently", and "on other machines where USB cameras and USB serial devices
> are used the driver will crash frequently during the use of these USB
> devices."
>
> So, I understand that the root controller is causing an apcupsd crash on the
> one computer, but the other computers do not crash when the roof it opening
> or closing. The other computers crash during the use of USB devices
> connected to those computers, correct?
>
> Since you have tried the latest apcupsd software, and since I, as well as
> others, use USB connected UPSes on Windows (mine are still running, Windows
> 7 and XP, not WIN10), it seems to me the one distinct factor you have are
> the HP Elite 8200 computers running Windows 10. 
>
> I'd try that simple test I suggested which shouldn't mess up all your
> connections. Find an old Windows 7 computer, preferably not a laptop since
> I've experienced some funkiness with USBs on laptops, and preferably not an
> HP Elite 8200. 
>
> On the computer that has the roof controller UPS, simply change the config
> to client mode by setting C:\apcupsd\etc\apcupsd.conf to:
>
> UPSCABLE ether
> UPSTYPE net
> DEVICE	<ip of your WIN7 computer>:3551
> POLLTIME 10
> MINUTES 4	# I do this just to make sure the client shuts down first
> #NETSERVER ON	# I've just commented out rather than set to 'off'
> NISIP 0.0.0.0   # if this computer has only one NIC, otherwise, set to the
>                 # NIC connected to your LAN.
> NISPORT 3551
>
> Restart the apcupsd service.
>
> Set up apcupsd on the test WIN7 computer and plug in the UPS for the roof
> controller and set it to server mode (default) by setting
> C:\apcupsd\etc\apcupsd.conf to:
>
> NETSERVER on
> NISIP 0.0.0.0	# if your test WIN7 has only one NIC, otherwise, set to the 
> 		# NIC connected to your LAN.
> NISPORT 3551	# Likewise as above
>
> Make sure port 3551 is open on both firewalls.
>
> You'll still be able to see the UPS status from your original WIN10. The
> only real difference you'll see is it will say "ONLINE SLAVE" in the Status
> box.
>
> Now, if the roof controller (running on the WIN10) crashes apcupsd on the
> WIN7, I'm out of ideas. I suspect this setup will work just fine with no
> apcupsd crashing on the WIN7. If that is the case, I would have to conclude
> that the problem has something to do either with Windows 10 or the HP Elite
> 8200 hardware.
>
> If the above works, your next test might be to stage the roof controller
> software on the Windows 7 machine and see whether or not it crashes there.
>
> Good Luck.
>
> --Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> > Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2016 20:45:04 -0600
> > From: Daniel Maloney <tel...@gm...>
> > To: Apcupsd Discussion List <apc...@li...>
> > Subject: Re: [Apcupsd-users] Trouble installing apcupsd driver on 
> > Windows 7
> >
> > Mark and others,
> >
> > I failed to mention I use to have the latest version of APCUPSD 
> > installed on the PC that this log came from but a month ago I 
> > installed a prior version just to see if it was any better (it is 
> > not).  On all the other
> > 8200 Elite PCs I still have the latest version installed.
> >
> > Yes, the roof controller and roof motor UPS units are there so in the 
> > event of a power outage the roof of the observatory will still be able to
> close.
> > I also have UPS units tied to each scope's PC so in the event of a 
> > power outage the scope can stop imaging and park itself before the roof
> closes.
> > It works great and is entirely automated.
> >
> > I prefer APCUPSD as it has the ability to kill the power of the UPS 
> > unit in the event of a prolonged brown out thus allowing the PCs to 
> > come back on once the utility power is restored.  Does the Powerchute 
> > software support this as well?  I thought it did not?
> >
> > Of course I also love the event response framework of the APCUPSD 
> > platform.  I did read that the Powerchute software does generate event 
> > logs and you can respond to them via task scheduler but I just like 
> > the simplistic approach APCUPSD offers.
> >
> > I want to keep APCUPSD but this driver issue needs to be solved.  Wish 
> > we could have a debug version of it I could run with so we can see 
> > where it is crashing and/or why.
> >
> > Best Always,
> >
> > Daniel
> > On Feb 23, 2016 12:56 PM, "Mark Foley" <mf...@no...> wrote:
> >
> > > On Tue, 23 Feb 2016 18:10:45 Jernej Simon?i? < 
> > > jernej's-s...@et...> wrote:
> > >
> > > > As long as ModBus mode isn't used, there shouldn't be any 
> > > > difference between 3.14.12 and 3.14.13 driver ...
> > >
> > > Good points, but it still doesn't hurt to have the latest version.  
> > > The
> > > 3.14.13
> > > site also says, "Other [in addition to MODBUS] ... changes include 
> > > ... many bug fixes and cleanups to the code base." And the release 
> > > notes say, "Windows USB driver has been updated with additional USB 
> > > identifiers ...".
> > >
> > > General "Bug fixes" and any USB driver updating would indicate to me 
> > > that a newer version should be tried. This might not fix Daniel's 
> > > problem, but it's certainly good practice generally.
> > >
> > > I've recently installed PowerChute 3.0 and have not run into the 
> > > problems you mentioned ... yet. Probably hasn't yet been running the 
> > > month-ish you mentioned.
> > >
> > > I threw the PowerChute suggestion out there because if Daniel does 
> > > not need client/server or email notification, he might find 
> > > PowerChute works better than his constant COMMLOST issue with 
> > > apcupsd.
> > >
> > > --Mark
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2016 18:10:45 +0100
> > > From: Jernej Simon?i?   <jernej's-s...@et...>
> > > Organization: E-mailaholics International
> > > To: "Mark Foley on [apcupsd-users]" 
> > > <apc...@li...>
> > > Subject: Re: [Apcupsd-users] Trouble installing apcupsd driver on 
> > > Windows 7
> > >
> > > On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, 16:25:07, Mark Foley wrote:
> > >
> > > > 1) Get the latest apcupsd 3.14.13 from 02 February 2015. Yours is
> > > 3.14.12 from
> > > > 29 March 2014. It's always best to use the latest software when
> > > debugging such
> > > > things. The release notes indicate updates to the Windows USB 
> > > > driver
> > > specifically.
> > >
> > > As long as ModBus mode isn't used, there shouldn't be any difference 
> > > between 3.14.12 and 3.14.13 driver (the driver on Windows uses 
> > > Microsoft's own WinUSB interface, and the only thing changed between
> > > .12 and .13 is the .inf file, which now lists modbus hardware IDs).
> > >
> > > > Why, if I may ask, are you using apcupsd on Windows? The APC 
> > > > Powerchute
> > > software
> > > > works pretty well and you would likely not have this issue (or 
> > > > would
> > > you? might be
> > > > worth a test). I am using Powerchute on all office workstations, 
> > > > but
> > > apcupsd on
> > > > the Windows database servers because a) powerchute does not have a 
> > > > means
> > > of
> > > > controlling more than one computer connected to a UPS and b) 
> > > > powerchute
> > > does not
> > > > have a mechanism to send email notices when power events occur.
> > >
> > > In my experience, PowerChute works for about a month, then it 
> > > becomes impossible to log in to the admin interface (it'll still 
> > > shut down the computer, but good luck trying to change anything), 
> > > plus it requires Java, which I'd prefer to avoid unless absolutely
> necessary.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Jernej Simon?i?, Ena d.o.o.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > ----------
> > > Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application 
> > > Performance APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just 
> > > $35/Month Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective 
> > > actions now Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. Signup
> Now!
> > > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=272487151&iu=/4140
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Apcupsd-users mailing list
> > > Apc...@li...
> > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/apcupsd-users
> > >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application Performance APM +
> Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just $35/Month Monitor
> end-to-end web transactions and take corrective actions now Troubleshoot
> faster and improve end-user experience. Signup Now!
> http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=272487151&iu=/4140
> _______________________________________________
> Apcupsd-users mailing list
> Apc...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/apcupsd-users
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application Performance
> APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just $35/Month
> Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective actions now
> Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. Signup Now!
> http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=272487151&iu=/4140
> _______________________________________________
> Apcupsd-users mailing list
> Apc...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/apcupsd-users
>