From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Jul 16 17:41:48 1996 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id RAA24976 for hackers-outgoing; Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:41:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: from cbgw2.att.com (cbgw2.att.com [192.20.239.134]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id RAA24939 for ; Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:41:39 -0700 (PDT) Received: from aloft by cbig2.att.att.com (SMI-8.6/EMS-1.2 sol2) id UAA16808; Tue, 16 Jul 1996 20:40:17 -0400 Received: from stargazer (stargazer.cnet.att.com) by aloft (4.1/DCS-aloft-M5.1) id AA27567; Tue, 16 Jul 96 20:40:22 EDT Received: by stargazer (4.1/DCS-aloft_client-S2.1) id AA10037; Tue, 16 Jul 96 20:39:15 EDT Date: Tue, 16 Jul 96 20:39:15 EDT From: gtc@aloft.att.com (gary.corcoran) Message-Id: <9607170039.AA10037@stargazer> To: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: APC ups monitor? Sender: owner-hackers@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > > The folks at APC *sell* monitor software for there ups. Has > > anybody had any experience hacking up a perlscript ( or whatever ) that > > visits the serial port and listens to what the ups has to say? The APC-ups > > software only comes for NT, AS/400, vines, netware, etc, so buying the > > software is out of the question. > > The folks at APC also sell the *spec* on the communication protocol used > between the UPS and the PC. For $50 and a signed N.D.A., they will send > you a book describing how it works. > >I know this doesn't help you out of the current situation, but I >recently bought some Best Power UPS equipment for the very reason you >are now encountering: Best Power provides the communication specs free >of charge (you can also pay for source code for a small monitoring >program), whereas APC does not. It seemed reasonable to support those >who make the information accessible! Your info on Best Power is a little old... it's much better now! Best Power also used to charge for their UPS monitoring/shutdown software, but competition is a wonderful thing (mostly competition from APC, I believe). As of April, they now give you a *free* software CD with the UPSs they sell. Not only does it have monitoring programs for all the Win* versions, SCO, etc., but it also includes *source code* for compilation on "other" unixes. And, if you already have a Best UPS, you can download _any_ of the monitoring and shutdown programs, including the unix source code version, from http://www.bestpower.com/ (Note: you need a custom serial cable to connect the Best UPS to a serial port on your PC. I understand the new UPSs come with the cable. If you want to roll your own cable, either contact Best tech support [see their web site] or send me email) (No, I have no connection with Best, I just like their products) Gary Gary.Corcoran@lucent.com