[Nut-upsdev] Add support for Ablerex Dk+ #979

Tue Apr 20 11:02:27 BST 2021

Sorry for another delay,

  I was looking at recent submissions for the new-architecture nutdrv_qx
family of drivers to provide examples, and some of those submissions needed
a bit of cleanup before posing as examples. Unfortunately our QX expert did
not respond yet, so it took a longer while on my side.

  So now I can suggest looking at two PRs:
* https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/pull/638/ adding support for
"hunnox" - both a USB protocol subdriver (in nutdrv_qx.c) and device/HID
mapping "hunnox_subdriver" (with sources in nutdrv_qx_hunnox.c/.h files),
and
* https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/pull/1008 adding just an "snr"
protocol subdriver at this point.

They also add documentation updates for the changes they made, but this
aspect was slightly addressed in your PR already (mention of the new
subdriver would need to move from docs/man/blazer-common.txt to
nutdrv_qx.txt though).

  To remind, my primary concerns about your original submission and from
later discussion are:

* The changes in your PR #979 are targeted for blazer_usb driver which
would at some point be deprecated and obsoleted in favor of nutdrv_qx, so
this added support would be lost. While someone in the community probably
can pick up and port source code lines, it would be hard to guarantee
without access to hardware that the resulting driver actually works. So in
fact you are best positioned (and incentivised) to initially provide the
modern driver that will survive in the NUT codebase for long.

* Another point is the bold statement that "PID=0000/VID=FFFF of blazer_USB
is Ablerex’s Identification code." It is not exactly a random unique
number, and I suppose if the USB-IF authority had a *publicly* available
registry of the ID numbers they give out - same as DNS registry, or IANA
TCP/UDP port registry, or MAC address prefix registry for networking, or
many other such lists in IT - these particular numbers would not be there,
probably not for anyone. Since the USB-IF registry is not public, I can
only assume that the other mentioned Vendor ID "1cb0" is registered
properly and no other devices would conflict using it. I understand the
technical point that these "0000:FFFF" are the uncustomized IDs flashed
into the USB chips your devices use, but it also means that any other
vendor might have those spectacularly not-unique ID numbers, with same or
even unrelated chips. We already do have a practical example of such mess
with "ATCL" chips that provide USB media connections for otherwise
unrelated UPSes that talk completely different protocols and have different
NUT drivers for same Vendor ID + Product ID + Device String tuple.

* Also, "the modification is only for the addition of Ablerex product
features, so there is no need to consider the differences of other customers"
- the wording here may be unfortunate, English is not a native language for
either of us, but as written this phrase looks very concerning :) You are
changing an existing driver that supports several device families already,
and existing users of this driver expect that the support is not broken
when they upgrade NUT. So *OF COURSE* there is a need to consider
differences for other customers. That said, your original (blazer_usb)
submission was quite cleanly separated and should not have impacted
users... unless they have some "0000:FFFF" device that worked before with
some subdriver and would be detected as "ablerex_ext_command=1" and might
stop working now; you did not offer any failsafe (addvar() a flag,
probably) to override your detection and disable ablerex mode in the
unlikely case it is misdiagnosed and breaks somebody in practice.

* Notably, the mapping macro in nutdrv_qx is more elaborate and allows to
map not just ID numbers but also a string the device presents itself with,
so detection of proper subdriver can probably be made more reliable at that
point, and not with a hack to check particular IDs in `blazer_initinfo()`
as you proposed in current PR.

Hope this helps,
Jim Klimov

On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 11:17 AM Johnson-shen <johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw>
wrote:

> Dear Sir,
>
> How’s today?
>
> Could you kindly provide your comment about our opinions?
>
> Please kindly provide more information, documents or example code about
> the driver that will separate Ablerex's, if you did not agree with our
> opinions.
>
>
>
> Regards!
> Johnson
>
>
>
> Johnson-shen 於 4/6/2021 6:22 PM 寫道:
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> Could you merge our driver for us?
>
> Because PID=0000/VID=FFFF of blazer_USB is Ablerex’s Identification code.
>
> And this time the modification is only for the addition of Ablerex product features,
>
> so there is no need to consider the differences of other customers. Could you agree?
>
>
> Regards!
> Johnson
>
>
>
> Jim Klimov 於 4/4/2021 7:43 PM 寫道:
>
> Hello,
>
>   I am really sorry about the delay, I hoped our community expert on the
> Qx drivers would recommend the best course of action, but he did not reply
> yet.
>
>   To me it currently seems that this Pull request:
> https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/pull/638/files represents the
> modernly desirable addition of a USB protocol subdriver (in nutdrv_qx.c/.h)
> and the vendor protocol nuances subdriver (in separate files).
>
>  Sadly, according to comment trail, that particular Pull request changed a
> bit of logic in existing functions (around langid_fix and enabling a hunnox
> patch, most prominently) and there were concerns if it is not breaking
> anything for other devices that work currently. It would be beneficial if
> people running nutdrv_qx today could build that branch and confirm into PR
> comments that the updated driver does work well or does break something
> after all.
>
>   So I think the new ablerex subdriver should carefully take a similar
> path. Nutdrv_qx modular code did grow as a refactoring and merge of earlier
> drivers including blazer, so your original code contribution should be
> easily portable into the new layout.
>
> Thank you very much and really sorry it took longer that I'd expect,
> Jim Klimov
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 13:16 Johnson-shen <johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Sir,
>>
>> Thank you for your reply.
>>
>> I can not sure what you mean.
>>
>> May I confirm with you again about it?
>>
>> You did not recommend that extend the new function from blazer_usb.c for
>> Ablerex UPS.
>>
>> You suggest that separate the Ablerex function into a new driver(.c or
>> .h) independently to avoid vendor nuances.
>>
>> Until we follow the above rule to modify, It will be upload and merge the
>> driver.
>>
>> Is it right?
>>
>> Please kindly provide more information or explain to us, if I  got you
>> wrong.
>>
>> Please kindly provide the example for a new structure to us, I think will
>> help to modify it for reference, if it is right.
>>
>> Regards!
>> Johnson
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Jim Klimov 於 3/24/2021 6:26 PM 寫道:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Yes, in fact there were two things.
>>
>> One was that a week ago I posted some documentation updates into your PR
>> (e.g. for acknowledgements) and asked you to confirm they sit well with
>> you, and hoped that's it.
>>
>> Unfortunately, I was now reminded that extending the blazer_usb driver
>> was not a good approach - it was (poorly, fixing that) documented as
>> heading to obsoletion and eventual removal from codebase. Various drivers
>> for Qx protocols were aggregated in drivers/nutdrv_qx*.{c,h} as a common
>> core and clean separate sources for vendor nuances.
>>
>> In order for us to maintain support for your device in the long run, and
>> not lose it when old redundant drivers do get dropped, your code
>> contribution should be relocated to this newer structure, and importantly -
>> re-tested with your hardware we do not have access to. I hope Daniele
>> (CC'ed) can clarify this better if you would need assistance.
>>
>> Sorry about not noticing this earlier,
>> Jim Klimov
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 03:58 Johnson-shen <johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Sir,
>>>
>>> The status of the project is waiting for the other managers to verify
>>> and confirm?
>>>
>>> Please advise me if you have any support for this project.
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards!
>>>
>>> Johnson
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jim Klimov 於 3/18/2021 8:07 PM 寫道:
>>>
>>> Hello, thanks for the driver update and sorry that I had to be reminded
>>> of the PR by mailing list. I reviewed it last week and added a few points
>>> on documentation. Can you please check those, that I did not mistake
>>> something, and I think it is good to merge. Thanks again!
>>>
>>> Jim Klimov
>>>
>>> On Thu, Mar 18, 2021, 11:33 Johnson-shen <johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Wolfy,
>>>>
>>>> Please advise me, if you need more information about the new driver.
>>>> Also please kindly update the status of the new driver for us.
>>>>
>>>> Regards!
>>>> Johnson
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Johnson-shen 於 3/10/2021 6:24 PM 寫道:
>>>>
>>>> Dear Wolfy,
>>>>
>>>> Please refer to the below table for the whole support list of the UPS
>>>> Model of the new driver.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Please kindly advise me if you have any questions.
>>>>
>>>> Regards!
>>>> Johnson
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Johnson-shen 於 3/10/2021 9:43 AM 寫道:
>>>>
>>>> Dear Wolfy,
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for the reply to emails quickly, the DK+ is our customer
>>>> model name for ODM.
>>>>
>>>>  We will provide the whole support list of UPS Model of the driver to
>>>> you tomorrow.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Regards!
>>>>
>>>> Johnson
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Manuel Wolfshant 於 3/9/2021 7:11 PM 寫道:
>>>>
>>>> On 3/9/21 8:37 AM, John wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm engineer from Ablere Electronics Co., Ltd. (
>>>> http://www.ablerex.com.tw/).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I pull request to networkupstools/nut that Add support for Ablerex Dk+
>>>> #979.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> long time user of an MS3000RT here. where is the DK+ described? I
>>>> cannot find it on your web site or via google.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> wolfy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>>>>
>>>> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>>>>
>>>> 研發部 / 沈南村
>>>>
>>>> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>>>>
>>>> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>>>>
>>>> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>>>>
>>>> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>>>>
>>>> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
>>>> (R.O.C.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>>>>
>>>> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>>>>
>>>> 研發部 / 沈南村
>>>>
>>>> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>>>>
>>>> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>>>>
>>>> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>>>>
>>>> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>>>>
>>>> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
>>>> (R.O.C.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>>>>
>>>> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>>>>
>>>> 研發部 / 沈南村
>>>>
>>>> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>>>>
>>>> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>>>>
>>>> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>>>>
>>>> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>>>>
>>>> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
>>>> (R.O.C.)
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Nut-upsdev mailing list
>>>> Nut-upsdev at alioth-lists.debian.net
>>>> https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsdev
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>>>
>>> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>>>
>>> 研發部 / 沈南村
>>>
>>> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>>>
>>> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>>>
>>> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>>>
>>> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>>>
>>> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
>>> (R.O.C.)
>>>
>>>
>> --
>> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>>
>> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>>
>> 研發部 / 沈南村
>>
>> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>>
>> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>>
>> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>>
>> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>>
>> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
>> (R.O.C.)
>>
>>
> --
> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>
> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>
> 研發部 / 沈南村
>
> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>
> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>
> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>
> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>
> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
> (R.O.C.)
>
>
> --
> 盈正豫順電子股份有限公司
>
> Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd.
>
> 研發部 / 沈南村
>
> E-mail: Johnson-shen at ablerex.com.tw
>
> Tel: 886-7-397-8640 Ext: 894
>
> Fax: 886-7-3978641
>
> 807-66高雄市三民區水源路157號
>
> No.157, Shuiyuan Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City 807-66, Taiwan
> (R.O.C.)
>
>
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