[Nut-upsuser] Gentoo Ultra USB UPS

[Jonathan Dion]

hello !

On 8/1/06, Barry Fawthrop <barry at ttienterprises.org> wrote:
> Ok I have install the trunk version in /svn/trunk and ran it's newhidups
> drivers/newhidups
> here is what I get and it scrolls
>
> drivers/newhidups -DDD -u root -x generic -x vendorid=0d9f auto
> Network UPS Tools: 0.28 USB communication driver 0.28 - core 0.30 (2.1.0)
>
>  ProductID: 0001
> - Manufacturer: unknown
> - Product: unknown
> - Serial Number: unknown
> - Bus: 001
> Trying to match device
> Device matches
> HID descriptor retrieved (Reportlen = 175)
> Report descriptor retrieved (Reportlen = 175)
> Found HID device
> Report Descriptor size = 175
> Report Descriptor: (200 bytes) => 05 02 09 04 A1 01 05 02 85 07 95 01 75
> 08 15 00
> Detected a UPS: unknown/unknown
> Using subdriver: GENERIC HID 0.1
> Looking up 00020004
> Looking up 00020086
> entering string_to_path()
> Looking up 00020004
> Looking up 00020086
> Report : (2 bytes) => 07 82
> Path: 00020004.00020086, Type: Feature, Value: 130.000000
> Looking up 00020004
> Looking up 00020087
> entering string_to_path()
> Looking up 00020004
> Looking up 00020087
> Report : (2 bytes) => 08 04
> Path: 00020004.00020087, Type: Feature, Value: 4.000000

8<---- sniping the rest

I have good news and bad news for you...

Let's begin with the good one :
Your UPS is not just a serial-to-USB converter, and it use USB and
HID, so you have a chance to just have to make a subdriver for
newhidups for your UPS (it is quite simple if you use others subdriver
as exemple)

Now is the bad news :
Your UPS don't use the standart HID Power Device Class standard. So
newhidups cannot make any resolution (the "name" of variables and
paths in your UPS are in 0002XXXX, the standard are in 0084XXXX or
0085XXX, and the manufacturer specific variable should be between
FF00XXXX and FFFFXXXX).

So, what can you do ?

You have three solutions :

 - Contact PowerCom and explain them your situation, ask them to send
you the HID usage table they use, so NUT (and you and all powercom USB
UPS users !) can use your (and their !) UPS. If you don't achieve to
convince them, or if you don't know exactly what to say, you could
point the nut-upsuser mail or Arnaud email address (NUT leader,
aquette.dev at gmail.com) (It is Arnaud who made this proposition, so he
agree). Do some lobying for NUT and hope they will send it to you.
With this table, you (or an NUT developer) will easilly be able to
make a subdriver

 - PowerCom refuse to answer your request and you don't want to change
your UPS. You then need to do some reverse engineering to construct
this HID usage table ( for instance I see that UPS.00020010.00020030
has 100 as value, so perhaps it is something like UPS.BATTERY.CHARGE.
If you plug off you UPS and this value start decrease, it is probably
the good answer. But find at least the minimal needed translations can
be long and hard. Perhaps they just changed the 0085 by 0002, as I see
that 00850010 is Battery system in standard, so perhaps 00020010 is it
too. But it don't seem to alway match.) In brief, this solution need
work and time

 - If the didn't answer and you don't have the time or the will to do
some reverse engineering, the only solution left for you is to change
your UPS. You can try to send it back to PowerCom and try to get back
your money saying you cannot use it. If you choose this solution, I
would remember you that the MGE UPSes are fully supported by NUT, and
MGE provide extremly good user support (sorry for the little
advertising ;-) , I'am paid by MGE. But I think what I said)

Cheer,

Jonathan Dion