[Nut-upsuser] MGE Ellipse USB cable config ?

[Arnaud Quette]

2007/10/15, Arjen de Korte <nut+devel at de-korte.org>:
> Arnaud Quette wrote:
>
> >> So the questions are:
> >> 1: is the USB cable simply like the RS232 cable but with built-in USB
> >> converter ?
> >> 2: or is the com-port some sort of "autodetecting" system that can
> >> work in both a USB and a RS232 config ? In that case, would anyone
> >> know the USB pin layout of the socket on this thing ?
> >> 3: has anyone else used this or a similar MGE system on the mac?
> >> 4: Does anyone know a cheap address for one of these USB cables in
> >> the Netherlands, or at least Europe?
> >
> > the newer models you're talking about are the USBS models, which allow
> > to switch between USB or serial by just changing the cable. If you own
> > such a model, you should have an RJ12 connector on the UPS side, and 2
> > cables, one ending with a DB9 (for serial use) and another with a
> > standard USB connector.
>
> The OP doesn't have the USB cable, that's why he came here in the first
> place.

yup, Dominique Lallement just made the same remark.
It seems that I've read that thread too quickly

> > Otherwise, the keyspan solution mentioned by my fellows are just fine
> > and have been validated.
>
> Using the serial port has a slight disadvantage over the USB port. The
> SHUT protocol takes (especially during startup) a fair amount of time
> because a lot of data has to be sent over a slow link. On my Evolution
> 650, it takes almost 10 seconds just to transfer the report descriptor.
> After that, the differences are small however, so operationally this
> should not be a problem.

yup. The problem is that depending on the exact model (USBS or not),
switching to USB implies also a different card...

> > I hope this answers your question,
>
> I think the OP would still like to know if it is possible to either buy
> or make such a cable (questions 2 and 4).

I will so make a full answer to the various questions:

> 1: is the USB cable simply like the RS232 cable but with built-in USB
> converter ?
> 2: or is the com-port some sort of "autodetecting" system that can
> work in both a USB and a RS232 config ? In that case, would anyone
> know the USB pin layout of the socket on this thing ?

on USBS models, we are simply using different wires on the RJ12 (UPS
side) to cable the right communication (USB or serial).
Older models had 2 distinct cards.

> 3: has anyone else used this or a similar MGE system on the mac?

I know of several people that use USB or serial MGE units with keyspan on Mac.

> 4: Does anyone know a cheap address for one of these USB cables in
> the Netherlands, or at least Europe?

Dominique will check to send with you the appropriate solution.

Arnaud
-- 
Free Software Developer - http://arnaud.quette.free.fr/
Debian Developer - http://people.debian.org/~aquette/
Network UPS Tools (NUT) Project Leader - http://www.networkupstools.org/
Ubuntu Media Center (UMC) Project Leader - https://launchpad.net/~umc-team