[Nut-upsuser] FreeBSD usbhid-ups problem

[Arjen de Korte]

> Hi,
> I have an MGE Ellipse UPS connected to a FreeBSD 7.0 system and it works
> OK
> to begin with but after an hour or so it dies, eg..
>
> Starts out OK..
> debug level is '2'
> upsdrv_initups...
> Checking device (0463/FFFF) (/dev/usb2//dev/ugen0)
> - VendorID: 0463
> - ProductID: ffff
> - Manufacturer: MGE UPS SYSTEMS
> - Product: ELLIPSE
> - Serial Number: 000000000
> - Bus: /dev/usb2
> Trying to match device
> Device matches
> ...
>
> But some time later I get this..
> upsdrv_updateinfo...
> Got 0 HID objects...
> Quick update...
> Path: UPS.PowerSummary.PresentStatus.ACPresent, Type: Feature, ReportID:
> 0x01, Offset: 0, Size: 1, Value: 1.000000
> Path: UPS.PowerSummary.PresentStatus.Discharging, Type: Feature,
> ReportID: 0x01, Offset: 2, Size: 1, Value: 0.000000
> Path: UPS.PowerSummary.PresentStatus.Charging, Type: Feature, ReportID:
> 0x01, Offset: 1, Size: 1, Value: 1.000000
> Path: UPS.PowerSummary.PresentStatus.BelowRemainingCapacityLimit, Type:
> Feature, ReportID: 0x01, Offset: 3, Size: 1, Value: 0.000000
> upsdrv_updateinfo...
> Got 0 HID objects...
> Quick update...
> Can't retrieve Report 1: Input/output error
> upsdrv_updateinfo...
> Got to reconnect!
>
> No appropriate HID device found
> upsdrv_updateinfo...
> Got to reconnect!
>
> No appropriate HID device found
> upsdrv_updateinfo...
> Got to reconnect!
>
> I've made sure NUT & libusb are up to date (2.2.2 & 0.1.12_2
> respectively)

This is a permissions problem. The driver drops privileges soon after
startup so if it needs to (re)connect later, the USB device node must be
accessible by the user running the driver (typically 'nut' or 'upsd').
Usually this is handled by hotplug (old) or udev (new) rules (Linux), but
apparently this isn't working for you on FreeBSD. I'm not familiar with
FreeBSD to know if there is something similar available. Preventing the
driver from dropping privileges is one way to deal with this (add '-u
root' to the 'upsdrvctl' commandline).

Best regards, Arjen
-- 
Eindhoven - The Netherlands
Key fingerprint - 66 4E 03 2C 9D B5 CB 9B  7A FE 7E C1 EE 88 BC 57