[Nut-upsuser] APC BX ...MI series

[Peter Bell]

Hi,
  Thank you for your prompt response!

The problem I had with my BX950MI unit was that it was frequently 
reporting off-line, on batt and often not responding to requests from 
apcupsd (apcaccess) and then going back online again. However, the 
warranty replacement was prompted by a failed battery, apparently 
leaking acid, after around ten months use.  As a matter of interest, I 
had a problem a few years ago with battery failure on another APC 
(possibly a BX750 model?).  After two like-for-like warranty 
replacements, APC supplied a Pro 1200, which worked for several years 
before failing about three months ago.

As luck would have it, my warranty exchange BX950MI was delivered just 
an hour ago - apparently a brand new unit.  The previous unit wouldn't 
run for more than five minutes without throwing a 'wobbly', but this 
replacement has been running without issue for the last hour.  I am 
tentatively optimistic that this unit is not exhibiting the erratic 
behaviour, but I will continue to monitor it for a while.
The firmware version is identified as "295202G -302202G".

If this replacement unit really is working correctly, I will no longer 
be in need of adopting the updated NUT/driver - I will simply await the 
regular release.

Thanks again!

Regards,
Peter.


On 19/08/2024 15:57, Jim Klimov wrote:
> Hello,
>
>   Just wanted to clarify: what sort of issues did you have with the APC?
>
>   Since last year there have been several posts such as 
> https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/issues/2347 about BX****MI (3-4 
> digits for wattage) series built (or flashed with firmware?) roughly 
> in 2023-2024 as frequently reporting 
> low-battery/replace-battery/all-good events in a short timeframe, both 
> with NUT and apcupsd. The event itself might have taken a couple of 
> seconds, but happens irregularly from a few times a day to many times 
> an hour, spamming the logs or alert systems.
>
>   For those samples, we've figured this is some sort of automatic 
> calibration or similar behavior of the inverter, diligently 
> represented by its firmware protocol as the basic underlying events 
> and not the "calibrating" event. At least, this chain of events often 
> goes hand in hand with "On-Line + Discharging" status combo, which 
> seemed to mean calibration on earlier models.
>
>   A recently merged NUT solution for this in PR 
> https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/pull/2565 was a set of new 
> driver configuration options, as detailed in the "NEWS" file:
> * `lbrb_log_delay_sec=N` setting to delay propagation of `LB` or 
> `LB+RB` state (buggy with APC BXnnnnMI devices circa 2023-2024).
> * This may work better with flags like `onlinedischarge_calibration` 
> and `lbrb_log_delay_without_calibrating` for some devices.
>
>   The "lbrb*" options are recent (would be in NUT v2.8.3 release 
> eventually), the "onlinedischarge_calibration" is from v2.8.1 (the 
> OL+DISCHRG combo means several things for different vendors, so there 
> are options for how NUT should treat them).
>
>   Depending on how exactly your device misbehaves, just spewing 
> OL+DISCHRG once in awhile, or the bigger alert sequence with battery 
> replacement, you may be in luck for the former just needing to install 
> NUT v2.8.1 from some packages (maybe using Debian/Ubuntu derived 
> "experimental" repo or switch to a newer OS release), or for the 
> latter - build your own custom NUT. A way to go about this is 
> documented at 
> https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/Building-NUT-for-in%E2%80%90place-upgrades-or-non%E2%80%90disruptive-tests 
> with reference to the needed prerequisites on different platforms.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Jim Klimov
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 19, 2024 at 9:22 AM Peter Bell <peter at bellfamily.org.uk> 
> wrote:
>
>     I'm a long-time user of APC UPSs and apcupsd, but have been
>     experiencing
>     issues with recent APC units, although I have three BackUPS CS650
>     units
>     which have had very little issue..
>
>     I've recently replaced the APC 1200 unit on my fileserver (running
>     Slackware) with a CyberPower UPS and that appears to be well
>     supported
>     by NUT.
>
>     However, I have an APC BX950MI unit which is currently being replaced
>     under warranty.  This unit has never worked well with apcupsd.
>     I understand that changes have recently been incorporated into NUT to
>     handle the BX units.  I have installed NUT onto a Raspberry Pi,
>     running
>     PiOS (Bookworm), but NUT pulled from the PiOS repository is only at
>     v2.8.0, not the latest.  This works okay with the CS650 APC but I
>     fear
>     that it doesn't include the latest BX series fixes.
>     What do I need to do to to get the BX950 working satisfactorily with
>     NUT?  Will an update of the usbhid-ups driver work or do I need the
>     complete NUT v2.8.2 from somewhere?
>
>     How can I go about this?
>
>     All advice gratefully received.
>
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