Connecting serial cable to PSU shuts it off, huh?

LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, Alaska Icrontian
edited January 2009 in Hardware
I recent purchased a used Connext (store brand of APC) 900VA UPS. I installed a new battery in it, and presto, it works quite well. The previous owner did not have the data interface cable that came with it, which is a 9-pin serial cable. The motherboard on the system which this UPS supports does not have a serial port, so I ordered a 9-pin to USB adapter cable from eBay (I hold my nose and shop there occasionally).

Problem: plugging the cable into the UPS shuts it off immediately. Even if the cable is not connected to the computer, just plugging in the 9-pin end to the receptacle in the back of the UPS makes the UPS beep once and shut down immediately. I tried unplugging all devices from the UPS and removing the UPS from wall power. Plugging in the 9-pin cable still causes a beep and disables any power output from the UPS.

What they hey? How do I proceed from here?

As far as I can tell, the UPS perfectly, apart from this data cable problem. The UPS will run and pass diagnostics when I power it on, and it also has carried the computer through power outages without any problems.

Comments

  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    I am willing to bet that you will be needing to get the cable from Connext(APC) if they sell it. That's no moon.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    Yeah, I'm afraid it's just not going to work with this cable. If the cable is plugged, indicator lights do not come on and the battery-backup ports are disengaged. I made as far as getting Windows to recognize a new device, which was the adapter cable, but not the UPS. The drivers that came with the adapter were good and installed perfectly, the computer recognizing the adapter as a serial port. But nothing I tried would get the battery ports to work and Windows to recognize a UPS on the system. I removed the cable-adapter again and the UPS functions perfectly, except having no software interface with Windows.

    I'll see what Connext has online. APC may have the right cable, but it will be for an APC unit. The APC site doesn't even acknowledge Connext, understandably so, because they want APC to have a premium reputation, not associated with an unsupported store brand.
    That's no moon.
    ??
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    Leonardo wrote:
    mas0n wrote:
    That's no moon.
    ??

    That's a space station.
  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    I'm saying that although it looks like a serial port, it's not really a standard DB9 serial port. It is most likely wired differently and you're shorting it out when you plug in your adapter.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    Yes, I believe you are correct. I looked on the APC site. They sell both DB9 "computer" (serial) cables as well as DB9 "smart signalling" cables....for a price. I think I'll pace. That's about the same price as I paid for UPS! ;D I think I'll pass.

    Oh well, I learned something and only wasted five Bucks on my eBay purchase.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    Let me look at my cables at home... I might have one of those sitting around from my APC UPS. ;)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    That would be good. :)
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    I'll look also. I am sure that I have a couple, now if I can only tell which ones they are......
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited January 2009
    Worse case without the cable your system just doesn't get the shutdown command if your UPS runs out of juice. If you've only got the UPS for a home setup and to cover minor power blips you really don't need the cable. Also if you are ordering from APC check to see if you can get the DB9 to USB cable instead of the DB9-DB9 connector. Some of the UPS's we have came with that kind of cable.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2009
    Also if you are ordering from APC
    Oh, no, I don't think I will. The cables cost about half as much as I paid for the UPS! No, it's not essential that I have a software interface with the PSU. It's not a show stopper by any means. This PSU is on a secondary rig that main runs Folding@Home. The main reason I wanted the interface was to be able to monitor system power draw. That's becoming much more important to me due to the proliferation of very hungry Nvidia GPUs at my house! I've become pretty good at estimating power consumption.
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