Updating APC UPS firmware fail: UPS and Downs Part 2

[@yessure5792]

daaamn firmware updates can really be frustrating as hell so I got here a used APC Smart UPS 1500 and I was looking at your videos to get an idea on how the network card worked I guess I'll set it up without updating anything lol thank you

[@AlbaTech]

My content is pretty obscure so I’m happy to hear it when people find it useful.

[@PWingert1966]

That was a smart idea on holding off on the upgrade. Since I consider my home equipment to be in a production state I quite often hold off on upgrade for 30,60 or 90 days after they are released. I am glad I did this with Windwos 10 as soon as 1809 was released I stopped upgrade in windows settings for 35 days. Non-production machines are usually locked down for 60 days before upgrades.

[@AlbaTech]

Agreed. But I am currently three revisions behind the latest firmware. It's a shame they don't follow Ubiquiti and allow you to choose the level of 'bleeding edge' you are comfortable with. I'd be happy with the second newest firmware but only the very latest is available. 10.1 has been out for a while now but I still can't face it...

[@lucidlx]

I did a job last year where we installed a few hundred of the SMX UPS's (I think the SMX2200). They were supplied new with NMCs. I updated one of them to the latest firmware and had exactly the same problem you describe. Tried much the same things as you did to get them to talk, but gave up. We ended up not updating the rest of the UPSs! Oh and yes the APC discovery software is awful. It just doesn't work most of the time. Ended up setting all the static IPs with a serial connection!

[@AlbaTech]

Thanks for comments. I was actually toying with the idea of attempting to update to the latest firmware again as I thought enough time has passed for it to have settled down. But this has reminded me of the nightmare I had so I think I'll leave it. The replacement UPS came with firmware 09.8 which is a few revisions behind now but I have not had any problems at all with it.

[@ats1995]

Stumbling across your content I must say it's very enjoyable. What made you go for a network management card over connecting it to a machine running NUT or similar? I just got myself a UPS up and running.

[@AlbaTech]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not familiar with NUT but I imagine it needs a server or virtual machine to run on? I'm too lazy for that. I also expect it needs a serial connection, so I'd need to buy or build a machine with that as none of my kit has that. The NMC was cheap on ebay and the web interface of 6.5.6 is quite nice to use. And it allows me to perform graceful shutdowns on multiple pieces of equipment in the event of power loss rather than a single device when using the USB. I'm still not ready to take the latest firmwares for the NMC or UPS yet though.

[@brettmcauliffe475]

Have you updated the Firmware on the NMC or the UPS since this video? Also did you do any further set up on the NMC to help shut down devices in the event of sustained loss of power? I have had the same model UPS and NMC as you since 2014. I have recently moved for Cisco Small business network gear to Ubiquiti and long with my Synology NAS but have never had the UPS shut any of these devices down in event of a sustained power loss or not send any email/notifications. So when the UPS failed on output short 31-Dec-22 and 08-Jan-23 I had no idea that it happened. Also, I did load the wrong firmware to the NMC but was able to put the correct firmware on it.

[@AlbaTech]

After two failures I gave up on the UPS firmware. I looked for the NMC firmware download a few times with the intent of upgrading the NMC but APC made it impossible to find so I gave up on that as well. But the NMC version in the video allowed the UPS to show up on the network and my Synology NAS was able to recognise it. I also have a PC connected via USB and the UPS has communicated to both devices and they have performed graceful shutdowns during power loss. Is DSM not seeing the NMC?

[@brettmcauliffe475]

@@AlbaTech My UPS & NAS are not located in the same location so can not use USB for them to communicate, so I need to use SNMP. I have never used SNMP before. I have just tried SNMP v3 and now v1. It seems like both versions are supported by both the NAS & the UPS but the Synology NAS "Cannot connect to the network UPS Sever" yet. In hind sight I should have gone with a small rack mount system like yours with all in the one spot but not where my Cat6 cables are terminated and the UPS does not fit here. So looking for how to set up SNMP for this.

[@AlbaTech]

@@brettmcauliffe475 I just used the power settings in DSM - SNMP version v2c and set to public and pointing to the NMC ip address.

[@brettmcauliffe475]

@@AlbaTech I have been able to get SNMP v1 working but there is no option on the NAS for V2c and I can not get SNMP v3 to work at all. I also cannot get Email notifications working, despite the settings being identical to my Synology NAS email notification settings which work fine. I did upgrade my UPS Firmware today to V15 (ID20) and NMC firmware to 7.0.8 to try to address these issues along with a "Reset All" (except for TCP/IP). No luck yet but have lodged a ticket. It is great that you have shown in these videos what you have setup. I would be interested to see how what else you have set up on this UPS & NMC, if you get time and want to do any more videos on this equipment.

[@brettmcauliffe475]

In the end I did get SNMP v3 working. Synology was not able to do SHA & AES. All other combinations worked. Also got the Email notifications working. I did get help from SE Technical Support and Synology Technical Support.

[@xbmcnut]

Nice video, thank you. Did you ever manage to get this on 10.1 successfully?

[@AlbaTech]

Thanks. I tried again last year but it broke the UPS once again. I went through the whole RMA process and got another replacement, so at that level great support by APC. However they basicially advised not to upgrade to the latest firmware, which is a bizarre position to be in. I’ve not checked versions since, I cannot face another attempt.

[@xbmcnut]

@@AlbaTech Thanks for the prompt reply. The guide says to use the Wizard via USB so I was going to brave it. My one is running 9.1 so quite old. Can't find where to get older firmware other than 10.1.

[@AlbaTech]

Pete Stothers My replacement arrived with 9.8 and I’ve left it at that. Try contacting APC customer support for legacy versions, they were very helpful. Shame their developers aren’t as effecient. They should admit themselves that 9.8 is a know good if you say you are worried about 10.1 or later. The RMAs must have cost them a fortune so I imagine they would be keen to avoid that.

[@xbmcnut]

@@AlbaTech I contacted APC and they advised I should have no issues now so I braved it! Used 4.1 wizard with NMC removed and it all went smoothly in about 3~4 minutes. Running 10.1 now.

[@AlbaTech]

Pete Stothers congratulations! Having had my fingers burned twice I’m not feeling so brave!

[@NinoM4sterChannel]

"UPS and downs" hahah I love it xD

[@AlbaTech]

NinoM4ster finally, somebody shares my sense of humour!

[@trojnara]

Nice horror story... I just bought an SMX750l device and I'm waiting for the delivery. After watching this video I'm no longer sure it was a good choice. A good device should survive a firmware upgrade.

[@Symphony_gamestream]

Looks like it was user error