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Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

 
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Pellie
Advisor

Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Hello,

 

I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong forum, but I couldn't find any other viable alternatives(?).

 

I recently purchased a decomissioned Compaq R1500 XR UPS (HV, Int'l) without the SNMP module or serial cable. As I am having trouble locating a reseller of these (special?) cables, I'm considering putting together my own. Could anybody indicate whether this is a 'regular' serial cable or whether any specific electronic components are required? Does anyone happen to have the pinout for the DB-9 cable?

 

When I contacted HP chat support, one fellow indicated that the cable cannot be 'customized' (duplicated), and is specific for that model. The next chap I spoke to went as far as to inform me that they are interchangeable with the HP branded R1500 series cables.

 

Any hints, info, help or details of suppliers capable of delivering the aforementioned cable are very welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Al

 

P.S.Moved from Servers - Experts Online Now!!! - ProLiant - Experts Online Now!!! - ProLiant Servers - Netservers to Servers > general

 

21 REPLIES 21
Pellie
Advisor
Solution

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

OK, well, I've located the original cable and should have it by this evening. Obviously I'm eager to find out whether this cable is so special as HP Support claimed it is.

 

If anybody is interested, feel free to drop me an email at hp[at]pelnet.eu

 

 

Peter Jam
Frequent Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Pellie,

I will be intereste dto see if after you get the cable you can communicate with the R1500 UPS.

I have had a R55000 for several years and it refuses to connect anymore.  Perhaps i need a new cable too.

see my post on this forum.

 

Pellie
Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Hi pjamme,

 

sorry to hear about that. I doubt that a serial cable would just 'break down', unless there really are some ICs or resistors in the cable, and even then, the chance is reasonably small. According to the documentation in the user manual (at least for my R1500) it states that one shouldn't connect a 'regular' serial cable, as this can damage the equipment, though it also states that it's a 'standard RS-232' connection. If I were you, I would start by checking whether there is any voltage on the RS-232 port of the UPS. However, to the best of my understanding, even if I were to send you the layout/diagram for this cable, it wouldn't operate your UPS as it's a different model.

Do you by any chance have the possibility of testing a different add-in card? Does the UPS behave normally apart from the 'no serial connection' issue?

 

Also, I've found a couple of sketchy pinouts for my model on the regular HP user forums. You might wanna give one a try:

 

Part# 295245-003
Software: FailSafe-III

UPS      DB-9M                       DB-9F  RS-232

Receive  1 <---------------------------< 3  TxD
Transmit 2 <---------------------------< 2  RxD
Common   4 <---------------------------< 5  SG
PnP_En   6 <---------------------------< 7  RTS
                                  +----< 4  DTR
                                  +----< 6  DSR

 

And this at http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=331919&prodTypeId=3447589&objectID=c00339005

 

UPS 9-Pin PortCable WiringComputer 9-Pin Port
PinSignal PathSignal PathPin
1 Output<===>Input1
2 Output<===>Input2
3 Input<===>Output3
4 Output<===>Input4
5 Common<===>Common5
6 Input<===>Output6
7 Input<===>Output7
8 Input<===>Output8
9 Output<===>Input9
Peter Jam
Frequent Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Pellie,

I have the serial that came with the R5500, it worked for a while.  But now I cannot connect, it is unable to find the UPS when I configure using port 8008 on COM1.  So I am starting to wonder if I changed the port some time ago and forgot what I used.  Is there anyway to reset the config?

Pellie
Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

I'm sorry, maybe I' having a delayed case of the Mondays here, but how do you mean 'configured the port' ? As far as I'm aware the RS-232 port has a fixed configuration of 8-1-1(if I remember correctly) at 1200 baud. You referred to a 'port 8008', which would lead me to believe you're referring to a (TCP?) network connection as opposed to default RS-232 communication. I checked for the 'reset' function, but I can't seem to find one. I opened my UPS and had a look inside before installing it in the rack, and wouldn't be surprised if the device loses its settings when the battery is disconnected and no auxiliary mains power is connected, but I could be wrong. Some of these enterprise devices simply don't feature the 'reset to factory defaults' option often found on consumer devices.

 

Just an idea, but have you tried powering down the UPS (and disconnecting it from the mains), removing the serial add-in card, starting up again, then placing the card in the unit again (while switched off!)? It might just 'lose' its settings for the port, or reconfigure them (with the default values from scratch) when it finds the card again...

 

Peter Jam
Frequent Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Pellie,

I have already switched it from on server to another that is on the UPs to no avail.  i do not have an addin Serial card just the Serial ports on those servers.  Do they require a special card?

When I right mouse click on the taskbar icon with the red X that says no device, i have a choice of connect, Stop Service, Start Sevice (checked), confiure and Exit.  Below is what comes up if I select configure:

 

 

 

66iF632857E7C20067E

Pellie
Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Uhhm, the software you're using is for connecting to the 'agent' running a computer connected via a serial cable to the device. As far as I am aware, these devices do not feature a webserver. The agent performs this task by communicating with the UPS via serial connection, and offering the data in a web based interface. Could you maybe check/post the serial settings on the computer that's currently connected to the UPS (Device Manager, properties of the COM port assigned to the device)? These settings must match the settings specified in the documentation for the device. If the agent is started, it might make a log somewhere (I haven't got around to installing it yet myself, and I was planning on using the Linux version, anyway). Maybe check the application directory and/or system logs?

 

Note that some software INSISTS upon using COM 1 - if for any reason you're using another COM port, you might wanna try switching it around, but I'm pretty sure there must be a configuration for that somewhere, too.

 

Peter Jam
Frequent Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Pellie,

The Log directory for HP Power Manager is empty.  :(

COM 2 says it is in use for a motherboard device.

COM 1 settings are default, see attached jpegs67i75B6EDE8449C54BF68i886BA56E29AE993469i6F93C5950F74BD2D

Pellie
Advisor

Re: Compaq R1500 UPS Serial Cable

Without checking the specifications (yeah, I know...) I would assume that your UPS is the same as mine, in the fact that it recommends/requires 1200 baud, and that 9600 would be too high. However, I have had for instance ethernet switches that state 2400 baud as the maximum and worked fine at 9600...

 

Also, you mentioned the log directory is empty - is the process running? How about the system logs (Start, Run, 'eventvwr') ?