continous '^' characters on hp 700/96 serial console with liebert multilink software installed

[Jim Synodinos]

hello all,
I have couple of N/4000 systems with serial consoles 700/96 and with liebert ups software MultiLink installed. As soon as the this liebert 'MultiLink' install is done, the 700/96
begins printing non-stop '^' characters. Ths os is hp-ux 11.23. regardles what setting i set the sonsole to, hp or EM100 i cannot stop the garbage characters of '^'. This ups monitoring software is certified for 11.23. I am running other N/4000 with 11.0 and 11.11 with same software without the problem. uninstalling the 'multinLink' stops the crazy characters. Any ideas?
regards
jim

[Steven Schweda]

I know nothing, but ...

> [...] liebert ups software MultiLink [...]

There's only one version?

Which serial port has the MultiLink software
been told to use? I'd guess that it
shouldn't be told to use the same port as the
one which you're using for the serial
console. (I assume that an "N/4000" has more
than one serial port.)

> [...] uninstalling the 'multinLink' stops
> the crazy characters.

Before getting all drastic on it, did you try
simply using the start-stop script to stop
it? Perhaps:

/sbin/init.d/LiebertM stop

A little Google searching led to a User
Manual. (For version 1.5, which may or may
not agree with your (secret) version.)

http://shared.liebert.com/SharedDocuments/Manuals/sl_53620.pdf

Among other things (like, say, the
"Pre-Installation Checklist" and "Serial Port
Selection" for HP-UX), it also offers answers
to questions like: "HOW DO YOU CONTACT
LIEBERT FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT?".

Who made your cable? I also see "APPENDIX B
- MAKING YOUR OWN MULTILINK UPS CABLE".
Looks to be using a couple of the
modem-control signals, with an unusual
pin-out at the UPS end.

[Torsten.]

>> As soon as the this liebert 'MultiLink' install is done, the 700/96
begins printing non-stop '^' characters.



I assume you selected the console port instead of the UPS port. Please check!

[Jim Synodinos]

thanks for the input all
the console is cabled into the 'local console' of the N/4000.

the ups cable is a cable shiped from the vendor along with the ups unit and i know it is good because i use in in couple of other sstems

'/sbin/init.d/LiebrtM stop' stops the crazy characters but it also stops the service which also stops the ups config and the monitoring tool. defeats the purposr of having the ups.

as to the software version, i am using MultiLink 3.6 revision 4. The latest and greatest download.

Jim Synodinos

[Torsten.]

I assume the software asked you for the port where the UPS is connected?

[Jim Synodinos]

only one choice.

jim

[Jim Synodinos]

Liebert tech support has been on this for a week with no answer.

jim

[Torsten.]

What was the choice?


The UPS path depends on GSP model and firmware level.


3 different paths are possible.

[Steven Schweda]

> the console is cabled into the 'local
> console' of the N/4000.

Are there other serial ports on this system?

> the ups cable [...]

Fine.

> '/sbin/init.d/LiebrtM stop' stops the crazy
> characters but it also stops the service
> [...]

I didn't expect that to fix the problem, just
to be easier and faster than uninstall and
reinstall of the whole thing.

> only one choice.

Did it have a name?

[Bill Hassell]

The n4000 has 3 serial ports, one is labeled console and should never be used for a UPS connection. All console messages are sent to this port and will be unexpected by the UPS software. The second port is the remote support modem -- just like the console, it should never be used for the UPS. It is a link to the console port. The 3rd port is called the UPS port. It should be apparent that this is the correct port.

When you said that the console is showing the ^ characters, it really sounds as if you spliced the UPS into the console cable or some other strange connection.

Put the cable into the UPS port and uninstall the UPS software. Several UPS manufacturers have very bad installers and something simple like changing the UPS port (devicefile) requires a complete removal and re-installation. NOTE: If you tried the UPS port already and it didn't work, then you have the wrong cable. The vast majority of won't-work problems are related to the 2 incompatible cables for serial connections, straight-through or cross-over.

The continuous ^ characters are probably UPS attention characters that causes the UPS to reply and start the communication protocol. You will never see these characters on the console unless you have spliced the two cables together.

[Torsten.]

There is something special with this system.

You may have a GSP version A or B. Version B may have an older or newer firmware.

In case of B with newer firmware, you need some patches regarding insf and others, otherwise you cannot use the port.


Make sure the system is patched up to date and tell the h/w path of the UPS port please (together with the GSP firmware version).

[Matti_Kurkela]

By default, HP-UX 11.11 on N4000 only creates a serial port device for the console only, not for the "remote" or "UPS" ports. If you need to use these ports, the device file must be created, either manually or by using SAM.

The installation instructions for the MultiLink software probably included some operations to create a serial port device for the UPS.

If these instructions included the use of commands like "mksf" or "mknod", double check their parameters. A single typo with the parameters of these commands could cause the new device to refer to the console device, instead of the serial port the UPS is connected to.

The device file of the serial port is probably named like "/dev/ttyXpY" or "/dev/cua*". Please show the output of this command:

ll /dev/tty?p? /dev/cua*

If you have another serial port device with the same major & minor numbers as /dev/tty0p0, then that device is actually routed to the console serial port too.

MK

[Torsten.]

The console is either

0/0/4/0.0
or
0/0/4/1.0


but the UPS is one out of these:

0/0/4/0.1
0/0/4/1.1
0/0/4/1.3



This depends on GSP version and firmware version.

[Jim Synodinos]

thaanks for all the informative replies

thr GSP firmware on these machines is A1.12 and cannot be upgraded.

the serial cable is the same on shiped from the ups vendor and which i use on a dozen other HP servers K/580 and N4000 with 11.0 and 11.11 OS without a problem. Only the 11.23 PARISC are experiencing this problem

removed the software and re-installed. during the install a pop window allows you to select the avaliable tty for the ups and on the N/4000 you only have 'tty0p0'.

attached is the output of the 'll dev/tty?p?

I am suspecting that the software is not compatible with 11.23.

jim

[Torsten.]

ioscan -fn

please.

[Jim Synodinos]

attached ioscan -fn

thanks
jim

[Torsten.]

/dev/tty0p0 is the console.

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] during the install a pop window
> allows you to select the avaliable tty for
> the ups and on the N/4000 you only have
> 'tty0p0'.

Ok.

> attached is the output of the 'll dev/tty?p?

And, as you've probably already noticed, you
seem to have more serial ports than that one
(which seems likely to be in use for the
console).

> Liebert tech support has been on this for a
> week with no answer.

Get more insistent?

I still know nothing, but if you could find a
MultiLink configuration file somewhere which
contains the (wrong) serial port
specification, then you might be able to make
a manual change, and fool it into using the
right port. Have you looked at that
start-stop script? Is anything (port device,
config file path, ...) revealed (or even
suspicious) in there? If the "experts" won't
respond, then you may need to get more
creative.

[Torsten.]

/dev/tty0p1 is the ups port in this configuration.

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

I have two Nclass boxes that are connected to an HP R3000 UPS (actually, a Compaq R3000 that is made by Eaton) and I see that the UPS monitor cable is NOT plugged into the UPS connector, it is plugged into the Remote Support connector, leftmost on the back of the box. fuser and lsof both report that PowerMonitor is running on device /dev/tty0p2:

# lsof /dev/tty0p2
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
PowerMoni 771 root 6u CHR 1,0x200 0xcee3a90 1456 /dev/tty0p2

So move the UPS serial cable to the "Remote Support Modem" connector and make sure that the setting in the GSP for the ER command is S(ession) mode and not G(SP) or (L)ock.

Then reconfigure the software to use /dev/tty0p2. Use ioscan to find the serial ports:


# ioscan -knfCtty
Class I H/W Path Driver S/W State H/W Type Description
==================================================================
tty 0 0/0/4/0 asio0 CLAIMED INTERFACE PCI Serial (103c1048)
/dev/GSPdiag1 /dev/diag/mux0 /dev/mux0 /dev/tty0p0 /dev/tty0p1 /dev/tty0p2
tty 1 0/0/5/0 asio0 CLAIMED INTERFACE PCI Serial (103c1048)
/dev/GSPdiag2 /dev/diag/mux1 /dev/mux1 /dev/tty1p1


NOTE: If there is no /dev/tty0p2 device file, you can create the missing device file like this:


mknod /dev/tty0p2 c 1 0x000200
chmod 622 /dev/tty0p2

That should get things working.

[Jim Synodinos]

my 'no stars' hat is off to Bill.

I had originally check for 'dev/tty0p2' and it has been defined all along. The installer
of this animal would not recognize it for selectionit so i did not consider it as the cause of the problem. I found the config file and edited with the only entry being tty0p2. Problem solved.
my many thanks to you and all the others for the help.

Jim

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] I found the config file [...]

If you revealed _where_ you found it, then
the next poor slob who runs into the same
problem might gain enough useful info from
this thread to save a little time.

> /dev/tty0p1 is the ups port in this configuration.

> [...] I see that the UPS monitor cable is
> NOT plugged into the UPS connector, it is
> plugged into the Remote Support connector,
> leftmost on the back of the box. fuser and
> lsof both report that PowerMonitor is
> running on device /dev/tty0p2:

I don't wish to sound radical, but why not
try to use the official "UPS connector" for
the UPS, and specify _that_ device
("/dev/tty0p1", I gather) in the magic
"config file"? (Call me crazy, ...)

[Torsten.]

No doubt, the port /dev/tty0p0 is the console, so no need to wonder about what you currently see.


The serial ports are a bit confusing on this machine, because the UPS and remote ports (and even some "internal" ports depnd on the hardware version of the GSP (Tosca vs. Maestro) and even on the firmware version used on both types, so you have a couple of possible combinations.


But as said, port /dev/tty0p1 is the UPS port on your system that you should use.