I just got a Minuteman MN525 UPS recently. Unfortunately, it came only
with Windows software. Since it has a serial cable, I decided to try
and get it working in Slackware so that it could signal the system and
it could shut down the computer in the event of a power loss. Well,
after fiddling around and monitoring lines, it looks as though the UPS
behaves exactly like the Cyber-sl. To test this, I specified Cyber-sl
and started genpowerd. It partially works. It writes "OK" to
/etc/upsstatus when it starts. I have the UPS plugged into a power
strip so I can simulate power failures easily. When I turn the power
strip off, the UPS starts beeping and providing power from the battery
as it should. the word "FAIL" is written to /etc/upsstatus.
/var/log/syslog gets an entry stating that line power has failed.
However, init never gets signaled, and /etc/powerstatus never gets
created or updated. Looking at the source code, it appears as though it
will try to write to /dev/initctl if NEWINIT is defined. It's supposed
to log an error if it can't write to this FIFO, but it is not. I did a
search on Google, as well as Freshmeat, but could find no similar
problem mentioned. Freshmeat only seems to have Genpower-1.0.2 which
lacks the /etc/genpowerd.conf file, uses a different syntax, and doesn't
have the Cyber-sl listed which as I said, seems to be compatible with my
UPS. Slackware ships with version 1.0.3, but I can find no mention
anywhere of this version nor who created it. Any ideas? Has anybody
else gotten this, or another UPS package to work under Slackware 9.1?
BTW, when I restore power, that is also correctly logged, and "OK" once
again appears in /etc/upsstatus. It just never tells init about it so
it can take action.
If I can figure out why it isn't signaling init, I think I can get it
working.