Subj : UPS Replacement - Upd To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Fri Feb 25 2022 10:14:00 Hi Ky! > > As for the driver, I think the drivers are now part of the kernel, or > > possibly part of the stuff when see "installing previously not > > installed". Plus that reference is quite a few years old. > KM> Ah, probably are by now. > I kind of thought one of the advantages of *NIX over Windows was the > 'main part' was separate/independent of everything else. The other > parts were essentially optional. (Overly simplified, but what do you > want on a half-mug of cofee so far? ) KM> Linux drivers are in the kernel because back in the original KM> days, linux performance was so utterly glacial that drivers had KM> to integrated into to the kernel to get it to boot within your KM> lifetime. It was a bad design decision then, and it's not any KM> better now, but we're kinda stuck with it. Lots of things are based on antique designs: distance between car tires was set by the space between the two horses going down the road in Roman times. I don't know anywhere near the information to make a proper guess but seems some sort of integrated into the OS has to be done just so something will show on the display. Make the change to the better/nicer- looking/more specific driver later. KM> period where whether it would work with your perfectly standard KM> hardware was a bad-odds crapshoot (and it's still not 100%; KM> yonder is my Epson scanner, NOT SUPPORTED even tho it's been KM> their most popular small business model for the past ten years). Yes, that's a major problem: manufacturer can't or won't give the details on how the device works, either someone has to reverse-engineer or create their own driver. To me sounds like the manufacturer is excluding a large portion of the market but may not have much of a choice: possibly bound by legal agreements or afraid release of the details would make it too easy for competitors to steal a process. KM> Or you deal with problems like the current tangle of nVidia KM> drivers, and hope the Nouveau driver works if one of the others KM> doesn't. Yes, the nVidia drive on my Lenovo laptop worked fine with 18.04; updated to 20.04 and their driver no longer works. KM> And it's not been that long go that if you moved a linux install KM> HD to another PC, or swapped out the video card, that killed it KM> dead and unresurrectable due to driver conflicts (and the KM> steaming pile of shims that is the X11 video server. Wayland is KM> better-designed, but still a bugfest.) Now I can move some of 'em KM> and they'll reconfigure drivers to the new hardware, but it's not KM> universal. I haven't done that in ages but to my way of thinking almost expected: it's not the same system. Should not die: the system should still work, just complain and fall back to the generic driver. > > Installed the new UPS last Thursday morning; haven't done anything with > > the monitoring and communications with either UPS yet, other than plug > > cables into the back panels. > KM> There's my problem... I never plug that USB cable into the PC. > KM> (Is that port surge-protected??????) I'm so rarely ... never? not > KM> home to deal with power out, that I don't really care about > KM> autoshutdown. > I haven't done a thing with auto-shutdown (yet); again now usually home, > if not still shouldn't have to be concerned as the generator is supposed > to kick in (since installed no power outages; barely any blinks!). KM> What sort of generator do you have? Skippy the Hamster in a running wheel connected to a bicycle generator! ! No: Generac 16KW running on natural gas (the house has NG appliances). A little noisy; was sort-of looking for something with a Honda engine as supposedly quiet (had heard they were used at the John Deere Golf Tournament across the River). Since the generator was installed no power outages; barely any blinks. KM> I'd like to have one that would run off natural gas since that's KM> unlikely to fail, but $$$$. Need to replace woodstove first. KM> (Dunno why but it won't draw at all, and me with 20 years heating KM> with wood/coal ain't the problem. Might be the flue is too big KM> for the stove.) Would like to have one that does both pellets and KM> chunks. Have seen pellet stoves; that's about it: seen 'em! LIS the house has NG, so made sense to use for the back-up power. Storing that amount of gasoline just sounds dangerous; and going out and getting more may not be an option: roads blocked, gas station might not have power for their pumps. Over the years I had considered a 'partial home' generator: just power a few basic areas: kitchen (mainly because of the refrigerator), the Computer Room (if I'm paying for a generator I'm getting something extra out of it!), the bedroom, the Sitting Room (Den -- no idea why it's called by the old term) because the TV we usually watch is in there, the kitchenette area in the basement (freezer and refrigerator). Years later by the time got round to actually getting things going on a generator the price difference between a (say) 8KW unit for the partial- house configuration and 16 KW whole-house unit wasn't that much different. Pricing might have been a bit skewed by then as supply chain issues were noticeable. .. KM> Especially having noted that right now Walmart has pellets half KM> price by the pallet. Buy Now! Give the termites a home for summer! > Mainly the software was installed to be able to check on the battery. > And in the case of the defective UPS handy way to grab the information. KM> Yeah, that has utility. They get tired and show no sign until KM> woah, why did the power go out and 30 seconds later the UPS KM> beeped and died? BTDT! Have several old UPSs, know several if not all have some sort of warning light when the battery is about to fail but I don't recall any doing so. > KM> However, I have thereby acquired a good collection of USB cables, > KM> useful for printers and such... > > Even the special ones with the Ethernet-type connectors on one end?! KM> That square connector? Most printers use that. I've never seen KM> one with an ethernet-type plug! > KM> Just pick a power cord and random and hope it's attached to > KM> something! > > I have been trying to label things like power cords and wall warts as to > what they go to. Sometimes the labels fall off. KM> cables> KM> Um, lost cause... KM> I once counted the tangle behind Argo and Dink, who shared a KM> printer and a KVM. The cable count was 26. > Up here also have what seems like should be an unnecessary extension > cord as it plugs in at one outlet and ends by the other one. And yes, > stuff is plugged into the second outlet and other stuff to the extension > cord, and yes, those items could be plugged into the second outlet. KM> I have that situation because this house has only one outlet with KM> a good ground. So ALL the computer-anything comes off that KM> outlet. Along with the microwave. They don't seem to mind KM> sharing. > Nope, they're on the same circuit, so same breaker. > > Reasoning is the UPSs' filtering interfere with the X10 controller: > severely attenuates the signal so the two have to be separated. "Oddly" > the ten feet or so between outlets is sufficient. (There are 120 KHz > filters but didn't work for that; they do work in other parts of the > house.) KM> Yeah, sometimes there's quirky stuff like that. I had a bizarre KM> tangle in my first Lancaster house due to funky issues with phone KM> jacks vs outlets. After much trial and error and a lot of KM> daisy-chaining, finally got it to all work and never dared touch KM> it again. KM> ... Behind every great computer lies... a mess of wires!! ¯ BarryMartin3@ ® ¯ @MyMetronet.NET ® .... The English language has been developing for more than 1,400 years. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .