iMac not shutting down when on UPS power

Dick Huitema wrote:
. . .
I also have now reloaded the OSX install disk and the 10.6.4 combo.

The test is still failing.

That's very strange. I have the ES-750 model, which appears to be the same except more juice, and I've had a couple of others over the years, too (I live in central Florida, lightning capital of the US). Never such a problem.

Frustrating, isn't it? Please let me know if there's some specific about the test I'm using that may the culprit.... or other things to do/check.

This is the warning you should see (and I do get it on my iMac when the UPS switches to battery):
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I think you need to talk to APC. They should at least know if it's possible there's a bad cable or plug on the UPS. It sure doesn't seem to be anything wrong on your Mac.

They do have a pretty good reputation for service; replaced a UPS for me a couple of years ago without any problem at all.

Keep us posted.

Thanks Dick,

Since I could recreate the problem and fix it, I thought I'd throw in the college try. However, Pondini is the absolute expert on this subject so I would defer to him. I'm just glad I could keep it alive and provide info on the subject.

Since you don't get the message that you're now on UPS as I used too but didn't after a couple of failures, I just thought I'd throw it in and keep the subject alive. Replugging the ups feed made it all good for me.

Hope things work out and thanks for a topic where I tested my own situation and got to correct it.

captfred wrote:
. . .
However, Pondini is the absolute expert on this subject so I would defer to him.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it's more than a bit exaggerated. 🙂

But I still think it's a different signal . . . we'll see what APC has to say, right?

Yep, it's definitely a different signal.. We'll let APC sort it out, but You are still the man on these subjects... I'm but a shadow that tries to pop the obvious back.

btw I've read your posts and evaluated your web advice... it's not exaggerated.. you're just plain good. As the former head of IT for a fortune 500 company, I know what's good! 🙂

Any update on this?

One question - why do people think the software that comes with this unit is even fully compatible with SnowLeopard?
It doesn't say anything on the APC website or in the manual for this unit about software compatibility - detecting UPS status is one thing but to get the UPS to shut down the Mac is something quite different.

On a related subject, I often have applications running that cancel manual shutdown.
A message come up along the lines "Can't do something if you shut down, do you really want to shut down?" and you have to click the OK button to shut the computer down.
Anyone know if the APC UPS can handle that or if the shut down process just stops.

Knut Schartmann wrote:
Any update on this?

One question - why do people think the software that comes with this unit is even fully compatible with SnowLeopard?

If you're talking about the consumer version of their +Power Chute+ software, it isn't compatible at all. Hasn't been since either Panther or Tiger, I forget which.

It doesn't say anything on the APC website or in the manual for this unit about software compatibility - detecting UPS status is one thing but to get the UPS to shut down the Mac is something quite different.

The UPS does not perform the shutdown. It simply sends a signal to OSX. Then OSX does the shutdown, according to the options set in the Energy Saver panel.

On a related subject, I often have applications running that cancel manual shutdown.
A message come up along the lines "Can't do something if you shut down, do you really want to shut down?" and you have to click the OK button to shut the computer down.
Anyone know if the APC UPS can handle that or if the shut down process just stops.

Again, APC isn't involved, except to tell OSX it's now on battery power.

But yes, if OSX can't do a shutdown because some apps can't be stopped, it won't. It will close the apps it can, the rest will hang until the UPS unit runs out of battery power, then you get an abnormal shutdown.

I meant the software that comes with the APC ES 550, the UPS we're talking about in this thread. I assume that is a "consumer" model and comes with the "consumer software"

Yes, I realize the UPS doesn't shut down the Mac directly.
All I was trying to do is distinguish between the UPS status being communicated via the USB link and the USB link being used to communicate a shut down command to the Mac.

From your last comment it sounds that the shutdown via the USB port is initiated in the same way as it would be if I go under the Apple and select Shutdown, not exactly what I was hoping for.

But I appreciate you quick and concise response.

Back to the OP's problem - he is running 10.6.3, why would anyone even expect the shut down to work with this UPS?

Knut Schartmann wrote:
I meant the software that comes with the APC ES 550, the UPS we're talking about in this thread. I assume that is a "consumer" model and comes with the "consumer software"

Yes. There is an extra-cost commercial version that may work on OSX, but the consumer version doesn't.

Yes, I realize the UPS doesn't shut down the Mac directly.
All I was trying to do is distinguish between the UPS status being communicated via the USB link and the USB link being used to communicate a shut down command to the Mac.

The USB link doesn't really communicate a "shut down" command; just a notice that the UPS is now supplying batter power.

From what I've read, I think that's a separate signal, initiated by the UPS. That's different from the status information that OSX gets in response to a slow poll -- battery charge for sure, and possibly power source.

From your last comment it sounds that the shutdown via the USB port is initiated in the same way as it would be if I go under the Apple and select Shutdown, not exactly what I was hoping for.

Correct. Whether you initiate a manual shutdown, or OSX does a scheduled shutdown per the +Energy Saver+ settings, or one in response to the UPS settings, none of them will finish if it's unable to close an app.

Back to the OP's problem - he is running 10.6.3, why would anyone even expect the shut down to work with this UPS?

Because it should, and does with many other systems, including mine. I have a similar APC system, an ES-750.

The OP isn't even getting the warning message from OSX that the UPS has switched to battery power, which apparently means OSX doesn't know to start checking for the times/percentages to decide when to shut down.

   

I think I may have been under a misconception.
My battery back-up systems so far are all Belkin. They work quite well with the Mac software and one gets a lot of information about the state of the UPS with their Bulldog software.
I always adjusted the automatic shut down so it was related to a specific battery capacity remaining, not a specific time interval running on back up power.
And I thought that was a capability of the Belkin Bulldog software, but now it sounds that this was more a capability of the Mac based on input from the UPS when polled by the Mac.
In any case - the Bulldog software and Mac software were nicely integrated - at least for Tiger when I last used the Belkin.

As to the OP's issue - I take it that is still an open question.

Knut Schartmann wrote:
I think I may have been under a misconception.
My battery back-up systems so far are all Belkin. They work quite well with the Mac software and one gets a lot of information about the state of the UPS with their Bulldog software.
I always adjusted the automatic shut down so it was related to a specific battery capacity remaining, not a specific time interval running on back up power.

You can use 1, 2, or 3 criteria with Leopard or Snow Leopard. See Using a U.P.S. System with a Mac.

And I thought that was a capability of the Belkin Bulldog software, but now it sounds that this was more a capability of the Mac based on input from the UPS when polled by the Mac.

On Tiger, it may well have been the Belkin software, as it was with APC's Power Chute on earlier versions of OSX. I don't recall whether it was with Tiger or Leopard that UPS support was added to OSX.

As to the OP's issue - I take it that is still an open question.

Since he hasn't posted back, apparently so. 😟

Dick Huitema wrote:
Pondini and other interested folks...

Sorry..... I haven't posted in all this time because APC's tech support guy was sick and didn't reply to me for over a week, after several interchanges and tests.

He's back now and hasn't come up with anything new, so they're going to (finally) set up an OS 10.6.4 system and run a "simulation" of what I've been doing.

Ah, good.

Specifically, is there something else I can do or check that would confirm whether Energy Saver is working correctly? For example, can I do something that should trigger the warning... other than unplug the UPS, that is.

Either unplugging it or turning off the breaker should do it (both do it for me).

Let's see what APC comes up with. Most likely, it will work properly, and they'll send you a replacement unit.

Keep us posted.