Tripp-Lite: keep or return?

I walked past an APC UPS on sale for several weeks at Costco and of course when time to pull the trigger came it wasn't there so I picked an otherwise very nice looking Tripp Lite model.

Tripp Lite Smart1000LCD
http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtModelID=3071

My question to you folks is very simple - should I bother keeping it in the hope of getting FreeBSD 9.0-RELEASE working with *any* type of ups daemon or return the bloody thing and go with an APC brand?

I have tried apcupsd to no avail...followed a couple guides that _should_ work, but of course that's assuming it would be compatible with this unit at all.

nut doesn't seem to be what I am after either - want a simple daemon to shutdown server once UPS on battery for X minutes or after UPS battery < certain threshold.

At this point it seems that apcupsd is simply incompatible with this unit - return it or other options?

Code:
Oct 31 22:54:05 fbsd kernel: uhid0: <Tripp Lite Tripp Lite UPS, class 0/0, rev 1.10/0.07, addr 3> on usbus0
Oct 31 22:54:21 fbsd kernel: ugen0.3: <Tripp Lite> at usbus0 (disconnected)
Oct 31 22:54:21 fbsd kernel: uhid0: at uhub0, port 2, addr 3 (disconnected)
Oct 31 22:54:22 fbsd kernel: ugen0.3: <Tripp Lite> at usbus0
Oct 31 22:54:22 fbsd kernel: uhid0: <Tripp Lite Tripp Lite UPS, class 0/0, rev 1.10/0.07, addr 3> on usbus0
Oct 31 22:54:33 fbsd apcupsd[2083]: apcupsd FATAL ERROR in generic-usb.c at line 674 Cannot find UPS device -- For a link to detailed USB trouble shooting information, please see <http://www.apcupsd.com/support.html>.

# cat /usr/local/etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##

UPSCABLE usb 
UPSTYPE usb 
DEVICE 
UPSCLASS standalone
UPSMODE disable
LOCKFILE /var/spool/lock


SCRIPTDIR /usr/local/etc/apcupsd
PWRFAILDIR /var/run
...continues...

# apcaccess status
Error contacting apcupsd @ localhost:3551: Connection refused


TIA
 
I think sysutils/nut is the only option for Tripp Lite; it should offer similar functionality to sysutils/apcupsd. Those units do not speak the APC protocol. For that matter, some of the newer APC units have gone to a proprietary, undocumented protocol. See the apcupsd web page before buying an APC unit.

When possible, APC Smart-UPS units of 700 VA capacity and up are preferred. I occasionally buy these for ridiculously low prices at surplus equipment auctions. The batteries are always dead, but easily replaced.
 
Thanks wblock.

I previously came across nut as well, but after further googling some of the online solutions it seems to be several orders of magnitude more complicated to configure than apcupsd. Lots of wasted time and no real assurance it'll work.

I think I'll take advantage of Costco's gracious return policy. apcupsd seems much better supported on this OS so I'll move in that direction with a proper branded unit. ;-)
 
nut takes a bit to get going, as it requires three daemons just to have a single machine shut down (only one per additional machine though), but once you get it set up it's wonderful. I have 3 separate systems connected to a single UPS and they all shut down well with nut.
 
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