I recently replaced my UPS and set up NUT (Network UPS Tools) for monitoring.

Everything works fine for a short time, but after a few hours, NUT reports “error: Data stale” in the web UI. After a few more hours, the web UI just stops responding completely.

I have NUT running on a Ubuntu VM in Proxmox. My UPS is a Tripp Lite (Eaton) SU1000RTXL2UA. It’s connected to my hypervisor via USB and passed through to the VM. Restarting the container fixes the problem. Any idea what could be causing this?

Update:

I noticed this problem while I was troubleshooting another issue, but it seems to have fixed my issue with NUT as well. Seems like there is something wrong with USB3. The server itself has several USB2 ports, and I installed a PCIe USB3 adapter. USB2 devices plugged into my USB3 adapter lose connection after a period of time. What makes it even stranger is that when I pass through a USB device and select the “USB3” checkbox, it causes the same problem, even if the device is physically connected to a USB2 port. I had 5 devices connected to my PCIe card, and they all started working perfectly after I plugged them into the USB2 ports on the server’s motherboard. My UPS was already connected to one of these USB2 ports, but I had USB3 enabled in Proxmox. As soon as I disabled it, the problems with NUT disappeared.

I don’t have a good explanation for why both my USB3 PCIe card and the USB3 option in Proxmox don’t work, but the problem seems to be fixed for now.

  • archomrade [he/him]English
    8•1 year ago

    I’m browsing “all” and have no idea what this community is about.

    Sorry you’re having trouble with your NUT

    • @corrodedOPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      This is a community for individuals who are interested in running their own IT infrastructure at home. Personally, I have a server rack (like you might see in a datacenter) with a few servers installed in it. I use it for streaming video and audio to my TVs and portable devices, bulk storage, load-sharing two internet connections, monitoring security cameras, writing code, and a whole lot of other things.

      “NUT” stands for “Network UPS Tools” and is a program that connects to an UPS (battery backup) and provides monitoring and remote shutdown based on power status. Unfortunately, as you say, I am having problems with my NUT at the moment.

  • PetriEnglish
    3•1 year ago

    Any sort of messages in syslog or dmesg?

  • @[email protected]English
    1•1 year ago

    When it gets in the problem state, does the UPS respond when you use upsc to check its status in a terminal in the vm?

    If so it might be taking too long to respond when it is being checked by the daemon. If so setting MAXAGE to something higher than the 15s default may help. A lot of people raise it to 25 for this symptom. But this will only help if the driver is still connecting to the UPS ok. If it’s not then it may be a problem with the USB connection or the UPS.

    • @corrodedOPEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Using upsc just causes the terminal to hang. I waited a few minutes and had to Ctrl-C to get back to a terminal prompt. Based on what you said, it sounds like I might be dealing with a USB connection issue, then. That’s surprising to me, since none of the other USB devices on this hypervisor are having issues, but I suppose it could be an issue with the UPS itself.

    • @corrodedOPEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Yeah, that does seem to be slightly different than what I’m seeing, but I implemented the changes in your link anyway. Can’t hurt, I guess.