DIY hacky APC UPS Smart signalling cable

[PCftw]

AoA.

After acquiring an APC Smart UPS, I was very annoyed at the beeping noise that the UPS would emit, every 30 seconds after power failure.

The UPS communicates via a DB9 connector, and my PC doesn't have a DB9 port. To complicate matters further, regular serial cables wouldn't work because stupid APC uses proprietary cables...

It's a good thing my motherboard has onboard serial pins, but to use them, I'd have to get a serial cable bracket, which would be a pain to find.

So, I took a Cat 5 LAN cable, and spliced 3 separate connectors onto it's wires (because I couldn't find dupont connectors for the individual pins on the motherboard), and soldered the wires onto the tiny pins of a male DB9 connector on the other end (this was the most annoying and time consuming part).

These are the cables/connectors I had to work with:

After assembling the cable, the PC wouldn't detect the UPS. Upon further inspection, I learned that the motherboard com port pinout was different too... I then add to disassemble and reassemble the wire, connecting to the proper pins. This time the cable worked

It was a really annoying job, and took me around 4 hours... but it was well worth it in the end, because now I won't have to put up with the UPS's incessant beeping.

 

[bint]

i had those brackets for DB25 and DB9 port which came with my old Pentium-I PC but had thrown them away after i upgraded as did not needed them. BTW you can easily buy RS232 (DB9 Serial) to USB converter easily in the market for not more than Rs.400/-.

and i also modded my UPS, but not the way you did it , i just opened the UPS and unsoldered the speaker
ghetto FTW

 

[shad0w]

so did you just connect it to the computer and it stopped beeping, no need to install software or anything?

 

[u0sama]

so did you just connect it to the computer and it stopped beeping, no need to install software or anything?

use printer usb cable for connecting with pc and install powerchute apc software and then disabled ur beep.

 

[PCftw]

so did you just connect it to the computer and it stopped beeping, no need to install software or anything?

Yeah, like u0sama said, I installed APC powerschute, then configured the UPS to only beep when low on battery, and also increased the minimum voltage at which the UPS kicks in, to 196V from 216V (Because the UPS would switch to battery mode when the utility power voltage was a little low).

- - - Updated - - -

i had those brackets for DB25 and DB9 port which came with my old Pentium-I PC but had thrown them away after i upgraded as did not needed them. BTW you can easily buy RS232 (DB9 Serial) to USB converter easily in the market for not more than Rs.400/-.

and i also modded my UPS, but not the way you did it , i just opened the UPS and unsoldered the speaker
ghetto FTW

Nice That's a good approach too, but I need to know when the UPS is going to run out of battery, so I can save my game, that's why I thought this'd be better.

Also, those USB to Serial cables don't work for APC UPS's AFAIK, because APC uses a proprietary cable pinout.