Ok, not in your distro. But what debian derived distro do you use? I don't see one in your hosts. freedesktop.org platform is used in most distros I am aware of simply because they all use the same software like X.org, X11, D-Bus, Network Manager, Wayland, Nouveau, Mesa, Plymouth, PulseAudio etc. etc. Just look at the list of software on the freedestop.org software list. I would say simply because of a good majority of debian distros have and use those programs, they have Upower available. So why not just add a Upower detect method to cover a good majority of Linux systems. What is the harm? And now you have good coverage for detecting on battery state for a much larger contingent of Linux hosts.

Maybe because upower has to read /proc to know is the system is on battery?

On a modern kernel /proc is how the kernel tells the outside world about every bit of status information it is willing to divulge.
There is a huge pile of information available http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/proc.5.html
Yes, I know it runs for many pages. Battery info is in there if you are willing to look.

er, debian you asked? https://www.raspbian.org/

And while we are at it, there are many boxes that don't even have video hardware, so there isn't a desktop environment, only Telnet/SSH. BOINC should support them as well. It has to support small RAC crunchers as well as big RAC ones.

OK, I once again ask you to read the code. I have.

And in every one of the the existing detect methods listed in the module, the file the method is looking for does not exist in my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS distribution. So it does not find the condition that the system is on battery power.

That is why I am asking the developers to add the Upower method which Ubuntu uses. And if you look at the stats of DistroWatch, Ubuntu comes out on top always as the most popular Linux distro.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

But to realistically size the UPS to carry the load for any appreciable time you have to get very large UPS'. That can be a problem fitting them into available room. The SMT2200C I have for the Threadripper host is the size of a large suitcase and weighs 112 lbs. It is the only one that can carry the load for more than a few minutes. The other SMT1500C units can only carry their loads for 5 minutes or so, not much more than the default 3 minute on battery before initiating shutdown. I also have to deal now with a utility that can decide on a moment's notice to shut off power for "public safety" reasons. It would be very nice to just dump the compute load when the power goes off so the computer can still be used for a while doing normal things like reading email, browsing or banking. The network gateway and routers are all on the UPS also. The telephone line doesn't go down during a power outage.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

Keith, if you are in the PGE, Public Safety Power Shutdown area, computing is the least of your worries. I'd be thinking about a refrigerator of spoiled food. Time to invest in a backup generator that automatically starts when -- not if -- the power goes off. Bonus it is a UPS! I don't think any of them have a USB port that will tell the O/S their state though. Or you could look at solar panels and a Tesla power wall.

I already have solar, but not nearly enough. I would need to triple my 11kw of generation to cover my usage. I got a quote for additional panels that would cover every square inch of available roof plus Tesla PowerWall storage. The issue is you have to enough surplus generation over your consumption to charge the storage and have enough storage to cover your consumption overnight when it is not daylight.
I have not figured out how to swing the cost of the system yet.

[Edit] A standby generator would be much cheaper over extra solar and storage. Haven't been hit by any of the PG&E shutoffs yet. All around me though. And PG&E says that even though your distribution line may not be shut off, the transmission line feeding your distribution line may be shut down. My first worry is refrigerated medication I need. I have a small cooler and blue ice in the freezer in case that is needed. I have to use that when I travel anyway for the medication.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

Backup generator feeding off a propane tank?? I've often thought about adding the back up generator to the house since I already use propane for the house.

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Backup generator feeding off a propane tank?? I've often thought about adding the back up generator to the house since I already use propane for the house.

Since I have natural gas feeding the house, a NG generator would be the ideal solution. I think I remember seeing a 4KW NG generator costs about $4K. I would have to research what a 12KW generator would cost.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

Same generators, they give you option of proprane or natural gas as the fuel. Since I don't have NS here why I said Propane but definitely something to look at.

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Same generators, they give you option of proprane or natural gas as the fuel. Since I don't have NS here why I said Propane but definitely something to look at.

Wow. A lot cheaper than I thought. Cummins 22KW NG powered generator with a 200A transfer switch. $4815.
https://buckeyepowersystems.com/products/cummins-rs20ac-kit-with-ats
I seriously need to think about this project. I can manage the costs of this solution a lot better than the solar/storage upgrade.

[Edit] The costs don't really pencil out compared to using grid power though. Offpeak power is still cheaper than the cost of powering the generator during nighttime. About $36 a day in NG costs for running 12 hours overnight compared to around $10 a night running off the grid. That was calculated from my highest monthly off-peak bill of 2142KW during the summer. The calculation starts looking better for the winter months when there is less generation during the day and longer nights and the standby generator starts looking more favorable.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

Wow. A lot cheaper than I thought. Cummins 22KW NG powered generator with a 200A transfer switch. $4815.

Holy crap!
Here a cheapie petrol generator is $2,200 for a 9.5kW (which is really only 7kW) 39A unit in a frame on wheels. You need to supply the extension cords & to re-wire the meter box to allow for the generator input to the house. A good quality unit will cost you a good deal more.

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Grant
Darwin NT

OzPower 20kva Single Phase Diesel Generator $8,539aud

Cheers.

OzPower 20kva Single Phase Diesel Generator $8,539aud

Back to base warranty.

8,000km round trip in case work is required under warranty. But if I end up on my own block away from everyone else some day, that's a web site to keep in my favourites.
14kW continuous output is nothing to sneeze at, with a 24hr runtime at full load (needed up here with our extended outages).

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Grant
Darwin NT

My thinking was to switch over to off-grid standby power once my solar generation ends for the day. My highest cost is overnight power usage to run the crunchers along with the A/C during the summer. Even with the power at its cheapest overnight, the highest cost proportion of my monthly bill is for the off-peak power costs.

I will have to see how things pencil out next few month. My existing EV-A power rate is getting changed in November to EV2-A. Totally different definition of usage hours and rates. And I need to worry about the fact there is a new EV 800% of baseline requirement. My crunchers push my consumption up much higher than a normal usage baseline.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

Prices certainly do vary a lot!
A couple of things to check - make sure your gas supply will support the consumption rate of the generator; and unless you are going totally grid-isolated get a transfer switch (the Cummins you mention has a decent size one)
A bit of domestic re-wiring and it looks "good to go".

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Yes, I didn't think about that. I will have to figure out what the standard home gas supply delivers. The generator requires 301 cu. ft. of gas per hour at 100% load or 205 cu. ft. of gas per hour at 50% load.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

If you have solar panels and can charge 12V batteries the why not get 12V input ATX PSU?

Top of list on "12v dc pc psu" search, https://www.powerstream.com/DC-PC-12V.htm DC input range 9 to 18 volts.

If you have solar panels and can charge 12V batteries the why not get 12V input ATX PSU?

Top of list on "12v dc pc psu" search, https://www.powerstream.com/DC-PC-12V.htm DC input range 9 to 18 volts.

The search for alternate power is for whole house substitution. To cover the overnight usage of the crunching farm running, the household draw including the air conditioning and charging the car overnight.. Not for just running one computer.

I have lots of experience running laptops and astroimaging equipment overnight on DC batteries that I recharge with solar panels during the day. Realistically I can only last a week on 3 100AH AGM batteries before the draw on the batteries is more than I can replenish during the day. To run a 4 gpu computer and cpu would require a lot more DC battery storage. Now times 4 more hosts and the battery storage would require 3 Tesla PowerWalls. That is what the additional solar capacity quote has in it. But you have to have more generation than consumption during the day to charge the storage to be used every night. Or you pull off gridpower to charge the storage which would happen anyway during the winter during the rainy season.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

I have posted a utility that I have developed for my Linux machines to suspend, resume, and shutdown based on UPS state:

ups-utils

I have verified compatibility with my UPSs which include:
* APC SRT 3000 with AP9630 NMC
* Eaton C-3000-F with PowerWalker NMC
To use the utility, you must first populate a config.py files using config.py.template as a template.

It is my first SNMP app, so still things for me to figure out, so it doesn't list for snmp traps yet.

I have a couple of systems with 1600 watt power supplies. While I don't think they are drawing 1600 watts, I would like suggestions on both the correct sizing and your favorite brand of UPS.

Tom, in case it's useful real world info, here's a layout of my current setup:
UPS#1 - APC 2200XL Average load 70-75%
Full time:
ID: 8807028 HP-Z600 dual Xeon X5675s 650w PS w/1xGT980 (dedicated cruncher)
ID: 8699207 HP-Z600 single Xeon X5675 650w PS w/1xGT980 and 1xGT750ti (daily driver)
Misc fans, LED lamps, cable modem, routers, Vonage, IP camera
Part time/on demand:
4x monitors/LED TVs
Stereo, etc.

UPS#2 - OPTI-UPS 2250B Average load 50-55%
Full time:
ID: 8729943 Gigabyte Xeon E5450 700w PS w/ 2x GT980 (dedicated cruncher)
ID: 8807028 external 500w PS w/ 1xGT980 and 3x GT750TI

UPS#3 - OPTI-UPS 2250B Average load 45-50%
Full time:
ID: 8729943 external 500w PS w/ 2xGT980
ID: 8807028 external 500w PS w/ 2xGT980

I have also been known to add an HP-Z400 each to #2 and #3, prior to converting to Ubuntu or during August :).
A few things worth noting:
The APC 2200 replaced an APC 2000 I burned up after years of use, probably due to running heavily loaded for too long. Actually copped a deal on eBay there.
I can't recommend the Opti UPSs, as they perform well-below their rated 2250va rating. I'd guess they're actually around 900w. Biggest complaint is that during an outage, the first one would just die as soon as power was lost, even at less that 50% load per software. Amazon didn't want it back and sent me a second one instead. The second was no better, but I figured that if it took 2 to do the job on one, we came out even:) Eventually realized that the internal batteries were crap, and modded them to permit external batteries and doubled the AH capacity. Since then no complaints, though I can easily add more battery if needed to triple the original bats.
I also have beefy external batteries on the APC, so while crunching I have about an hour runtime. If it looks like a long outage, I shut the crunchers down and the APC will keep me surfing the net and watching TV for a couple hours at least.
I really don't care all that much about crunching through an outage. I just want to protect the boxes from hits and OS damage due to power loss at the moment. Rebuilding disks get old, and I have two dead SSDs due to inopportune power events that were unprotected.
Anyway, probably more info than needed, but perhaps a bit of perspective here.
Later, Jim ...

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Greetings,

Well ain't this just a major kick in the nether region!

The battery power display on my Linux task bar showed 0:100% for my UPS. I assume that the 0 stands for the number of minutes I'll have to shut everything down before I lose power from the battery in case of a power outage. So, I hunted down a replacement battery thinking that even though it "says" 100% charge, it will drop like a rock when the power goes out. I ordered the battery and got it today. I swapped out the old one for the new one, plugged stuff in and booted up this PC. The display said 0:90%. I got out my trusty big multi-meter I got back in the 90s and checked the voltage on the old battery. It is reading >12v! :|

The problem is NOT with the battery, but with the UPS itself. NOW I gotta buy a new UPS. I hope I can find one that takes the same battery. I'll have 2 spares for it then. :|

Have a great day! :)

Siran

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CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath