Help with UPS and Com port/USB and NAS connections.......

haaammit · 2 Mar 2023 at 16:16

Really not sure under which sub section this should go, but here we are lol. I've recently got a NAS and I would like to connect it to my ancient UPS and have it auto-shutdown in the event of a power outage. The UPS has a COM port on the back, I was hoping it would be as easy as buying an RS232 COM port to a USB lead and plugging it in, but of course it isn't!
NAS is a Synology DS218J
UPS is an APC BackUPS 650 pictured below. Can anyone point me in the right direction of what I might need? The lead I got seems to need a driver, no idea on how to do that (driver page is here it's the USB to Serial Adapter, Benfei USB to RS-232 Male (9-pin) DB9 Serial Cable, Prolific Chipset, Windows 10/8.1/8/7, Mac OS X 10.6 and Above, 24 inch Length)
The NAS has a UPS section, but if I plug the lead in it's saying there's no UPS connected. Pointers gratefully received! TY

VersionMonkey · 2 Mar 2023 at 17:09

If I remember correctly, APC serial cables are wired differently. So you may need the serial cable that came with the UPS and then a female serial to USB adapter?

haaammit · 2 Mar 2023 at 18:06

VersionMonkey said:
If I remember correctly, APC serial cables are wired differently. So you may need the serial cable that came with the UPS and then a female serial to USB adapter?

TY for the reply. Unfortunately if there ever was a lead it is long, long gone now. I have reached out to APC themselves but they don't list/have a cable suitable annoyingly

Rroff · 2 Mar 2023 at 18:15

Not an expert but you may find you need a fuller/older software implementation like PowerChute to interface with this UPS - not sure the stock implementation on Synology (or QNAP) NAS can interface with it via active serial.