Ercmz wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a really old computer that I would like to use a UPS with. It is
> used for home automation and real time control. The way I have the guts
> mounted and out-of-sight make it difficult to do hardware upgrades. The
> software also has been so heavily tweaked and tailored over the years that
> it would be counterproductive to start fresh. ("If it ain't broke, don't
> fix it.") Security isn't a concern as this system has no connectivity,
> physical or logical, with the outside world.
>
> H/W: Guts mainly from old Compaq Deskpro 2000/5166
> P1-200Mhz (non-MMX), 128MB, PSU < 200W (unsure of exact wattage)
>
> S/W: Linux
> Distro: Redhat9
> Kernel: 2.4.20-6
> FS: ext2fs
>
> Anyone use a UPS with RH9? From what I have gathered, the APC "SmartUPS"
> units should work using the powerd daemon. Any specific units work better
> than others? I'd prefer one that uses the serial port to communicate rather
> than USB, which may mean having to go to Ebay for an old unit.

Good luck. Old UPS is just asking for troubles (UPS wise). You've got
several strikes working against you ... ancient machine, ancient Linux,
etc.

>
> Any "gotcha's" that may come into play. One that I see already is that the
> m/b doesn't power completetly off at shutdown. It goes into some sort of
> "ready" mode at (software) shutdown. Will the UPS be smart enough to kill
> power at this point?

No

> When power is reapplied, it does automatically begin
> POST'ing.
>
> Instead of having a physical BIOS chip, these old Compaqs used a
> properietary bullshit scheme where the "BIOS" resides on a special partition
> on the HDD. Needless to say, I got rid of that nonsense years ago. Having
> read the manual, there are no settings that would enable/disable complete
> powerdown, anyway.
>
> Thanks...

At some point you have to weigh the costs of supporting outdated
equipment and OS's and the limitations and frustrations that come
from that. For a few hundred bucks, you could eliminate the issues.
The question is: Is it worth $200-300 to you?

I see no value in trying to do something sophisticated with hardware
and software that is restricted from doing anything very sophisticated.

It sounds neat to tell people that you have a 486 running Linux... but
a LOT of stuff just wasn't possible back then irrespective of OS. Times
have changed. Personally, I could live without the headache....