genpower README
---------------

$Id: README,v 1.4 2001/12/26 22:42:24 quinot Exp $

This is the 1.0.3 release of the genpower (Generic Power 
Monitoring for *nix) package. Genpower was once known as Unipower,
but its name was changed because of trademark issues.

The code was originally written by Tom Webster <webster@kaiwan.com>,
and was subsequently modified by:
  Brian White <bcwhite@pobox.com>
  Jhon H. Caicedo O. <jhcaiced@osso.org.co>
  Thomas Quinot <thomas@cuivre.fr.eu.org>

The project is now hosted as SourceForge:
  http://genpower.sourceforge.net/

FEATURES ADDED IN 1.0.3

 * Bug fixes and portability enhancements.

 * Support for the following UPS units:
   OneUPS+
   CyberPower SL w/stock cable
   TrippLite OmniSmart PNP 675
   TrippLite BC Pro w/73-0724 cable
   APC Back-UPS Pro (several cable types)
   Blackout Buster
   USV 500P
   Trust Energy Protector

FEATURES ADDED IN 1.0.2

 * Support for Tripplite Omnismart 450 PNP.

FEATURES ADDED IN 1.0.1

 * Users can now select from preconfigured UPS and cable 
   configurations at runtime.  With a sufficient body of UPS and 
   cable configurations, this should allow most users to just 
   compile genpower 'right out of the box' and select the desired 
   configuration while installing.

 * genpower will return an error code if it is unable to kill the 
   UPS's inverter during the shutdown process.  This allows for 
   better error handling.

 * genpower can now use the serial data transmit line for 
   inverter shutdown with the normal command syntax.


WHAT GENPOWER DOES:

The genpower package is basically a hack of Miquel van 
Smoorenburg's powerd daemon, which is distributed in the SysVInit 
package.  The express aim of the genpower package is to add 
additional functionally and a simpler means of configuring UPS 
monitoring, in a full featured suite that can be configured to 
work with most UPSs featuring an RS232 monitoring port.

Depending on the UPS, cable, and the manner in which the genpower 
package is configured, the genpower package provides the 
following features:

 * Line power sensing, to detect when the power has failed and 
   initiate a delayed shutdown, or other appropriate actions.  
   This facility also allows the system to cancel the shutdown if 
   power is restored before the system is shutdown.

 * Low battery detection, to detect when the UPS's battery is 
   running low and initiate an immediate shutdown.

 * Physical cable detection, to detect connection errors.

 * The ability to kill the UPS's inverter.  This shuts the 
   inverter on the UPS off, to prevent the system from draining 
   the UPS's battery after it has shutdown.  This allows the 
   system to restart itself, as if the power had been turned on 
   when line power is restored. 

   Additionally, this helps the UPS to retain enough power to 
   deal with power yo-yos, where the power comes up and goes down 
   several times before being fully restored.

 * The unitest program, included in the genpower package, will 
   monitor the status of a serial line and report changes in the 
   status of the line.  The information provided by unitest can 
   then be used to configure the genpower package for your UPS 
   and cable combination.

Instructions for configuring the genpower package are contained 
in the documentation (genpower.docs) and should be read carefully 
before proceeding.

Please let me know if you find any problems, if you have 
suggestions for enhancing the package, or if you have information 
on connecting genpower to a UPS that isn't covered in the 
documentation.

Tom Webster
webster@kaiwan.com
07/07/95
