Mac Mini & Uninteruptable power supply (UPS)

[blueskyredkite]

So, we've replaced three aging PCs with Mac Minis.... but how do we stop them re-booting when there is a power-outage? The old PCs were each hooked up to a UPS but these Mac Minis have different plug types.

Any ideas how I can attach these to a UPS, does someone make UPS-to-MacMini cables?

Thanks for your help.

 

[truz]

They make cord extenders You can plug it into your 3 way plugin on your UPS and it will extend it so you can plug your mac mini in. Which UPS do you have? It should have 2 or more cords that extend out.. I have a APC 400va and it has 2 on them.. You can pickup a short cable extender tho from homedepot or online..

I just got a belkin 1500va in the mail a week or two ago.. don't remember. It's still in the box tho as I'm taking it to my place in north carolina on the 24th.

edit: not sure if you mean plugs as in power cords or cables like cat5/6, usb, ect..

 

[janey]

?! :S

All of my UPSs had some sort of USB cable for use to go from the UPS to the computer, and the Battery thing in my mini worked just fine and recognizes it (although it's at a perpetual "charging" icon even at 100%, dunno if that's normal) without the manufacturer's software (no intel version )

 

[dr_lha]

So, we've replaced three aging PCs with Mac Minis.... but how do we stop them re-booting when there is a power-outage? The old PCs were each hooked up to a UPS but these Mac Minis have different plug types.

Any ideas how I can attach these to a UPS, does someone make UPS-to-MacMini cables?

Thanks for your help.

I assume your UPS are the old style that use serial cables (9-pin DIN) instead of USB? I don't know if theres any way to attach these to a Mac. Well you can get a USB to Serial adapter, but there's no guarantee that the Mac will recognise the fact you have a UPS plugged into it.

More modern UPSs from APC have USB and "just work". The UPS is recognised and you can set its power settings from the Preferences.

BTW janey - my PowerMac also shows that the UPS is constantly charging, but when there's a power outage, you can see the battery level going down, so I think this is normal behaviour.

 

[janey]

BTW janey - my PowerMac also shows that the UPS is constantly charging, but when there's a power outage, you can see the battery level going down, so I think this is normal behaviour.

Ah okay, figured. The energy saver prefpane is showing it at 100% charged and so i figured it would show something other than a charging icon

 

[blueskyredkite]

So, we've replaced three aging PCs with Mac Minis.... but how do we stop them re-booting when there is a power-outage? The old PCs were each hooked up to a UPS but these Mac Minis have different plug types.

Any ideas how I can attach these to a UPS, does someone make UPS-to-MacMini cables?

Thanks for your help.

Following up myself, I think I may have been unclear and people have mis-understood.

I need the UPSs to provide power to the mac-minis. The UPSs have standard PC power chord sockets (female) and the leads that come with the UPS have famale plugs one end and male the other. I need to connect the power in / transformer for the mac-mini to these - and can't figure out how.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

 

[wxboss]

Are you saying that there are actual lines built into the UPS that connect directly to a pc? If so, I haven't seen one of those. I'm guessing it would be a standard serial connector and not a parallel connector. I don't know if there are any adapters that would make this able to connect to the Mac especially if the cord is female.

How many holes does the connector have?

 

[bgd]

I understand what you mean

I haven't seen a convertor but I imagine there is one. I have the same problem but haven't got around to doing anything about it yet.

Have thought of taking a spare power lead, plugging in one end to the UPS and wiring the other end with a female mains plug to which I plug the mac. Not very tidy but would do the trick.

If you do find a ready made solution let me know.

 

[janey]

Huh? you mean you need to get some random cable from the UPS to connect to the Mac mini?
I thought most UPSs worked in that

(mac mini)<-------usb/serial cable----->(ups)
   +---->---power cable from mini---->---+

forgive my sucky ascii art skills, not in that you plug the actual power cable from the UPS to the mini..

 

[blueskyredkite]

Huh? you mean you need to get some random cable from the UPS to connect to the Mac mini?
I thought most UPSs worked in that

(mac mini)<-------usb/serial cable----->(ups)
   +---->---power cable from mini---->---+

forgive my sucky ascii art skills, not in that you plug the actual power cable from the UPS to the mini..

All UPSs I've ever used have C14 sockets on the back (female) which connect to male C14 sockets on the back of a computer. The MacMini has an external brick adapter which doesn't have a C14 socket (at least, not in the UK spec) and, therefore, I can't connect my MacMini to the UPS.

I've brought this up with APC and have provided them with an image of the connecter. If I get a solution I'll post.

 

[dr_lha]

All UPSs I've ever used have C14 sockets on the back (female) which connect to male C14 sockets on the back of a computer. The MacMini has an external brick adapter which doesn't have a C14 socket (at least, not in the UK spec) and, therefore, I can't connect my MacMini to the UPS.

I've brought this up with APC and have provided them with an image of the connecter. If I get a solution I'll post.

Ah, I see where the confusion is coming from here! In the US APC UPS have regular wall sockets on the back of them, so you can just plug anything into them. I guess in the UK they use C14 adapters because UK wall sockets are so much bigger than US ones.

I can see your problem here, have you checked the Maplin catalogue to see if there is a converter available?

 

[ingenious]

Are you saying that there are actual lines built into the UPS that connect directly to a pc? If so, I haven't seen one of those. I'm guessing it would be a standard serial connector and not a parallel connector. I don't know if there are any adapters that would make this able to connect to the Mac especially if the cord is female.

How many holes does the connector have?

No, he means the power cord is standard PC size (also the same as used on Mac Desktops, even though the cover is a little different on Macs like eMacs and iMacs to fit the case).

 

[mrichmon]

All UPSs I've ever used have C14 sockets on the back (female) which connect to male C14 sockets on the back of a computer. The MacMini has an external brick adapter which doesn't have a C14 socket (at least, not in the UK spec) and, therefore, I can't connect my MacMini to the UPS.

If I am remembering the MacMini powerbrick correctly (the mini is at home) then it uses a cloverleaf shaped connector. I suspect that the connector is a C5 connector so you would need something like the adapters shown at the following links:
http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?code=YL-3214
http://www.expansys.jp/product.asp?code=CAB-YP32-YC14

EDIT: Here is a UK supplier: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=CAB-YP32-YC14

 

[blueskyredkite]

If I am remembering the MacMini powerbrick correctly (the mini is at home) then it uses a cloverleaf shaped connector. I suspect that the connector is a C5 connector so you would need something like the adapters shown at the following links:
http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?code=YL-3214
http://www.expansys.jp/product.asp?code=CAB-YP32-YC14

EDIT: Here is a UK supplier: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=CAB-YP32-YC14

Ah! Bingo! That's the wee beastie. Thanks for finding that. I still hadn't been able to identify the plug type on the power-brick and so couldn't find an adapter.

I have received a reply from APC regarding this. They've offered to send me as many C14 plugs as I need (APC UPS serial numbers permitting) and I'd have to splice the cables myself. While I can do this it does ruin the cable for the future; it's also damn ugly.

APC's other solution was to replace the UPS I have with one of their new consumer models that has standard UK outlets built in instead of the C14 sockets.

Thanks to all who have contributed and special thanks to mrichmon for pointing me to an inexpensive solution.