Power Switching Configuration - Black Box ACR2004A User Manual

Power switching configuration

Power switch configuration comprises two main steps:
• Configure the COM2 serial port to the same speed as used by the power
switch box(es) - see Serial port configuration
• Configure power ON and OFF strings for each relevant host computer.
For each power port there needs to be a valid 'Power ON string' and similarly an
appropriate 'Power OFF string'. In each case, the strings are a short sequence of
characters that combine a port address and a power on or off value.
If a particular computer has more than one power input (and thus requires an
equivalent number of power ports to control them), collections of strings can be
combined to switch all of the required ports together as a group.
To configure the power sequences for each host computer
1 Using VNC viewer or a browser, log on as the 'admin' user.
2 Click the 'Configure' button in the top right corner.
3 Click the 'Host configuration' option.
4 Click a host entry to display a Host configuration dialog:
5 If necessary, configure other parameters (Name, Users, Hot Keys - MORE).
6 Enter the Power control sequences in the Power On and Power Off fields
7 Click OK to close the dialog and then click the Save button in the main Host
Configuration window to store the details.
Power control sequences
for details.
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Note: The settings given below are for the EPS-S8 power switch - other power
switches may require different settings. Please refer to your power switch
documentation for details about codes required by other power switches.
The structure of each power sequence (OFF and ON) is as follows:
Pxy=z\0D
Where:
x is the switch box number,
y is the power port number,
z is '0' for OFF or '1' for ON, and
\0D represents Enter (or Carriage return).
Example 1
To switch ON port 5 of switch box 2, the code would be as follows:
• Power sequence: P25=1\0D
Example 2
To switch OFF port 8 of switch box 3, the code would be as follows:
• Power sequence: P38=0\0D
For details about operating this feature, see
Operation chapter.
To control two or more ports simultaneously
You can control up to four power ports using a single sequence. This is done
using the same command structure as shown above, plus a delay command,
for each port. Immediately following a port command, insert the characters
'\*' before the next port command, and so on up to four ports. For instance, to
switch on ports 1 and 2 in the first power switch, the command line would be:
P11=1\0D\*P12=1\0D
Power control within the
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