[PLUG] APCUSB utility can't see UPS

[John Jason Jordan]

I have installed my shiny new APC BX1500G UPS and it is all working
fine, except for getting the Linux APCUSB utility to see it. The LCD
display on the UPS says that my line voltage is 120, but for the load
all it shows is a bar graph without numbers. I was hoping that the open
source APC utility would provide more details, but it can't see the unit
at all. 

It connects by an RJ45 plug in the back of the unit, with the supplied
cable terminating in a standard USB plug on the other end. The error
message is "NISERR unknown at localhost NIS network connection not
responding." 

From the command line "cat /proc/bus/usb/devices" sees the device. And
the power icon in the gnome panel sees it and correctly reports the
make, model and even serial number. So I know it is properly connected.
The problem is that I'd like to know what the load is, how long to
empty at the current load, and I'd like to be able to adjust the
shutdown preferences, none of which are available from the Gnome panel
Power Statistics window. The Power Statistics window also shows nothing
for the performance tabs - the graphs are vacant with the message
"there is no data to display."

I've read through the manual at:

http://www.apcupsd.org/manual/manual.html#quick-start-for-beginners

But I haven't found any clues yet.

Is anyone using APCUSB? Is there a secret to getting it find the UPS?