> David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
 >So, on the connections -- I've tried connecting pin 20 (DTR; light
 >showing red for negative voltage) to various things both direct and
 >through a 4.7k resistor.  I've also tried grounding the other things
 >(to pin 7, SG).

The way I see it you could use pins 5,6,8 (db-25) for monitoring, being 
they all set above ground.  Your open collector outputs on the ups will 
take these to ground on a state change.  But does your computer need to 
see a rs-232 low ( that is negative) to register a change?  Your ups 
can't do that directly. Jumpering 5 or 6 or 8 directly to 20 will do 
this. See if that works for your program as a test.  You also mentioned 
it worked once, did you mean the program the first time you run it?
John