--- a/conf/ups.conf.sample
+++ b/conf/ups.conf.sample
@@ -40,6 +40,24 @@
 #
 # Configuration directives
 # ------------------------
+#
+# These directives are used by upsdrvctl only and should be specified outside
+# of a driver definition:
+#
+#    maxretry: Optional.  Specify the number of attempts to start the driver(s),
+#              in case of failure, before giving up. A delay of 'retrydelay' is
+#              inserted between each attempt. Caution should be taken when using
+#              this option, since it can impact the time taken by your system to
+#              start.
+#
+#              The default is 1 attempt.
+#
+#  retrydelay: Optional.  Specify the delay between each restart attempt of the
+#              driver(s), as specified by 'maxretry'. Caution should be taken
+#              when using this option, since it can impact the time taken by your
+#              system to start.
+#
+#              The default is 5 seconds.
 # 
 # These directives are common to all drivers that support ups.conf:
 #
@@ -102,3 +120,6 @@
 #
 # To find out if your driver supports any extra settings, start it with
 # the -h option and/or read the driver's documentation.
+
+# Set maxretry to 3 by default, this should mitigate race with slow devices:
+maxretry = 3