hmm once cable is attached it does report FTDI USB Serial Device converter is attached,
however apcupsd does not want to comm. with my APC Back-UPS 650, so either Modular or compiled in does not resolve my issue.
[160575.289133] usb 7-1: new full-speed USB device number 3 using xhci-hcd
[160575.444894] usb 7-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6001, bcdDevice= 6.00
[160575.444943] usb 7-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[160575.444966] usb 7-1: Product: FT232R USB UART
[160575.444985] usb 7-1: Manufacturer: FTDI
[160575.445003] usb 7-1: SerialNumber: AL[hidden]
[160575.453241] ftdi_sio 7-1:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
[160575.453585] usb 7-1: Detected FT232R
[160575.455687] usb 7-1: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0
dolphs's post in CONFIG_USB_HIDDEV option for nanopi-r4s kernel (possibly others) was marked as the answer