Help with Aloha 6.7.16 on Windows 7 Pro

Dealers can sometimes be tools for sure, but as former dealer and tech, I must admit that customers trying to provide their own hardware and asking us to the heavy lifting was practice we soon outlawed. Go down to your local mechanic and tell them you want to bring your own parts- they will tell you the same thing.

I've always had better luck installing the HASP from the source:

ftp://ftp.aladdin.com/pub/hasp/Sentinel_HASP/Runtime_%28Drivers%29/Sentinel_HASP_Run-time_setup.zip

Cheers

Hi Alohaakamai3,
Thanks for the link. I had already installed the drivers using that link, but to be safe I completely uninstalled the USB key and reinstalled it. No luck. I've installed Aloha several times over several OS and have done fairly well, but this is my first time on Windows 7. I keep getting the same error, so I looked at the application event logs and saw that ctlsvr gets stopped and started and seems to have issues. In the notes, it said the installation may have been corrupt, so I tried repairing aloha and am getting the error:

"This setup requires Microsoft Visual C++ SP1 v8.0.50727.5592. Please install the redistributable and reun this setup again."

The media that I have, which is an iso image from the radiantupdate website has the redistributable in it. Granted, it's not the EXACT same version, but it's still v8. Is it possible that I'm missing something else? I did a search on the web for that exact version of the c++ redistributable but came up with nothing. Now I'm confused as to whether I'm missing a driver for the HASP security key, since it's not being detected by Aloha (but is seen by Windows) or if I'm missing the redistributable and that's causing the Aloha install to be invalid/ corrupt.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks-

Justadoode

The VC++ on the iso should work but you might want to look at the MS website and find the version it's asking for. It should be AT LEAST .5592. Now, the .5592 may not refer to the VC++ directly. It is most likely referencing a .dll within the redistributable .msi so, if you can, find the link on the MS website that shows you what files are in that package.

The next thing that I can suggest is that it's most likely a corrupt aloha.ini file. You can find this file in NEWDATA and DATA. Edit this file and do a search for another list of SEC files that may not be remarked out. Also, what I've found was an extra [IBERTECH] header. This caused the exact issue that you are describing of "Security Key Not Found." Anyway, if you see this and you have access to the pre-fubar file structure, grab an aloha.ini from a dated sub-directory. You may be able to find one on a terminal (might have been in redundancy at one point) if not the file server. Edit this new one, find the DOB (Date of Business), and change it to the current date. Drop in that edited file into NEWDATA and DATA. Power down the terminals, bring up the master by itself until it floats. Then bring up the rest.

Good luck with that and let me know how that works.

Well, I uninstalled Aloha and I installed the HASP drivers from the link provided. I then reinstalled Aloha TS and EDC and again was able to easily bring up EDC with no problems. Aloha manager however, keeps telling me that ctlsvr has been disconnected. When I pull up the debout file, it's the same story. The line that concerns me is the one that says "Hasp driver for Windows NT has not been installed."

Debout.svr:
"CTLSVR: Started CtlServiceThread... version 6.7.16.2036.1 "
Oct 31, 21:09:56, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR 6.7.16.2036.1 is running on workstation ALOHABOH"
Oct 31, 21:09:56, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: IBERDIR is C:\BootDrv\Aloha"
Oct 31, 21:09:56, [4484], [INFO],,"Operating system is Windows 7 (BuildNumber 7600, Platform 2, Version 6.1)"
Oct 31, 21:09:56, [4484], [INFO],,"Hasp driver for Windows NT has not been installed."
Oct 31, 21:09:56, [4632], [INFO],,"[Run] SpawnRadiantHeartBeatCheckerThread... "
Oct 31, 21:10:17, [4484], [INFO],,"LoadIberStrings() - Loaded version 6.7.16.0, C:\BootDrv\Aloha\bin\IBERSTR.DLL"
Oct 31, 21:10:17, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Serial Number not Found as no Security key found"
Oct 31, 21:10:17, [4484], [INFO],,"CtlSvr - Refresh - RFS Not in use"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEZONE=INTL - using time zone information from the BOH computer"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEZONE: Reading C:\BootDrv\Aloha\data\timezone.ini"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEZONE: Standard Name = Central Standard Time"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEZONE: Daylight Name = Central Daylight Time"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEZONE: Successfully read the Timezone.ini contents"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEZONE: operating system time zone settings match values in TIMEZONE.INI"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Is NOT running in SQLMODE."
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: bRobust = TRUE"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Begin initializing network..."
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"Initializing network..."
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"Node = 15006 String = 'BFAAG'"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"NBInit()-> Before NBAddName()-> StationName = "IBERBFAAG ""
Oct 31, 21:10:23, [4484], [INFO],,"NBInit()-> After NBAddName()-> StationNumber = 2"
Oct 31, 21:10:23, [4484], [INFO],,"NBInit()-> Before NBAddGroupName()-> SessionName = "IBERLINK""
Oct 31, 21:10:26, [4484], [INFO],,"NBInit()-> After NBAddGroupName()-> SessionNumber = 3"
Oct 31, 21:10:26, [4484], [INFO],,"Station number 2, session 3"
Oct 31, 21:10:26, [4484], [INFO],,"Network initialization complete."
Oct 31, 21:10:26, [4484], [INFO],,"TIMEOUT ALERT!!! NBInit took 6.021000 seconds our threshold is 5.000000"
Oct 31, 21:10:26, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Done initializing network."
Oct 31, 21:10:26, [4484], [INFO],,"Failed to open C:\BootDrv\Aloha\SQL\SQL.INI: No such file or directory"
Oct 31, 21:10:27, [4484], [INFO],,"** AKS License file not found."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Waited 23 seconds for HASP driver to make security key available."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Security key not found."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Initialization failed before main."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: Start background processing..."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,""
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: CtlServiceThread - Stopping background processing..."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"net shutdown!"
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"Canceling datagrams..."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"Canceling datagrams second time..."
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"Dropping names..."
Oct 31, 21:10:55, [4484], [INFO],,"Net shutdown complete"
Oct 31, 21:10:55, [4484], [INFO],,"CTLSVR: CtlServiceThread Terminated."
Oct 31, 21:10:56, [1440], [INFO],,"purgeDays=14 : Try to delete all aged zipped debout files..."

debout.txt:
Oct 31, 21:10:18, [4556], [STATUS],,"AlohaMgr starting... version 6.7.16.2036.1 "
Oct 31, 21:10:18, [4556], [INFO],," MODE SETTINGS"
Oct 31, 21:10:18, [4556], [INFO],,"***** Version: 6.7.16.2036.1 "
Oct 31, 21:10:41, [4556], [INFO],,"LoadIberStrings() - Loaded version 6.7.16.0, C:\BootDrv\Aloha\bin\IBERSTR.DLL"
Oct 31, 21:10:41, [4556], [INFO],,"***** Workstation: ALOHABOH"
Oct 31, 21:10:41, [4556], [INFO],,"***** TableService Only"
Oct 31, 21:10:41, [4556], [INFO],,"***** Labor Scheduler enabled."
Oct 31, 21:10:41, [4556], [INFO],,"***** Site Id: 1"
Oct 31, 21:10:41, [4556], [INFO],,"*****Start of WORK in InitInstance"
Oct 31, 21:10:43, [4556], [INFO],,"*****Before AlohaMgr create"
Oct 31, 21:10:44, [4556], [INFO],,"*****Before AlohaMgr RequestCtlSvr"
Oct 31, 21:10:44, [4556], [INFO],,"CAlohaMgrApp::RequestCtlSvr() called..."
Oct 31, 21:10:44, [4556], [INFO],,"WaitForCtlSvrStartupComplete()..."
Oct 31, 21:10:44, [4672], [INFO],,"ACtlSvrConnect: (thread) - Begin Run()"
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4672], [INFO],,"ACtlSvrConnect: (ICtlSvrCom::AreYouAlive failed (0x4))"
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4672], [INFO],,"ACtlSvrConnect: Connection to CtlSvr lost. Prompting for reconnect..."

debacl.txt:
Oct 31, 21:01:05, [4636], [INFO],,"Local Machine IP Address: 10.1.10.10"
Oct 31, 21:01:05, [4624], [INFO],,"AddIdentity() adding 'CTLSVR.15006 '"
Oct 31, 21:01:34, [4636], [INFO],,"DelIdentity() deleting 'CTLSVR.15006 '"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [4484], [INFO],,"Local Machine IP Address: 10.1.10.10"
Oct 31, 21:10:20, [3172], [INFO],,"AddIdentity() adding 'CTLSVR.15006 '"
Oct 31, 21:10:49, [4484], [INFO],,"DelIdentity() deleting 'CTLSVR.15006 '"

debout.nkc:
20111031-20:10:34 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:35 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:35 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:36 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:36 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:37 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:37 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:38 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:38 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:38 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:39 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:39 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:40 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:40 (4104, 4556) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:41 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:42 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:43 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:44 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:45 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:45 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:46 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:47 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:48 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)
20111031-20:10:49 (3912, 4484) Could not find server IP address in Aloha.ini (2)

That one really confuses me because I didn't think you had to enter the server ip address in the Aloha.ini file. At any rate, if there is any wisdom that someone can share with me, I would appreciate it. I'm willing to set up a web-ex session or something if you think that dialing in and taking a look around would help.

Thank you-

Charles

p.s. What is ,"ACtlSvrConnect: (ICtlSvrCom::AreYouAlive failed (0x4))"

Is there a chance that something is blocking this, or is this just a symptom of a different prob?

Thanks kposnet-

I took an aloha.ini file from a dated subdirectory just a few days old and deleted the old SEC keys instead of just remming them out. I renamed the existing aloha.ini to badaloha.ini and restarted ctlsvr but got the same results. No go. I didn't worry too much about the redistributable because even though the error came up, it installed successfully. I'm kind of leaning toward the Hasp driver deal. I looked on another couple of Aloha file servers and in the registry they have haspnt with real versions, etc. and they point to a haspnt.sys file in the drivers folder that I don't have. I think that Aloha is looking for that driver and can't find it, but I've done web searches and haven't had any luck either. Ugh...

Thoughts?

I hate USB dongles, give me a good parallel dongle screwed tightly in any day. And now dell is shipping computers with no PCI slots only pci-e. A cheap parallel card could be a lifesaver in many cases but now you gotta have both PCI and PCI-e

I haven't installed hasp drivers in several years but I remember the new one I got then from the aladdin site required you to use the right syntax on a command line utility. It gave you the syntax when you ran the installer but I messed up a few times when I tried. No joy till I got it right.

You'll know you have gotten somewhere when you can find Haspnt.sys installed in the system32\drivers folder. I also seem to remember it being important back then that you uninstall existing drivers using the aladdin utility but it all could have changed.

Try the drivers here:


There's also a diag utility there that you may wanna use.

I downloaded the diag utility, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for... *sigh*... this is really frustrating. I even took the old hard drive, I copied the haspnt.sys driver from it's drivers folder into the new one and took the registry key for haspnt.sys and merged it with the new computer's registry. I'm all out of options. I'm going to try and ask the POS reseller if they have a drivers installation cd for this and see if they are willing to help at all.

This is always the most frustrating part of any install, getting CTL to run, and it sounds like what I just recently went through when trying to be Aloha on 2008 server. I finally got fed up and went with 2003 without any issues.

I'm not sure a HASP driver is your problem. I am assuming you had this thing plugged into a network hub?

The USB key? No, it's plugged directly into the computer. The computer itself, however is plugged into a network hub. (Not trying to be smart, just making sure I don't lie to you)

Did you set your NIC to lana 0 using lanacfg?

LOL, no problem.

This is going to sound completely stupid, but there was on ocassion where I wrestled with a similar issue, and the problem was that no network cable was plugged into the Aloha NIC.

I was building a new file server, so it wasn't live and there was no network to connect to- but I never thought this would create a problem with ctl service starting. That cost me about a full day of my life fiddling around with it. I think I saw the saem situation another time when the file server I was building was set for DHCP but there was no DHCP server to assing addresses. Not 100% it that was the problem on that one.

Another trick I would sometime use if under the account that is running ctl servic, there is an option to check "Allow service interact with desktop". Sometimes the error message that popped up with the failure (due to this checkbox) would give better clues as to what the problem was.

I feel your pain though

When running lanacfg select run as administrator to change the lananumber then reboot. and check it again, also uncheck ip6.


Cheers,
Coorsman

So lanacfg should be run on the file server as well and set to 0 as well? I thought that was just for the terminals.

Yes. You have to run it on file server.

I emailed the local reseller and was told that Aloha will not work with a 64 bit version of Windows 7 Professional:

Charles,

There are too many variables at play on this to be able to offer you support via email or phone. We would need to be able to check settings and installation procedures on this new server and replacement key. For instance, you say “Windows 7”, but is it 32-bit or 64-bit? Aloha will not run on 64-bit.

At this point, to save time and frustration on your part, I’d suggest a service call or bring the server and key in to our office for us to double-check settings and configuration. Both of these options would be C.O.D. under our new support policies.

Aloha version 6.7 and newer supposedly support the 64 bit version of Windows 7.

If you are using Windows 7 Professional you can always downgrade to XP Pro without a new XPP license. It takes a few minutes on the phone with MS but it's doable and Microsoft supports it although they don't advertise it. I won't bother with details unless you are interested.

My passed experience with Aloha and USB HASP dongles is that a very exact set of steps must be followed for it all to work. My practice is:
Install the HASP drivers from Aladin BEFORE any Aloha installation and be sure a reboot is done. Install Aloha and be sure a reboot is done. Plug in the USB HASP. Install the HASP drivers again and reboot. If that is not followed unregister all of the Aloha services, reboot, install the Aladin HASP drivers, reboot, install Aloha from disk, set the Aloha services to manual, reboot, install the Aladin HASP drivers, reboot, set Aloha services back to auto and either start the services or reboot to start.

The reason T Rex went away is that he required a physical HASP and became so irritated with it's antiquated BS that he offed himself. The catastrophic event thing is just a myth...

Thanks POSRESCUE-

I'm going to give your steps a very methodical, slow and deliberate attempt to see if I can get this stupid USB key to be recognized by Aloha. If that doesn't work, then yes I will definitely be interested in being bothered with the details of downgrading to XP Pro. I'm running out of options here.

I will come back and update with my results. Crossing fingers!

Justadoode