Aloha 5.2 WinXP and Win9x terms don't play nice

[endyem]

I help support a small mom-and-pop operation with 3 terminals and a BOH server running Aloha 5.2. Because of some terminal hardware failures, the owner opted to purchase 2 refurb Radiant P1220's plus install from the local dealer. Install went OK, except the remaining terminal is Win95 (and one of the refurbs died within 1 hour, but that's another thread). If this terminal isn't master, it continuously reboots (Aloha barely comes up). Another term slated for replacement running Win98 does the same thing. The BOH server is running XP Home.

This doesn't work because every time the data is refreshed all terminals reboot and the WinXP terminals are much faster at booting. The dealer says "tough cookies, buy a 3rd terminal". I have a couple questions...

1) Is there a fix for this? I did some reading in this forum and found a related thread about mixed terminal OS's but didn't see a resolution in the end. I'm tempted to just make the WinXP terminals MASTERCAPABLE=FALSE, but in the event the Win95 terminal dies (and it's creaky too), the system is left without a master (bad, m'kay?). I'd like to understand the problem and be sure it is resolved robustly.

2) If there isn't a fix, and a 3rd terminal upgrade is needed (it's a wall-mount Javelin), any suggestions? I really don't want to return to the dealer for more business given the above treatment, and he says he can't offer a wall-mount terminal anyway. Dell has POS terminals now with wall-mount screens, which would work, but I'm thinking the user community has some good suggestions on what hardware works well for the long haul.

Thanks in advance!

 

[99GuinnessLover]

It is possible that your problem lies with how many incoming connections are allowed with XP home. The Max number of concurrent connections for XP home is 5. With Aloha you need one connection for each terminal, one for local user and 1-2 i think for EDC. It sounds like you are maxing out somewhere and that may be why aloha is not loading.

you can check how many connections there re by bringing up a command prompt and entering 'net statistics server'

This will tell you how many connections there are under Sessions Accepted.

Hope this helps...

 

[endyem]

Thanks for the advice... finally got over there to check!

The BOH computer says there are 4 sessions accepted. It makes sense, local user plus 3 terminals. EDC is via modem from the BOH computer.

To redeem the dealer a bit, he did get us a replacement terminal (for the DOA one) and sent the installer out again to install it. Still no dice on the wallmount.

Any other suggestions?

 

[99GuinnessLover]

Could you post a debout from the Win95 terminal on here. That would help in determining what is going on during the aloha start-up.

 

[endyem]

Thanks, debout from the last couple restarts on the Win95 box is below.

TERM2 is the master, it is one of the new XP boxes.

After studying this debout, I checked to see if I could mount \\TERM2\BOOTDRV. It tries to, but prompts for a password. Nothing I have in my list of passwords provided by the dealer or that I could think of worked. So, I suspect this is the primary issue. Username on all boxes is "term". Getting to the BOH server is no problem but for some reason TERM2 is different...

***** debout from Win95 box *****

Dec 14, 14:49:27
Dec 14, 14:49:27 ................................................................
Dec 14, 14:49:27 IBER started (robust mode)... version 5.2.8.70
Dec 14, 14:49:28 LoadIberStrings() - Loaded version 5.2.8.70, IBERSTR.DLL
Dec 14, 14:49:28 Begin initializing network...
Dec 14, 14:49:28 Initializing network...
Dec 14, 14:49:28 Node = 3 String = 'D'
Dec 14, 14:49:28 NBInit()-> Before NBAddName()-> StationName = "IBERD "
Dec 14, 14:49:31 NBInit()-> After NBAddName()-> StationNumber = 7
Dec 14, 14:49:31 NBInit()-> Before NBAddGroupName()-> SessionName = "IBERLINK"
Dec 14, 14:49:34 NBInit()-> After NBAddGroupName()-> SessionNumber = 8
Dec 14, 14:49:34 Station number 7, session 8
Dec 14, 14:49:34 Network initialization complete.
Dec 14, 14:49:34 Done initializing network.
Dec 14, 14:49:34 Determining Master And Fileserver
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Local DOB is 10/14/2009 in c:\Aloha\DATA\ALOHA.INI (10 14 2009)
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Creating terminal status for 2
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Creating terminal status for 1
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Terminal 2 asserts 2 is master
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Master terminal is 2. Now determining fileserver...
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Master Terminal 2 asserts fileserver is 'ALOHABOH'
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Attempting to connect to server 'ALOHABOH'...
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Successfully connected Z: to \\ALOHABOH\BOOTDRV
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Couldn't find \\TERM2... assuming master down
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Removing master 2 from termstatus
Dec 14, 14:49:35 net shutdown!
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Canceling datagrams...
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Canceling datagrams second time...
Dec 14, 14:49:35 Dropping names...
Dec 14, 14:49:41 Net shutdown complete
Dec 14, 14:49:41 Operating system is Windows 95 (BuildNumber 67109975, Platform 1, Version 4.0, B)
Dec 14, 14:49:41 Exiting Windows...
Dec 14, 14:52:02
Dec 14, 14:52:02 ................................................................
Dec 14, 14:52:02 IBER started (robust mode)... version 5.2.8.70
Dec 14, 14:52:02 LoadIberStrings() - Loaded version 5.2.8.70, IBERSTR.DLL
Dec 14, 14:52:03 Begin initializing network...
Dec 14, 14:52:03 Initializing network...
Dec 14, 14:52:03 Node = 3 String = 'D'
Dec 14, 14:52:03 NBInit()-> Before NBAddName()-> StationName = "IBERD "
Dec 14, 14:52:07 NBInit()-> After NBAddName()-> StationNumber = 7
Dec 14, 14:52:07 NBInit()-> Before NBAddGroupName()-> SessionName = "IBERLINK"
Dec 14, 14:52:10 NBInit()-> After NBAddGroupName()-> SessionNumber = 8
Dec 14, 14:52:10 Station number 7, session 8
Dec 14, 14:52:10 Network initialization complete.
Dec 14, 14:52:10 Done initializing network.
Dec 14, 14:52:10 Determining Master And Fileserver
Dec 14, 14:52:10 Local DOB is 10/14/2009 in c:\Aloha\DATA\ALOHA.INI (10 14 2009)
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Creating terminal status for 2
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Terminal 2 asserts 2 is master
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Master terminal is 2. Now determining fileserver...
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Master Terminal 2 asserts fileserver is 'ALOHABOH'
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Attempting to connect to server 'ALOHABOH'...
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Successfully connected Z: to \\ALOHABOH\BOOTDRV
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Couldn't find \\TERM2... assuming master down
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Removing master 2 from termstatus
Dec 14, 14:52:11 net shutdown!
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Canceling datagrams...
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Canceling datagrams second time...
Dec 14, 14:52:11 Dropping names...
Dec 14, 14:52:17 Net shutdown complete
Dec 14, 14:52:18 Operating system is Windows 95 (BuildNumber 67109975, Platform 1, Version 4.0, B)
Dec 14, 14:52:18 Exiting Windows...

 

[DTSMAN]

Make sure full sharing is on for everyone. The terminals are set to autologon with administrative rights. You can see the password in the registry if you know where to look.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[endyem]

Thanks for the tip on sharing and a reminder about the password!

I enabled "Simple Sharing" on the WinXP terminal (TERM2), and enabled read and write access, so it should be OK. The Win9x boxes are both set to auto-login as admin with the user and password provided in the registry.

But it's still not working. The Win9x boxes still are asked for a password when mounting \\term2\bootdrv (and the password in the registry isn't the correct one). When browsing "net neighborhood", it asks for a password to mount \\term2\IPC$ when trying to connect to Term2.

Perhaps more concerning, when trying to connect to \\term2\bootdrv from the BOH server running XP Home, it gives me a dialog box saying something like "this user not authorized to access this computer". No password or alternate user authentication, just straight connection denial. However, Aloha still works.

I tried setting up a different share to a different folder on Term2 (thought it was a share problem), and had the same result when trying to connect from the Win9x boxes. I also tried setting up a different user on the WinXP box with admin rights that doesn't require a password, then changed the auto-login on the Win9x boxes to that user and rebooted them. Neither of these worked.

Seems to be a Windows credentials issue, but not sure how to resolve this. Any more ideas out there?

 

[cheekycj]

I am not sure if you are still in a bind but when I was rebuilding my system, we ran into a similar issue. Joel S from sotapop consulting (

http://sotapop.org/sotapop/)

helped me out remotely. He tried various things but it was some combination of network sharing and the right u/p on the terminals that did end up working.

It may be worth it for you to reach out to him. Tell him CJ referred you.

HTH,
CJ

 

[LogarithmTech]

Make sure all your windows networking issues are working before troubleshooting the connection between aloha. My past experience has always been a windows networking issue before an aloha problem.

read/write bootdrv share and BO and Terminals.

 

[pasupport]

I know our dealer had a habit of using a username of term1 on as the windows username for for the 95 machines, XP will not allow this so it maybe possible that you have a password mismatch.

Feel free to email me and I might be able to help you out or contact us via our website ohmcomm.com


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