Aloha BOH Questions 1

[xywh]

Hi all:

I have a history as an IT support/MIS/etc. consultant. I bought a restaurant four years ago - and we have Aloha. I haven't TOUCHED the entire network, but now it's time.

Question 1 - our BOH server has the standard "Alohasvr" login that has the registry autologin enabled. I'm a little worried about this, as I've read stuff online about having a default password. I don't even KNOW the password to the account. It autologins - but if I accidentally lock the server (windows+L), I have to hard shut off and restart. What is the password? Can I change it and the username without causing Aloha to go crazy?

Question 2 - I'd like to replace the hard drive in the Aloha BOH machine - right now, the partions are terrible, and we're running out of space almost weekly on our C: - can I take a new hard drive, and ghost the old to the new - only with increased partion sizes? I don't see any reason this WOULDN'T work?

Question 3 - I'd also like to change Aloha BOH server machines to just a newer/better machine. Installing the Aloha BOH server functionality can't be THAT difficult - I've read basic setup guides. However, to make my job easier - I was thinking of just using something like Acronis True Image with Universal Restore to image the entire new server's drive. Thoughts?

Question 4 - What are everyone's thoughts about abandoning Aloha and going with something like freepos.net - I'll be honest, the features in FreePOS look pretty nice. Has anyone used it?

Thank ya'll so much!

 

[alohaakamai3]

1- Changing the password should not hurt anything. It's unusual to see the same logon used for the services and the user, but it should be fine. Do not, however, modify the account beyond that. It needs to be there and needs administrative access.

2- That should be fine (with the same hardware). Obviously, keep the original hard drive as backup just in case.

3- I've had pretty mixed success with using images on alternate hardware, and it usually isn't good. Rarely does it even seem to boot. Building a file server is not quite rocket science, but it's beyond the scope of what you'll likely want to attempt with only this forum, even if you're an IT guy. It sometimes gives a head ache to experienced Aloha guys, and it land you in especially hot water since your business is relying on it. Changing your own tires, oil filters, radiator, is one thing... rebuilding your own transmission when you have to drive that same car to work by 8am tomorrow morning is something else. Just a thought.

4- This is a pretty loaded question and it really depends on your view towards the POS and your business. For some owners, POS is mission critical and the absence or modifications to certain features that inevitably come with changing POS systems sends them in fits of rage or complete panic. For others, the POS is just a system that sends orders to the kitchen and adds a dimension of accountability to their business. The trouble is that many times, the owners themselves don't know which category they fall into until they change systems. Just remember that few systems handle anything exactly the same, and that some things you depend on may not be present.

Anything with the word free in it usually scares me. I have not used it, so I can't say. However, I will say Aloha is on the higher end of the cost of ownership spectrum, and it can be overkill depending on how much you take advantage of it... like the previous paragraph, it really depends on how it's being used and your attitude towards it.

hope some of that helped.

 

[xywh]

alohaakamai3 - that helps greatly - thank you.

To question 3 - understood. But, similarly to question 2, I don't see any reason why I can't on off hours try it with a new file server, and if I fail, revert back to the old that is just sitting unplugged?

To question 4 - I agree.

 

[alohaakamai3]

3- Yeah, you could totally do that. I was just saying they are a number of proprietary settings, drivers, etc.. and dependencies on your current network setup (terminals, etc) that even people who do this every day might not be able to easily answer or help you with.
Even following a line-by-line setup of instructions, you run into snags and situations where things don't work they way they are supposed to and every setup is just a little different.

It was much less of question *could* you do it.. I can tell from your post that you are an intelligent guy. It was more a matter of would it really be worth it for the $500-800 dollars you *might* save vs paying a dealer.

 

[alohaakamai3]

I also forgot to mention in my first post... that if you do change the password for Ctlsvr and Edcsvr in the Services applet in the Control Panel. Likely, they are also logging on using this account, and you'll need to put the *new* there as well (*if* they are indeed using this account).

Also, this should help illustrate my point that there is much to remember about installing or modifying servers (lol).

 

[eburks]

I have a lot of experience moving harddrives/systems from 1 machine to a different machine and it can be done quite successfully in most cases... and without using microsoft sysprep etc etc.

This is kind of long but for the technical savy it will work

In the absolutely worst case issues you can get things working by doing an "in-place upgrade" which you can find out about on google. But in most cases the following will work fine


I am mainly talking about Windows XP or Windows 2000... if you are currently using Vista or 7 "I am sorry for you"

As far as Windows XP licensing moving from 1 major brand to the same major brand like Dell to Dell or Acer to Acer can help you avoid having to reactivate the product but your biggest issue may be the product activation issues, I use mostly volume licensed stuff that does not have activation issues but XP Home versions can be problematic. We will assume that licensing and product activation are not an issue for this little exercise. Moving Windows 2000 to a new machine can be a breeze but with PCI compliance issues you will then need to upgrade to XP, at least.

It REALLY simplifies things if you are moving from 1 intel chipset to another intel chipset but this is not necessary
In that case you might not even need my secret weapon below.

You REALLY do want to be moving from 1 ACPI bios machine to another acpi bios machine... same HAL (hardware abstraction layer)

You will want to have all the necessary drivers for your new machine

This too is not necessary but is helpul:
go to device manager select the the drive controller and select "update" then "install from a list..." then "don't search I will choose the driver" you should see standard dual channel pci ide controller as 1 choice. Select it and reboot


Now this is the real secret and can help you move from a Via Ide, Nvidia IDE, SIS IDE or whatever to intel and vice versa

Get yourself a PCI slot harddrive controller card or if BOTH your machines have PCI express one of those types will work. I use a cheap Silicon image sil0680 or sil3112 chipset card. The card MUST BE BOOTABLE so watch out for some cheap via chipset harddrive cards

1)Pop that card in the orginal machine and install the drivers for it in windows. Hook your drive to the card and set your machine to boot from that card then boot your old system to make sure all is OK

2)Pop that card and your drive from the old machine into the new machine and set that to boot from the card (in fact make sure ALL other harddrives are removed from the machine and as a good measure you can turn of the motherboard HD controllers)

Once it boots it will begin detecting any new hardware and installing drivers for the new hardware. You will need to make sure everything gets installed properly and has correct drivers at this point. When you have the new machine up and running you can turn the MB drive controllers back on and install their drivers.

Then you can move your old drive onto the MB controllers and set it to boot from there and you are in your new home. You can now remove the add-on card

There are a few stumbling blocks you can run into usually related to PATA conversion to SATA. You may need to set SATA bios to compatability mode in most cases. Doing any move from PATA to SATA is best done after you are on the NEW machine.

The 1 final stumbling block that I will not go into here because it has been thoroughly discussed elswhere on this site is LANA numbers. They will in most cases change when you move to a new machine and this is where you might want a dealer to come in and do final setup but you should have saved yourself some money here.

Lana issues can also become more troubling when you have non-present devices that are network adapters (and in most cases of moving to new hardware you WILL have adapters listed in your registry that are non-present. The way to simplify this is to remove any non-present network adapters. To do this you need to be able to see Non-present devices in device manager and for that you need an environment variable as follows

variable name devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
variable value 1

after adding this variable and rebooting (or possibly just closing device manager) you can go to device manager and select show hidden devices under view and go to network adapters and remove any old "greyed out" motherboard Network adapters. Remove only network adapters not miniports or RAS Async adapters

With this "clean slate" you can easily work on LANA issues

It is best to have a backup of your registry before making these changes and a wonderful free utility for that is ERUNT

Good luck.... it can be done

 

[coorsman]

Check your HASP key. If you have a parallel key you will need to add a card for that. You could also re-install Aloha on a new server just as simple as trying to image and with that you will get a fresh install of windows.



Cheers,
Coorsman

 

[xywh]

Coorsman - yeah, I have a parallel key. SO, I would need a card/USB key/something.

Yes - I should probably start clean with a fresh install of Windows.

 

[coorsman]

It costs $$ to upgrade key to USB. I use

PCI Express card, NETMOS
1 port parallel
9901 Chipset
MCS9901

$18.

Let me know if you don't have an install disk - what version aloha are you on?


Cheers,
Coorsman