Aloha EDC Problem

[juancruzhurtado]

Hey Guys,

I am having a problem with my EDC.
It went offline for a moment, now is back online, but the terminals are still processing payments offline automatically.
I already restarted server and terminals, restarted the edc service, etc.
Nothing is working

Please help!!!

Thanks,

Juan

 

[juancruzhurtado]

I just noticed that even though the EDC is online now, it does not show the transactions that were processed offline.
How do I recover this data from the terminals?
How is this data synched again?

 

[jjr2144]

The ALOHA® application software Electronic-Draft-Capture (EDC) application uses credit card spooling for credit card fault tolerance. This document explains the spooling process and how to troubleshoot common spooling problems.

Information
EDC Spooling Process
EDC spooling uses 'fake' authorizations when EDC is not functioning. Front-of-House (FOH) EDC transactions are given a mock authorization code and stored on the Master terminal until EDC is back on line. EDC vouchers print in the FOH just as the normal EDC process does. Refer to the Aloha Credit Card User Manual to enable EDC spooling.



Spooling occurs in one of the following instances:



The EDC file server is off the network. The FOH automatically enters spooling mode when this occurs. Spooling starts the first time the master terminal unsuccessfully attempts to poll the EDC file server, which occurs approximately every 15 seconds.
The EDC POS processing is disabled. The FOH will automatically enter spooling mode if the POS processing is disabled.
EDC is not started on the EDC server. The FOH will automatically enter spooling mode if EDC does not respond. The timeout for this is set by the WAITFOREDCRENAME=n entry in the ALOHA.INI file, where n is the number of seconds to wait. It is advisable to not set this time lower than 30 seconds. The default value is 30.
You can configure EDC Server to ping a user configured internet IP address on a regular basis in order to assure connectivity for internet-based authorizations. If EDC Server does not receive a response within a configurable number of seconds, then EDC Server will disable POS processing (this will be seen on the EDC user interface), which will, in turn, leave .REQ files from the FOH unanswered. The unanswered .REQ files will ultimately cause the FOH to start spooling files. EDC Server will continue to ping the address, and once it receives a response, it will re-enable POS processing, which will process any spooled credit card files on the terminals and any new requests. Refer to document ID 6077 for configuration instructions.


Non-software related issues such as a busy or a disconnected phone line does not enable spooling mode. The EDC POS processing can be manually disabled to force spooling while the problem is fixed.



If the FOH enters spooling mode, a SPOOLING marker file is created in the EDC folder on the Master terminal. Each new EDC request file is renamed to a .SPL file and held. In versions 5.025 and higher, if SHOWSPOOLDOWN is set to TRUE in the ALOHA.INI, then a message stating 'This credit card has been processed offline. Please contact your manager' is displayed each time a credit card authorization is spooled.



EDC recovery is automatic. When EDC is back on line, it searches each terminal's EDC folder for SPOOLING and .SPL files. The SPOOLING file is deleted and the .SPL files are processed as if they are normal request files.



Once EDC is back on line, spooled files are processed regardless if the hardware and software are properly configured. If the hardware and software are not completely configured, the spooled files may be processed, declined, and require manual reentry.



If EDC cannot process the spooled transactions because it cannot connect to the processor, then by default, it will hold the transactions and attempt to process them again in 300 seconds. You can adjust this timeout in the [System] section of the EDC.INI using the RESENDSPOOLEDSECONDS variable. EDC will continue to attempt processing the spooled transactions for 48 hours, but you can adjust this timeout in the [System] section of the EDC.INI using the RESENDSPOOLLIMITHOURS variable (assign this a value of '0' in order to disable retries). If EDC is not able to authorize spooled transactions, then you cannot adjust the tips on these transactions while they are in the authorization queue. In this case, you should consider reentering spooling mode.



In the event there are multiple Master terminals when spooling is enabled, EDC processes the SPOOLING and .SPL files from each terminal.

FOH Continually Enters Spooling Mode
If the FOH continually enters into spooling mode even though EDC appears to be functioning properly, check the FOH terminal's debugging-output-file (debout) and the EDC debout to help you determine what caused the Aloha application software to enter into spooling mode. Refer to document ID 6104 for more information on debouts.



For example, was there a network problem at the time the spooling file was created that disabled the FOH from accessing the EDC server? Was EDC disabled or was POS processing disabled? Can you currently access (read and write) the EDC folder on the file server from the FOH?



If you are not using the EDCPATH variable, then the FOH resolves the path the to EDC folder using the SERVER and IBERROOT system environment variables (for example, \\%SERVER%\BOOTDRV\%IBERROOT%\EDC).



The EDCPATH variable (refer to document ID 6613) is only required for SuperSites or sites where EDC does not reside in the Aloha folder on the POS file server (for example, if you have a dedicated EDC file server or multiple concepts on a single file server). If you are using the EDCPATH variable, ensure it is set correctly on each FOH terminal.

BOH Does Not Automatically Process Spooled Files
If the Back-of-House (BOH) does not automatically find and process spooled files, it is usually a result of incorrect TERMSTR and IBERROOT environment variable settings on the EDC file server. When EDC Server initializes, it lists the terminals paths it is scanning in the DEBOUT.EDC, so first verify that EDC Server is scanning the correct paths to reach the terminals.



Also verify that the EDC file server has read and write access to the BOOTDRV share on each FOH terminal. If you have configured EDC Server to login with a specific user rather than the default system account (refer to document ID 6167), ensure that the user has read and write access to the BOOTDRV share on each FOH terminal.



Also ensure that you have not configured an EDC Index for the terminal in Aloha Manager/Maintenance/Hardware/Terminals unless you have also created processor indexes in EDC. Refer to RKS ID 6261 for more information.



If you require additional scanning information in the DEBOUT.EDC, perform the following to add the DEBUGSCAN variable to the EDCSVR.EXE (EDC Server) command line in the Microsoft® Windows®:



The incorrect use of Windows Registry Editor can lead to serious, system-wide problems that may require the reinstallation of the operating system. Use this tool at your own risk.



New registry entries described in this document are enclosed in quotation marks. Please ignore these quotation marks when adding the entry in the Windows Registry. All Registry entries are case sensitive.



1. Select Start/Run, type REGEDIT, and click OK to open the Windows Registry Editor.

2. Path out HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppId\{583B6E82-64F1-11D1-8EF3-0040054AB0A4}.

3. Double-click AlohaEdcSvrParameters and append a space and '/DEBUGSCAN' to the existing Value Data.

4. Select Registry/Exit to exit the Windows Registry Editor.

5. Restart Windows.



After restarting Windows and EDC Server, verify the network paths were captured in the DEBOUT.EDC. Once you have found the source of the problem, perform the following to remove the DEBUGSCAN variable from the EDCSVR.EXE command line:



Select Start/Run, type REGEDIT, and click OK to open the Windows Registry Editor.
Path out HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppId\{583B6E82-64F1-11D1-8EF3-0040054AB0A4}.
Double-click AlohaEdcSvrParameters and remove '/DEBUGSCAN' from the existing Value Data.
Select Registry/Exit to exit the Windows Registry Editor.
Restart Windows.
The file server may not be able to access the FOH terminal to delete or process the SPOOLING or .SPL files because of limitations to the built-in Windows system account used by EDC Server. Refer to document ID 6167 for more information.

Multiple Instances of EDC on a Single File Server
If you have configured multiple instances of EDC to run simultaneously on a single file server, then you must point each instance of EDC Server to separate Aloha application software folders (using the IBERDIR system environment variable) or data folders (using the DATADIR system environment variable) if each instance of EDC server exclusively serves specific terminals.



For example, if a SuperSite has an EDC server with one instance of EDC servicing terminals 1-50 and a second instance of EDC server serving terminals 51-100, then each instance of EDC Server must use a copy of TRM.DBF that only contains the terminals in which it serves. If each instance of EDC Server uses the same copy of TRM.DBF, then each instance of EDC Server will scan all terminals (including the terminals serviced by other instances of EDC), which will result in one instance of EDC authorizing spooled transactions intended for another instance of EDC.

Multiple EDC File Servers in a SuperSite
If you have configured multiple EDC file servers to run simultaneously in a SuperSite (for example, file server one covers stores 1-10 and file server two covers stores 11-20), then you must use a TRM.DBF specific only to the file server's target terminals on each EDC file server in order to ensure that each EDC file server exclusively serves its specific stores. If you use a site-wide TRM.DBF, then each EDC file server will attempt to process spooled transactions from all stores (including the stores serviced by other EDC file servers), not just their assigned stores.



For example, if a SuperSite has one EDC file server servicing stores 1-10 and a second EDC file server serving stores 11-20, then each EDC file server must use a copy of TRM.DBF that only contains the terminals in which it serves.

 

[juancruzhurtado]

jjr2144, Thank you very much for your reply.

I was wondering how I can get access to Aloha's manuals, like the one you copied this info from.

Any help will be once again greatly appreciated.

Juan