Aloha Network Issue

[securehpc]

Hello,

I am assisting a friend in troubleshooting Aloha on 6 terminals. During busy hours terminals frequently lock and message reads unable to find file server.

Terminal Information:
Windows XP Home
Dell Optiplex
512 MB Ram

The backend workstation that the terminals connect to is Windows XP Pro. I haven't been able to find any user manuals online for system requirements. I believe the issue is related to Windows XP Home.

Has anyone ran into network issues with Windows XP Pro or Windows XP Home. Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[DTSMAN]

No.
What fixes it?
Are they all on static IP addressing?
Problem with the switch, maybe.

Bo

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

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[securehpc]

DTSMAN,

The workstations don't have static IP addresses. I could probably assign the clients a static IP address without any problem.
Does Aloha have known issues with DHCP?

Does Aloha generate a lot of network traffic?

 

[bigblok403]

Don't use DHCP, it does not work well with Aloha

 

[ITMarc]

Hey Securehpc,

You might look at a couple things with this: First your network switch: is it built to handle the load of the network? Does your cabling match your switch (ie, if the switch is a higher end switch, are all the cables rj45-e or just regular rj45)? Also, I've noticed in any network if you have more than 2 or 3 network hubs/switches, this will cause a higher traffic network to crash.
Thanks,

 

[alohaakamai3]

Make the Default gateway of the stations the server's IP address.

Also, bear in mind XP Home is limited to 5 concurrent connections. XP allows for 10. This could also be your problem, but I wouldnt go upgrading all those stations to XP pro until you've tried some other stuff first.

Oh, and don't buy dell

 

[alohaakamai3]

Btw, forgot to add, Bo actually hit on the million dollar question.

What are you doing to eventually correct the problem-to get everything up and running?

In terms of valuable information you could provide at this point, that's at the top of the list.

 

[zahead31]

We use XP Pro and run 12 terminals. Since XP Pro only allows 10 concurrent connections, 2 terminals will randomly lose their connection to the master terminal and will flash the dreaded white screen "Cannot Locate Master Terminal". This will happen until a non XP Pro terminal takes over.

To solve this, we have dedicated Master terminals in each restaurant that are running either Win 98 or Win 2000 Server. Since your system is under 10 conncurrent connections, but over the 5 connection limit provided in XP Home, it sounds like an upgrade to XP Pro will fix your issue.

There are other good suggestions in this post that I would recommend changing as well - switch your terminals to static IP, and do not buy Dell

 

[Circle9]

Dells are NOT good computers to use Aloha with!

 

[Wzunino]

Does anyone know what protocol takes place during an Aloha POS auth? Is there a certificate exhange? Doe the POS wait for an ENQ?