Aloha POS system bought at auction - setup questions 1

[aarrghh]

Have just bought a POS system at auction - now I need some help to set it up. I have the terminal (Win XP) and the server (Xp Pro) connected via a switch. I can access files on the terminal from the server.

When I fire up Aloha on the server, I get a "Security key not found" error from CTLSVR, and then an error message saying "CtlSvr has been disconnected. Try to reconnect?". Any idea how I get around this?

When I fire up the terminal,I get a "Looking for fileserver" message on the screen with a "Make Fileserver" button at the bottom of the screen. If I press it, I have to put in a password and I have no way of finding out what it is.

There was no password required to log into XP Pro on the server.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here? Am new to Aloha and POS but have a reasonable working knowledge of IT.

 

[Circle9]

You need to make sure the security key is plugged into the parallel port on the server. If your system didn't come with one, you'll need to contact an Aloha dealer and buy a key from them, how much it costs, I don't know.

 

[aarrghh]

Thanks Mitch - will have a scout around in the boxes to see if I find anything - any idea what they look like?

 

[mixerjv]

It looks like a DB25 extension, about 1 inch long that would plug into a parallel port, then a parallel printer could plug into it.

Without it you will have to buy all licenses from scratch. With it I think you will still be in violation of the license agreement and owe them some money, although you could probably live for a while without doing so as long as you don't need to upgrade software or add terminals.

 

[justafellow]

It's basically a USB key. It looks like a smaller version of the USB backup drives everyone is selling these days.

 

[eburks]

Both DB25 and USB keys are used with aloha there is also a string of several keycodes that match the key so simply having the key does not get you up and running. The aloha.ini file in the

somedrive:\aloha\data\ folder is where these end up

It is much easier to edit these there than in maintenance store settings system

they will be like ...

SEC1=xyxxx9xxxx9999x
SEC2=dfghjklasdf
SEC3=1234f5678

etc

They all use HASP technology from Aladdin.com


You may have been cheated in the auction if they represented that you could use the system without these

 

[aarrghh]

Rightyo - have located the security key - now is there anyway to reset username and password for Aloha Manager?

 

[Circle9]

Ask an Aloha dealer to tell you about the Alt-X trick. You will have access to everything in the system if you use the Alt-X trick.

 

[aarrghh]

Mitch, you are wonderful! This is exactly what I needed. Now I can at least start sorting this system out! Fantastic!

Now I need to work out why the terminal keeps rebooting and processing End of Day...

 

[Circle9]

To stop those "Processing End of Day" screens, open the Aloha.ini file located in the C:\Aloha\DATA folder. Change the DOB entry to today's date. Save and do the same thing to the Aloha.ini file in the C:\Aloha\NEWDATA folder. Start Aloha, and the DOB will be today's date and you will be ready to use the system.