Aloha POS Terminals "Waiting for System Config to Complete"

[RestaurantGuy]

Tried rebooting everything...terminals still coming up with "Waiting on System Configuration to Complete".

Shut down the entire system, main POS, and 4 terminals. started POS, logged onto Aloha Manager. Walked to main terminal, booted up. went through its boot process...last thing I saw was "File Server 0" than straight to "Waiting for System Configuration to Complete"

any love???

 

[RestaurantGuy]

jeez, i wish i could come with some good news but this damn system went out again. Same thing as last tuesday...i dont know if there is something wrong with the file dates but it started last tuesday morning as well.

put in the daily specials for tuesday morning, refreshed, terminals go down and say "waiting for system config to complete." on the file server, the menu changes DID take place...last week I was told the file server froze when updating which started the problem. any other day, the menu changes take place with no issues on the terminal side.

last week the tech guy came out and I missed exactly what he did but he stated he copied certain files from terminal 1 and copied it over to terminals 2-4 to fix it. than problem 2 came the next day as stated above.

any other info I can provide to help figure out this problem? im fearful of this problem happening every tuesday...than getting problem 2 the next day.

thanks again everyone

 

[SwampGas]

>> last week the tech guy came out and I missed
>> exactly what he did but he stated he copied
>> certain files from terminal 1 and copied it
>> over to terminals 2-4 to fix it. than problem
>> 2 came the next day as stated above.

Permissions issue. Alohatech2 is right.


---
MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[RestaurantGuy]

well do you have any literature (website or pdf file) or anythign I can read that dumbs it down a notch for me on fixing the file permissions? I know my computers (for MIS graduate) but dealing with aloha is new to me so i'm always fearful of screwing something up on the back end and the system is down longer than it should be.

as always, its greatly appreciated.

 

[alohatech2]

The relationship between Windows and Aloha can be confusing, it's true...

In this case, we are referring to Windows permissions.

If you think of your Aloha System as any other network, it sounds like you have some issues with file management between the server and terminals, as well as between the terminals and themselves. Did you follow the steps I gave earlier?

Make sure that each computer has a user that is logging in appropriately. The terminals need to have full access to the server, and to each other. The server needs full access to the terminals.

Make sure the ctlsvr and edcsvr services are logging in as an administrator user. This is found in the service properties for each service. Start > run services.msc

That's a basic "where to get started." The rest depends on your operating systems across network. If you have covered all of these bases (including the steps I outlined in the previous post) and are still at a loss, please reply with the operating system for each terminal and the file server.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

oh ok...i think I undrestand now. I wasnt under the impression you were referring to permissions in windows but rather than aloha for some odd reason. can you tell its been a while since i was in college and doing programming??? ha

so this is my understanding now. I want to go to the following directory on the file server: %IBERDIR%\DATA directory

right click on that folder and allow permissions to read, write, create, delete....if they are unchecked that is.

reboot and see what happens.

than if that doesnt work, I want to go to run and type: services.msc

verify that under the Managers Windows Login ID(which should be admin) that the ctlsvr and edcsvr services are running.


now if that doesnt work, you need the operating system for all terminals which I can get by rebooting them to see which windows version pops up. than you want the file server operating system which is XP and the aloha version is 6.1.18. anything else?

thanks again buddy

 

[RestaurantGuy]

OR is it the IBERCFG directory?

 

[alohatech2]

You are getting warmer!

You can check the %iberdir%\Data folder in the way that you suggested, and you can also check it by exploring to that folder, creating a text file, saving it, editing it, saving it and deleting it. You'll want to do that from the server to each terminal, and from each terminal to the server and from each terminal to each other.

This method will show what is having trouble where and perhaps even why. For example, you may get asked to login to the terminals from the server when you path to them to get to the data folder. If you are asked to login, do so with the admin login and you can check the box that says to save the password so that it "sticks."

If you aren't sure what OS the terminals are, that tells me that you have a mixed bag. That will make life more fun (i.e. difficult) for you.

Regarding services, right-click on each one and go to properties and click the log-on tab. You want the settings there to be set to login with an administrator user.

You can get away with using the manager login if it is an admin as you say, but a better practice is to make a user that is for aloha only. This helps a great deal when there is manager turnover and passwords need to change. Even if you don't operate that way now, it's best to be ready in case you do in the future. In fact, I think it makes you more PCI compliant, which is important.

Have your terminals and services use the aloha user all around and things should go more smoothly.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

well right now i think I need to ride out to the restaurant which is a good hike. i'm trying to assist the manager over the phone but he cant seem to find the %iberdir% folder right now when he uses explorer. its not even coming up in searches yet just last week it did.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

im going to have to go in the morning and find this directory...i cant believe its that complicated to find but i guess i'll find out in person.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

update:

all OS are XP

when searching for %iberdir%/data...I could not find the %iberdir%. What I ended up doing was going to the dos prompt like I did previously in this thread. I typed in:
cd /d %IBERDIR%\data [PRESS ENTER]

that received this following location

F:\bootdrv\aloha\data

So I assumed that path was the one I should be searching for. With that being said, I created a text file, saved it, edited it, saved it, deleted it...no issues at all. However, when I right click on the data folder, I wasnt accustomed to XP anymore...since im all vista now. I didnt find the read, write, create, delete checkboxes. Instead, it has the "read-only" and "hidden" checkboxes. What I noticed was that the data folder was checked for read-only. I unchecked it and applied to all folders/subfolders. I rebooted and it was automatically checked again...as if it didnt save what I asked it to. no idea if that is a concern I should have.

Now back to doing the text file creation/deletion, etc...While I did that in the data file, I am unsure how to path myself to each terminal because I do not know where the terminal data was located let alone than going from terminal back to server which i wouldnt be able to figure out either im sure. I'm guessing you did not mean to go to aloha manager, drop down menu hardware - terminals.

Lastly, I checked the ctlsvr and edcsvr and they are both running. However, I took notice that it was running under account ".\aloha" I dont understand that that means and I was logged in under the main user with comp admin rights. I do not know if that is useful info or not.

ACtually, one more thing, the system did not grind last night. I noticed no 3/24/09 folder in the data folder...not that any transactions took place yesterday on the computer though. Also, the original tech guy who is asking outrageous prices to fix this supposedly copied config files to each of the terminals since supposedly they had been lost. than they rebooted the terminals and got it up and running. that was the band aide that was done last week which I was not around to supervise.

hopefully my ramblings make sense and this information is useful because right now Im feeling completely lost on what to do. any help? thanks again

 

[RestaurantGuy]

its actually windows xp embedded...dont know if the embedded part is important

 

[RestaurantGuy]

anyone want to take a stab at helping here?

 

[RestaurantGuy]

another update

finally got network working. found "terminal 1" file. was not prompted for password upon entering folder. went to aloha folder than data folder. did the text file create/edit/delete with no issues.

now this is terminal 1, main terminal. I do not know how to touch upon terminals 2-4 nor do I know how to do the reverse and go from terminal to server to do this test. so far they have passed it. here are some screenshots to help you see what im seeing.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/michael21k/photo1.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/michael21k/photo2.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/michael21k/photo3.jpg

 

[Circle9]

I'm not sure if this is right, but I think you need to share the hard drives of terminals 2-4. Right click on the hard drive and share it with full permissions. Then I think terms 2-4 will show up in My Network Places, and you will be able to do the create/edit/delete test.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

Thank you

Can anyone confirm this and that it won't create any extra problems?

 

[RestaurantGuy]

well here is the F: drive that has all the aloha data on it.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/michael21k/photo5.jpg

is this what I want to share to find terminals 2-4? doesnt seem right

 

[Circle9]

I think you need to share the hard drive with all the Aloha data on the server (in this case, the F drive) like shown in the screenshot, and also the hard drives on the terminals.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

so basically I would share the root drive in that screenshot?

when you say harddrives on terminals...you kinda lose me. im trying to find the other terminals but in the other screenshots, all i can find is a folder for terminal one under network places. is that what you are getting at? because even still, i dont know if im fully understanding that one.

 

[Circle9]

Correct.

When I say share the terminals hard drives, I mean you have to physically go to the terminals and share the root drives on each.

 

[RestaurantGuy]

now thats even more confusing to me because they boot up saying waiting for system config to complete. I dont even know how i'd share them as when they are working correctly, they go straight to aloha log-in so unless there is a system button in aloha that allows me to get into the back end of the terminal to do that, id be lost. do you know of any threads or online sites that could walk me through that?

I was always under the impression that everything on the terminals (in regards to program files) would have to be done through the file server connecting with the terminal.

I guess I have a hell of a lot to learn still.