EDC works then spools after couple hours, 6.4.29, Win7, 11 terms 1

[bonro]

Had Windows server 2003 installed on BOH and running 11 terminals with 9 or 10 actually up. Server crashed and someone erased or partitioned the drive, wiping everything. Installed Windows 7 Ultimate, and thanks to the coorsman guides here, had things up and running Aloha 6.4.29 and configuration center.

All bugs worked out except EDC.
Online processing works fine, then for some unknown reason, the master starts spooling and storing files on master terminal. EDC still shows online with no errors, but of course no new transactions appear on EDC screen while master is spooling. If I leave EDC running as it is, do normal copy *.SPL to EDC directory on server, rename *.req, they go to *.hld and then process correctly and disappear like normal. Delete spooling from master, and all works well again for anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours before same thing. Seems to happen most during very busy times.

The key point is, all works perfect for a while, then burps or hiccups. Hopefully that rules out many things? Old Linksys router being replace with Sonicwall tz100 late this week.

Only working with Aloha very part time for a few months, and this is first install I have done. Prior tech never backed up anything. Aloha and their resellers not much help, as they only want to do a complete setup, with almost no assistance otherwise.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[posrescue]

We will need to see the debout from the master at the time of this event. Also the debout.edc from the same time. At face value it sounds like a communication issue. If you look at the event log on the master you may see that network communication was temporarily bumped due to exceeding the CALs on the fileserver. Your master may also be having CAL issues if you are trying to run more than 8 or 9 terminals. You can always try turning the master off to let another terminal become the master and see what shakes out.

 

[bonro]

Thanks for the reply.

This morning I re-installed Aloha with a couple changes.

Initial install defaults EDC to C:\EDC.
Aloha tech said that is different than what we used before, but is now required for PCI compliance, so we used that as the tech recommended.

This morning I installed using old setting of C:\bootdrv\aloha\edc.
So far after 2.5 hours all is working fine with no errors.

tmp folder was cleaned out so I could get fresh results in debout files.
If problem happens again, I will post debout data.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[bonro]

Just failed.
Master

Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"ProcessTXNsWhichWeAreWaitingForAnEDCResponseOn() REQ file (\\ALOHABOH\BOOTDRV\Aloha\EDC\00030113.REQ) deleted due to a timeout (30 seconds)"
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"Aloha EDC is down."
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"SetEDCDown: Creating C:\Aloha\\EDC\SPOOLING"
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"ProcessEdcDownTransaction"
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"Generated fake EDC auth 023700"
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"Generate fake EDC ref id (omitted)"
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"ProcessEdcDownTransaction: Generated fake auth 023700 ref (omitted)"
Jul 19, 14:36:54, [3496], [INFO],,"SpoolEDCDownTxn: Successfully wrote C:\Aloha\\EDC\00000001.SPL for payment "
Jul 19, 14:39:55, [3496], [INFO],,"Logon screen activated by ScreenTouch"

And during that time period, debout.edc on master showed

Jul 19, 14:16:09, [1524], [INFO],,"ProcessStoredTxn(): RENAME C:\BootDrv\Aloha\EDC\00030112.ANS"
Jul 19, 14:52:17, [2376], [INFO],,"ARequestManager:rocessRequestFile: FOUND: C:\BootDrv\Aloha\EDC\00000001.REQ, size = 705"

 

[bonro]

As to CAL on Master, over the past 6 months they have gone down at times and switched masters between Terms 1, 2 and 3. Never any issues and EDC kept on going. Terminals are running Windows XP Embedded version 2002 SP2. That has me thinking..... How did they stay working all this time? Do they not have a 10 connection limit since they are running XP? This is what Aloha setup for an 11 terminal store.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[bonro]

Typo in post of debouts.

And during that time period, debout.edc on master showed
Should have read
And during that time period, debout.edc on "server" showed

 

[bonro]

Is there any way that the system can spool to Master when Internet goes down, and then when Internet comes back up, "automatically" start processing on-line (by remove spooling file from master and ren *.spl to *.req and copy to BOH server edc folder)? I have heard from management that at one time it worked that way. They never had to do anything.

I do not see Internet being down here, but perhaps it does go down for a minute at times, which is causing these issues?

I am also suspecting built-in motherboad network card. Before new Windows install, updated motherboard Bios to latest version, and while Win7 detected and intalled drivers fine, WindowsServer2003r2 (dual boot) did not, and had error in device manager. Only way to get Win2003 to properly install drivers was to drop down motherboard Bios version a few builds. That was where I left it for final install that I am having issues with in Win7 (have not went back to finish installing Win2003). Since Win7 seems fine, I will update to latest Bios and test some more. Or, install another NIC.

 

[coorsman]

EDC will automatically recover from Spooling as long as the EDCsevr in services are logging in with the same username and password the terminals are logging in with.

Cheers,
Coorsman

 

[TheMagicJBone]

It's not the network card (although now is a good time to make sure power management of it is disabled in Device Manager). The terminals can't see EDCSVR, or vice versa. If you lose Internet access, you'll get modem failover or "failed to initialize port" on the FOH (or something along those lines). EDC only goes into spooling under three conditions:

1: Stop POS processing in EDC.exe
2: CheckNetworkTimeout is configured in 6.4.2 or 6.5 and later versions (long shot)
3: Master loses connectivity with fileserver

Look at the differences between your old fileserver installation and the current setup. If you've established basic network connectivity just like the old install, from IPs to acounts/passwords/permissions, then you need to look at the software.

It's Internet Explorer. 7 comes with IE8, and it's screwy out of the box. On the fileserver, go to control panel/Internet options, then the security tab, hit "reset all zones to default level, select "local intranet", hit the "sites" button, uncheck the "automatically detect intranet network" and check the three (probably blank) boxes below it. Reboot everything and call me in the morning.

 

[coorsman]

Have you checked the windows event viewer applications & system for problems and what caused the edc service to stop?

Cheers,
Coorsman

 

[bonro]

Coorsman, no I have not looked at windows event viewer.

But it looks like problem was solved by specifying username and password for edcsvr under services. After making that change, no problems from 4pm through close at midnight, with couple hundred transactions.

It looks like the original install used a common username and password for terminals and server. I would like to change this to be more secure. Is it possible to create new admin users on server and terminals, then remove original user that Aloha was setup for? Or do I also need to make changes to Aloha files? Or, is it easier to just start over with re-installation?

TheMagicJBone, thanks for the tip on using IE8. Zones were already at defaults and I made suggested changes to sites this morning.

 

[bonro]

Looking at Event Viewer on BOH Win7 server does not show anything at failure times except near one instance, which was the last time it happened around 4pm Wednesday. This was when we added back into the system Term5, which had been out of service for a couple months.


Description:
The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer TERM5 that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{051F75A6-BE03-440B-9428-63C5AC3C65D8. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.

 

[bigblok403]

A Browser error will halt NETBIOS communication. Quick test would be to disable computer browser service on all the terminals and see if the issue continues.

 

[bonro]

The browser error only happened that one time, (which was also prior to specifying BOH server services edcsvr user/password).

During other times, like the previous day when EDC started spooling, there was no browser errors listed in servers event viewer.

Before making above changes that I hope corrected things, I was monitoring folders, Master EDC, Server EDC and server EDC app window. On server EDC I saw a transaction go there on .hld and after 30 seconds it went back to master terminal EDC as .spl and master spooling file created. EDC app never failed, staying online and looking as though it was working properly the whole time. Leaving EDC app that way, I then manually moved the transaction from master/edc to server/edc, renaming to .req, and it then instantly processed correctly. Deleted spooling file from master, and EDC kept on working for couple hours of transactions before repeat. Again, this was before changing edcsvr username method.

 

[TheMagicJBone]

The easy way to show if it's IE settings or not is to open a file from a remote computer on the computer with IE8/9 installed. If it opens in the default handler or asks you to specify one, your settings are good. If it gives you a security warning, the remote computer isn't trusted as a member of the local network. EDC hates that.

 

[RadAlohaQE]

bonro, if you use the current release of RAL, it supports adding the account you use for the service to each terminal for you as well as a new user account and removing the Aloha account.

oh and spooling is generally tied into the EDC service account on the server using the local system account, as you found out.