IBM 4695 Card Swipe

[asimeqi]

I have a program that reads a card throught the Magnetic Stripe Reader (MSR).
I am having a problem with an old IBM 4695 terminal, running Windows NT SP6. My program can read both keyboard wedge MSR and OPOS MSR. But IBM 4695 seems not to have a keyboard wedge.
I was thinking that I could use OPOS and since there was no OPOS installed, I installed version 1.5 from IBM web site.
However I still cannot read.

I was wondering if somebody could help. There are 3 different lines of thinking that I am going on.
1. Change the swipe to keyboard wedge. I know that can be done for a SurePos 500. Can I do that for IBM 4695? How can it be done?

2. Make the OPOS work. Can the OPOS work on an IBM 4695? If yes, what version do I need to install? What other program(s) do I need to install?

3. Program the low level card reader.

I would be happy if I could go with 1 or 2. The number of terminals in the field is low and the existing ones are being replaced with more modern ones so I do not want to spend a lot of time supporting them.

 

[AdamDR]

I have a few sites still running the 4695. It's been so long since I've had to do anything with these, I had to dial in to see what they are set up as! Anyway, I have them setup as keyboard wedge. One way to see if it will work in keyboard wedge mode is to open up notepad, swipe a card, and see if you get anything. OPOS won't write to notepad, but kw will. Hope that helps.

Adam

 

[asimeqi]

Thanks Adam. Your information is valuable because it lets me know that there are 4695 that are set up as keyboard wedge.
My terminal is not set up as keyboard wedge. I did the Notepad test but nothng happens.
I do not know if the difference is because some versions of 4695 came with keyboard wedge and some with OPOS, or because the OPOS has been configured as keyboard wedge on your terminal.
I think I probably should point out that the program in question is written by me, so I have quite a knowledge on how to read both a keyboard wedge and the OPOS. I use OPOSMSR.ocx to do the reading. OPOSMSR.ocx is distributed by IBM but is really written by Curtiss Monroe and is supposed to read all OPOS MSR from all vendors.
The reason it is distributed by IBM makes me think that sometimes that ideal does not work so they want to be able to test and tell you what works with what. And that is the piece of information that I cannot figure out. What version of OPOS, if any, should I install? Are there any new software or updates to existing software that are needed so that OPOSMSR.ocx works?

Thanks again,
Artan