Micros 3700 5.4, new WS6 install, serial printing 1

[wewantphil]

have been running a mix of WS4 & WS5a for many years. Just got our first WS6 running Win10 Enterprise IoT. Installed RES via CAL and that works fine. However, I cannot seem to print to locally attached serial thermal slip printer. I have an 8 PIN to DB9 serial adapter. Then attach a DB9 to DB25 serial cable and an Epson TM88 with DB25 serial interface that I know works with the older workstations. Connected to 8PIN COM1 on WS6 and configured as such in Configurator. Trying to print to it through RES, test through Confidence Test, and also the WS6 utility all I get is "no printer identified" type of timeout. I even go into command prompt on the WS6 and try to send data directly to the COM1 port and it says "unable to access com port". COM1 does show in the list of available ports in WS6 Windows Device Manager. Cash Drawer opens in WS6 utility so it seems Win10 Enterprise IoT drivers are installed correctly. I am at a loss. Anyone?

 

[Wildbar]

Somewhere there is a pinout wiring diagram for workstation 6 to serial printer on the Oracle site. Might want to verify your wiring against that. We found it best to get the adapter from Oracle Store for $20 or you could get someone to make you one. Could not find one wired correctly anywhere else....amazon, etc.

 

[wewantphil]

The serial adapter is brand new, purchased from Beagle. Yes, I have seen that wiring diagram on Oracle site, but I trust that the adapter is good from the reputable vendor...

 

[wewantphil]

used the WS6 diagnostics tool on a WS6 that I have not yet CAL'd and everything works... mag reader, serial printing, etc. So it seems something CAL did or did not do. running the version of CAL that came preinstalled on the WS6 ... read in another thread that you "have to set Workstation Type to Win32" I don't have a Win32 option in the Workstation Type dropdown in Configurator. Only "Workstation" or "Workstation4". I know it's not WS4, so I just use Workstation. Is there actually supposed to be an option for Win32 or possibly a WS6 specific option (I do have other stuff like mTablet in the list)

 

[wewantphil]

I am finding in 5.4 the setting is called Workstation and in newer versions it is called Win32 ... so they're the same thing.

 

[Wildbar]

What version are you at? The win 10 enterprise needed a further version of 3700 then the original for Workstation 6 I believe to work. You should have a win32 device setting though.

 

[jherrick]

That pin out on the oracle website is wrong... I will post the correct one when I get home.

 

[wewantphil]

running 5.4 MR4 .. the following post does suggest there is a patch, but not sure what version of 5.4 the post is referring to (not explicitly stated), and the poster also says "I think ..."

https://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1772392

If anyone could PM me with that I would be eternally grateful!

the release notes for 5.4 MR3 says that version supports WS6 .. but it may be the Win 8.1 version of WS6?

https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E72602_01/docs/res-54mr3-rn.pdf

Installing RES on the WS6 in question, RES itself appears to work fine. Just cannot print or swipe. I did not test those hardware functions before jumping straight into installing and running CAL.

I factory reset the WS6 in question and used the Diag tool to test the Mag reader and COM1 printing and it still does not work after a factory reset.
I unboxed another WS6 today and before attempting any CAL install, I used the Diag tool on that device and everything works, Mag reader, COM1 printing etc.
My last test will be to CAL this other new, hardware working, WS6 and see if that "breaks" the Mag and COM1 print tests.
I hope it does not, which would tell me the very first one has hardware issues.

 

[jherrick]

Under workstations make sure your peripherals are selected as well. Your symptoms seem more like a micros workstation that doesn't have the pcws drivers loaded properly, however that won't affect your printers just your msr.

Edit: make sure your com ports have correct baud rates for your printers, this is set under devices/network node

 

[Wildbar]

Also to do a real factory reset for the workstation 6 you need to do it from BIOS...not the windows software as that does to seem to wipe and reinstall the drivers. I will look for the patch for windows 10 ent. What is the model of the workstation 6? We have all 3 and they work eventually..

 

[wewantphil]

thank you jherrick and Wildbar
yes to all basically. workstation settings in configurator has peripherals set with com ports. baud rate is always 9600 (Epson)
the factory reset was performed through BIOS as I couldn't actually find the button (all I could see was the security screw)

@Wildbar: These are all WS6 610 devices
would love it if you were able to find that patch. thank you so much for checking

 

[Wildbar]

Had to dig for awhile but looks like patch 5.5.1. for the 610 support with win 10 but need to go later for the idn and serial support. Might want to go up to the end of the 5.5.x patches Do you need the patch?
From Oracle
Oracle MICROS Workstation 6 Series Support (RES 5.5.1)
This patch adds support for the Oracle MICROS Workstation 6 Series, including the 610, 620, and 650 configurations. Support includes the 610 configuration using Microsoft Windows 10.
This release does not support the use of an IDN/Serial Adapter Cable.

 

[wewantphil]

thank you so much for looking into this Wildbar. I do need the patch yes!

 

[Wildbar]

You should be able to find them in here pretty quick. 5.5 in the base and the patches from support. If you need me to give you direct links i can tonight when more time.
Documentation is here

https://docs.oracle.com/en/industries/food-beverag...

Base software is here

https://edelivery.oracle.com/

Patches are here

https://support.oracle.com

but not the cloud version.

 

[wewantphil]

thank you for continuing to reply with assistance. I would need direct links, like dropbox... no rush. thanks in advance!

 

[wewantphil]

update: I believe that first WS6 device is faulty. I was able to get serial print jobs to print in RES on WS6.
IDN still does not work but I believe all I need is a copy of windows\system32\drivers\ntidn.sys from a 5.5 or higher installation.
So if anyone could please provide that file it would be extremely helpful!
thanks in advance.

 

[wewantphil]

installed ntidn.sys driver but it does not work with 5.4 as Confidence Test still says it cannot load the driver so Wildbar is right, no IDN until update to 5.5.x. but with WS6 having three 8 pin serial ports, might just convert any IDN to serial connections. Have always had occasional random failure of IDN in the kitchen anyway, and just monkeying with cables and restarting things spontaneously starts working again for no apparent reason which has always been a struggle as it tends to fail at the worst times. But everything else appears to work with WS6 + 5.4

 

[JonnyB82]

We were forced by Oracle to upgrade to v5.5 MR1 to use Windows 10 WS6's back in 2018, however this version broke the suspend/resume functionality for us in RES.

We are now on v5.7.5, which has fixed the suspend/resume, and the only issue I have found so far is printing multiple condiments (with reference text) to Epson TM-T88V order printers installed with IP interfaces, it prints fine when connected to serial, but with IP it completely messes with the alignment of the 2nd condiment and onwards, making it almost unreadable...

With regards to the mention of WS6 comm port to serial adaptors, we have now removed all 40+ out our adaptors, and replaced them with the Oracle cable that is a direct com port (RJ45) to DB25 serial, these are much cleaner than having the convertors if you ever need to buy more... link below.

https://shop.oracle.com/apex/f?p=DS...838319621135076142,32853115893312411067173892

Hope you get the first WS6 com port issue resolved, sounds a strange one... and not seen it with any of our 40+ WS6's out of the box... so does sound likely to be hardware related.

 

[mrwonderfulsaloon]

Should my old cable that is/was working on my workstation4, not work with my new workstation 6? rj45 to db25 male adapter, This cord was removed from a working wks4 and epson tm-88iii, but when i try the same printer on my workstation 6 it cannot find it, and fails all loop tests etc.

I did order new cords from oracle,but have been waiting since the 6th of january to receive. I am confused by why this one i have would not work.

Is the rj45 wiring different from workstation 4 to 6? Is the DB25 wiring different?