Micros 3700 - UB-E03 TCP/IP Printer Prints Slowly

[Kniteschaed]

System: Oracle Hospitality Micros RES 3700
Product Version: 5
FOH Terminals: Workstation 4's

Problem: New TCP/IP Printers Print Slowly
Appears to be localized to the UB-E03 TCP/IP card.

New Printer Info
Installed 2 UB-E03 TCP/IP cards in TM-T88iii printers.
Used an older TM-U220 to set static IP addresses on each E03 card before installing in T88iii's.
Set dipswitch 2-8 on T88iii (otherwise the printer doesn't use the E03 card).
The print job reaches the printer quickly but hesitates/prints very slowly.
What would only take a moment using serial (RS-232 card) now takes 5-10 seconds and stutters as it prints (prints small portion, small wait, print more, small wait, etc.).

Other TCP/IP Printers
Including those two printers - We have 3 additional IP-based receipt printers.
Those 3 have been in use for 6-12 months.
Those 3 are using UB-E02 NIC cards (generation behind UB-E03).
2 are installed in TM-U220 printers.
1 is installed in a TM-T88iii printer.
These 3 work fine and print just as fast as when they were serial connections.

Dip Switches
No dip switch modification were needed for the E02 cards.
With the E03 in a TM-U220 - no dip switch changes were needed.
In a TM-T88iii had to switch 2-8 for it to recognize the TCP/IP card (could ping printer and print to printer after flipping this dip switch).

What I've Tried
Tried printer in multiple locations - network location does not effect printer.

Swapped the E02 and E03 cards between the T88iii's and the slow print speed followed the E03 card (printer with the E02 continued to print fine).
Tried the E03 in a TM-U220 and it seemed to have the same hesitation...

I checked technical specs - the UB-E03 should be up to 2-3 times faster than the UB-E02.
Did note that UB-E03 supports 10/100 whereas the UB-E02 supports 10 base T.
Tried limiting the UB-E03 to 10 base T. No change.

What Oracle MICROS Tried
I believe Micros support staff misunderstood my initial issue/request
I believe Micros thought the printers were taking a long time to start printing - not hesitating during printing.
This is what they did:
Renamed MDSHosts to MDSHosts.old
Renamed MDSPrinters to MDSPrinters.old
Reloaded the database
MDSHosts and MDSPrinters were repopulated.
No change to print speed.

Was told that there wasn't anything software related that they could do...
Talked about billable programming and having a technician come out to our location to take a look at the printers...
Told them that sounds expensive...no quote...waiting on receipt printer specialist to contact us.

Questions
Is there anything that can be done to speed up the receipt printers with the UB-E03 cards?
Are there any additional dip switches that need to be on to speed up the printer? Or is it completely handled by the NIC card?
Could it possibly be a driver issue (on the server perhaps) of some sort?
Anyone else had a similar issue?

Resources

http://www.beaglehardware.com/HowToEthernet.pdf

http://www.delfi.com/SupportDL/Epson/Manuals/TM-T88III/Ethernet configuration.pdf

 

[CathalMF]

Is there any configuration difference in the Pos Configurator between the quick and slow IP printers?

Do you want some custom SIM scripts developed. Contact me via my website

http://www.microspostools.com/

 

[Kniteschaed]

No notable differences.
Each printer is setup as a roll printer with the corresponding type.
All use the same network node/server.

TM-U220
Device Type: Roll Printer
Printer Interface Type: TCP/IP
Printer Type: Epson TM-200 Roll
Line Feeds: 7
Columns: 36
Suppress Printer Error: Yes
IP Address Uses Port 9100

TM-T88iii
Device Type: Roll Printer
Printer Interface Type: TCP/IP
Printer Type: Epson TM-T88, Express Thermal
Line Feeds: 7
Columns: 40
Suppress Printer Error: Yes
IP Address Uses Port 9100

For the time being I have placed the E03 cards in the U220 printers (our kitchen printers) and moved the E02 cards to the FOH printers to help with speed of service.

I'm wondering if flipping dip switch 2-8 does more than just allow the use of the E03 card...maybe it also limits function in some way?

 

[RickyO]

Have you tried turning off (uncheck) the "Enable Advance Printing Features" and "Bidirectional Support"? This solved my similar problem with Ithaca printers.

 

[jackalsystems]

Do you have them linked to the Back Office PC for the Network Node? Try changing that to a workstation. I can't remember where I heard that, but I've used it many times to correct the very same issue.

 

[rcorena]

in the tmu-220 need to move deep swicht 8 of bank 2

 

[domholl]

We are experiencing a similar problem and have also not gotten any help from Micros.

We just upgraded to new Micros WS6's at two business locations and purchased 8 Epson TM-T88v ip printers.
All 8 printers run very slowly, just like you described - they seem to hesitate briefly after each line of printing.
I have been in repeated contact with various people at Micros and they did all the same things you noted - deleted and repopulated the MDSHost and MDSPrinter files, etc.
They did test the printers with the Network Node set to the local workstation as well as the Server - as jackalsystems suggested - and the problem persisted.

Based on your experience, I am going to order a UB-E02 interface card to test.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could update any progress that you might have made to solving the problem.
Thanks

 

[Funkstar]

Had the same issue with slow printing.
UB-E02 and UB-E03 are not supported yet.
Instead of that, you can use Ethernet IV I/F 10mb/IP card (could be bought from Micros), that is supported by Micros and you will have normal printing.
They are working with Epson to support UB-E03 card.

 

[Kniteschaed]

Thank you all for your feedback!
Problem hasn't been solved...but it is temporarily resolved (see my response to domholl below).

@RickyO
Was unable to locate "Enable Advance Printing Features" and "Bidirectional Support"?
Might be a function limited to the Ithaca printers you used?

@jackalsystems
The printers were indeed all linked to the central server (network node).
Did try changing them to the workstation. No luck.

@rcorena
We did try changing the dip switch settings. No luck.

@domholl
Sorry to hear you are having similar troubles.
Nice to know I'm not alone!

I ended up placing the UB-E03 cards in my two impact printers in our kitchen area.
Due to the inherently slow printing of the impact printer - delays seem almost unnoticeable (at least for staff - which is all that matters at the moment).
I took the UB-E02 cards that were in my impact printers and put them in the front of house T88iii's.
The T88iii's are working nominally now.
So staff is happy - will probably continue to bug me though...

Let me know how your printers work with the UB-E02 cards.

@Funkstar
I had a feeling that it might be some sort of driver or incompatibility issue...
Thank you for the advice!

By chance, did you find any documentation with the MICROS/card limitations?
Or was this information direct from Epson or MICROS?

 

[Funkstar]

@Kniteschaed
This information came straight from Micros.
I don't know if it's available anywhere oficially.

 

[jcampos13]

We have tried the ub-e03 on epson tmt 88 iv & v, we did not experience printer slowness. Then again we are using gigabit switches in our sites.

 

[djn602]

We just switched from another POS to Micros 3700 and are having the same slow speed issue with the Ethernet attached impact printers using the UB-E03 cards. Any update on this?

 

[Kniteschaed]

@jcampos13
Good to hear that the UB-E03 is working with the 88iv and 88v.
We are also using gigabit switches - so it seems the problem isn't there.
If/when we replace our printers I will attempt to get a newer model to avoid these struggles.

@djn602
Sorry you are running into the same issue.
I still haven't gotten anything officially resolved from Oracle/MICROS.

I ended up pulling the UB-E02 cards from my U220 kitchen printers and put those in my T88iii printers.
Then I put my UB-E03 cards in my U220 printers. The U220 seems to work fine with either card.

Honestly, it seems that the older T88 printers cannot utilize the UB-E03 cards...at least not with MICROS...
Best bet would be to replace the cards with older an older UB model.
I haven't any troubles with the UB-E02 cards in my T88iii printers.

 

[sv69]

Has anyone checked with Epson for a firmware which addresses this issue? We had faced same issue and after we used the firmware the speed increased. Please note that the firmware was for the Ethernet interface card and not for the printer.

 

[FreeSoldier]

Hi all,

Indeed it seems the UB-E03 works properly on U220 printer but print extremely slow on T88 printer.
UB-EO2 work properly on T88 Printer.
Has anyone found a solution on how to fix the UB-E03 on Micros 3700 ?


Many Thanks

 

[domholl]

I have been in contact with Micros about this problem repeatedly and the last time I spoke with them they seemed to think it was a firmware problem. They have been very slow to respond, but I will follow up with them again to see if they have made any progress.

 

[FreeSoldier]

Hi All,

Any progress on getting the UB-E03 card working properly on T88 Printer ?
Anyone has new firmware from Epson ?

Many Thanks

 

[domholl]

One full year after they were installed, my 8 Epson TM-T88v ip printers still print slower than the 88iv's they replaced. I have called and emailed multiple people within Micros/Oracle and gotten exactly nowhere.

They are without question the most unresponsive company I have ever dealt with. I tried contacting Epson, but as soon as they found out that my printers came from Micros they passed me off.

If anyone has a contact person at Micros/Oracle corporate that might actually care about their customers I would love to be put in touch with them.

 

[domholl]

Oracle/Micros updated our system from version 5.4 to 5.5 yesterday and that (finally) solved the slow printing problem on our Epson TM-T88V printers.