Squirrel V Classic problem

[oldV]

I inherited two Squirrel Classic V terminals from my old restaurant partners. Anyone still familiar with these systems?

Cannot get connectivity between server and terminal through the converter panel. Software is labled v 3.21b and using Octal cards running on Win 2000. Terminal does self check and stops at "Loading Program Page 0".

Tried starting from PC and only get "silent". Had to pull system out of restaurant and good chance there is a cabling problem.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[SwampGas]

Swap cards in the converter panel to see if it is a bad converter panel board.

Load the squirrel diagnostic program on the server and run the loopback tests. With a loopback connector, you can check the communication at the octal card, the converter panel, and at the end of the cable at the terminal. Will help show if the fault is in the connections.


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MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[coorsman]

Did you use the existing patch cables or are they store bought.

The terminals are wired differently from the printers, crossover for 2 wires, White - Yellow (if using belden cable) on the terminal end as labeled in the converter panel. The patch cbles are wired straight thru. Regular 6 wire phone cables (radio shack) won't work.

The 422 OptoIsolator modules - green for the termials - yellow for the printers.

Think about getting upgraded, software could be transferred if partners are still around.

Squirrel is still the first and the best POS I've ever used in my business.

Kevin

 

[coorsman]

P.S.,

My POS supplier is the best for Squirrel, let me know if you need his assistance for supplies, repair or upgrades.
Kevin

 

[SwampGas]

Well...
When I worked for Squirrel (Not a reseller) several years ago out of their Chicago and Long Beach offices, I would've agreed, but today is different.


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QUOTE:
Squirrel is still the first and the best POS I've ever used in my business.
Kevin
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MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[oldV]

Thanks for the comments. Some background. I am a restaurant operator in Beijing, China. Comfortable with computers and can get inside but no expert.

Believe the cards are OK in the converter panel. All lights are green.

Is it possible to connect the terminal directly to the octal card bypassing the panel? I tried and terminal still is silent.

I think the computer is not seeing the octal card and not sure the driver is present. Would anyone know the name of the driver file and how to confirm if the card is installed?

Thanks for all of the help.

Frank

 

[SwampGas]

It is possible, and was done in cheaper installations. The octal card connections are actually 2 serial connections in each RJ11 port of the card.

I need to check in my garage if I still have my loopback test kits. If I do, I will post the connections you can use to skip the converter panel.

The cards in the converter panel either converted the signal to RS-422 for further distances or it was the orange ones that was really a pass-through for RS232 (With opto-isolators for protection).

You can also configure the terminals for RS-422 or RS232. There are jumpers inside the terminals. In a pinch, if the RS422 part of the terminal was bad, I could also configure it for RS232 and get the terminal up if I didn't have a spare motherboard on me.

Let me see if I have any of the stuff in my garage still. If so, I'll post everything you would ever need to know.


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MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[coorsman]

Thanks Megabytecoffee, I also worked for Squirrel as a support tech in Atlanta early 90's before opening my own restaurant. Still love the software. As you can tell I am now an Aloha dealer.

 

[SwampGas]

We probably know each other.


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MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[oldV]

I have the convertor panel; just thought it might be possible to connect directly.

I put in a different hard drive and loaded win 98. Then reloaded the software. Have 3 disks; install, host and posdata. Loaded up OK.

Ran Squirrel Doctor without connecting the terminal to test the octal card. When the address is set to 1 or 2 and loopback internal is yes or no I get "Errors found" result.

When set address is 3 or above I get "Not connected?" and seems it does receive some data but no transmission.

Any ideas?

Frank

 

[oldV]

Also tested serial communication and it detects ports 2, 3,4 OK.

Bit lost here.

 

[coorsman]

The octal card is just that 8 ports numbered 0 - 7

0 - 4
1 - 5
2 - 6
3 - 7

The green modules 422 are for the terminals the yellow 232 are for the printers. For 3 terminals and 2 printers the ports 0,1 & 2 are used for the terminals and ports 3 and 4 would be used for printers. Follow the wiring diagram on the label if one exists. As asked before are you using squirrel patch cables (the 6 pin phone jack)? If not it won't work. They must be crimped exactly the same on both ends.