Remote Operation
Version 7.4.0 August 2015
This release of Toshiba Diagnostics for POS Systems and Peripherals provides you the capability to run the diagnostics remotely.
The remote diagnostics support is intended to run without having a person in the store to interact with the register. The type of tests run for remote diagnostics is different from the tests run for the USB memory key initiated diagnostics. Remote diagnostics do not run any portion of diagnostic tests that require human interaction such as the part of the POS keyboard diagnostic test where the keys must be pressed. The test coverage is not as extensive for remote diagnostics when compared to the attended USB key initiated diagnostics. As much information is gathered and as many tests as possible are run for remote diagnostics to help in the problem analysis. Please note that none of the utilities found in the memory key based diagnostic package are available through the remote diagnostics
Let’s take a common example:
You are running IBM Director at your enterprise. Through IBM Director, you have access to each register in each store.
The BIOS in your registers are set for Wake On LAN, alternate boot path, and LAN boot as the alternate boot path. A PXE server you have in the store is configured to load the remote diagnostic package you previously downloaded.
If the machine on which you want to run diagnostics remotely is powered off, send a Wake on LAN message (aka Magic Packet) to wake it up and it will begin to boot the diagnostics package from the PXE server. If the machine is not powered off, you will need to provide a mechanism to shut it down prior to requesting that the diagnostics be loaded.
When the diagnostic package is fully loaded and running, all the diagnostic tests for the system unit and attached peripherals will be run. The results will be provided to the PXE server in the form of a results file. When the diagnostics are finished running, the system will shut itself off.
New Additions since Last update:
1: Part C of Section I – Using Non-IBM Director Software
This Document Includes:
I. Remote Diagnostics Setup Requirements
A. Using Remote Deployment Manager(RDM) with IBM Director
C. Using Non-IBM Director software
Appendix A: Remote Diagnostics Summary File
Appendix B: Remote Diagnostics Unattended Summary File
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I. Remote Diagnostics Setup Requirements
This package for diagnostics is intended for those customers who currently have LAN/WAN access to the registers in their stores. The network infrastructure required to run the diagnostics remotely is not provided in the diagnostic package. The diagnostic package is enabled to run within the network infrastructure you provide.
Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions (TGCS) system units have the capability of being PXE booted. The BIOS settings for system units on which you want to run diagnostics remotely must be set to the following settings:
· allow alternate boot path
· alternate boot path is LAN booting
· enable Wake On LAN.
In the store, you will need software packages that provide the following functions:
· TFTP server*
· DHCP server*
· FTP server*
*These packages are not provided by the Toshiba Diagnostics for POS Systems and POS Peripherals.
Use of IBM Director Version 5.2 is suggested in the process of running these diagnostics remotely. If you currently use Remote Deployment Manager (RDM), you can use that package in this process. RDM comes with a TFTP server.
A file specifically for remote diagnostic operation can be downloaded from the TGCS hardware support web site - http://www.toshibacommerce.com/support
You will need to download the remote diagnostics package from this web site. The package is a ZIP file that must be exploded on your TFTP server.
There are 3 ways to use remote diagnostics. You can run Diagnostics in Attended, Unattended, and Diags2x20. These modes are enabled by the .properties file. The FTP directory has all the properties files you need to run remote. Configure the .properties file and copy the appropriate file to the root of ftp directory. You can only run in one mode.
Descriptions of mode:
Attended mode - Runs Diagnostics as you would see using the memory key version of Diagnostics. Note that you cannot save any files. In this mode you can specify the firmware package to use using the attended.properties file. Specifying the firmware file requires the FTP server to be active.
Unattended mode - Runs unattended execution of Diagnostics and the results will be posted on the FTP server.
Diags2x20 mode - Runs Diagnostics using only a 2x20 display. Note that you cannot save any files in the mode.
If no properties file is in the root directory of the FTP directory, the default will be attended mode.
The content of the remote diagnostics package is:
FTP directory
TFTP directory
Documents directory - this has help and readme files
File Description:
Attended.properties
Defines that the TGCS diagnostics are to run in attended mode and to provide any details for running.
FIRMWAREFILE – This variable is used to set the firmware file to transfer to the attended operation of the POS peripheral diagnostics. When enabled, the image will boot, transfer the zip file from the ftp server and start Diagnostics. To disable, either comment out FIRMWAREFILE with a hash tag or remove that line. When disabled, the image will use the firmware packaged within Diagnostics.. The default for this variable is utilities.zip.
When creating the zip file , your top level directory still needs to be named utilities. You can verify by extracting.
Note: In Windows when extracting the zip file, Windows will automatically create the top level folder from the name of the zip file. So remember when you create the zip to change the name of the folder to utilities
Unattended.properties
Defines that the TGCS diagnostics are to run in unattended mode and to provide any details for running. For example, definitions for RS-232 attached devices must be added to this file. This file is intended to be changed by the user. By default, UNATTENDED and SYSTEMTEST are set in the file. Definitions for these settings are:
UNATTENDED – This variable is used to enable/disable the unattended operation of the POS peripheral diagnostics. When enabled, the image will boot, execute all the POS peripheral diagnostics routines and then post the results to the ftp site. When disabled, the image will boot and present the diagnostics menu for the user to select the action to be performed. This is similar as booting the image from the memory key. The default for this variable is UNATTENDED=true
SYSTEMTEST – This variable is used to enable/disable the unattended execution of the system board diagnostics (PC-Doctor). When enabled the image will boot, execute the system board diagnostics and then post the results to the ftp server. The default for this variable is SYSTEMTEST=true
FIRMWARE – This variable is used to enable/disable the unattended execution of updating firmware on the printer. When enabled the image will boot, execute the unattended execution of Diagnostics, update firmware on the printer. The default for this variable is FIRMWARE=false
4610CASHDRAWER – This variable is used to determine if there is a cash drawer attached to your printer. When enabled the image will boot, add the cash drawer, run the unattended execution. Diagnostics will be able to communicate and view statistics from the cash drawer and then post the results to the ftp server. The default for this variable is 4610CASHDRAWER=false
Unattended.properties.sample
This is a file containing sample definitions for RS-232 attached devices. This file can be used as a guide for users to add RS-232 attached devices to their unattended.properties file.
Default
This file defines aspects of the environment that the remote diagnostics will run in. This file is intended to be changed by the user to allow the user to identify the FTP server access detail. The items to be changed by the user are:
Server IP Address – This is the IP address of the system that will be used to dump all the diagnostics logs using the FTP protocol. This can be changed by modifying the variable called FTPSERVER in the pxelinux configuration file. The default for this is FTPSERVER=192.168.0.1
FTP Path – This is the path to the directory where the log files will be placed. This can be specified as “/” for the root of the ftp server or as an absolute path e.g. “/home/user/logs”. This can be changed by modifying the FTPPATH variable in the pxelinux configuration file. The default is FTPPATH=“/”;
FTP User Name – The user has the options of using an anonymous ftp server or one requiring both a user name and a password. This can be changed by modifying the FTPUSER variable in the pxelinux configuration file. It can be set to FTPUSER=Anonymous or as FTPUSER=(any user name) depending on the desired mode. Note that an ftp password will always be required even when the user is Anonymous. In that case the password must be “Anonymous”. The default for this variable is FTPUSER=Anonymous.
FTP User Password – This is the password used to access the ftp server. The default for this variable is FTPPASS=Anonymous.
Additional Features:
Changing Shutdown to Reboot - Add REBOOTDIAG=true to enable. To disable, remove this to revert back to normal shutdown.
Img2a
Img3a.rd
Pxelinux.0
These files comprise the PXE image for the remote diagnostics to be loaded into the target machine. Pxelinux.0 is the file identified to be loaded once an IP address has been assigned to the target machine.
A. Using Remote Deployment Manager(RDM) with IBM Director
If you currently use Remote Deployment Manager with IBM Director, perform the following steps:
- Install DHCP Server (Verify DNS Servers option is enabled)
- Install FTP Server (Verify home directory, write access is enabled)
- Install RDM 4.30 (verify TFTP server is installed)
- Create Custom Task on Director Server. A sample RDM task can be found in Appendix C.
- Click OK to save new Custom Task
- Right click on new Custom Task and click Edit
- Click on the Advanced Tab to view the custom task directory
- Copy all the files in the Remote directory to the custom task directory
- After the files are copied, open the pxelinux.cfg directory
- Open the file named “default” and enter your FTP server information and save the file
- Copy the unattended.properties file to the root of your FTP directory
· Be sure to alter the unattended properties file to add any RS-232 devices
Caution: When using RDM to start a remote diagnostics task with the TGCS diagnostics package, be awarethat the task on the RDM console may indicate TASK TIMEOUT when the task is actually complete. Monitor the log file named <machinetype-serialnumber>-summary.log to determine when the remote diagnostics run is complete. Once you verify the remote diagnostics task is complete, please cancel the RDM task that shows it has timed out. The machinetype-serialnumber corresponds to the machine type and serial number on themachine on which the diagnostics have run.
Note: TGCS tested running diagnostics remotely using the RDM with IBM Director configuration.
If you currently use IBM Director only, perform the following steps:
- Install a DHCP server (Verify DNS Servers option is enabled)
· Name the remote diagnostics pxelinux.0 file to be loaded when IP addr requests come in
- Install FTP Server (Verify home directory, write access is enabled)
- Install an TFTP Server (Verify home directory, write access is enabled in the setup detail for FTP servers)
· The name of the directory where the PXE files are kept is a setup detail required for TFTP servers.
- Configure the TFTP server to PXE boot the remote diagnostic file pxelinux.0
- Note: The location of these servers is dependent on your network configuration.
- Install IBM Director 5.2
- Create a task to perform the remote diagnostic task set.
· The task is to send a Wake On LAN request to the target system
- Copy all the files in the directory identified in the TFTP server setup
- After the files are copied, open the pxelinux.cfg directory
- Open the file named “default” and enter your FTP server information and save the file
- Copy the unattended.properties file to the root of your FTP directory
· Be sure to alter the unattended properties file to add any RS-232 devices you may have. If you have no RS-232 devices, then you don’t need to add anything.
Note: If you PXE boot your registers for normal operation, you will need to change the TFTP server configuration to point to the remote diagnostics file as the file to be served up instead of the normal operational PXE file.
C. Using Non-IBM Director software
If you currently Not using IBM Director, perform the following steps:
- Install a DHCP server (Verify DNS Servers option is enabled)
· Name the remote diagnostics pxelinux.0 file to be loaded when IP addr requests come in
- Install an TFTP Server (Verify home directory, write access is enabled in the setup detail for FTP servers)
· The name of the directory where the PXE files are kept is a setup detail required for TFTP servers.
- Configure the TFTP server to PXE boot the remote diagnostic file pxelinux.0
- Note: The location of these servers is dependent on your network configuration.
- Install FTP Server (Verify home directory, write access is enabled)
- Install a Wake-On-LAN (Magic Packet) capable program.
· If Applicable, Create a task that can send a Wake On LAN request to the target system(s)
- Copy all the files in the directory identified in the TFTP server setup
- After the files are copied, open the pxelinux.cfg directory
- Open the file named “default” and enter your FTP server information and save the file
- Copy desired properties file (unattended.properties, attended.properties, diags2x20.properties) to the root of your FTP directory
· Be sure to alter the unattended properties file to add any RS-232 devices you may have. If you have no RS-232 devices, then you don’t need to add anything.
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The results of a remote diagnostic run are made available in a file on your TFTP server. The location of the file is identified by the FTP PATH you set in your default file. The name of the file is constructed with the machine type and the machine’s serial number. For example, if the machine type is 4851-E14 and the serial number is “1234567”, then the file names associated with the results are TOSHIBA4851E14-1234567-summary.log and TOSHIBA4851E14-1234567-unattended.log.
A sample summary results file for the mythical 4851E14 machine can be found in Appendix A. This file shows the results of the system unit device diagnostics. These are the results of the PC-Doctor diagnostics
A sample unattended results file for the mythical 4851E14 machine can be found in Appendix B.
This file shows the results of the POS peripheral diagnostics.
If you were running the diagnostics using RDM, note that you should monitor the file TOSHIBA4851E14-1234567-summary.log to determine when the diagnostics have completed.
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Appendix A: Remote Diagnostics Summary File
Device: |
Product ID: |
BCD Level: |
POSPrinter0 |
0x4535 |
263 (0x107) |
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Appendix B: Remote Diagnostics Unattended Summary File
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Unattended Diagnostics: MICR
Wed Jan 01 00:46:17 GMT 2003
Service Description: TOSHIBA Generic MICR JavaPOS Service Driver, (C) 1997-2006 TOSHIBA Corp.
Service Version: v1.9.234
Control Description: JavaPOS MICR Device Control
Control Version: v1.9.0
Physical Device Name: TOSHIBA Generic MICR
Physical Device Description: TOSHIBA Generic MICR, US English Version
Properties:
------------------------
CapPowerReporting: Standard
CapValidationDevice: false
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Unattended Diagnostics: POS Printer
Wed Jan 01 00:46:26 GMT 2003
Service Description: TOSHIBA 4610 SureMark Enhanced POS Printer - JavaPOS Service Driver, (C) 1997-2006 TOSHIBA
Control Description: JavaPOS POSPrinter Device Control
Physical Device Name: TOSHIBA 4610 SureMark Enhanced POS Printer
Physical Device Description: TOSHIBA 4610 SureMark Enhanced POS Printer - English Version
CapPowerReporting: Standard
CapCharacterSet: 998
CapConcurrentJrnRec: false
CapConcurrentJrnSlp: false
CapConcurrentRecSlp: true
CapCoverSensor: true
CapMapCharacterSet: false
CapTransaction: false
CapJrnPresent: false
CapJrn2Color: false
CapJrnBold: false
CapJrnDhigh: false
CapJrnDwide: false
CapJrnDwideDhigh: false
CapJrnEmptySensor: false
CapJrnItalic: false
CapJrnNearEndSensor: false
CapJrnUnderline: false
CapJrnCartridgeSensor: No cartridge sensing.
CapJrnColor:
CapRecPresent: true
CapRec2Color: false
CapRecBarCode: true
CapRecBitmap: true
CapRecBold: true
CapRecDhigh: true
CapRecDwide: true
CapRecDwideDhigh: true
CapRecEmptySensor: false
CapRecItalic: false
CapRecLeft90: true
CapRecNearEndSensor: false
CapRecPapercut: true
CapRecRight90: true
CapRecRotate180: true
CapRecStamp: true
CapRecUnderline: true
CapRecCartridgeSensor: No cartridge sensing.
CapRecColor: PTR_COLOR_PRIMARY
CapRecMarkFeed: Paper handling not supported
CapSlpPresent: true
CapSlp2Color: false
CapSlpBarCode: true
CapSlpBitmap: true
CapSlpBold: true
CapSlpDhigh: true
CapSlpDwide: true
CapSlpDwideDhigh: true
CapSlpEmptySensor: true
CapSlpItalic: false
CapSlpLeft90: true
CapSlpNearEndSensor: true
CapSlpRight90: false
CapSlpRotate180: false
CapSlpUnderline: false
CapSlpBothSidesPrint: true
CapSlpCartridgeSensor: 0
CapSlpColor: 1
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Unattended Diagnostics: PC-Doctor System Test
Wed Jan 01 00:46:31 GMT 2003
Passed
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;This is command list for custom task
BOOTTYPE !LOADBOOTSTRAP
template/%TaskTemplateId%/%TaskToid%/pxelinux.0
WAKE
!!SETENV
UpdateAssetID
END