Hi there everyone!
I've only recently discovered this site and it's great! Thought I'd drop a few questions in.
I've been looking after a totally decrepid till system in my old hotel for a year or so now, and everything i've figured out how to do has been from the front end. Changing PLU's and calibration resets are about the extent i've had to do so far.
We're running a single Uniwell TX 870 to a local bar printer and a remote KP. Both TP922's.

I have worked for an EPOS company previously and know the system is capable of so much more, but as the system is mostly left to it's own devices i can't tamper with it too much in case it goes down and never comes back!

My first questions are these;

Can someone clarify the default engineer code for me? The one i've been given is 25*****5 (i've seen a few other posts where it's not given away so PM me please) but it doesn't let me log on with it.

What will be the safest way to try and interface the till with a PC? I've seen that you need a uniwell-specific cable, which i can make, and a copy of the POS software which I've downloaded, but i'm unsure about risking plugging in and loosing all the limitted till functionality which we have in place so far!

Many thanks!

_________________
I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
What about you...?

The engineers code is what you said but will only work in SP mode.

What software have you downloaded?? The reason I ask is because your till is in a hotel, was it connected to your PMS system? Which means its an 06 version which wont work properly with PLM2000.

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Hey, thanks for the reply!
I'll try the engineer code again when i'm next on site.

I've downloaded PLM2000 on my home PC to have a look at. The till was originally put in place 3 management groups ago so no-one knows anything about it really, and currently just runs as a standalone system not hooked up to any pc's.
Is there an easy way of telling which system would be best to use, PLM2000 or UniLite?

_________________
I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
What about you...?

Ok, so I'm gonna use this thread almost as a diary of how I get on trying things on the described system.

After some useful advice from EposWizard;
As for the software, I only ever used PLM2000 in my engineer days so have no experience of Unilite, I'm sure it will be pretty much the same though. If you make the cable up and connect to the till, you can try to RECEIVE the info from the till first so you have a backup.
You cant really do any harm by plugging it in, it's pretty self explanitory really, ideally you would receive all programming in, then you can change it, edit things etc and then you send the changes back.

I have bust out the soldering iron and a fresh D9 serial cable in preperation for plugging a laptop running PLM2000 into the serial port of the TX-870, but first I need to change the pinout of a standard cable to make it match the spec of the Uniwell specific cable; (see post below)
http://www.eposwizard.co.uk/uniwell-plm-2000-communications-cable-spec-t629.html

So far I've painstakingly removed the plastic coating around the internal wires at the female connector end and made up a diagram of where they originally connected to so that I know what came from where. This will allow me to swap them to the necessary positions. I have also used the soldering iron to clear any trace amounts of the old copper cable from the old pin connections so that the female connector is clean and ready to have the small wires re-attached. Pics to follow.

_________________
I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
What about you...?

Be careful, do not re-send your PLU's to the till. PLM2000 does not support the 6 price levels that most uk versions of tx870 have (06 version).

If you do sent the info back it will put price files 4,5,6 etc into the plu flags.

Changing your keyboard will be fine!!

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If you like what I say, then why not buy me a pint using the Donations Button!

Hi Stato,

Thanks for the tip. Does that mean that once I get the config file off the till I won't be able to edit it and resend it using PLM?


Also, for anyone reading or who can offer assistance;

Soldering the cable pinouts was a bitch, especially as I'm not that handy with a soldering iron, but I got there in the end, I will post my new cable's specs once I get home and take another look.
Unfortunately, on my chosen night to try and copy the till's config into PLM, I found that the exposed solder joint of ONLY 1 of the little bas***d pins had come undone, so I will need to re-solder it and go back.

My question now is, do I have to do anything specific with the till itself to send over a copy of it's config file? I know on PLM i need to hit import.

The quest continues...

_________________
I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
What about you...?

Plug serial cable into CH-B. Select correct com port and baud rate in PLM. Make sure clerks are logged off ECR, and you shoudl be able to communicate.

PLM 2000 is horrible though. Prefer Timed Serial for simple back ups, and PLM Unibos for programming.

you could do with EPOS Office Me duck