Epson IM-300 Terminal

Last edited: December 15, 2003 08:08 AM

[img:287bej99]http://www.possupport.net/dealer/kbase/images/epsonim300.jpg[/img:287bej99]
The Epson IM-300 is a Pentium MMX 200MHZ CPU with a capability of up to 64MB of memory.  It comes with an adjustable touchscreen and TM-T88II printer conveniently packaged as a single unit.  A PS-2 keyboard connector located on the lower right side allows for easy hookup of a keyboard for programming or troubleshooting.
CMOS and Diagnostics

To get into CMOS, press DEL when prompted at the bottom of the screen during the bootup cycle.  Currently, Touch Menus uses all default CMOS settings.

There is also a diagnostics program that can be run by pressing F10 during bootup.  Upon completion of the power on self-test the program will automatically be run.  This program can be used to test the printer, pole display, and cash drawer.  Refer to the User Manual for details on operation.  The diagnostic should be used to supplement rather than replace the DOS copy test.

Power

[img:287bej99]http://www.possupport.net/dealer/kbase/images/epsfront.gif[/img:287bej99]

No adapter is used with the IM-300.  A primary power switch is located on the upper right side towards the rear of the terminal.  However there is also a secondary power switch in the form of a button in the lower right front of the terminal.  This button must be held in for one second before power will come on.

Front Panel

A front panel can be opened by key, giving the user access to a floppy drive, reset button and hard drive well cover.

Video/Touch

The screen is 640 x 480 VGA.  It can be vertically adjusted and locked into place by means of a slider switch located on the middle bottom of the display.

Touch is resistive Elotouch using mouse emulation drivers.  In DOS, touch communications are handled as COM4, IRQ 10.  See Boot Files for the exact driver commands.  Initial testing shows that touch does not work reliably in a DOS window on a Windows98 terminal.
Calibration

Calibration is performed by running TBCal.  This brings up a menu with the following options:

    *      H – Perform hard calibration.  Run this if option 6 640×480 Graphics calibration doesn’t work.  Hard calibration instructs the user to first touch the lower left corner, then the upper right corner, after which it returns to the menu.
    *      6 – 640×480 Graphics calibration.  This calibrates the mode specifically used by Touch Menus software.  If the terminal has a calibration problem, try this option first.  It provides a box of Xs, first toward the lower left, then the upper right part of the screen, after which it returns the user to the menu.
    *      F – Display File Details.  This displays the settings and can be used to confirm if any of the types of calibration have been done.  If they haven’t, all the values will be zero.  The line for hard calibration starts with an H and the line for 640×480 graphics starts with a 6.
    *      X – Exits TBCal.

Network

The IM-300 does not come with an ethernet port, but can be networked by adding a network card.  Touch Menus currently uses the Etherlink3 card that can be purchased with the unit.  This card uses 3C509 emulation and is configured with the 3C5X9CFG utility located on the disk that comes with the card.  The default IOBase address of 300 is used, but the IRQ must be changed by the utility to 5 when the system is initially setup.  Do so as follows:

  1. Type 3C5X9CFG to run the utility.
  2. Select Configure NIC from the Install pulldown menu.
  3. Press Tab until I/O Base Address is highlighted.
  4. Down arrow once to select Interrupt Request Level.
  5. Press Enter to modify.
  6. Down arrow as needed until 5 is selected.
  7. Press Enter to select.
  8. Press Alt-O to say okay and save settings.
  9. Select Exit from the Quit pulldown menu to exit to DOS.

Magnetic Stripe Reader

The Epson DM-MR111-012 Magnetic Stripe Reader is a keyboard input reader capable of reading both track1 and track2. To work correctly with Touch Menus software, an IM-300 with a reader must be configured with the PKMode utility.  At a DOS prompt type:

    pkmode tk2es=r

Note that the r on the end must be in lower case for the command to work properly. The setting is permanently retained by the register and should never need reentry, even if the mag stripe reader is replaced.

The command adds a carriage return to the end of the received string. A test to determine if pkmode has been correctly run is to swipe any card through the reader while at a DOS prompt. If it returns a Bad Command or File Name error, the change has been made. If not, the cursor will sit at the last character of the swipe info.

Ports and Cables

[img:287bej99]http://www.possupport.net/dealer/kbase/images/epsback.gif[/img:287bej99]

The IM-300 comes with a standard LPT1 port and DB9 COM1 and COM2 ports.  Two other DB9 ports also exist and are labeled COM3 and COM4.  However they use the same internal resources as the printer, display, and touch.  Therefore they are not currently usable.

Cables should use pinouts as per the DB9 standard.

  Printer

COM3 output runs first to the display then on to the printer.  This means that if the printer doesn’t work, it should first be determined whether or not  the display works.  An on/off switch for the display and printer is located on the underside of the display.

The printer is an Epson TM-T88R.  It functions almost identically to the standalone TM-T88II with the exception that the code to print the logo is 29,47,0.  Logo information is not retained on power down, so must be reloaded at boot.  However, the existing Epson software for loading the logo does not work with the TM-T88R.  Their tech support is currently working on the problem and hopes to have a solution in the near future.

The printer has no lights, but will self test if the Feed button is held down on power up.  Note that the Feed button is on the terminal, not on the printer.  Therefore, if the printer is not properly connected through the display, the self test will not work either.

Customer Display

The pole display is 2×20 and takes standard text.  An on/off switch for the display and printer is located on the underside of the display.  If the display is functioning properly, a cursor should be visible in the top left corner on power up.

Special codes must be added to the front and the back of the text to correctly route text to the display, then back to the printer.  If twenty or more characters are transmitted on a line, an automatic carriage return is generated with the cursor moving to the other line.  The display does not scroll.

    *      Route subsequent text to display – 27,61,2
    *      Turn off cursor – 31,67,0 (This only needs to be on the first template displayed)
    *      Set cursor position to home – 12
    *      Route subsequent text to printer – 27,61,1

A small rectangular cover can be removed from the back of the customer display, revealing a bank of 12 dip switches.  The default settings are normally used.  This consists of switch 5 on(up) and all the rest off(down).  A self test can be performed on the display by turning switch 7 on(up), then powering up the terminal.

If a terminal does not have a display connected, a loopback plug is required that jumpers the middle two pins (4 and 5).
  Boot Files

Config.Sys

DEVICE=C:DOSHIMEM.SYS

DEVICE=C:DOSEMM386.EXE NOEMS

DEVICE=C:DOSRAMDRIVE.SYS 300 /E

DEVICE=C:LANTASTIPROTMAN.DOS /I:C:LANTASTI

DEVICE=C:LANTASTIELNK3.DOS

LASTDRIVE=Z

DOS=HIGH,UMB

FCBS=16,8

FILES=200

BUFFERS=40

STACKS=9,256

AutoExec.Bat

@ECHO OFF

PROMPT $P$G

PATH C:;C:DOS;C:LANTASTI;C:TOUCHNET;C:TOOLS;C:UTILITY;C:TOUCH

C:DOSSMARTDRV

SET SLOWSCROLL=70

MOVERAMD Z:

LH MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1

MODE COM2:9600,N,8,1

MODE COM3:9600,N,8,1

MODE COM4:9600,N,8,1

LH AI-NDIS BIND_TO=ELNK3_NIF

LH AILANBIO

LH REDIR ######                    ;If more than 2 servers, add /LOGINS=x

NET USE N: \MAINC-DRIVE          ;  where x is the number of servers.

REM *** IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THIS A PRINTSERVER REMOVE THE rem FROM THE NEXT

REM *** TWO LINES AND THEN rem THE SMARTDRV AFTER THE FIRST PATH STATEMENT.

LANCACHE TYPE=XMS

SERVER

PATH C:;C:DOS;C:LANTASTI;N:TOUCHNET;N:TOOLS;N:UTILITY;N:PLUGINS;C:TOUCH

TTDOS /A:2E8 /I:10 /C:9600,N,8,1

LH TBMOUSE 1

N:

CDTOUCHNET? ? ? ? ? ? ?                ;Change ? ? ? ? ? ? ? to the app. directory.

TOUCHNET ######                    ;Change ###### to the node name.