IBM 2x20 VFD integrated Customer Display setting

[DQ]

Hello,
  I am using IBM SurePOS 500 2x20 VFD display and trying to setup templates for poll display. It is a two line display.
  I would appreciate if any one can share their printer templates/rules/actions.

[toni]

I have been using this settings they work pretty well.
http://forum2.sambapos.org/index.php/topic,218.msg1075.html#msg1075

[DQ]

Hi Tony,
 with two line display, these settings doesn't seem to be working.  as per IBM documentation when we send <XCT 12>, it would change the mode to DC2 where cursor will move to last character of 2nd line.

[JohnS]

DQ,

I'm running my pole displays in DM-D210 (Epson) mode by default.

Can you post the DIP switch settings have have set, and also examples of what it is doing or not doing?

With the printer templates, make sure you remove the extra lines so that you are only printing two lines to the display for each template.

From memory <XCT 12> does the same on my displays, as there is no 'Clear Display' option, instead you scroll the text of the display, and some combinations of <L>, <C>, <R> & <J> can give weird results.

[DQ]

Hi John,
 thanks for you response. 

When I use <XCT 12>, it starts printing first in 2nd line and than first line. E.g If i have two lines
Item Price
Total Price

It will display total price in first row and item price is 2nd row. 

Other problem I came to know is my Cash Drawer and VFD both share the same COM4 port.  To open the cash drawer, I need to send <XCT 06> which work fine but it changes the VFD display as well.
Temporary solution I found is to reset and send line feed. e.g
<XCT 31,11,10,00>  where
31: ReSet
11: Change mode to DC 1
10,00 is to set the linefeed. 
Seem to be working but not efficient.

[JohnS]

Now that I know you are running a SurePOS system, I can see why you are having issues.
The command set is IBM specific. Most generic Pole Displays run an Epson emulation and I think this is where the problem is - SambaPOS is designed to use the ESC/POS command set for printers and pole displays. I'm not saying that it wont work, as both IBM and Epson (ESC/POS) will share some codes, but I think this is the problem.

I was given a second hand SurePOS system last year, and I had issues getting SambaPOS (and two other POS systems) running smoothly with all the hardware. In the end, the test system I had built from bits and pieces actually worked a lot better, and was the system I used when we were adding features to the earlier versions of SambaPOS.

Sorry DQ, but without a SurePOS for testing, I can't help you much more than that.

[DQ]

John,
  Even though it is proprietary hardware, it does compliant to JavaPOS or OPOS standards. Ofcourse the commands are different.

  I think the problem for me is cash-drawer and customer display are sharing the port (I don't understand how two devices sharing same serial port though), when I send cash-drawer command, it displayed on VFD.

[JohnS]

DQ,

Maybe rework your logic for the two.
Instead of having two print jobs and two templates running to open cash drawer and display total/tendered/change, combine them.
Add the cash drawer code to the top of the pole display template, that way when you receive a payment, you are opening the cash drawer and then displaying the total in one action.
For cases where you only require the cash drawer to open, display NO SALE on the pole display. This way even though the pole display will still show the cash drawer code initially, it is quickly over written hiding it.

[DQ]

that's smart.  Thx. I will implement that way.