APG Model 554A USB Cash Drawers and Windows 8.1/10

APG Model 554A USB Cash Drawers and Windows 8.1/10

The latest version of the Microsoft operating system Windows version 8.1/10 has new features that can affect the performance of the APG Model 554A USB Interface Cash Drawer. These new features, and their default settings, serve a new power management model of the Win 8.1/10-enabled host PC. A summary of the changes can be found at this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2900614

Summary:

Win 8.1/10 no longer automatically enumerates USB peripheral devices upon initial connection.

Observable Properties:

When the APG Model 554A USB Cash Drawer is connected to a PC running Windows 8.1/10, you will see a steady green LED on our controller inside the drawer. Those familiar with our Model 554A USB Cash Drawer may recall that our green LED blinks continually after connection to a PC running the Windows operating system v8.0 and lower.

The blinking green LED indicates that the cash drawer is enumerated with the operating system on the host PC.

A steady green LED indicates that the cash drawer is not enumerated with the operating system on the host PC.

A typical system and software architecture should not see any changes in cash drawer operation when serving a PC running Windows 8.1/10. However, a fault can be seen under the following set of events:

1. Using the native Windows DLL with the default Win 8.1/10 power settings for our USB device:
   • Load the cash drawer DLL in the POS application
   • Send the drawer open command
   • Unload the DLL before closing the drawer
2. Using the OPOS Service Object with the default Win 8.1/10 power settings for our USB device:
   • Enable the OPOSCashDrawer device in the OPOS-compliant POS application
   • Send the drawer open command
   • Disable the cash drawer device in the OPOS-compliant POS application before closing the drawer

If the drawer is not closed before the DLL is unloaded, we have confirmed that the cash drawer’s controller has become out-of-sync with the Win 8.1/10 USB bus. The cash drawer may not be subsequently used without a cash drawer cable disconnect and reconnect. The APG Engineering team is currently working to revise our cash drawer firmware to perform in this new Windows 8.1/10 environment. Expect a new product iteration and introduction coming soon (ref: Model 554B).

In the meantime, APG recommends two different remedies:

Remedy #1: Keep the DLL loaded

1. Modify the POS application to keep the cash drawer DLL loaded (or OPOSCashDrawer device enabled) during the entire run-time session of the POS application.
2. Be sure the cash drawer is closed before exiting the POS application; or more precisely, before unloading the cash drawer’s DLL or disabling the OPOSCashDrawer device.

Remedy #2: Modify the cash drawer’s power management settings in the Win 8.1/10 operating system. The steps outlined below will re-configure the Win 8.1/10 operating system to provide performance identical to the pre-Win 8.1/10 environment.

1. Disconnect the APG Model 554A Cash Drawer from the Win 8.1/10 computer
2. Start the Registry Editor. Click Search, type regedit.exe in the search box.
3. Locate the cash drawer registry key
   
4. Single-click to select “Device Parameters” registry key as shown here
   
5. Note that the default settings for “DeviceResetNotificationEnabled”, “DeviceSelectiveSuspended”, “EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled”, and “LegacyTouchScaling”, registry key sub-names are each set to value “1” as shown here and “SelectiveSuspendEnabled” sub-name is set to 01.
   
6. Double-click on the “DeviceResetNotificationEnabled” registry key sub-name and change its value data to “0” and click “OK”, as shown here.
   
7. Double-click on the “DeviceSelectiveSuspended” registry key sub-name and change its value data to “0” and click “OK”, as shown here.
   
8. Double-click on the “EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled” registry key sub-name and change its value data to “0” and click “OK”, as shown here.
   
9. Double-click on the “LegacyTouchScaling” registry key sub-name and change its value data to “0” and click “OK”, as shown here.
   
10. Double-click on the “SelectiveSuspendEnabled” registry key sub-name and change its value data to “00” by clicking on the “01” field to highlight the value, as shown here.
    
11. Type a “0” after the field is highlighted and the value will change to “00”, as shown here.
    
12. Upon completion, the new values for the “DeviceResetNotificationEnabled”, “DeviceSelectiveSuspended”, “EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled”, and “LegacyTouchScaling” registry key sub-names should be set to “0” and the “SelectiveSuspendEnabled” sub-name is set to “00” as shown.
    
13. Close the System Registry Editor
14. Connect the Model 554A USB Cash Drawer to the Win 8.1/10-enabled PC.
15. Verify proper performance.

For additional assistance, contact the APG Cash Drawer Technical Services and Support Group at +1.763.571.5000 ext. 160.