Basic Credit Card Reader Troubleshooting

Sometimes your credit card device may not work as expected. It could be a hardware failure, a driver issue, or an application error. Here are some basic troubleshooting steps to fix and resolve common issues:

1. Make sure that your card reader is connected to the computer. To check, go to your Windows Computer's Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers folder. If your card reader is not showing, check the card reader's cable to make sure that is it not loose. You could also try and connect it to another port.

   

   However, if you see this error: it usually means there is a driver issue. Contact Aluvii Support or Cardknox support so we can reinstall the driver. The driver will be different depending on the manufacturer of the device.

   NOTE: If you are using an IP-based Card Reader (like Ingenico Desk 5000), it will not appear on the Control Panel page. Contact Aluvii Support for help if that's the case.

2. Next, check if the Cardknox Payment Engine application is running on the computer. There should be a golden computer chip icon on the system app tray of your computer screen to indicate it's running.

   

3. Otherwise, find the computer chip icon on the desktop and launch the Cardknox app from there by double clicking the icon.

   

4. Once the Cardknox app is launched, do a quick check if you have the same card reader set up on your computer and in the Cardknox app settings. For example, if you have a Verifone P200 device, make sure that's the same model selected on the Cardknox settings. To get to the settings, right-click on the golden computer chip icon in the app tray and click "Options".

   

5. Also, it is possible that your card reader's COM port number is different from the one detected by your computer. To check go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Device Manager page. Expand the Ports (COM & LPT) section and see the card reader's port number detected by your computer. Adjust the COM port number on Cardknox app settings if the number is not the same. They need to match.

   

6. After that, click on Initialize Device button to update the settings of your card reader. Wait for it to finish. If it doesn't initialize, restart your card reader and initialize it again. After the process is done, click on the Save button. Also, if anything has changed in the settings, and you do a credit card sale in Aluvii, it will initialize at that time too if it was not already initialized.

   

7. On the general page, make sure that the Printer (for receipts) option is set to "None". Otherwise, the application will check for a receipt printer causing the system to halt.

8. Finally, do a test transaction and see if the Cardknox app is now working. If it is still having issues, Contact Aluvii Support or Cardknox support for further assistance.