LEGACY BARCODE - Troubleshoot Mobile Scanner Issues

Overview

Here are some steps to help resolve problems with Barcode scanners.

If using Windows 10, make sure you disable Advanced Network Functionality on the Scanner itself.  On the Scanner, go to Start Menu, Settings, Connection Tab at bottom, Choose USB to PC icon, Un-check the Enable Advanced Network Functionality option.  Ok out of USB to PC screen, Close Settings. Try connecting again.

Make sure you have Windows Mobile Device Center installed on your machine

Download WMDC here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3182

VERY IMPORTANT - You must remove any cell phones that may be plugged into any of your PC's USB ports.  These types of devices will prevent Finale Inventory from communicating with the mobile barcode scanner.

IF Windows Mobile Device Center(WMDC) used to work just fine and after a Windows update it no longer appears or runs:

A Recent Microsoft Windows Update has broken Windows Mobile Device Center

You will need to conduct the following:

1) Uninstall Windows Mobile Device Center AND any Mcafee/3rd party virus scanner (then Restart PC)

2) Re-Install Windows Mobile Device Center - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3182

3) Download this file, save to your desktop, right-click and select "Run as Administrator" (once Complete, Restart the Computer) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_UB_mfXlx8GS3pOSFEzcVZvVXM/view?usp=sharing

4) Once rebooted, Open WMDC and dock the scanner to connect

Steps to take to resolve Barcode Scanner not Connecting

1. Check the USB cable. Make sure it is plugged in. Try switching to a different port.

2. If the screen is blank or turned off on the scanner, it might be in sleep mode. Press the Red Power button at upper right of display to wake up.

3. Review your computer's Device Manager windows. Go to Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Devices and Printers>Device Manager. Look for the Mobile Devices section and verify you have a Symbol USB Sync driver entry. Make sure you do not have a yellow ! symbol next to this driver. If you have a problem with the driver. Try updating the driver or reloading the driver. Reboot PC.

4. Perform a Warm Boot on the Scanner.

5. Perform a Hard Boot on the Scanner.

6. Reboot your PC.

7. If all else fails you could have a bad USB Cradle or cable. Visually check the pins on the cradle and make sure none of them are stuck in the down position. They should all appear to be close to the same level and length.

8. Call your hardware vendor where you purchased the scanner unit.

Finale Data Collector Software release notes and version info

Finale Data Collector Release notes and version info

I connect my scanner to my computer and the green WMDC/ActiveSync window does not appear.

Try pressing the little red reset button (upper right corner on Motorola MC70 scanners). That sometimes triggers the scanner to connect to the computer. If that doesn't work, then launch Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) from the start menu of the computer, and look to see if it says "Connected". If that doesn't work, try rebooting the computer and trying again.

If none of these steps work, then you need to contact the scanner supplier to get technical support on the scanner.

I press the yellow scan button on the scanner and nothing happens, no laser, no beep, nothing.

The problem is most likely that your scanner does not have the "keyboard wedge" software component (called "DataWedge" on Motorola scanners) installed on it, or the software component is misconfigured. To work with Finale, your scanner needs to be operating in keybord wedge mode, which means that scanning a barcode is essentially the same thing as typing in the equivalent barcode characters on the keyboard and pressing enter.

For Motorola scanners, you can download the DataWedge software component for free from:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/8fo6bv2hg2hqqhr/DataWedge.msi

I can't find the Finale Data Collector software on the scanner. All I see is Windows Mobile desktop.

Various versions of Windows Mobile and Windows CE scanners have different user interfaces, but the sure way to find the Finale Data Collector application and run it is to find the start menu or Windows icon on the task bar of the scanner and to select the File Explorer. If the start menu or Windows icon brought you to a desktop display of icons, the File Explorer is usually a folder about half way down in the center of the desktop; if you are in a menu, it is listed by name in the menu. From the File Explorer, navigate to: File Explorer > My device > Application Data > Finale > Data Collector. You can also create a shortcut for the application and put it on the desktop for future convenience.

My scanner pauses, or hangs.

One possibility is that your scanner is trying to connect by wireless or Bluetooth to a nearby network. Finale Data Collector operates in disconnected mode, so you don't need any wireless communication on the scanner. You can turn off the scanner's wireless modes to eliminate any pauses from the start menu or Windows icon on the task bar: Settings > Connections > Wireless manager.

If Finale has crashed or if some other software running on the scanner has crashed, you can do a warm reboot on the scanner by pressing and holding the red on/off button for 10 seconds. The button is in the upper right of Motorola MC70 scanners. A warm reboot will recover from any crashed applications and will not erase your hard drive or lose any data.

I see the red laser but my scanner doesn't read the barcode.

You'd be surprised, the most common problem is that people are holding the scanner too close to the barcode they are trying to scan. Hold it about 8" away. The second most common problem is that the scan window on the scanner is smudged or dirty. Wipe it clean!

If it still doesn't scan, look at the barcode to determine whether the black and white lines are clear and distinct or whether they blur together or are covered by plastic. If they were printed in low quality or if they were printed on small stickers or if they represent a long string of characters, the black and white lines may be too close together for the scanner to make any sense of them. If you can't clearly see the lines as separate, then the scanner doesn't have a chance either. If you are printing the barcodes yourself, try printing larger labels or using a higher quality printer, or using shorter number sequences in the barcode. As a rule of thumb, 15 or 16 characters is about the limit for a 2" label. Beyond that, the lines get too close together.

The mobile barcode scanner has become suddenly "laggy" and unresponsive. There is a significant delay between scanning the barcode and the barcode information displaying on the LCD screen. I tried to reset the scanner but there is no improvement.

A. Scenario #1

The DataWedge may have become corrupted and needs to be reinstalled. The dataWedge is an application that allows to send scanned data from the barcode scanner to the any Finale application you have running on the scanner.

1. Download datawedge.CAB (1.48MB)

2. You must have, or, order your Docking Station Kit (Chargers/Cradles/Docks in the Enterprise Scanning industry are SKU's sold separately, by factory protocol). Plug it into the wall, and, into your Windows 7(preferable) PC USB Port with mini USB-to-USB Communication Cable.

3. With your MCxx powered on and PC on the internet, dock your MCxx into the cradle and allow the USB drivers to sync with the computer for approximately 10 minutes - this allows your PC's "Windows Mobile Device Center" sync program to auto-install on your PC. This program allows you to view and transfer programs, files, and updates from your Computer to your handheld.

4. With your MCxx connected to Windows Mobile Device Center, hold you mouse over File Management and then click "Browse the contents of your device". Once your device window is open, drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste the DataWedge.CAB file into the window, to paste onto the unit.

5. Once DataWedge.CAB file is pasted onto the unit, the revert over to the MC70 touch-screen. From the docked MCxx, click the Windows Start Icon, then click programs, then click File Explorer. Within Windows File Explorer click the top-left dropdown arrow in the grey takbar to select My Device. There you will find the DataWedge.CAB file that you pasted. Click that file to run the installer. A Selection Screen pops up of where to install, and you must Select "Application" to install Data Wedge onto the MC70, click install. Once installation is finished, allow program a minute to initialize then Start Scanning.

B. Scenario #2 - The default baud rate for the scanner needs to be increased.

1. Open Data Wedge (by clicking icon in toolbar tray on bottom-right of device homescreen > Advanced Configuration > Profiles > Profile0 > Input > Serial > COM 1 > Port Settings > Baud Rate > 115200 > Back

You will want to change the Baud Rates on ports : COM 1 / COM 3 / COM 7 / COM 8.

2. Once Complete, Keep Clicking Back until datawedge reports that all changes are saved.

My scanner does not have any Purchase Orders or Sales Orders - I get an Order ID not found

If you have successfully installed your mobile scanner and the Finale Data Collector software, and are wondering how to Receive a Purchase Order Shipment or Ship a Sales Order Shipment with the barcode scanner, make sure the following conditions are true in order to see the transactions on your scanner. For Purchase orders and Sales Orders to be synced to the scanner the following conditions must be true:

1.  The Status of the order must be "Committed"
2.  The PO must have a Destination Location or the SO must have a Origination Location selected.
3.  The Order must have at least one product id added to it with a positive order quantity(not zero).
4.  The Order must have not been shipped complete.  There must be items left to ship.  If the Order
    has all of it's items shipped, there is nothing left to pick.

Where is the information stored on my scanner?

When you synch the barcode scanner to your account, or when you scan barcodes into the scanner, the information is stored both in the memory of the scanner and in files on the scanner's disk drive. Thus if you need to replace your battery, reboot the scanner, or if the scanner runs out of charge--no problem, your data is safely stored in the files and will be loaded when you run the Finale application.

When you are using the Finale application on the scanner, you can see an overview of what information is stored on the scanner with the "System Info" command from the main menu. This command gives you a summary of all the information stored on the scanner, in addition to other information. The "lookups" represent the lookup table information that is downloaded from the account to the scanner. The "updates" represent modifications to the lookup tables, such as newly learned barcodes that you've recorded using the scanner but that have not yet been uploaded from the scanner to the account. The "transactions" are the inventory operations like stock takes or receive operations that have been recorded on the scanner and that will be uploaded to your account next time you synch the scanner.

If you do the "Clear scanner data" operation from the main menu, that will erase the lookups, updates, and transactions files, and clear the memory of those files so that next time you update the scanner absolutely nothing will be uploaded from the scanner to your account, and new lookup tables will be downloaded from your account to the scanner. This operation gives you a fresh start on the scanner.

If you want to copy the scanner's data files for archival purposes or for advanced debugging, you can copy the files Lookup_Table.json, Transaction_Log.json, Lookup_Updates.json, and Debugging_Log.json, which are stored in the directory: Pocket_PC (or the name of your scanner) > (backslash) > Application Data > Finale. When the scanner is docked and connected to your computer, you can see this directory from your computer's file explorer. The scanner will be mounted just like any other hard drive or thumb drive.