Well that MagTek tech support guy had to be the biggest idiot in two centuries. Ah well. I have a MagTek reader that I just recently acquired has a part number of 21041603. After getting it across to him that, yes it is a magtek reader, and yes it is a magtek part number (idiot) he came up with some info... about useless, but... apparently this was a custom reader made for someone like Walmart or Kmart or Kroger or some such. So that meant that they "have no documentation on said reader". Other than how many tracks it'll read. The guy said quote "It is a track 2 only reader." Now having looked inside and saw 5 wires comming from the mag head... I knew that was bullshit. So I asked him to tell me what the page he had on it said "verbatim" (sp?). He quoted: "Number of tracks read: 2 tracks". I had to get off quickly before I burst out laughing. So I have no idea which tracks. The reader is in great shape... but one of the tiny wires running from the mag head has come loose at the board end... which sucks... because those wires are harder for me to solder than phone wires (my hands naturally shake). Here's my question... can I use stripesnoop to read both tracks simultaneously? Or must I use a switch to read one track at a time? Two further questions... this reader has a 7 wire interface... would it be a safe assumption to believe that MagTek followed it's usual specs for a 2 track reader? And this reader has 2 F/2F chips... but according to the description of the manual of the ASIC (<a href="http://www.magtek.com/support/documentation/read_ics.asp">here</a>) (I can't download it because it's in the "private" section... and I work nights... so I don't have time to call them for the pass) it reads three tracks with one chip... why two chips then? Any help would be apprieciated.
Lyos Gemini Norezel
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F2F Decoder Chips (at least the Magtek 6505 and 6515) each can decode 1 analog feed from the Maghead into a CP, and DATA/CLK pair. If you reader did support 3 tracks, it would have 7 wires coming off the maghead. 5 wires means the maghead had read 2 tracks at once (most likely Tracks 1 and 2).
Stripe Snoop 1.6 cannot read 2 tracks simultaneously. However reading 2 tracks simultaneously is doable. Join the SS developers mailing list for more info.
What more can you tell us about the reader? Which wires have broken off the broad? Are any still connected? How does this reader connect to the computer ultimately? What does this 7 wire interface look like. It is possible that its a keyboard based reader. IBM POS use lots of external magstripe readers, mainly from Magtek. They connector using this edge keyboard connector thingy.
It was one of 2 white wires originating from the maghead
Are any still connected?
Ya... all but that one
How does this reader connect to the computer ultimately?
I'm not altogether sure that it was meant to connect to a PC... I think it was for some kind of network... but the connector is a DB9 (err... DE9?)... but there is no serial circuitry.
What does this 7 wire interface look like.
The whole thing looks pretty much identical to my single track reader(s) (magtek brand, from allelectronics) but the side that houses the maghead is... err... "wider".
The reader looks identical to this one: http://www.magtek.com/products/card_reading/magstripe/swipe/101mm/specs.asp
but mine is white... and it has the DB9 connector instead of the molex one shown.
Lyos Gemini Norezel
Acidus... please contact me via AIM... I would like to talk to you more in depth.
AIM, only, via my close friend Jason:
AceUSMC
Thursday night (ie after 10pm EST)
Friday night
and/or
Saturday night
Thanks
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
This reader is not a serial device. It is a TTL interface that has clock, data and card present for each of the two tracks. one line is power the other is ground.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Well that MagTek tech support guy had to be the biggest idiot in two centuries. Ah well. I have a MagTek reader that I just recently acquired has a part number of 21041603. After getting it across to him that, yes it is a magtek reader, and yes it is a magtek part number (idiot) he came up with some info... about useless, but... apparently this was a custom reader made for someone like Walmart or Kmart or Kroger or some such. So that meant that they "have no documentation on said reader". Other than how many tracks it'll read. The guy said quote "It is a track 2 only reader." Now having looked inside and saw 5 wires comming from the mag head... I knew that was bullshit. So I asked him to tell me what the page he had on it said "verbatim" (sp?). He quoted: "Number of tracks read: 2 tracks". I had to get off quickly before I burst out laughing. So I have no idea which tracks. The reader is in great shape... but one of the tiny wires running from the mag head has come loose at the board end... which sucks... because those wires are harder for me to solder than phone wires (my hands naturally shake). Here's my question... can I use stripesnoop to read both tracks simultaneously? Or must I use a switch to read one track at a time? Two further questions... this reader has a 7 wire interface... would it be a safe assumption to believe that MagTek followed it's usual specs for a 2 track reader? And this reader has 2 F/2F chips... but according to the description of the manual of the ASIC (<a href="http://www.magtek.com/support/documentation/read_ics.asp">here</a>) (I can't download it because it's in the "private" section... and I work nights... so I don't have time to call them for the pass) it reads three tracks with one chip... why two chips then? Any help would be apprieciated.
Lyos Gemini Norezel
WOW! Sounds like you have quite a find there!
F2F Decoder Chips (at least the Magtek 6505 and 6515) each can decode 1 analog feed from the Maghead into a CP, and DATA/CLK pair. If you reader did support 3 tracks, it would have 7 wires coming off the maghead. 5 wires means the maghead had read 2 tracks at once (most likely Tracks 1 and 2).
Stripe Snoop 1.6 cannot read 2 tracks simultaneously. However reading 2 tracks simultaneously is doable. Join the SS developers mailing list for more info.
What more can you tell us about the reader? Which wires have broken off the broad? Are any still connected? How does this reader connect to the computer ultimately? What does this 7 wire interface look like. It is possible that its a keyboard based reader. IBM POS use lots of external magstripe readers, mainly from Magtek. They connector using this edge keyboard connector thingy.
http://www.ctips.com/keyp.html
What more can you tell us about the reader?
Errr... not much...
Which wires have broken off the broad?
It was one of 2 white wires originating from the maghead
Are any still connected?
Ya... all but that one
How does this reader connect to the computer ultimately?
I'm not altogether sure that it was meant to connect to a PC... I think it was for some kind of network... but the connector is a DB9 (err... DE9?)... but there is no serial circuitry.
What does this 7 wire interface look like.
The whole thing looks pretty much identical to my single track reader(s) (magtek brand, from allelectronics) but the side that houses the maghead is... err... "wider".
The reader looks identical to this one: http://www.magtek.com/products/card_reading/magstripe/swipe/101mm/specs.asp
but mine is white... and it has the DB9 connector instead of the molex one shown.
Lyos Gemini Norezel
Acidus... please contact me via AIM... I would like to talk to you more in depth.
AIM, only, via my close friend Jason:
AceUSMC
Thursday night (ie after 10pm EST)
Friday night
and/or
Saturday night
Thanks
This reader is not a serial device. It is a TTL interface that has clock, data and card present for each of the two tracks. one line is power the other is ground.