Pharos Omega PS150 2.1.1 Revision 6605

This article contains the release notes for this firmware release of Pharos Omega. If you encounter any problems or require further assistance, contact your Pharos Authorized Reseller.

This Omega release supports version 7.1 and later of the Pharos Solution Suite and version 3.5 and later of Pharos Blueprint Enterprise.

Downloading the Software

The software update can be obtained from the following location: http://www.pharos.com/Support/Terminals/Index.html

What's New in this Release

Support for Blueprint Enterprise

Omega devices can be used as terminals in the Secure Release Here™ system introduced in Pharos Blueprint Enterprise 3.5. Omega terminals can be added in Blueprint Administrator, and appear on the Terminals screen in the Device Management section. Copier training at the SmartPAD records its results in the Blueprint database.

Improvements to copier training

Improvements have been made to the copier training wizard (available on the Station > Copier screen of the SmartPAD configuration menu), making it easier to use and more robust:

The screen that allows you to select the attributes you want to configure has been simplified for ease of use.A Save Current button is available, which lets you save the results of all tests completed successfully so far. This means that you can commit some changes (and test them) even if some testing steps fail.The copier training wizard now supports copiers that use a double pulse for Duplex.File uploads and downloads in Omega Administrator

The new Files screen in the Omega Administrator web application allows you to download selected configuration files and upload new versions of them.

Note: Omega Administrator does not verify the contents of uploaded files. Be very careful when uploading files, as a corrupt or incorrectly written file may disrupt the functioning of the SmartHub.

Changes to screensaver

The properties that control the SmartPAD screensaver have changed. The Screen Suspend Time has been renamed the Screen Turn Off Time, and both it and the Screensaver Time are now specified in minutes, not seconds. Where previously the Screen Suspend Time period began after the Screensaver Time has elapsed, the Screen Turn Off Time period now begins at the same time as the Screensaver Time. Setting the Screen Turn Off Time to a value lower than the Screensaver Time means that the screensaver will never be displayed.

Support for USB upgrades on Windows Vista Introduced in 2.1.1

Upgrading Omega firmware via USB memory stick is now supported on Windows Vista Business Edition.

Improved touch screen calibration Introduced in 2.1.1

The touch screen calibration interface that appears when the SmartPAD is first started has been improved, making it easier to use.

Bug fixes

This release contains the following bug fixes:

Omega now supports any number of copy lines (up to a maximum of eight), meaning that it no longer generates "Missing Copy Line" errors when the CopyLink has redundant pins. Copying done on unconfigured copy lines will be charged at the default per page cost. Introduced in 2.1.1

Characters are no longer truncated on popup dialogs. Introduced in 2.1.1

User Interface Changes in this Release

The following changes have been made to the end user interface at the Omega SmartPAD:

Several screens of the copier training wizard have been altered (see above).

Copy lines are now listeAnswer

Installation Notes

Hardware version

This firmware release applies to the PS150 hardware. It cannot be used with older PS100 hardware, and older firmware versions (prior to 2.0) cannot be used with the PS150 hardware.

Apply schema to Pharos/Blueprint Database

If you are using Omega with Pharos Uniprint, apply the Omega configuration schema to the Pharos Database after upgrading firmware to ensure that all new properties featured in this firmware release will be available in Pharos Administrator. Apply the schema by clicking Push Schema to Pharos Database on the PEDI screen of the SmartPAD configuration menu.

If you are using Omega with Pharos Blueprint Enterprise, the configuration schema must be updated manually

Rename the file PS150.terminal.config in the Blueprint\bin directory of the Analyst server to PS150.terminal.config.old.
Rename the file ini_schema.xml (included in the firmware package) to PS150.terminal.config.
Copy the new PS150.terminal.config file to the Blueprint\bin directory of the Analyst server.
It is always a good idea to back up the database before applying changes.

Omega requires SQL Server 2000

While Pharos Uniprint can be installed on SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 7, Omega installs must use SQL Server 2000 (or MSDE 2000). If SQL Server 7 is used, Omega terminals may be unable to obtain their configuration information from the Pharos Database, and the error "'getutcdate' is not a recognized function name" appears at Omega terminals.

Omega Administrator browser support

The Omega Administrator web application (see below) can be viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, and Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later. Other browsers, e.g. Opera, may work, but are not officially supported.

Omega Administrator's Remote Control application, which allows you to interact with the SmartPAD display remotely, requires version 1.4 or later of the Sun Java Runtime Environment.

Custom themes no longer supplied by Pharos

With the addition of user theme customization, it is no longer necessary to obtain custom themes from Pharos Systems. All theme modifications are now performed from the Omega Administrator web application.

Note: The theme format is not version specific - it is no longer necessary to ensure that theme versions always match the current firmware version. Omega will ignore any invalid information it encounters in a theme file. Themes in the old .th format (prior to PS100 version 1.4.4) will not work with the PS150 hardware, however.

Known Issues

Using a Billing Gateway with Omega

If Omega terminals are being used with a Pharos Billing Gateway, and users do not have accounts in the Pharos system, a script with the following content must be created and attached to the Bank's Logon event:

PlugIn.Result = true;

A Billing script is also needed if you wish to use the Blackboard TIA gateway with arrears accounts - contact Pharos Support for details.

Omega requires Pharos certificates for SSL

The SSL certificates used by Omega are certified to have been generated by Pharos Systems. If your EDI Server is using a certificate generated by another certification authority, then the Omega devices that communicate with it will not work. Contact Pharos for assistance in adding a CA certificate to your Omega devices.

Server name restrictions when using SSL

When using SSL, server names cannot contain the underscore character ( _ ).

Known Issues with Omega Administrator

The following Known Issues exist for the Omega Administrator web application:

Using the web browser's Back and Forward buttons is not recommended while using Omega Administrator.

If the Remote Control screen is left idle for a long time it may not respond well. Click the Remote Control link again to reload the page.

Sixteen copy lines not supported

Although it is possible to configure up to 16 copy lines, Omega supports a maximum of 8. Configuring 16 copy lines can cause the Omega to crash and reboot. If an Omega is in a corrupt state due to the use of 16 copy lines, you must use the copier training wizard at the SmartPAD to re-configure the copy lines (up to a maximum of 8).

Possible time discrepancies

When the SmartHub starts up, it reads the time from the BIOS. When it first contacts the Pharos EDI Server, it receives the correct system time; however, this does not update the BIOS time. This means that it is possible in some situations for the wrong time (i.e. the BIOS time) to be displayed. Any such discrepancies should not stay for long, as the correct time will be retrieved as soon as the EDI Server is contacted. If this does cause problems, you may need to update the BIOS with the correct time.

Communication timeout may be longer than configured

Due to the fact that Omega sometimes re-tries to connect to the EDI Server if the first connection attempt is not successful, it may take longer for the communication attempt to timeout than the time configured for the Timeout property on the PEDI screen of the SmartPAD configuration menu.