Conducting an AUX Port test (Payment terminal not detected error)

If you have a VAC status error message of "Payment terminal not detected (no ethernet connection)", you either have a bad PINpad terminal, a bad ethernet cable, or a bad VAC control board.

The best way to figure out which component is giving you this error is to preform an AUX port test:

Note: If the status message says: "Payment terminal not detected", and there is no mention of "(no ethernet connection)", it could mean your VAC does not have the ability to do the AUX port test yet.
Get in contact with our technical support team, so we can update your VACs software which will allow you to conduct this test.

Conducting the AUX Port Test:

Step 1)

To run an AUX port test, you will need to place a property management card into the VAC card holder.
You will NOT need the management card's PIN to conduct this test.

Note: this test can only be run on a VAC equipped with a touch screen, and the VAC needs to be online prior to starting the test.
If the VAC is currently offline, diagnose why it's offline before conducting this test.
See our article for: VAC Offline and Internet Issues

Once the management card is placed into the VAC's card holder
select the System Status button on the bottom right hand side:

Step 2)

From the following screen, select the "Test Aux port" button:

Step 3)

The following screen will describe the next steps directly on the screen.
When you get to this screen, you'll need to go to the back of the VAC and completely remove the Ethernet cable that connects your PINpad terminal to the AUX1 port
then take the internet's ethernet cable out of the LAN port, and connect it to the AUX1 port:

  

Step 4)

Once you've connected the Internet cable to the AUX1 port, go to the front of the VAC and click on the "Run Test on Aux port" button:

Note: once the internet cable is plugged into the AUX port, the system needs approx. 30 seconds to 1 minute before it's ready to do the test

Step 5)

The system will then test the Aux port automatically, and return a result.

If you see a message that says: "Ensure to plug the internet cable into the AUX port!" this is probably NOT a valid test result.

This message means that the internet cable isn't fully connected, or the system was not ready to do the test yet.

Double check to make sure the internet cable is properly connected, and then just wait another 30 seconds before running the test again.

This test should take less than 1 minute to complete.
The expected result from this test is "AUX port is good!".

If you see that message, it means that there is nothing wrong with the AUX1 port, and any PINpad terminal that is connected to this VAC should be working/able to communicate with the VAC:

If you get any other result from the AUX port test, take pictures of the results screen, and pictures of how you've setup the ethernet cables while doing this test (pictures like in step 3)
then send those pictures to our support team so we can review the results.

Step 6)

Go back to the back of the VAC and plug the internet cable back into the LAN port, and reconnect the PINpad's ethernet cable to the VAC's AUX1 port.

Interpreting the result of the AUX port test:

If the AUX port is good, then either the ethernet cable connecting the PINpad to the AUX1 port is bad, or there is a problem with the PINpad itself.

If your PINpad terminal has it's own ethernet cable that plugs directly into the VAC control board, it is likely that your PINpad terminal has an internal issue.

If you do have an intermediate ethernet cable connection your PINpad terminal to the VAC control board, try swapping the ethernet cable with a different one to see if you just have a bad ethernet cable:

You can use the cable from your other VAC (or any spare ethernet cable you may have) to see if the ethernet cable is the issue.

Once you've swapped cables, power cycle the PINpad terminal again and see if you get the same error message when using a different ethernet cable.

If swapping the ethernet cable doesn't work, then it is likely there is an issue with this specific PINpad terminal.

If you have another PINpad terminal on your other VAC, you can try swapping the 2 to see if the problem follows this PINpad over to the other VAC to confirm this.

Note: Swapping PINpad terminals is a great test, but it is recommended that you get in contact with our technical support team if you plan on swapping PINpads between VACs as some VACs are setup in such a way that settings will need to be changed before you can freely swap PINpad terminals between VACs.

If the PINpad terminal, from the known working VAC, works when connected to the VAC you are testing; and the PINpad, from the VAC you are testing, does not work when connected to the known working VAC, then you know you have a bad PINpad terminal.

If you have a bad PINpad terminal, get in contact with your payment processor and they'll be able to work with you in order to get a replacement PINpad terminal.

• Related Articles

• Reader and Value Add Center (VAC) Error Messages

  This article contains tables with common error codes/messages that you may experience; a brief description of the issues; and/or a link to the relevant article(s) that discuss possible solutions for each. Value Add Center Messages (as seen in the VAC ...

• Payment Terminal - IPP320 (Moneris)

  The IPP320 with Moneris as the processor is a previous generation payment processing system used in Canada. Below is a list of known issues and ways to address them. PINpad says Alert irruption !!! This means the PINpad has detected tamper and locked ...

• Payment Processing - P400 (Canada)

  Overview This troubleshooting article is for Canadian customers using the Verifone P400 PINpad with Moneris. Issue: Payment Terminal Error You're unable to run any transactions. The Portal says Payment Terminal Error. Case A: New Installation If this ...

• Installing PINpad (Credit card terminal) - US Customers

  This article is for customers who received either a PAX A35 or PAX S300 PINpad terminal (for new or existing locations) and need to install it into the Value Add Center kiosk. PAX A35 PINpad Installation The following shows the various connections to ...

• Activating the PINpad payment terminal (US customers)

  This article is for customers who have finalized their merchant account setup with the payment processor and need to activate the PINpad terminal attached to the Value Add Center kiosk. If you have already been processing with the payment terminal ...