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Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Smart Card Reader

For Windows PC/SC (Smart Card Service) it is important to know that the system must get in touch with its card readers already from startup, that's the way the Windows PC/SC is designed. So if you seem to have lost contact with your smart card reader, a fresh restart of your computer may be the first guess of a solution. If you have powered down the and on again it may happen that the connection with the reader is broken. Then run FindSmart.exe and the connection shall return again. If nothing of this helps, scan through the following list:

1. Check if you still have "IP-connection" to the . Surf to it by to the web interface. (Default IP adress: 192.168.0.1.). You may also login to make sure, the browser may have saved the first page on disk for you, in the "cache", in which case you are actually not going out on the network. If you have Internet access through the , you most certainly have IP connection, but browse to the product anyway to make sure you know its IP address.
2. The dot-test: Is the small dot to the right of "SC-" on the front panel lighting up when you insert a smart card? If not, proceed to 3. If it does, proceed to 5.
3. Run the enclosed FindSmart.exe utility program. This will try to connect to the smart card reader, wherever it is on the local network. If it fails at first it will ask you to enter the IP address manually. Click Try connect again . If that is successful, the new IP address is written into the Windows registry to be remembered and used by the driver. Then do the "dot"-test again, first directly or (if that fails) after a restart of the computer. If the "dot" is not working, proceed to 4. If the "dot" is working, proceed to 5. If FindSmart.exe fails, no matter what IP address you have entered, it will display a text of some points to investigate. If you still have a good browser connection (point 1. above) to the product, it may be that you must check the configuration pages of the product. On the page Smart card reader , check that the readerīs Attach to parameter contains the correct address of your computer, or is empty (that is, is not "locked" to any particular computer on the local network).
4. At this point we suspect that the PC/SC system and driver is not working properly. Run the TryCard.exe test program, it will probably complain about not finding any PC/SC readers. Now check that the Windows Smart Card Service (PC/SC) is installed and ready to run. This is OS-dependent:- Windows 2000/XP: Check Control Panel, under Administrative Tools , Services , Smart Card that the Startup Type is Automatic . If not, select the Properties and change to Automatic (you can also try to start it), and do the dot-test again.Windows 95/98/Me/NT4: In the Control Panel , click Add/Remove Programs and look for Microsoft Smart Card Base Components . It should be there if you have run the InstallSmart , but if itīs not, simply run SCBase.exe (or InstallSmart again).If the PC/SC is there, according to above, there is no immediate reason why the driver and the smart card reader shouldnīt work. If you havenīt done it already - uninstall the driver and install it again (with a restart in between) with the use of the InstallSmart.exe program. Next, check if the smart card reader really is present in the . Using your Internet browser, go to the configuration pages of the product, login, and browse to the page http://[the IP address]/edit.asp?file=hwShow(). You should see the text "Smart card reader" displayed among the hardware features of the product. If nothing of this makes the "dot-test" working, you may call the support at the contact phone numbers or address enclosed with your product.
5. If the dot-test is working, the PC/SC service and driver works. Try your application program again. If the program doesnīt work, check the following: Run TryCard.exe . Insert a card and click Test if card inserted . If TryCard.exe cannot display you an ATR string, proceed to 6. If you get an ATR string properly, the driver and card reader is working. The problem may then be within your smart card application or the smart card itself. Have you got the correct card (home banking card, secure login card etc.) in relation to your application? Is there any Settings page in your application that you have overlooked? For example selecting whether to use the PC/SC (Microsoftīs Smart Card Base Component) or another API? Is there a test feature in your application where you can test that it really recognises a certain card? Otherwise, contact the vendor of that program for support.
6. If TryCard.exe cannot display you an ATR string, you may be using a card that is not supported by the reader. Try with another smart card, either of the same type or of another type. The reader only supports cards who conforms to the international standard ISO 7816-3. This family of cards include nearly all banking cards, security cards, modern identity cards, SIMM-cards for mobile telephones etc. However, not all plastic cards are smart cards, not even all cards with a chip on it. There are for example simpler memory cards and special telephone cards, which this card reader cannot read. It does not support so called I2C cards, nor synchronous cards. Check with the vendor of your smart card application program if there are any particular needs for certain card readers. You can also do in practise the same test as TryCard without the PC/SC and drivers in between. Browse to the configuration pages, then selecting the page http://[the IP address]/hwtest.asp. Click Test smart card reader and follow the instructions. If the test reports error, try with another type of smart card. If no card seems to pass the test, one may suspect a faulty card reader hardware. Check with the support using the contact phone numbers or address enclosed with your product, before sending the product for repair.