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General Troubleshooting
If you want to what the settings in the TriCoder are, you can enter Setup M ode, key in the number that corresponds to the
Parameter(s) in which you are interested, and then read the display settings referring to t he TriCoder Manual for an explanation of
the options.
You can retur n the TriCode r to the default shipped settings by going into Setup Mode: SYSTEM TOOLS: RESET SETUPS TO
DEFAULT: The TriCoder Will Ask: ARE YOU SURE Y/N?
Key in Y if you are Sure
You can then reconfigure the TriCoder for your system by entering into the parameter you want to change in TRICODER SETUP MODE
or by using the setup mode from the Hardware Utilities

USB won’t upload

o In Windows 7 you will have to manually update the USB Driver for the TriCoder. Do this by cli cking on the New Hardware
Found Balloon when you first plug t he Full Speed TriCoder into the computer, o r alternatively by going to the Control P anel
and Device Manager and Updating the driver there: See Appendix E: USB Driver Installation Recovery
o Be sure you are not trying to use USB with Windo ws 95 or NT. There is no support for USB devices in these old er operating
systems.
o Be sure you are set to HID Keyboard if you are connected to a Macintosh Co mputer Full Speed USB is only supported on
Windows machines.
o When you first plug your TriCoder into a USB port, Windows will sense new hardware and atte mpt to install driver(s) for the
TriCoder. If you fail to complete the driver(s) installation, the TriCoder will not upl oad or transfer programs, etc. See
Appendix E: USB Driver Installation Recovery for how to recover from a failed driver installation.

Serial won’t upload

o Make sure the Serial Cable is fully plugged in and check your Serial Setup to make sure it is correct.

Strange Behavior

o Low batteries that are not detected can exhibit some bizarre TriCoder symptoms, including laser beams that shut off,

continuous beeping, shutting off when you scan, etc. Try the power supply to see if the battery needs to be recharged. It is
possible that the battery has died or is close to dying You could try a new battery.

The TriCoder won’t read your bar codes…

o Recheck all hardware connections using Chapter 6: TriCoder Connection as a guide. Try reading a bar code you know is valid
and readable try the Test Label in Chapter 3: Non Portable Mode.
o If you are reading Code 39 bar codes with leading spaces (see the Barpad in Appendix F: Code 39, Accum ulate Mode) and
you have enabled Accumulate Mode in the setup, the reader will beep twice upon reading a bar code and will not transmit
data to the computer until it reads a bar code without a leading space.
o Recheck the TriCoder setup and make sure you have enabled the bar code type you are trying to read.
o If you are having problems reading Interleaved 2 of 5 codes, make sure the data length of the bar code is the same as the 2 of
5 Length set on the TriCoder.
o Make sure you have not enabled check digits for Code 39 or Interleaved 2 of 5 if your bar codes do not have check digits.
o Make sure the scanner is plugged into the SCANNER port and not the COMPUTER port.

The TriCoder transmits extra characters at the start or end of bar code data

o Clear the preamble and postamble.
o Check to make sure you have not setup the TriCoder to transmit start/stop characters, check digits, NSC characters or
terminator characters that you don‟t want transmitted.
o For UPC-E, select compressed transmission if you don‟t want your data padded out with extra zeroes.