OCS Inventory NG is a technical management solution of IT assets.

Two methods allow AXEL Thin Clients to be supported by OCS:

• Importation: AxRM V4 provides a special option to export discovered AXEL Thin Clients (XML Format). Each AXEL Thin Client XML file can be next imported to OCS.
• SNMP scanning: AXEL Thin Clients (M80, M85, M90,M95, G10 and G15) equipped with the 1236d.16011 firmware can be discovered by OCS.
  Just install the AXEL module (46618.pm) to OCS.  This module is free of charger and simply available on request.

The problem:
These printers cannot be used with an AXEL Thin Client.
The printer fails:

• With the 'printer test' (from the AXEL Thin Client Setup)
• Under the LPD protocol
• With TSE environment (RDP or ICA)

Explanation:
This printer is limited to only supporting the CAPT protocol (Canon Advanced Printing Technology) and does not support the industry standard ASCII mode.

The Printer Test:
This test sends a string of standard ASCII text to the printer, as the printer does not recognise ASCII the test fails.

The LPD Protocol:
This printer (i.e. the CAPT protocol) uses bi-directional communication. LPD is uni-directional protocol. This makes the printer incompatible with LPD. In addition no Unix/Linux drivers are provided by Canon. (This printer is only certified for Windows 95/98/NT 4.0/ME/2000).

TSE Environment:
The CAPT protocol is not supported under the TSE environment, so will not work under RDP or ICA.

Embedded touch screen support is offered by Axel terminals. "Touch screen events" are automatically remapped by the AXEL Thin Client into "mouse events". No additional driver or settings are required on the server (Windows, UNIX/Linux, AS/400...).

Most of touch screens (except APR technology from ELO Touch) should be supported. In event of any problems, please contact AXEL technical support.

The configuration is very easy. Just select the touch screen type : USB (auto-detected) or serial (AUX1 or AUX2).

A calibration function (2 or 4 points) may be required.
The touch screen events reported to the server can be selected: 'click only' or 'all events' (click and motion)

When settings are done, the touch screen emulates a mouse. It also works locally in the thin client's desktop and set-up.

Note: multi-touch devices are also supported. Multi-touch functionnality is only provided in Win2012/Win8 environments. A multi-touch screen in any other environment will function as a single touch screen.

The problem:
Some ELO touchscreens are not detected by AXEL Thin Clients.

Explanation:
Several technologies are available with ELO Touchscreens: Accutouch, Intellitouch, APR (Acoustic Pulse Recognition) and SAW (Surface Acoustical Wave).

The two first ones are correctly supported by AXEL Thin Clients and allow a touchscreen to be immediately ready to be used.

But the APR and SAW technologies are not supported because a too high CPU usage is required (to retrieve the X/Y coordinates from the "finger" location).

Two possible cases depending on the AXEL Thin Client firmware revision.

Current firmware version
Use the following keystroke combination to enter the interactive setup: <Ctrl><Alt><Esc>
Note: For AS/400 keyboard press <Rest><Alt><SetUp>.

Versions earlier than 9832e
Setup is in two parts:

• Terminal setup: Press <Ctrl><Alt><Esc> to enter the current session configuration
• TCP/IP setup: Press <Ctrl><Alt><*> to enter the TCP/IP configuration

This error message indicates the SSH client version is not compatible with the pre-requesites of the SSH server.
This is the case when the AXEL Thin Client is a model 70 or 75.
Only a SSH V1 client is offered by these models and, by default, only SSH V2 client connections are accepted by a UNIX/Linux server.

Two solutions:

1 - Upgrading the AXEL Thin Client
Models M70 and M75 can offer an SSH V2 client. But the AXEL Thin Client must be upgraded with a special firmware ('SH2' option). For more information, please contact the AXEL technical support.

2 - Accepting SSH V1 Connections on Unix/Linux Side
In the "sshd_config", set the two following lines

• Protocol 2,1
• PasswordAuthentication yes

Restart the SSH server.

Two possible methods:

The thin client is only used in RS232 Mode
To select the RS232 interface, enter the AXEL Thin Client Setup, go to [Configuration]-[Network]-[General Parameters] and set 'Active Interface' to 'None (serial mode)'.
After rebooting, only one RS232 session will be available.
Note: this method is only available for thin client with 'native' RS232 serial ports (AX3000 models 75 and 85)

The thin client is used in both TCP/IP and RS232 modes
An RS232 session can be used concurrently with TCP/IP sessions (telnet, RDP...). To create an RS232 session,enter the AXEL Thin Client Setup, go to [Configuration]-[Sessions]-[Session X]. Set the 'Session Type' to 'Text Emulation', 'Protocol' to 'Serial' and select the 'Main Port'.

The problem:
The USB printer is detected by the terminal but no logical USB port is mapped to the printer (USB1, USB2...).

Explanation:
The key factor is that these printers don't contain 'persistent' firmware. (The firmware is downloaded each time the printer is switched on).

For PCs the printer firmware is copied onto the PC when the printer driver is installed, so is available to be uploaded at any time.

As the driver is not loaded into the AXEL Thin Client, the firmware is not stored in the client. This makes it impossible to use this printer.

This explanation can be confirmed by this simple test:

• Connect the printer to a PC
• Turn the printer on
• Check the printer by printing a test page
• Connect the printer to the terminal WITHOUT TURNING THE PRINTER OFF
• The printer is detected by the terminal and now a USB logical port is available.

The problem:
Reported barcodes are incorrect.

Explanation:
The issue is the Intemec Reader firmware version. The version must be 1.3.9 (or greater).

A VMware View (Horizon) connection can be considered as two distinct operations:

1. User Authentication - after which various icons are displayed
2. Clicking on the icon(s) above and so connecting to a virtual machine

AXEL Thin Clients M80, M85, M90, M95, G10, G15 are fully compatible with the 1) above over both HTTP and HTTPS.

For the second part of the connection VMW provide two protocols to connect to the VM, these are RDP and PcoIP. Axel only supports RDP. (Not PCoIP)

The connection to the virtual machine must be in “direct mode” – as opposed to the connection being encapsulated in an HTTPS tunnel.

Description:
When several LPD print jobs are spooled, the first batch (about 10) are correctly processed but the others may remain spooled for a few minutes before being processed.

Explanation:
This problem is due to the Window's "socket" management (a socket is a TCP/IP connection).

Notes about LPD and TCP/IP:

• A TCP/IP connection (i.e. a socket) is established for each LPD print job. When the LPD print job is completed, this TCP/IP connection is closed (i.e. the socket is released).
• A socket is composed by 4 parameters:
  local IP address / local TCP port / remote IP address / remote TCP port
  The local IP address is the Windows address , the remote IP address is the AXEL address and the remote TCP port is 515 (AXEL LPD service). The local TCP port value is given by Windows.
  Note: to list the sockets in use invoke the netstat command
• When a TCP/IP connection is closed, the associated socket is not immediately released. This socket is set in an intermediate status (TIME_WAIT) for 3 minutes. During this TIME_WAIT status, the socket is not available for another TCP/IP connection.

The problem is due to the "remote TCP port" socket parameter. Only 11 TCP ports are available to process LPD print jobs: from 721 to 731. When 11 print jobs are processed in less than 3 minutes, the 11 associated sockets are locked (status ESTABLISHED or TIME_WAIT). So the next print job will be delayed until a TCP port is released.

The Windows default is for 11 ports (721-731) to be used. To avoid this limitation, Windows must be set-up to use any TCP ports greater than 1024.

Setting-up Windows depends on both the Operating System and the installed Service Pack. For information on changing this setting please read the article "Updated TCP/IP Printing Options for Windows NT 4.0 SP3 and Later" on the  Microsoft site.

With SSL (used by HTTP, RDP and ICA), the server identity can be granted by checking the server certificate.

The certificate verification must be enabled in the AXEL Thin Client Setup (menu [Configuration]-[Network]-[SSL Security]) and the CA certificate must be imported in the AXEL Thin Client local store (with AxRM or a USB memstick).

If a signature error is reported during the verification, first be sure the CA certificate is actually the autorithy of the server certificate.

Then certifcates (CA and server) will be correctly parsed by the thin client only if:

• the signature encryption algorithm is RSA-SHA1
• and OIDs in the certifcate are from RSADSI

Description :
The SSH session can't be connected to the SSH server

Explanation :
This may be due to the security negotiations. Indeed, the AXEL SSH V2 client doesn't support same capabilities than an OpenSSH client.

The AXEL SSH client security characteristics are listed below:

• Key Negotiation: diffie-hellman-group14-sha1
• Cyphers: 3des-cbc
• Signature: hmac-md5

The SSH server must be configured to accept the AXEL SSH Client prerequisites.

Solution :
With Linux, OpenSSH server settings are stored onto /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Please find below an example of this file with Axel SSH Client prerequisites included:

.../...
KexAlgorithms diffie-hellman-group1-sha1,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1
Ciphers 3des-cbc
MACs hmac-md5
.../...

Update the file and restart the SSH server.

Description :
On rebooting a DHCP thin client can in certain cases find its dynamic IP address has been changed into a static IP address

Explanation :
A special administration function is offered by the thin client: its IP address can be changed by ping commands:
If a thin client receives seven ping requests including its MAC address but a different IP address, the new IP address is set as the new static IP address and the thin client reboots.

This function has been designed to remotely assign a static IP address to a thin client, but can cause unexpected results in a DHCP environment.

For example if a switch or router regularly pings the network as a house-keeping function it may unintentionally convert a DHCP IP address to a static address.

Solution :
Disable this administration function:

• Enter set-up/Configuration/Advanced/Tuning/Network
• Set ‘IP Address Set by Ping’ to ‘No’.

Apart from an hardware failure, this may happen when the keyboard type (configured in the AXEL Thin Client Setup) doesn't match the actual physical keyboard type (For example a PC keyboard is used and in the AXEL Thin Client Setup the keyboard type is 'AS/400 122 keys').

Three methods are possible to change this:

1. Press <Ctrl><Alt><K>
   The AXEL Thin Client keyboard type is automatically changed and the setup can be entered.
2. Connect a USB keyboard
   Enter the set-up to change the keyboard type (menu [Configuration]-[Advanced]-[Tuning]-[Keyboard/Screen])
3. Use the 'Remote Control' to enter the set-up
   Run AxRM to remotely enter the set-up and change the keyboard type

Apart from an hardware failure, the screen may remain black if the resolution (on the AXEL Thin Client Setup) is not supported by the monitor.

Two methods are possible to change this resolution

1. Press <Ctrl><Alt><BackSpace>
   This forces the resolution to 1024x768.
2. Use the remote control (AxRM) to enter the AXEL Thin Client Setup
   Use AxRM to remotely enter the AX3000 Set-Up. This will allow the resolution to be changed.

The AXEL Thin Client hardware information is FKx-BVyyy

• FKx is the electronic board code
• BVyyy is the boot code version (the boot code is the non-erasable part of the flash memory)

The different generations of hardware in the field are listed below (each requiring specific firmware):

• FK3: Former production hardware of models 55, 55E and 56
• FK5: Former production hardware of models 55, 55E and 56
• FK7: Former production hardware of models 65
• FK11: Former production hardware of models 55, 55E and 56
• FK13: Former production hardware of models 65 and 65E
• FK14: Former production hardware of models 65/65B/65E (PS/2 mouse port)
• FK15: Former production hardware of models 60/60E
• FK16: Former production hardware of models 75/75B/75E
• FK17: Former production hardware of models 65B (network 10/100)
• FK18: Former production hardware of models 75C (USB ports)
• FK19: Former production hardware of models 75C
• FK20: Former production hardware of models 65C
• FK30: Former production hardware of models 70W
• FK31: Former production hardware of models 70W
• FK35: Former production hardware of models 70F
• FK36: Former production hardware of models 70F
• FK40: Former production hardware of models 75C
• FK41: Former production hardware of models 75D
• FK45: Former production hardware of models 65C
• FK51: Former production hardware of models 85
• FK52: Former production hardware of models 85B
• FK55: Former production hardware of models 80F
• FK56: Former production hardware of models 80G
• FK57: Former production hardware of models 80WMS
• FK59: Former production hardware of models 80G
• FK60: Former production hardware of models 90
• FK61: Former production hardware of models 90
• FK65: Former production hardware of models 95
• FK70: Current production hardware of models G10
• FK75: Current production hardware of models G15

The AXEL Thin Client wireless signal quality and performance is lower than expected, even with an access point very close to the thin client.

Explanation:
When all the access points have the same name (SSID) and MAC address (BSSID), the AXEL Thin Client will connect to the first AP it sees which may not be the highest quality signal.

Solution:
A unique BSSID must be given to each access point. This will allow the AXEL Thin Client to order the AP by signal quality and select the strongest signal.