Magicard Enduro printer firmware - amendment record Document information Author: C. J. Tamblyn Software Identification Number: 2138 Version: V6.31 This is the amendment record for the Magicard Enduro printer firmware (Software Identification Number 2138). This document is updated whenever a new version of the firmware is released. Any enquiries about this document or its contents should be made in the first instance to: Card Systems Engineering Manager Ultra Electronics Manufacturing & Card Systems Waverley House Hampshire Road Granby Estate Weymouth Dorset DT4 9XD Tel: +44 (0) 1305 784738 Fax: +44 (0) 1305 777904 Change history 1-Dec-2010 - Release V6.31 1. The flipper is now reinitialised after rotating the card, to avoid it becoming misaligned while printing the second side of a double-sided print job. 23-Nov-2010 - Release V6.30 1. Added support for PPC models and new IDville models. 2. Added DEJ and EEJ commands (same as Rio/Tango 2E series) for controlling card ejection. 3. Printer now allows the Magicard MAGAPI to detect whether the lid has been opened while the printer is idle. 4. Fixed a couple of issues which could cause the printhead density to be incorrect. 5. Corrected the default holopatch position, and improved the adjustment interface. 6. Fixed a bug to enable the selection of HoloKote Flex and HoloPatch together. 7. Fixed error handling options for ``image too dark'' error. Lid no longer triggers a ``retry'', and reinitialisation is forced. 8. The printer now avoids 11:00 errors by automatically recalibrating the dye film LED. 19-Oct-2010 - Release V6.23 1. The stepper motor is now driven more efficiently, in order to save power. 2. Increased motor speed to improve reliability of card ejection. 3. Printer now checks if a card is stuck in the smart encoder when the lid is closed. 4. More feedback is now given when using a duplex upgrade kit. 5. Refined flipper operation to improve reliability. 13-Oct-2010 - Release V6.22 1. Fixed ID Maker device ID. 31-Aug-2010 - Release V6.21 1. Update for Aisino models only: FED, GEM and CHPDOWN commands now position the card over at the front sensor. The Magicard API call to place the card in the encoder will also do the same. 13-Aug-2010 - Release V6.20 1. Added support for Polaroid models. 2. Improved end-of-film detection. 3. Changed wording of card hopper feed error message. 4. Ensure new printhead details are always saved to flash when installing a replacement printhead. 28-Jun-2010 - Release V6.12 1. Improved rotation unit operation for smart encoding models. 21-Jun-2010 - Release V6.11 1. Printhead upgrade tags no longer reference dealer codes. 2. Improved film supply monitoring. 20-May-2010 - Release V6.10 1. Added support for Intersider Authentys printers. 2. Reduced job processing time, especially for the first card in a batch of monochrome-only images. 31-Mar-2010 - Release V6.03 1. Replacement for previous release - horizontal eject mode wasn't initialised correctly. 31-Mar-2010 - Release V6.02 1. Note: this release only affects Aisino-branded printers. Upgrading to this release is not essential for users of Magicard Enduro printers. 2. The HEJ command now allows setting the flipper operation to either NORMAL (the default), HORIZ (horizontal eject) or DISABLE (flipper completely disabled). 3. Dongle override is no longer activated for Aisino printers. 4. Added exception for monochrome film when examining dealer codes and project codes. 24-Mar-2010 - Release V6.01 1. Enabled support for rewritable cards. 2. Implemented a more robust method of detecting the printhead type. 3. Implemented the flipper-disabling modifications for Aisino printers. 4. Fixed a bug in the REGACTIVE command. 5. Modified the cleaning routine, to ensure that the lid is opened before cleaning is initiated. 9-Mar-2010 - Release V6.00 1. Added support for Aisino printers. 2. Corrected display of printhead type in printer query. 3. Added dealer coding support. 4. Added support for future expansion of HoloKote options. 5. Sending the CHPDOWN or GEM command twice (without ejecting or doing a CHPUP) is now handled correctly. 6. Increased amount of time the card spends in the encoder during a SOAKSMART test from 2 seconds to 6 seconds. 8-Jan-2010 - Release V5.12 1. Added future-proofing for firmware upgrade method (FWU command). 2. In the printer query, the printhead type is now displayed as text instead of a numeric code. 3. Changed format of release filenames. 4. Improved reliability of printhead detection code. 4-Nov-2009 - Release V5.11 1. Added SHD command to set the printhead type. Use SHDKPE or SHDKGE depending on type. 4-Nov-2009 - Release V5.10 1. Enabled the FRN command (film saving mode). Use the FRNOFF Quick Command to disable film saving, and FRNON to enable it. 2. Added support for the new KPE printheads. Note that KPE printheads will not function correctly with older versions of firmware than this. 3. Improved accuracy of printhead temperature measurement. 4. Fixed a problem with printing black on the card front and colour/overcoat on the card back. 5. Added HORNPIPE and HBAP commands. 6. Improved accuracy of automatic setup. 6-Oct-2009 - Release V5.08 1. Re-release of previous version due to compiler fault. 6-Oct-2009 - Release V5.06 1. Updated the executable firmware updater. This now handles multiple printers connected at once. 23-Sep-2009 - Release V5.05 1. Added some extra debouncing to the sensor signal from the encoding module. 2. Updated dye LED calibration process to permit the use of either 5 or 6 panel film. 3. Fixed soft power-off. 3-Sep-2009 - Release V5.04 1. Fine-tuned the image start/end calibration process. 2. Fixed a misregistration issue which affects some machines when photographs are printed against primary colour backgrounds. 3. Leave fan on for longer for the `RUNFAN' diagnostic command. 12-Aug-2009 - Release V5.03 1. Printer now initialises the flipper after ejecting a card, so that hand-feeding is less prone to failures caused by premature card insertion. 2. Printer now avoids unnecessary film usage when waking from sleep mode. 3. Reduced the occurrence of a resin line where the head is dropped onto the card. 4. Fixed problem where firmware version wasn't being displayed properly in the printer query. 5. Added MOD,POSENC command to set how far the flipper motor inserts the card into the smart encoder (causing the sensors to be ignored). Note that MOD,POSENC0 (the default) causes the printer to use the sensors, as normal. 6. Added horizontal eject option (HEJON/HEJOFF). 23-Jun-2009 - Release V5.02 1. Prevent errors from being cleared when dye LED calibration is initiated from the front panel menu. 2. Note: V5.01 contained a bug which could cause an issue with magnetic encoding on some machines. This is resolved in the V5.02 release. 12-Jun-2009 - Release V5.01 1. Prevent errors from being cleared when dye LED calibration is initiated from the front panel menu. 2. Improved Resin black printing method. 3. Improved rotation unit control when flipping a card and feeding back into main engine. 3-Jun-2009 - Release V5.00 1. Added support for IDville machines. 2. NOTE: it will not be possible to program the printer with earlier version of firmware once this version is installed. 3. Reduce the occurrence of a rogue black resin line. 4. Fixed bug in which sometimes caused the first card to be blank when printing resin-only images. 5. Increased overcoat take-up speed during head lift to prevent film from sticking to card. 6. Added printhead and PCB serial numbers to the printer query. 7. Improved dye-film take-up at end of each panel. 8. Increased speed of magnetic verification. 9. Fixed a bug which could sometimes cause the printer to freeze if it encountered an error while there where still jobs in the print queue. 10. Improved card-to-card colour consistency. 11. Added ability to abort during magnetic encoding by pressing the front panel button. 12. Made the front panel buttons a bit more responsive. 23-Apr-2009 - Release V4.05 1. Improved protection against double-feeding when loading cards from the hopper. 2. Improved operation of the mag read command used by the dealer tool. 3. Sped up the printer boot-up process. 4. Adjusted overcoat power to prevent film from sticking to card at the end of a panel. 5. Improved card position for mag encoding in the situations where the first encoding attempt fails. 6. Modified smart card handling code to improve reliability. 7. Corrected spelling of Polish translation of `FEEDING CARD'. 8. Ensure that the tacho offset is recalculated if we have to wind on through a set of panels. 9. Updated smart encoding routines to handle new chip encoders. 10. Increased between-panel debouncing for dye sensor 11. Prevented rare bug where comms were open while errors were being cleared. 12. Fixed a bug which caused the printer to `swallow' the remaining jobs in the spooler if `pause between jobs' was enabled and the lid was opened at just the `right' moment. 13. Fix handling of multi-copy encode-only jobs. 18-Feb-2009 - Release V4.04 1. Fixed minor bug in smart encoding. 2. Fixed minor bug in mag encoding motor operation. 3. Improved printhead temperature monitoring. 4. Refined head lift and ribbon take-up technique. 10-Jan-2009 - Release V4.03 1. Printer now allows 2 minutes for head to cool after an overheat condition (previously 30 seconds). 2. Added ability to process hex-encoded mag strings. 15-Jan-2009 - Release V4.02 1. Improved flip mechansim reliability. 2. Fixed a minor bug which sometimes prevented the HoloKote tiles from being rendered on the reverse side of cards. 3. The FFF command now takes an optional numeric parameter. If the parameter is either zero or absent, then FFF behaves as before. Otherwise, the major error code is set to the value of the parameter. 4. Altered DEF command to prevent PCB/printhead serial numbers from being reset. 5. Added support for Magicard Support Utility sensor test. 6. Reduced printing noise and improved resin/overcoat printing slightly. 7. Added extra error handling during mag encoding. 8. Improved dye-film calibration reliability. 18-Dec-2008 - Release V4.01 1. Can now exit from SNS diagnostic mode by pressing a front panel button. 2. Added SKT command for special soak test print job. 3. Added extra information to printer query. 02-Dec-2008 - Release V4.00 1. Stopped hand-feed mode from causing a flipper jam on some units. 2. Improvements to image position set-up. 3. Support for new A2D converter incorporated. 23-Oct-2008 - Release V3.05 1. Added French, German and Portuguese translations for LCD text. 2. Added improved end-of-film detection to avoid printing a partial image at the end of a roll. 3. Added support for printing with CR79 cards (requires driver version 1.3.3.0 or later). 4. Updated RFID code. 24-Sep-2008 - Release V3.04 1. Reduced number of trailing zeroes in mag encoding. 2. switched flipper motor off during encoding. 22-Sep-2008 - Release V3.03 1. Modified internal image setup image to prevent subsequent images from being shifted to the right on the card. 17-Sep-2008 - Release V3.02 1. Improved colour density. 2. Added Italian and Spanish translations for LCD text. 3. Memory use is now more efficient. 4. Added special internal test image for faster image position set-up. 21-Aug-08 - Release V3.01 1. Added features for in-field service. 2. Further improvements to image position set-up. 18-Aug-2008 - Release V3.00 1. Improvements to image position. 2. Added Polish translations. 3. Added timestamps to printer query. 4. MC200 models now have a USB product ID of 0x5800. 17-Jul-2008 - Release V2.07 1. Improved calculation of tacho offsets and image clipping to prevent occasional dye-film panel misalignment when using half-panel film. 2. Internal test pattern is now in colour when using half-panel film. 3. Corrected a potential issue with ejection, indirectly caused by random electronic glitches in the signal from the flip sensor. 4. Increased the dye-film take-up speed when using monochrome film (MA1000K). 5. Reduced the influence of warm-up on colours to fix the problem whereby the first few lines printed of any image were excessively dark. 6. Fixed minor bug which caused the image position markers to be clipped at the trailing edge of the factory calibration test image. 7. Corrected event sequence which occurs when sending a double-sided black-only PRN to a single-sided printer. 04-Jul-2008 - Release V2.06 1. Adjusted card entry angle when returning card from the flipper back into the engine preventing occasional `Flipper Card Jam Error 04:08'. 01-Jul-2008 - Release V2.05 1. Ensured dye film slack taken up after each printed panel to prevent Flipper Card Jam Error 04:07. 17-Jun-2008 - Release V2.04 1. Ensured that monochrome film displays as ``MA1000K'', not the obsolete ``EN3''. 2. Fine-tuned transient compensation settings to get a better overall effect on multi-coloured backgrounds. 3. Added some diagnostic features relating to RFID and dye-film calibration. 4. Improved dye-film handling when using half-panel film. 11-Jun-2008 - Release V2.03 1. Corrected problem in glitch-filtering code. 10-Jun-2008 - Release V2.02 1. Improved the glitch-filtering code for the front card sensor. 09-Jun-2008 - Release V2.01 1. Added a quick command (DEF) to reset the PCB settings to the factory defaults. 2. Added unique error codes for some fairly similar dye-film position failure modes to help with troubleshooting. 3. Slightly increased the dye-film transport speed during film alignment. 4. Increased protection against sensor glitches during printhead positioning. 5. Improved positioning of card after mag verification. 6. Improved reliability of tacho pulse counting, and optimized some code which analyses the dye-film statistics. 7. Ensured that flipper motor is switched off sooner if there is an error during flipper initialisation. 8. Ensure that dye motor is switched off sooner if there is an error initialising the dye film. 29-May-2008 - Release V2.00 1. Updated the dye-film speed control in line with release V1.2 of the CPLD. 2. CPLD version is now reported by the printer query command instead of the PCB version. 3. Fine-tuned the ramp adjustment to improve colour consistency across the width of a printed image. 4. Refined operation of test tags. 22-May-2008 - Release V1.01 1. Modified temperature-based strobe width compensation for resin and overcoat. 2. Ensured that the `cancel' button works when printing overcoat layer. 3. Improved calibration of image start and end positions. 4. Soft power-on now causes a processor reset. 20-May-2008 - Release V1.0 1. Fixed plug-and-play problem. 2. Fixed problem caused by static glitches during card positioning. 06-May-2008 - Release V0.9 1. Fixed potential image data corruption issue. 2. Added LCD feedback during duplex upgrade process. 3. Changed default LED brightness settings. 06-May-2008 - Release V0.8 1. Improved dye-film take-up and postioning. 2. Changed wording of dye film error message. 3. Refinements to image positioning. 4. Refinements to roller cleaning process. 5. Added support for MC200 models. 11-Apr-2008 - Release V0.7 1. First production release.