3.) Smart Card Readers with PIN-pad

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3.1. What is the difference among ACR88U, ACR88U-FPA and ACR88U-CL1 in terms of reader function?

• ACR88U (Standard 2 full-size card slots and 3 SAM-slots)
• ACR88U-CL1 (Standard 2 full-size card slots and 3 SAM-slots + contactless reader)
• ACR88U-FPA (Standard 2 full-size card slots and 3 SAM-slots + Area Fingerprint sensor)

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.2. How do I connect the ACR88 reader to the PC?

Get the USB plug of the reader and search for the USB port of your PC. Insert it and wait for the PC to respond.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.3. How do I know if I've successfully installed my ACR88 driver completely?

Go Start → Setting → Control Pandel → System → Hardware → Device Manager. The Windows Device Manager should list 2 ACR88 Card Viewer Readers and 3 ACR88 Card Viewer SAM Readers under the Smart Card Readers and the ACR88 Onboard Peripherals and the ACR88 USB Bus Driver under the USB controllers.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.4. How do I know if I've successfully uninstalled my ACR88 driver completely?

Open the device manager and see if all the entries that are described on item number 3 are all gone from the device manager.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.5. What is CCID?

CCID stands for Chip/Smart Card Interface Devices. Chip Card Interface Device (CCID) specification is an approach to smart card reader communication and it defines a standard communication protocol for smart card readers that connect to a computer via USB, allowing the same host-side driver to communicate with any CCID-compliant smart card reader.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.6. How do I insert the full-sized smart card in the ACR88 reader card slot?

There are two full-sized smart card slots in the ACR88. Insert the smart card (chip side facing up) into a slot . If you hear a snap, it's already inserted properly and the LED indicator will light up.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.7. How do I insert the SAM-sized smart card in the ACR88 reader SAM card slot?

There are 3 SAM-sized smart card slots of ACR88. Unscrew the back cover of the slots. Unlock a slot then insert the SAM-sized smart card (chip side facing down) and lock the slot. Do the same for the other slots. Return the cover by screwing it again.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.8. Can I attach the ACR88 readers while the computer is running?

Yes.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.9. What interface do the ACR88 readers support?

The ACR88 is only available with USB interface. Serial interface will be supported in the next phrase.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.10. Where can I get the updated list of card types supported by ACR88?

The card types supported by ACR88 are indicated in the product manual, available for download from our website.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.11. What kinds of smart card connectors are used in ACR88 reader? How long do they last?

ACR88 reader uses contact connectors for full-sized card slots and sliding connectors for SIM-sized SAM card slots. The connectors are guaranteed up to a minimum of 100K insertion cycles. Landing connectors, which are guaranteed up to a minimum of 200K insertion cycles, can also be used for ACR88 reader, upon special request.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.12. What operating systems do ACR88 readers support?

At the moment, drivers are available for Windows 2000, XP and Vista™.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.13. Can any smart card application access the ACR88 readers?

Yes, it can be accessed for the smart card interface, provided that your system has PC/SC installed and the software you are using is PC/SC compliant. For the ACR88 device functions, since this has a proprietary driver, only applications developed by ACS can access it.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.14. What programming language can access the ACR88 reader?

As of the moment, we have developed sample codes using Visual Basic, Visual C++, Borland Delphi, Visual Basic .NET and Visual C#. All of these are available in the SDK.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.15. What do the 3 LEDs on the reader signify?

The top LED is the power indicator, the middle is the card slot 1 (upper slot, closer to the LCD) indicator and the bottom LED is the card slot 2 (lower slot, farther to the LCD) indicator.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.16. Does the ACR88 have a 64-bit driver?

Yes.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.17. What are the potential applications you can suggest for the ACR88 Reader?

One application is the taxi payment system where the passenger gives his/her smart card to the driver then the driver inserts it in the ACR88 device and presses a key to debit the card of the passenger. Another is the canteen loyalty application where the customer gives his/her smart card to the staff then the staff inserts it in the ACR88 device and presses keys to add bonus points to the card or deduct bonus points for gift redemption. In addition, the ACR88 can also functions as a GSM SIM card copier. There are still lots of applications for which you can use the ACR88. Just visit our website for more details.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.18. Why are there battery slots at the back of the ACR88 reader?

Since the ACR88 reader can be a stand-alone device, you need batteries to power it up.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.19. How can I activate my smart card service in Windows 2000 / XP?

If you choose to install the PC/SC driver, the Smart Card Resource Manager will be the central program that implements the PC/SC platform. It is built into Windows 2000 and Windows XP but has to be installed in other Microsoft operating systems. It has to be up and running to be able to successfully run smart card applications based on the PC/SC platform.

Please activate its Smart Card Service. Just do these steps:

• Go to Control Panel
• Open Administrative Tools
• Open Services
• Open Smart Card Services
• Then set it to Start Automatically

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.20. How to uninstall and reinstall the scbase component on Windows 2000 / XP?

This is automatic for this OS.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.21. How do I install the ACR88 PC/SC drivers to my system in Windows 2000 / XP?

If the SDK CD-ROM is available

• Insert the ACR88 SDK CDROM (If CD drive autorun is disabled, browse your CD drive and run ACR88SDK.exe).
• Choose "Step 2. Install Smart Card Reader Driver", a driver installer window will pop-up.
• Click on the Install button then plug/re-plug your ACR88 USB reader when asked to do so.
• When the Found New Hardware Wizard screen appears, choose "Install the software automatically (Recommended)" and click Next.
• Click the Finish button after each software installation.

If no SDK CD-ROM is available

• Copy the drivers to your local disk.
• Insert the ACR88 device to an available USB port.
• When the Hardware Wizard appears, choose "Install from a specific location (Advanced)"
• Browse for the folder where the drivers are located.
• Click on Finish after each installation.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.22. How do I uninstall the ACR88 PC/SC drivers from my system in Windows 2000 / XP?

Insert the ACR88 SDK CDROM (If CD drive autorun is disabled, browse your CD drive and run ACR88SDK.exe).

• Choose "Step 2. Install Smart Card Reader Driver", a driver installer window will pop-up.
• A window will prompt to confirm the uninstallation of driver. Click Yes.
• Follow the instruction and click "Reboot" to restart your system.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.23. The reader worked fine before upgrading Windows XP with Service Pack 2. Now the reader doesn't function anymore.

Try to reboot the system or re-install the driver or download the latest driver from the website.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.24. Can the ACR88 reader charged by AC(Alternate Current) input in stand-alone mode, instead of the DC (Direct Current) batteries?

Yes, simply plug the USB AC charger (a USB power adapter) into a wall outlet and connect it to your ACR88 USB port to charge. However a quick firmware customization by ACS is needed before the ACR88 reader supports the USB AC charger. Normally, the customization takes one to two day. Please contact our sales representative for the customization service fee.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad

3.25. Why I cannot update the firmware version of the ACR88 successfully?

If the update is unsuccessful, please try again but make sure that there are no batteries (power supply) inside the ACR88, and the arrow sign on the serial download cable is facing up.

Category: 3. Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad