PaperCut MF + Konica Minolta + iOptions (web interface)

[Paid_Peanuts]

Is there anyone out there who has a combination of the following:

• PaperCut MF v15
  
• Konica Minolta MFP's
  
• Konica's iOptions interface (web browser interface)
  

 

We have recently had an installation of the above and we are experiencing ongoing issues. It would be really good to speak to someone who has the same setup as above so we can ratify the settings to help resolve the ongoing issues we are facing.

 

Current list of issues we are facing:

• Konica 454e not recognising MiFare cards when presented to reader, although able to login to web interface on device. Only way to resolve = reboot printer.
  
• Lockups, entire white screen, unresponsive. Only way to fix = reboot printer.
  
• Some prints being released from queue on device (454e) not printing. Resolution - send item to print again.
  
• Total lockup, PaperCut web interface loaded on device, unable to swipe card (no response), unable to login using AD credentials (no onscreen keyboard response). Only way to fix is to reboot the printer.
  
• Reboot of print server causes printers to comeback online with error=3 or error=9 status. Resolution = set embedded =N and reboot printer, once back online, set embedded back to Y so it re-embeds itself.
  
• After print server has rebooted some devices come back online with API 3.0 (old PaperCut version - not iOptions web interface). Resolution = un-embed and re-embed through PaperCut.
  

 

I think you can see from the above there is a lot of walking involved at the minute to reboot printers.

 

I am so desperate for this to work correctly I have tried the following:

• Altered properties of the NIC in the VMware VM. Currently at VMXNET3 with various advanced options disabled.
  
• Changed DIP Switch 25 to 10 as recommended in the PaperCut MF embedded manual for Konica Minolta
  
• Made sure PaperCut MF is up-to date
  
• Made sure Server 2012 R2 is up-to date.
  
• We are using the latest PCL6 driver from the Konica Website
  
• As of 2 weeks ago we were on the very latest printer firmware release
  
• Ensured VMware ESXi 5.5 is fully patched up-to date and VM is running the latest VMware tools
  

 

Print server is a VM with 3 vCPU, 10GB RAM, VMXNET3 adapter, plenty of HD space. Its running at tick over normally, the additional CPU+RAM are there for the frequent reports we run from PaperCut.

 

I am running out of options to try, if anyone has anything similar I would love to speak or hear from you to see if you experienced anything similar and to see if there is anything else we can do to try and resolve some of these issues.

[MatthewL]

Do you have firewall and AV running on your server?

 

If you run a constant ping are you getting any drop outs?

 

Have you deleted and readded device onto PaperCut/Copier side of things?

[Paid_Peanuts]

MatthewL, to answer your questions:

 

Do you have firewall and AV running on your server? - NO, firewall switched off and AV uninstalled for purposes of testing.

 

If you run a constant ping are you getting any drop outs? Can run a constant ping from print server to ALL printers with <1ms response on ALL with NO dropouts ever.

 

Have you deleted and readded device onto PaperCut/Copier side of things? - Yes have done this to a select few devices, hasn't changed anything.

[MatthewL]

Have a read through this, might be worth checking out.

PaperCut MF - Konica-Minolta-iOption Embedded Manual.pdf

[Paid_Peanuts]

Have a read through this, might be worth checking out.

 

Read it from cover to cover! Everything within this guide has been implemented and double checked.

[timbo343]

Sounds to me like s fault with the devics rather than the software. What have konica suggested?

[MatthewL]

That's what I am starting to think, could well be down to firmware. I'm not a Konica user and have only ever used them in a basic form.

 

If you print direct to the printer does it work ok?

 

Everything points to machine for me.

[howartp]

Don't tell me this - just ordered 26 Konica's with Papercut MF! :-(

[timbo343]

Don't tell me this - just ordered 26 Konica's with Papercut MF! :-(

 

Uh oh!! Will have to compare @howartp. I do hope that your install and day to day issues are ok. My gut feeling was i really hope konica dont come in cheapest.

[howartp]

Uh oh!! Will have to compare @howartp. I do hope that your install and day to day issues are ok. My gut feeling was i really hope konica dont come in cheapest.

 

Mine too!

 

Not coming till Summer though.

[Big_Ted]

Hi,

 

Error 9 can mean anything (and that is a pain) it can be ozone filter needs replacing or a section of the copier is missing (a tray or something).

 

That being said i would do a couple of things.

 

1. setup a device as an open api3 device and no ioptions and see if that helps. If so we know its an issue with iOptions on the device.

2. take another device and direct connect it to a laptop running MF v15 and see if that has the same issues (both devices will need a static IP). If it works fine connected to the laptop then it would suggest its a network issue

3. check you are on latest firmware, from what i can see GD2-K2 is recommended.

4. enable debug as per PaperCut KB | How to Enable Debug in the Application Server and record dates/times/device names it happens. Send the files and info to papercut support.

[Paid_Peanuts]

Hi,

 

Error 9 can mean anything (and that is a pain) it can be ozone filter needs replacing or a section of the copier is missing (a tray or something).

 

That being said i would do a couple of things.

 

1. setup a device as an open api3 device and no ioptions and see if that helps. If so we know its an issue with iOptions on the device.

2. take another device and direct connect it to a laptop running MF v15 and see if that has the same issues (both devices will need a static IP). If it works fine connected to the laptop then it would suggest its a network issue

3. check you are on latest firmware, from what i can see GD2-K2 is recommended.

4. enable debug as per PaperCut KB | How to Enable Debug in the Application Server and record dates/times/device names it happens. Send the files and info to papercut support.

 

Thanks for the suggestions Big_Ted.

I'll give them a try when I can. Problem I have is taking a device out of commission to test, is not going to be easy.

I'll check the firmware version and report back here what I'm running.

 

PaperCut have had some debug logs already and they didn't come back with much. They hinted at a network problem but since then we have ruled that out through some testing. Konica have given our network the green light also. I can continually ping all Konica printers without disruption or latency.

PaperCut other than that were at a loss.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Paid_Peanuts

[Paid_Peanuts]

Big_Ted, our current controller version is:

MFP Controller A5C10Y0-0100-GD2-K1(00)

 

So not the very latest version. Is there a site somewhere that lists the version numbers? As a layman how do I know if there is a later firmware out for the devices? It appears as though you have to be a registered technician on the Konica site to get this information.

[Paid_Peanuts]

I want to be clear here, when the Konica's are working as they should (95% of the time) they are great.

Print quality is very good, speed is what it says it is on the device - not a claimed figure. Integration with PaperCut on the whole is very good, we experience almost virtually no helpdesk calls regarding paper jams or any other problems.

 

It's just these teething issues I want to get sorted out, I don't want to have to say to people reboot the device when they experience issues, I don't want them to have the issue in the first place.

 

I guess there will always be some issues due to the more complex nature of how they have to release their prints and how they have to login to the printer to use copy/scan functions.

Beyond the odd user error and paper jam I was expecting to have no issues with this - was I expecting too much?

[jayemm]

Hi

 

Are the MFDs on lease?

 

Did you purchase paper cut through your MFD supplier?

 

Have you tried getting support via the MFD supplier or PaperCut?

[Paid_Peanuts]

Hi

 

Are the MFDs on lease? - Yes on a lease direct with Konica Minolta

 

Did you purchase paper cut through your MFD supplier? Yes. All hardware and software (PaperCut) through the same provider on the same lease agreement

 

Have you tried getting support via the MFD supplier or PaperCut? Have approached Konica Minolta for PaperCut support, currently we are awaiting a visit to reprogram the card readers so we don't have to do a hex2dec conversion within PaperCut. It's just one more step to rule out and something else we are doing to test. I might also log a support call with Konica to get the C454e updated to the latest firmware as per Big_Ted recommendations of GD2-K2 instead of the GD2-K1 we are running to see if that makes any difference.

 

To explain the hex2dec, we have Konica supplied card readers on the devices, these read the cards (8-10 digit mifare cards) in hexadecimal format and pass to PaperCut. Within PaperCut we then have to use a java script file to reverse the hex string then do a hex to dec conversion. the purpose of reprogramming the card readers is so we can remove this step from the equation in case during the conversion something is causing the embedded PaperCut on the printer to malfunction.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Paid_Peanuts

[Paid_Peanuts]

This was a new one we had the other day.

User had previously logged in to the printer, selected a single item from her print list. let it print, in which time PaperCut on the device had logged her out.

Print job had completed, tried to log back in and got that error.

 

Walked straight to another MFD, logged in straight away using the MiFare card. Went back to the offending MFD, same error.

Left it well over an hour, tried again on the same MFD and it worked.

This happened twice to the same user in the space of a morning...

 

Haven't had it reported that it's happened again.

 

Anyone seen anything similar?

[Big_Ted]

Hi Paid_Peanuts,

 

1. Could you confirm what version of PaperCut you are using please.

 

2. Could you also go to: Admin UI - Options - Config editor (on left hand side) - type in "escrow" into the quick find field and hit enter. Could you post a screen grab of the results please.

 

3. Could you also select the device in question from the devices tab and go to the Advanced Config tab. Look for

"ext-device.konicaminolta.restricted.allow-multiple-login" what value is that set to?

[Paid_Peanuts]

Thanks Big_Ted!

 

To answer your questions in turn:

1) Version: 15.0 (Build 33181)

2)

3) N

[minimoo]

we use konica's + hid cards (with a network card reader)

 

What's your card reader setup?

 

is it the konica reader(s) or similar to us?

[Paid_Peanuts]

Thanks minimoo, we use standard MiFare cards here and always have done with Cunninghams and door access.

The card readers sent with the Konica devices are Ysoft and they are the HF+LF variant.

 

As i understand after a lengthy conversation with Konica about the card readers, their MFDs will not accept anything other than Ysoft readers pretty much. They will not work with standard keyboard emulation card readers like many other manufacturers will.

Konica are just in the process of replacing my card readers for a different models of Ysoft that they can reprogram to read the decimal format straight off the bat without us then having to reverse the hex then convert to decimal in papercut.

[minimoo]

Sounds about right - we are using our HID readers + rfid's network card reader as a solution, and working on whether that's stable - hence the question.

[Paid_Peanuts]

Anyone running the latest version of PaperCut V15 with their MFD's?

 

If so do you have this issue:

https://goo.gl/photos/4FXG19Rd2nZXVJUKA

[Paid_Peanuts]

Would appear the very latest version of firmware for the Konica devices has cured a lot of the re-embedding issues we were seeing every time we made a change in PaperCut. Think the version we are running is GD3-K2.

However it looks like there is another issue with running this firmware - the issue in the previous post (see video) of tailgating.

When someone logs in using their MiFare card, within 60-90 seconds of pressing the "Log out" key the next user is unable to login using the MiFare card. Using the onscreen keyboard works but no card authentication for another 60-90 seconds.

 

Lets hope Konica address this with PaperCut sometime soon.

[Paid_Peanuts]

OK - latest update:

Latest version of firmware for the 454e seems to have resolved all the Error 3 + Error 9 mesages within PaperCut. These error messages appeared when any global change was made and PaperCut had to re-embed itself on a device. Of the 15 we had this would result in 7/8 every time that would error. We no longer see this issue as the latest firmware version has a bug fix to prevent the issue. We are currently running firmware GD3-K1.

 

The tailgating issue we were experiencing where users were not able to log in using a MiFare card within quick sucession of someone else pressing the 'soft logout' key onscreen has been resolved by changing the function version of the printer.

 

According to Konica Minolta embedded iOption manual if you encounter Error 3 messages they suggested changing Dip Switch value to 10 - setting the function level at 2. Every funciton value available (1-6) on this firmware created tailgating issues with the exception of function level 6. This has cured all our problems it would appear.

 

So to recap we are no longer seeing any issues and we are running:

1) PaperCut 15 (Build 33181)

2) Konica Minolta 454e running firmware GD3-K1 with function version 6

 

 

Remember - we never had any issues with tailgating when we set the ext-device.konica-minolta.browser.enabled to N = this basically disables the iOptions.

 

So for all of you who are soon to get Konica Minolta with PaperCut and iOptions make sure you set the function version to 6 and run at least this level of firmware.