Triage: issues that can happen in any mode
Purpose: Fix the problems that show up no matter how the site takes payment.
When to use this: You've landed here from a mode page, or the problem doesn't seem tied to one mode.
Can't connect to reader
What it means: The reader isn't talking to the device or PC that drives it.
Fix depends on where the reader is:
- On a handheld (Order & pay or Pull & pay on a handheld): work the Connection Lost modal in order, Retry, then Restart App, then reboot the device. If the reader still won't pick up cards, open Device Settings and run Init EMV or EMV Pad Reset. Full steps: Handheld · Reader & EMV management.
- On a counter reader ("Failed on Com Port" / NAK): the reader has fully lost its connection, so a soft reset won't help. Power-cycle it. A one-cable reader (Verifone P400) just needs unplugging and replugging; an externally powered reader (Verifone M400) needs both its power and USB disconnected, then reconnected. Restart the payment service once it comes back. Full steps: Workstation · Terminal & EMV management.
- On a handheld acting as the counter's reader (Mobile Terminal): also confirm the IP reservation and that the workstation's Mobile Terminal IP still matches the handheld.
Reference transaction not found
What it means: A follow-up action (void, adjust, capture, or completing a tip) can't find the original sale it's pointed at. This is a sharing problem between stations. Each station keeps its own copy of the sales taken on it, and stations share those with each other through the site's central server (CAPS). If a station can't reach CAPS, or the stations aren't sharing authorizations properly, a station can only see its own sales, so an action aimed at a sale that started on another station comes back "reference transaction not found."
Temporary fix: Run the action on the same station that took the original sale. That station has the original stored locally, so the void, adjust, or tip completes there even while sharing is down.
Fix the cause so any station can do it:
- Confirm the station is connected to the site's central server (CAPS). On a workstation, the CAPS address is set in its config, see Cloud · Provisioning configs; on a handheld, the bound CAPS address shows at the top of Device Settings.
- Make sure the site's CAPS Server machine is on and reachable on the network. That's the one PC with the CAPS Server box ticked, see Install & reinstall.
- Once the station can reach CAPS again, the shared sales are visible from any station and the action works from anywhere.
If it still isn't found anywhere: the original may never have captured. Confirm it in the cloud portal under Transactions; if it isn't there, treat it as a fresh sale and keep the logs.
Verify: The follow-up completes against the right original, either on the originating station now, or from any station once CAPS is reachable again.
Services not starting
What it means: The workstation payment service won't start or won't stay running, so the counter can't take payments (and any handheld pointed at it as a Mobile Terminal goes dead too).
Fix:
- Open the Services console (
services.msc). Find VitaPay and VitaPay Updater and Start (or Restart) them. See Workstation · Common errors. - If VitaPay starts then stops on its own: this is usually a hostname mismatch. The service binds its cloud config by the machine's hostname and won't start if they don't match. Confirm the hostname matches the config in the portal, see Install & reinstall and Cloud · Provisioning configs.
- Read the reason in the VitaPay Event Viewer log: a failed start names what it couldn't load.
- Confirm the gateway is up: a Socket Error 3006 means NETePay isn't running. See Workstation · Common errors.
- Still failing: send logs with Upload Logs Now and escalate.
Verify: Both VitaPay and VitaPay Updater show Running and stay running, and a counter test sale approves.
