Operation
User Interface
iDynamo5 Gen III has a single RGB LED acting as the user interface. If the hardware does not support color mixing (e.g., red+green=amber) then a combination of LED states such as color, blinking speed (slow, fast), blink on-off, blink color A-B can be configured. This can be done easily by using a set of bits to represent the LED status over 4 time periods. A timer would rotate through one of the 4 time periods.
Examples: GGGG – Green on, RRGG – red/green blink slow, RGRG – red/green blink fast, GGOO – blink green slow
The LED will be used to indicate various states of the reader.
Table 6-1 - Device State LED UI
Tampered
Solid Red
Offline
Blinking Red (Maybe split offline into ‘must RMA’ vs ‘Field fix possible’
Bootloader running
Solid Blue
Programming FW update into flash
Blinking Blue
Idle
Green
Card being read
Off
Card read error
Blink Red for 2 seconds
Qwantum Mode, Button enabled
Blinking Green
FW being downloaded
Provided by device or progress provided by host app
Power Management
About Power
During normal operation, iDynamo is powered either from its connection to the host or from a connection to a USB power source. While the host charges this way, the device consumes more power from the USB connection than when the host’s battery is fully charged.
To save power, iDynamo enters low power mode when an app does not have an active session with it and will remain in low power mode until the app restarts or re-initiates a session. While an app has an open session, a cardholder may swipe a card through the magnetic stripe reader slot. When the device is not connected to USB power, the host would generally open a session with the device to process a transaction, then close the session after the transaction is complete to transition the device to low power mode and conserve power. When the device is powered by the USB-C connector, the host software may choose to always keep a session open with the device.
iDynamo does not come equipped with a battery, if it does not receive adequate power from the host the device powers off.
The device also draws a trickle of power from the connected host to power the magnetic stripe reader head. The host’s operating system manages this power flow when the device is not in use to save power.
Card Reading
About Reading Cards
The steps for reading a card may be different depending on iDynamo’s configuration and on the design of the host software. Host software developers should see Developing Custom Host Software for implementation references. The solution developer should provide solution-specific instructions for operators to follow. A transaction generally follows this essential flow:
Installation, configuration, and session open
An advanced operator makes sure iDynamo has been installed and configured, appropriate host software has been installed and configured, and the connection between iDynamo and the host is working properly (see Installation). After the host identifies and authenticates iDynamo, apps may open a session with it.
Host displays device prompts
Because the device does not have its own display, the device may send messages to the host prompting the cardholder to perform certain actions; the host software should process these requests by displaying the requested messages and depending on the placement of the host display(s), the operator may need to relay the messages to the cardholder. For example, if the device cannot read the card, it may prompt the cardholder to swipe again.
How to Swipe Magnetic Stripe Cards
Cardholders should swipe magnetic stripe cards in the MSR swipe path with the magnetic stripe facing away from the cardholder and into the device, as shown in Figure 6-1. Cardholders may swipe in either direction along the path.
Figure 6-1 - Swiping a Card Through iDynamo
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