card reader just stopped woring

[withatwit]

i have had the same card reader for months and it just decided to stop working,  so i bought a new one and that one won't work either.  I have deleted and reinstalled the app and followed the other trouble shooting tips I have seen.  Of course it happens in my busy season so I have to key in the numbers which costs me more.  any other ideas besides what is posted in he other topics?

[EJ_]

Hi there. I'm sorry to hear you're having some trouble. 

Which card reader were you using?

Here are a couple of existing threads that might help you:

-Chip Card Reader

-Magnetic Stripe Reader

[withatwit]

I was using the original square reader for the past year.  when that stopped working I went out and bought the reader/chip card for $30 and that wouldn't work either.  I have followed all of the instructions on the tip sheets.  No luck,  A message comes up that it is connected but when you swipe it does nothing.  

[dakotaharvest]

Once you have a chip reader, it replaces the swiper with all cards that have a chip. If the chip reader functions correctly and a non-chipped card isn't swiping correctly, I'd check the connection between the headphone jack and the reader. On one of my older iPads I had to prip the reader up a little bit to get the connection in the jack to work better. 

We did have troubles with one chip reader that used the weighted base for the connection. The little Micro USB connection in the base kept disconnecting. We had to have it sent back and replaced.

Are you connecting via Bluetooth or USB? We preferred the USB connection because whenever we plugged the unit in for charging it kept switching over to USB anyway. We use the Square Stand since it has the USB ports on the cable.

[withatwit]

I am plugging the reader into my ipad.  NOTHING works.  not the old card swiper, not the new one, not the chip reader.  NOTHING.  

[dakotaharvest]

Are you using a Square Stand or just an iPad by itself? I assume it is just an iPad by itself since you have a separate dongle for the reader.

Here are some things to try:

1. Plug Mag Swipe reader into the headphone jack.

2. Go to settings and near the bottom is the section about connecting a Magstrip. See if that connects to it.

3. If that doesn't work, be sure the iPad's Settings > General > Privacy > Microphone is set to allow the Square Register to use the jack.

4. Check the Register settings again to see if it connects to the reader.

5. If all that fails, try force rebooting the iPad. (Hold Down Power and Home Button until the entire device reboots).

6. Retry the above steps.

7. If all that fails, then I'm not sure what to do. It would seem to be a hardware issue with the reader or iPad.

For the Contactless Chip Reader, the only way to connect it will be via Bluetooth without a Square Stand.

1. Turn on Bluetooth on iPad that has at least iOS 9.1 on it and the current Square Register app update.

2. With the reader plugged in for power, go to the Square Register Settings and select the contact reader option at the bottom.

3. Select connect to reader wirelessly and follow the on screen prompts.  

I had to reboot the reader once and re-pair to the iPad. It is important to be sure the little reader it lighting up the way the instruction tell you.

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5673-square-contactless-and-chip-card-reader-troubleshooting

If the old contactless reader is showing up in your previous Bluetooth Device list on the iPad you could try to "forget" it and retry the above steps.

Beyond that, I don't know what is going on. I've never encountered a situation where both the swipe and Bluetooth reader fail to work. It is usually one or the other.

Good Luck!

Paul

[dakotaharvest]

I guess I should have asked if you were using the contactless vs headphone chip reader. 

[withatwit]

Hi Paul

Thanks for all the info.  You were right.  It was a hardware issue.  I tried everything 3x and still no luck.  Finally got smart and tried a different ipad and voila.   worked just fine.

Thanks for your help!

[Cribbenj]

I am having a similar problem. This seems to happen whenever I have installed the latest iOS update. The phone recognizes the reader but neither swipe nor chip reading occurs. Interestingly, the icons at the top

of the screen ( signal

strength, wifi symbol, time etc) turn from black to grey when I open the register app) And my reader will work on other devices.

[Sean]

@Cribbenj - Sorry to hear about the trouble! Have you already had a chance to try out any troubleshooting steps? Deleting and reinstalling the Square Register app is normally a good place to start. 

[Cribbenj]

I did that again. But no luck. I was able to enter the card number manually. Tried the reader after that the reader worked. Persistence pays off

[Sean]

@Cribbenj - Can you confirm exactly which Square Reader you are using? Can you confirm the model of your phone? Are you using a case? If so, have you tried removing it?