The printer does not print kitchen tickets or invoices - how to check it

Applies to Invu POS 6.10.1 on iPad, Android and Windows. The Find printers, Details and Print test tools exist since version 6.10.1. To see your version, tap the Invu logo on the main screen: the menu title is the version. Labels are shown as they appear when the POS is in English.

Before you start: which printer is failing

Invu has two kinds of printers, and they are checked in different places:

• Kitchen printers (kitchen tickets and KDS): set up in the Admin Panel, under Printers > Printer List.
• Register printer (pre-check and invoice): the pre-check printer of each cash register. Set up in the Admin Panel, under Cash Register > Cash Register List. Each POS prints according to the register it has selected.

1. Run the diagnostic on the POS (Troubleshoot)

1. On the main screen, press and hold the Invu logo and choose Troubleshoot.
   • If the screen is empty, first choose the register: tap the logo and open Select Cash Register.
2. The This POS network card shows the device's Wi-Fi and IP. The POS and the printer must be on the same network (for example, 192.168.1.x).
3. Under Printers and peripherals, check each printer's status:
   • Offline: check that the printer is on, the network cable or Wi-Fi, and that its IP is the one set in Invu.
   • Available: the POS can connect, but that does not confirm it prints. Continue with step 4.
4. Tap Details and then Print test. A ticket that says PRINT TEST should come out. This test only works with network (IP) printers.

If the printer's IP changed (for example, after the router restarted): tap Find printers, choose the device found (or type the IP in Check IP), run a test and tap Assign to INVU to choose which Invu printer it is. The change is saved on the server, applies to every POS and needs internet. The pre-check IP is not changed here: it is changed in the Admin Panel, on the register.

To keep the IP from changing, ask whoever manages your network to set a fixed (or reserved) IP for each printer.

2. If the kitchen does not get tickets

1. Check whether "Command By Pre-check" is on. Tap the Invu logo and open Cash Register Actions. If you see the option Command By All Commands, this POS is sending all kitchen tickets to the register's printer. Tap it to send them to the kitchen again.
2. Check that the product has a printer assigned. A product without a printer is not printed anywhere and the POS shows no error. In the Admin Panel:
   • in Printers > Printer List, use Assign Categories or Assign Items on the printer; or
   • on the product, Printers tab, Add Printer button.
3. Check "Exclude order types for this printer" on the printer: if the order type (for example, delivery) is excluded, that printer does not get those tickets.
4. Update the POS data after any change in the panel: press and hold the Invu logo and choose Update Data (it asks for the PIN of an employee with permission). Logging out and back in does not bring in the panel's changes.

If "Error in following printers" appears

The message lists the printers that failed. Fix the printer and tap Retry Print. Items that did not print stay pending: the number on the send-to-kitchen button counts them, and you can send them again.

• To reprint a kitchen ticket, press and hold the order's send-to-kitchen button.
• If the printer has a Secondary IP set, the POS tries it when the main one fails.

If you use a KDS (kitchen display)

• If the KDS is set up with the device ID, the POS sends over the internet: check the connection. If it is set up with an IP and port, it must be on the same network.
• In Troubleshoot, a KDS status shows whether the cloud KDS service responds, not the kitchen device itself.
• Since 6.10.1 you can have a backup KDS: enter the second KDS in that printer's Secondary IP field in the panel.

If kitchen tickets come out twice

Version 6.10.1 fixed the same kitchen ticket reaching the kitchen twice. Update the POS to 6.10.1 or later.

3. If the pre-check or invoice does not print

• "Error to connect to printer with ip …": the POS could not connect to that IP. Check the network and the register's pre-check IP (step 1).
• "The printer with ip … haven't paper": replace the roll and try again.
• USB or Bluetooth printer: it can fail without showing a message. In Troubleshoot, Pre-check row, tap Edit and choose the printer again under Device. USB printers do not work on iPad.
• "The consecutive goes out of the established range" (registers with direct printing): in the panel, on the register, fill in ID FROM and ID TO with a range that includes the next invoice number.
• "Operation not allowed": appears when kitchen tickets or reports are sent to a pre-check printer set up as the device's own print dialog (PDF). That type only works for invoices: with it, the pre-check does not print and no message shows. For the pre-check, choose another printer type on the register.

Reprint an invoice that did not print

1. On the main screen, Closed tab, open the order. The affected account shows Printing Error.
2. Tap the Invu logo inside the order and choose Retry Print or, if it already has an electronic invoice number, Reprint.

Important: with electronic invoicing, the invoice may have been issued even though the ticket did not print. Use Reprint; do not charge or invoice the order again.

4. If it prints blank or with strange characters

These causes come from the printer or the paper, not from Invu:

• The thermal paper is loaded upside down or is not thermal paper (it comes out blank).
• The cover is not fully closed or the print head is dirty.
• If accents print wrong, ask the printer's supplier to set it to the Windows-1252 (CP1252) character table, which is the one Invu uses.
• If lines are cut off, check the register's Number of characters on pre-account? field: fewer than 40 characters means 58 mm paper, 40 to 47 means 72 mm, and 48 or more means 80 mm.

By register type and country

If the printer still does not print after these steps, write to us with the printer's name, its IP and a photo of the Troubleshoot screen.