DST Letter General FAQ’s POS-Specific FAQ’s    - Aloha POS 5.2+    - Aloha POS below 5.2    - POSitouch    - Rest. Manager (ASI)    - Forgot to Upgrade? Tips Macs

Aloha POS Versions 5.2 and Above (version is found in Aloha Manager/Help/About)

Assumptions: Aloha Files Are typically located in the D:\Aloha Directory (Table Service) and D:\Alohaqs Directory (Quick Service) and this is defined within the System as the IBERDIR.  *You can check the IBERDIR by going to a command prompt, locating yourself on the Aloha drive (often, D:) and typing ”cd”(space)”%iberdir%”(ENTER). If you get to D:\Aloha or D:\Alohaqs, this article is for you (many systems are already set this way).  If you have a different directory for IBERDIR, you will need to adjust your instructions with this information in mind (for your system).

Option #1: 1)     Close the Aloha Manager Application.  Ideally, you will do this outside of business hours (in case of problems), but it will work even within business hours. 2)     Verify that you are on the correct time zone for the Back Office File Server.  You can verify this setting by going to Control Panel, select the Date/Time icon there or simply click on the clock on the right side of your Windows Task Bar/System Tray (on the bottom). a.     **Extremely Important** Do not change the time on your Aloha system within the clock, especially while the system is running and the terminals are operational. This will often cause a system crash, especially if attempting to move your clock backward in time. If you attempt to "Apply" or "OK" a date forward move, it will force an "End of Day" and move the date forward immediately. Please do not move the date or time, especially while the system is running.  3)     Download a copy of the Aloha/Radiant patch file, located here.

a.     Save and extract the “exe” file to the root of the D: drive (D:) with your unzip program (ex: WinZip, WinRAR, or WinXP has it built in).  4)     Go to a command prompt, type in ”D:"(ENTER) or if you are in D:\some-directory, type in “cd”(space)“\”(ENTER) which will move you back to the D: prompt.

5)     From here, you will run the following (very long line): “tzdstadj.exe”(space)”/s”(space)”/changebohvals”(space)”/
changeregvals”(space)”/iberdir”(space)”D:\Aloha”(ENTER)

6)     Once you have completed this exercise, you will either Refresh system (on/after to March 11^th) or allow the End of Day process to send the new information to the terminals.

7)     If you have any “remote” administration computers, it is suggested you update them in a similar fashion.  You will need to use the same patch file & instructions on the remote stations, as well. When we say remote computers, we are talking about those that may run EDC or Aloha Manager, which are separate from the Aloha Back Office Server.

The Terminals in Aloha (according to Aloha/Radiant) are not affected by their own Daylight Saving Time checkbox, especially if you utilize this patch correctly.  The patch will set the Daylight Saving Time option (Maintenance/Store Settings/System) to International Time Zone and cause your system to force the current Server time zone & time upon the terminals.

a.     **In the future, if you need to change time zones, you will need to correct the time zone and time on the File Server. Thereafter, you will need to run this patch again.

Option #2:

1)     Close the Aloha Manager Application.  Ideally, you will do this outside of business hours (in case of problems), but it may work even within business hours. 

3)     Try one of the following links as to what other dealers are suggesting:

	a.	Texas Dealer (POS Texas) (seems to be thorough): i.     POS Texas1 ii.    POS Texas2
	b.	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada dealer (AM Aloha) i.     AM Aloha
	c.	Alaska/Oregon/Washington dealer (Enterprise Information Systems) i.     EIS POS ii.     *They saw a problem where systems skipped to Baghdad time on one system.  If this happens, please give a call !!! And, hopefully, you’ve done the work outside the business day, as suggested in Step #1 within both Options.

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Aloha POS Versions Below 5.2 (version found in Aloha Manager/Help/About or Aloha Control/Help/About)

If you had your system prior to 5.2, you can certainly do the Microsoft Windows update.  You can even set your terminals to not automatically update for Daylight Saving Time.  You can even set your terminals on “Arizona” time and disallow POS synchronization with the Back office Fileserver (Versions 5 and above: Found in Aloha Manager under Maintenance/Store Settings/System), as you might have done in the past.  Additionally, you might consider changing (in the same section) to “International” time. On Version 4, TIMEZONE=INTL or TIMEZONE=NODST might also come in handy.

Steps for those below 5.2 (as we understand them). We were unable to find anyone providing these instructions on the web. Here, we list two options that we feel would be feasible:

	a.	Close the Aloha Manager Application (and it might be advisable to do a Utilities/“Stop Front of House”) while this work is being done.
	b.	If you have version 4 Aloha, Close the Aloha Control Program. (which stops the front of house terminals)

3)     Update your system to the latest Microsoft time zone patch (http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007).

4)     If you are comfortable changing the time manually, move all terminals to “Arizona” time or “Pacific” time, just as the Back Office File Server is set.  Aloha simply works best when your Front of House Terminal Time Zone and Back Office Service Time Zone are synonymous. While the “Update automatically” checkbox may be important in other POS systems, the Aloha/Radiant documentation seems to suggest this is irrelevant.

5)     The key to doing a manual adjustment is not setting the synctime or time zone settings listed below. And it would be advised that the Back Office File Server not be set to "Update Automatically" in the Control Panel/Date & Time selection. This would be especially true for the "Fall Back" period when your system is used through the 2 am time period, as it could cause issues to arise.

6)     If you manually adjust date/time settings on your terminals, please start with the Master Terminal. The suggestion is to do this while the system is not functioning and turn on "only" the Master Terminal. Adjust the time properly and thereafter the Master terminal will immediately update the ‘non’-master terminal’s time (if you do this while the system is running) with the existing incorrect time, which could cause a problem in the system. 

Option #2: Synctime & Time Zone settings

4)     Use an Aloha function called Synctime:

	a.	Enable Synctime
		i.     Table service Ver 4.4 and below, enable Synctime in Aloha Maintenance by selecting Options/Miscellaneous 2, and selecting “Run Synctime” ii.     Quick service Ver 4.4 and below, enable Synctime by going into the Newdata folder (typically, D:\Alohaqs\ Newdata) and adding the line “SYNCTIME=TRUE” if it does not already exist in the “aloha.ini” file. iii.     5.0-5.2, Synctime is enabled in Aloha Manager by selecting Maintenance/Store Settings/System/Date&Time, and selecting “Synchronize POS Time with Back Office Time”.
	b.	Synctime does not function (nor does it need to) on systems where one machine is running Back Office AND Master Terminal functions (Front of House). Synctime is meant to synchronize Back Office Server and Master Terminal. Because both machines are one in the same, the other terminals (if you have others) will synchronize their time with the master terminal, which is normal activity and not considered a part of the Synctime program.

6)     Aloha considers the new time periods as "International", so you will no longer be using the standard US time zone:

	a.	Delete the existing “timezone.ini” file that exists in the D:\Aloha\Data or C:\Aloha\Data folder.  (A simple rename might be sufficient). If in Quick service, this is typically found in D:\Alohaqs\Data or C:\Alohaqs\Data
	b.	Verify again that you on the correct time zone and time, as mentioned above. Add “TIMEZONE=INTL” to the Aloha.ini file, changing from TIMEZONE=PST or TIMEZONE=NODST
		i.     In 4.x, it is manually added to the Aloha.ini file, which is located in the D:\Aloha\Newdata or C:\Aloha\Newdata folder or if Quick service is used: D:\Alohaqs\Newdata or C:\Alohaqs\Newdata. (Again, this may vary with your setup) ii.     In 5.x, this is found in Aloha Manager/Maintenance/ Store Settings/System. You will select "International" for the Time Zone, instead of NO DST or US Time Zone.

8)     If you manually adjust date/time settings on your terminals, please start with the Master Terminal. The suggestion is to do this while the system is not functioning and turn on "only" the Master Terminal. Adjust the time properly and thereafter the Master terminal will immediately update the ‘non’-master terminal’s time (if you do this while the system is running) with the existing incorrect time, which could cause a problem in the system. 

9)  Once you are completed with this exercise:

	a.	start up the Aloha Control Program (version 4) – which starts the Front of House
	b.	or start the Aloha Manager (below version 5.2) and select Utilities/Start Front of House

11)   You will either Refresh system (if completed on or after March 11^th) or wait until End of Day to send the new information to the terminals.

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+POSitouch

The Southern California dealer, CBS, has done a very good job of characterizing the issues associated with Daylight Saving Time on the POSitouch platform.  We might suggest you follow their lead as we credit their documentation and adapt it to our website:

It is recommended customers apply this update immediately.

How to update the Daylight Saving Time settings. This update requires the following:
     ·       Internet access
     ·       TCP/IP enabled on POSITOUCH system
     ·       Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0

If your system does not meet any of the above requirements, please call Sotapop Consulting for further assistance.

Important Before you make any changes, verify that the POSDRVR is mapped to drive letter L:.  To verify this, go to My Computer and look for an icon called C on ‘POS’ (L:) , or C on ‘POSDRVR’ (L:), or C on ‘10.10.1.40’ (L:).  If the L: drive is not mapped to any of these locations, please call Sotapop technical support.

1. From the Backoffice computer, click on the following link:  http://www.cbs-posi.com/dst/TZSetup.exe In the File Download dialog box, click Save or Save this program to disk.  Save the file to the Desktop.

2. On the Desktop, double click on TZSetup.exe.   Type C:\ in the Unzip to folder field.   Click the Unzip button.  Click OK.  Click Close.

3. On the Desktop, double click on TZupdate shortcut.

4. Reboot each terminal in the system.

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What if we forget to do the update?

Your clock will be off, and therefore, events may be off by one hour for the period of time March 11, 2007 until early April.  And, thereafter, instead of “falling back” on the last weekend of October (October 28, 2007), you would be an hour ahead for a week until the first weekend in November (November 4, 2007) when the time shift occurs again.

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