Ticket Printers

Working with Ticket Printers

Theatre Manager works with Boca, Boca Dual, Practical Automation, Datamax Allegro and Datamax S-Class printers by default. This section will deal with steps for setting up a printer to work within your network. Steps on connecting a user to a printer begin at 15 on this page.

For information on setting up a Boca printer, click here.
The website for Boca can be found at http://www.bocasystems.com.
For information on setting up a Practical Automation printer, click here. The website for Practical Automation can be found at
http://www.practicalautomation.com.

Changing IP Address on Practical Automation Printers

Setup for a Practical Automation Printer

There are two methods for changing the ip address on a Practical Automation printer with an ethernet port. These are to:

Use a web browser to talk to the printer. This may not work with some browsers
Use a special application to access the printer and change a number of settings. This method always works and is the preferred method.

Arts Management recommends that you provide a static IP address to the thermal ticket printer. This ensures each time the ticket printer is turned off and back on again, the Theatre Manager's workstations will be able to communicate properly with it.

Arts Management recommends that you place the assigned IP address for the printer on a label and stick it directly onto the printer. This will ensure staff members can easily identify the IP address of the ticket printer to Arts Management in case there is a problem with ticket printing and some troubleshooting may need to happen.

Option #1 - Using the Practical Automation Tool

Download the installer for the Practical Automation Tool from http://www2.artsman.com/Software/PANetworkUtilityVB-1.1.zip.
When the download is complete, extract the ZIP file into a new folder anywhere that is easily accessible.
Open the folder.
There will be a number of files.
Open the folder labeled Package and find the file labeled setup.exe.
Double click on the setup file to run it, and complete the installation.
After the installation is complete, return the previous level in the folder that the Practical Automation Tool was extracted to.
Do this by pressing the Back button or the Up button.

Setup the Practical Automation Printer, power it up, and connect it to the network via a hub, switch or router.

If a hub, switch, or router is not available, a crossover cable between another computer and the printer will be needed.

The default address of the printer is 192.168.1.1, (which is a commonly used IP address). Make sure that the printer will not conflict with something else on the network before powering it up. If another device is using the same IP address, it is recommended that you use a crossover cable to another computer rather than hooking the printer into the network.

In the Practical Automation Tool folder, double click on the PANetwork program to start it.
At the top of the screen, enter the IP address 192.168.1.1, and then click the Ping & Get Printer Info button.
This will connect you to the printer.
Near the bottom of the screen, click on the Change IP Address tab.
Change the IP address and subnet mask as necessary.
Click the Update IP Address using FGL Command button.
Once the settings are saved, the IP address at the top of the program will need to be changed to reflect the new IP address, and to re-connect to the printer.
To verify the settings, turn off the printer. Hold down the F0 button and turn the printer on.
A ticket will print containing the IP address of the printer.
Once everything is set, each user will need to be adjusted in Theatre Manager to connect to the new printer.
Click here for more information on changing a user's ticket printer settings.

Option #2 - Using a Web Browser

Change the IP address of the computer temporarily to 192.168.1.xx where xx is anything you want except 1 (for the ticket printer is using 192.168.1.1). You may want to take a screenshot or write down your existing settings so you can reset them after you are finished.
a) On a Macintosh go to Apple >> System Prefs >> Network,
b) On a PC go to Network Places >> Properties >> Local Area Connection >> Properties >> TCP/IP >> Properties
c) Set your Built-In Ethernet to become Manually set at 192.168.1.2 (anything but 192.168.1.1) and subnet of 255.255.255.0

Setup the Practical Automation Printer, power it up, and connect it to the network via a hub, switch or router.

If a hub, switch, or router is not available, a crossover cable between another computer and the printer will be needed.

Open the computer's web browser, typically either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Do not use Safari as it will not be effective.
In the address bar of the web browser enter the following IP address: http://192.168.1.1 and press the Enter key.
A prompt for user name and password should appear. Leave these fields blank and press the Enter key.

A new page will open showing the Printer Configuration.
Click on the link labeled 'Network' to adjust the IP configuration.
Change the IP to the new static address, and adjust the subnet if necessary.
Click the OK button at the bottom of the screen.
The word 'Done' should appear to the right of the button confirming the settings are saved.
Click the Apply Settings button to update the printer.
The printer should reset once the settings have been updated.
Turn the printer off and back on one time to ensure that the settings have correctly updated.
To verify the settings, turn off the printer. Hold down the F0 button and turn the printer on.
A ticket will print containing the IP address of the printer.
Once everything is set, each user will need to be adjusted in Theatre Manager to connect to the new printer.
Click here for more information on changing a user's ticket printer settings.
Reset the IP settings for your computer to what they were before you started.

Disable SNMP on Practical Automation Ticket Printer

Disabling any unused service from the network, as per PCI DSS standard 2.2.2, may require you to disable the SNMP service from the ticket printer. This would only apply to 'Ethernet' ticket printers as parallel, serial, and USB cabled ticket printers do not offer the SNMP service.

If you are required to disable the SNMP service, there is an application/utility called the "Device Installer" that will allow you to make these changes. You can find this utility at http://www.lantronix.com under Support/Downloads. Download this application/utility to update the software within the ticket printer.

Please contact your local IT department for assistance making this change.

Ticket Printers - Boca Printers

Setup for a Boca Printer

Setup the Boca Printer, power it up, and connect it to the network via a hub, switch or router.
If a hub, switch, or router is not available, a crossover cable between another computer and the printer will be needed.
Open the computer's web browser, typically either Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari.
In the address bar of the web browser enter the following IP address: http://10.0.0.192 and press the Enter key.
This should open the Boca Systems' Printer Configuration Page.
Near the bottom of the first column of settings, use the drop down menu to change Ethernet from DHCP Enabled to Yes
At the bottom of the second column of settings, set the IP address for the printer.
Typically leading zeros are not necessary in an IP address, but they are for this setting.
At the bottom of the third column of settings, adjust the Subnet Mask if necessary.
At the bottom of the fourth column of settings, set the Default Gateway for the network.
Again, it is necessary to include the leading zeros.
Click the Save Changes button to finish the process.
The printer should now be able to be pinged at the new IP address. Also, the new IP address will print on a test ticket if the information is needed to be stored somewhere.

For information on connecting a user to the printer via Theatre Manager, click here.