Resolve an Issue With a Swiped Card Not Appearing on the POS Screen, or Intermittently Not Reading

What is causing this Issue? 

The issue is often due to a dirty card reader, which causes the track data to be read incorrectly or not read in its entirety. If the track data is completely unreadable but still appears in the POS/PMS screen, the error “9842 garbage data found” may be returned.

How do I resolve this Issue? 

If the issue is only on one terminal/card reader, the card reader may need to be cleaned. You should contact the manufacturer or your Point of Sale (POS) (whoever provided the card reader) for instructions on how to clean it.

Additionally, the issue may be caused by the card reader driver. Most card readers are connected via USB or PS2 ports. The driver works with Windows; if the driver is missing, out of date, or corrupt, it can cause issues with reading the swipe data correctly. You should contact the manufacturer for assistance with the driver.