24h Reboot Mechanism for PAX devices
- Antoine Trota (Unlicensed)
- Miguel Garcia
PAX has recently implemented a new security feature in PAX credit card readers. We are
sharing this update with you to help you achieve the best experience with your credit
card reader.
What’s new?
A new security standard was introduced by the PCI Council that requires credit card readers to
have the memory re-initialized at least once every 24 hours. To re-initialize the memory, the
credit card reader reboots, which means that the apps will close down and the credit card
reader will restart.
Why was this change introduced?
Re-booting the credit card reader wipes clean any data incidentally stored in the device
memory, further ensuring that your customer’s sensitive card data is protected.
What happens when a credit card reader reboots?
When your PAX credit card reader is scheduled to reboot, a message will appear on the screen
showing a 2-minute countdown to the reboot. At the end of the countdown, the credit card
reader will reboot automatically. During both the countdown and the re-boot, you will not be
able to take any transactions.
How to control the time of your automatic reboot from the PAX Store:
The new feature introduced by PAX helps you define the time window during which the reboot occurs and ensure that your terminals remain secure and up-to-date. With this new feature, you can schedule the reboot to take place at a time that is convenient for your merchants without having to do it manually on the device. By default, the reboot time will be from 4 to 5 AM (local time of the card reader). If you want to change this schedule, just log into the PAX Store platform and navigate to the Terminal Management section. Under the Profile tab, select "Override"
|
 Terminal Management section, Profile tab selected. |
In the Terminal System Configuration section, you will be able to toggle on/off the Terminal Daily Reboot feature. |
 Terminal Daily Reboot toggle |
Clicking on the calendar icon opens a date picker that allows you to select a time frame for the reboot to take place. The minimum selectable time window is one hour. |
Currently, only the following devices updated to recent firmware versions support this feature: |
How to control the time of your automatic reboot locally on the terminal:
Please look at the version of the software on your credit card reader by the model that you have.
You can find the version by going to the PAX Android settings → About Device → Custom
Build Number. Then read our suggestions for how to ensure that the re-boot occurs at a
convenient time for your business.
If you have these firmware versions:
A920 (Android 5) → v02.3.39 or higher
A920 (Android 7) → v02.5.30 or higher
A920 Pro → v11.1.41 only
A35 → v17.2.03 or higher
You can schedule the time of your daily automatic reboot. Simply go into “Settings'' by going
into the PAX Android settings. From there, click on “Security”, then click on “Scheduled Time
Reboot” and then select a re-boot time that is convenient for you.
Many people choose a reboot time before or after daily business hours. Going forward, your PAX credit card reader will reboot at the time you selected, so long as it is powered on at that time. If your credit card reader is powered off at the time that you selected, your credit card reader will start up as normal when it is powered on again, as the memory will have already been re-initialized. If you have multiple
PAX credit card readers, you may want to stagger the scheduled reboot times.
We recommend that credit card readers are powered down at the end of every business day.
If your firmware version is:
A920 Pro → v11.1.43
Your credit card reader will automatically reboot 24 hours after the last time that the credit card
reader was re-started. We recommend that credit card readers are powered down at the end of
the day, and powered on again before the first shift, so the next automatic reboot will occur at a
convenient time.
If your firmware version is:
A920 (Android 5) → lower than v02.3.39
A920 (Android 7) → lower than v02.5.30
A920 Pro → lower than v11.1.41
A35 → lower than v17.2.03
Your credit card reader does not have the 24h reboot mechanism and should be updated.
Merchants can check if they have a pending firmware update by going to the MAXSTORE App
(EMEA devices) or PAXSTORE App (US devices), clicking on the "hamburger" menu on the top
left and clicking on Firmware Update.
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