Troubleshooting a BOCA Ticket Printer

This article is for Spektrix users who use BOCA Ticket Printers to print tickets or card receipts.

In this article, you will troubleshoot a range of issues with BOCA Ticket Printers, such as tickets not printing, the printer issuing blank tickets, or fonts not displaying correctly. The article will help you identify whether the issue is with hardware, printer drivers, the Box Office App, local network connectivity, your Spektrix System, or ticket designs.

If you're using a Stimare Ticket Printer, read Troubleshooting a Stimare Ticket Printer.

Before you read this article make sure you’re familiar with:

• Introduction to Hardware
• Introduction to the Spektrix Box Office App
• Introduction to Ticket Printers
• Installing the Spektrix Box Office App
• Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App
• Setting Up a BOCA Ticket Printer

You can work through each section of this article in order, or jump straight to the section most relevant to these common issues:

• Print Queue shows but does not print
• Printing is delayed or prints too slowly
• Tickets are printing the wrong way
• Extra blank tickets are printing with ticket orders
• Ticket Design is not aligned correctly
• Tickets are not printing fonts correctly
• Tickets cut after every ticket

Before you troubleshoot, start with the following initial checks. These can often save you time.

Initial Checks

1. Is the printer’s USB cable and power lead connected?
2. Is the printer switched on?
3. Is ticket stock inserted the correct way round?
4. Is anything blocking the printer?

Regular cleaning will help minimise problems such as ticket jams, or sensors not reading the ticket notch.

WARNING: Always disconnect your Ticket Printer from mains power before opening or cleaning the printer. Remember to reconnect to mains power once you've finished.

For information on how to maintain/clean your printer, refer to TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

Once you have completed these checks, next, check that the Spektrix Box Office App is running.

Check the Box Office App is running

A key step in troubleshooting is always to make sure the Spektrix Box Office App is running. The app icon is green when connected.

When hovering your mouse over the icon, it should show Connected to Spektrix as seen in the video below:

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

If the Box Office App isn’t connected, read Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App before proceeding.

Errors during driver installation

If the BOCA driver install wizard does not appear when double-clicking on the Install_Drv.exe file in the BOCA driver zip folder, follow these steps to complete the installation:

1. Open Boca_Systems zip folder and double click on the Boca_Systems folder.
2. Double-click into the BocaPrinterDrivers folder.
3. Double-click the dpinstx64.exe file. This should prompt the install wizard in the program file to run so that you can continue the driver install.

Print a Test Ticket from Printer

Test your BOCA Ticket Printer to see if the issue is hardware-based by printing a test ticket directly from the printer. Follow these steps:

1. Check that the printer is plugged in, connected, and turned on.
2. Turn the printer off and turn it back on again.
3. Check the ticket stock is loaded correctly.
4. If your BOCA Ticket Printer has buttons, press the Test button on the side of the printer to output a properly formatted test ticket.
5. If your BOCA Ticket Printer has no buttons, perform a test print using the BOCA configuration tool installed on your PC. For more information, refer to TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

For specific instructions on how to turn on and plug in your printer, load your ticket stock, or perform a test print, refer to TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

Here is an example of a test print from a BOCA Ticket Printer:

If you are still unable to print a test ticket, continue to the next section to perform a printer reset.

Reset your Printer

If you are unable to print a test ticket, perform a printer reset on your BOCA Ticket Printer.

1. Unplug the printer’s power adapter so that it loses power entirely (turning it off at the off switch is not enough)
2. Take the ticket stock out of the printer
3. Plug the printer back in and wait for it to restart
4. Feed the ticket stock back into the printer
5. Restart the PC the printer is attached to

If you cannot print a test ticket from your BOCA Ticket Printer after a printer reset, there may be an issue with the printer itself. Please contact the manufacturer directly by visiting TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

Troubleshoot in Windows

Check for any connection issues with the computer by conducting a Windows troubleshoot. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop and search for the Control Panel. In the Control Panel, under Hardware and Sound, click View devices and printers.

REMINDER: If you don’t see your printer in Devices and Printers, check to see if it’s installed. To do this, first make sure the printer is plugged in, connected, and turned on. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop and search for Device Manager. Check that your BOCA Ticket Printer is listed under Printers. If it’s not listed, you will need to install it. You will find instructions for this in Setting Up a BOCA Ticket Printer.

1. If your printer is greyed out, check all cable connections and ensure it is plugged in, turned on and has ticket stock inserted.
2. Make sure the printer is connected directly by USB and not using a USB splitter.
3. If you see a yellow exclamation mark next to the printer, this indicates a problem. Right click the printer and a Troubleshoot option will appear.
4. Click on Troubleshoot. Windows will then run checks to identify the issue. If any issues persist after clicking Troubleshoot, please contact your IT team.

Once your IT team has checked your printer, perform a test print via Windows.

Test Print from Windows

TIP: The spooler is a Windows service that queues up print jobs for printer drivers. A driver translates the print job into a format the ticket printer can understand.

Check for spooler, driver or printer connectivity issues, by printing a test ticket from the Windows Driver.

1. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop and search for Printers & Scanners
2. Click the printer
3. Click Manage
4. Click Print a test page

You can watch these steps in the following video:

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

The document will print. Here is is an example of a test print from Windows:

TIP: Some text may appear cut off in a test ticket. This is due to the orientation of the ticket and is normal.

If the test page does not print, it will appear in the print queue. If there are documents stuck in this queue, you will have to clear them before you can print. If nothing appears in the print queue, make sure you are looking at the correct printer in Printers and Scanners. 

If a test ticket does not print, proceed to the next section to check that the correct Form Size is selected.

Correct the Form Size

To ensure the driver knows the size of your tickets, check the Form Size measurements in the driver settings are correct.

Check Printing Preferences

1. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop and search for the Control Panel.
2. Click View devices and printers.
3. Right click on your printer and select Printing Preferences.
4. Click the Advanced button on the bottom-right.
5. Check the name of the Form Size in the Paper Size field. If it appears incorrect, select the correct Form Size.
6. Click OK to save the Advanced Options.
7. Click OK to save the Printing Preferences and return to the list of printers.

You can watch these steps in the following video:

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

Check Print Server Properties

1. In Control Panel > View devices and printers, click on your printer again to highlight it and select Print Server Properties from the top menu bar.
2. In the list of Form Sizes, find the form selected in Printing Preferences.
3. Correct the Form Size measurements if necessary (Note: The long edge is the height and short edge is the width).
4. Click OK to save the Print Server Properties and return to the list of printers.

You can watch these steps in the following video:

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

Correct Printing Preferences

1. Return to Printing Preferences by right clicking on your printer and selecting Printer Preferences.
2. Click the Advanced button to check the correct Form Size is selected. If an incorrect form is selected, select the correct Form Size.
3. Click OK to save the Advanced settings then click OK to save the Printer Preferences and return to the list of printers.

Correct Printer Properties

1. Right click on your printer and select Printer Properties
2. Click on the Advanced tab
3. Click on Printing Defaults
4. Click on the Advanced button
5. Select the Form Size from the Paper Size drop-down menu
6. Click OK to save the Advanced Options
7. Click OK to save the Printing Defaults
8. Click OK to save the Printer Properties

You can watch these steps in the following video:

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

You can also refer to the steps under Configuring a BOCA Printer to Work with your Ticket Stock in the article Setting Up and Installing a BOCA Ticket Printer.

Now, restart your computer and perform a test print from Windows (refer back to the steps under the heading Test Print from Windows).

If the print job queue continues to grow even though the printer is showing as available in printer settings, there may be an issue with the spooler.  To restart the spooler, you will need to uninstall and reinstall the drivers, as explained in the next section.

Uninstall the Printer Driver

You may sometimes be unable to print tickets, even though you can see jobs waiting in your BOCA’s print queue.  This can indicate an issue with the spooler, a service which queues up print jobs. To rectify this, uninstall and reinstall the printer driver as follows:

1. Keep the printer plugged in as you uninstall its driver
2. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop
3. In the Search Bar, type and then select Device Manager
4. Right click on the printer and select Uninstall device
5. Click Uninstall
6. Check that the printer has been successfully uninstalled

You can watch these steps in the following video:

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

Double-check to make sure the BOCA Ticket Printer has been fully uninstalled.

1. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop. In the Search Bar, type and then select the Control Panel.
2. Click View devices and printers.
3. Check to see if the printer still shows in the list of devices.
4. If the printer is still there, right click on the printer and click Remove device.
   
5. Disconnect the printer from the PC and begin the reinstall, following the steps under Installing the Printer on your PC in the article Setting Up a BOCA Ticket Printer.

If you still can’t print a test ticket after reinstalling the driver, please contact the manufacturer directly via TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

Test Print from the App

You can test the connection between the Spektrix Box Office App and the printer by performing a test print from the App.

REMINDER: If the printer doesn't appear under Spektrix printers in the App, you will need to add it. Check the steps under Adding a BOCA Printer to the Spektrix Box Office App in the article Setting Up and Installing a BOCA Ticket Printer.

1. Open the Spektrix Box Office App by right clicking on the Spektrix icon in your system tray and selecting Open.
2. In the Printers tab, select the printer from the Spektrix printers list.
3. Click on the Test Printer button in the bottom left corner. If you cannot see the Test Printer button, read My App has missing buttons in Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App.

WARNING: You cannot perform a test print from the Box Office App in FGL mode. Change from FGL mode by selecting your printer in the App and clicking ‘Edit’. Use the Print using FGL check box to change the settings, then click OK. After the test, be sure to change the settings back to FGL mode, if previously set.

Here is is an example of a test print from the Spektrix Box Office App:

If a ticket is not printed, reset the Spektrix Box Office App and be sure to register or re-register the app and select the correct printer. For instructions on how to reset the Spektrix Box Office App, please refer to the article Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App. For instructions on how to register the app, please refer to the article Installing the Spektrix Box Office App.

If the App icon is yellow with a red exclamation mark, please refer to Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App.

Test Print from Spektrix

Test your BOCA Printer’s connection with the Spektrix system by printing an address label from Document Designs.

TIP: The following steps can be replicated to test print any Document Design by selecting the desired design in step 3. However, we recommend printing an address label as the simplest way to test the connection between your BOCA printer and the Spektrix system.

1. Navigate to the Control Panel in the lower left corner of Spektrix and select Change local settings
2. Select the printer
3. Navigate to Admin Interface > Document Designs > Other > Address Label
4. Click Edit
5. If the design is blank, add a text field and click Save Text for test printing purposes
6. Click the Print button in the top-right corner

You can watch these steps in the following video:

An Address Label should now print. If it doesn’t, check your connection to the App, referring to the article Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App. 

If you need to reinstall the Spektrix Box Office App, read Uninstalling the Box Office App in the article Installing the Spektrix Box Office App.

If you are still unable to print from the Spektrix system but can perform a test print from the Spektrix Box Office App, please contact Support to make sure your client system is configured correctly. If your system is configured correctly, next, check your Ticket Design and Printer Settings.

Check Ticket Design and Printer Settings

If you can print an Address Label from Spektrix but are unable to print other tickets, check the formatting of your Ticket Design in Spektrix. You will need to compare and check if the following settings match: Document Settings in your Spektrix System and Printer Settings in the Spektrix Box Office App. The instructions below will help you locate the two settings.

Locate Document Settings in your Spektrix System

1. Navigate to Admin Interface > Document Designs
2. Find the name of your ticket design and click Edit
3. Click Document Properties
   
   
4. Keep this window open and proceed to the next section

Locate Printer Settings in the Spektrix Box Office App

1. Open the Spektrix Box Office App by right clicking on the Spektrix icon in your system tray and selecting Open
2. In the Printers tab, highlight your printer in Spektrix printers and click Edit Printer
3. Check the Spektrix Box Office App printer settings

With both the Document Settings and Printer Settings open, check that each of the settings properties match. Each of the sections below addresses different properties to check and adjust. Feel free to check one or all of the properties.

• FGL Mode vs. Generic Mode

  Check that the Printing Mode settings in Document Properties in Spektrix match the settings in the Add/Edit Printer section of your printer in the Box Office App.

  

  TIP: FGL is a print language mainly used by BOCA printers. Only Generic mode supports the printing of tickets with special formatting like bold text or custom fonts. When using Generic mode, uncheck the Print using FGL option in the Add/Edit Printer section of your printer in the Box Office App.

• Orientation Reverse Landscape and Print Reversed

  Check that your tickets are set to the correct orientation.

  Unlike other printer settings, the orientation settings do not need to match. Adjust either setting and perform a test print to see if the ticket prints in the correct orientation. 

  If the issue is with tickets on all printers, try changing Orientation in the Document Properties in Spektrix. If you are able to print on one printer properly but not another, check the printer settings in the Spektrix Box Office App. You may need to tick or untick Print Reversed.

  

• Document Size (Ticket Size)

  Check to see if the document size (ticket size) is correct. Measurements are in millimeters.

  TIP: Unlike Form Size settings on the driver, the Document Properties in Spektrix use width as the long-edge and height as the short-edge of tickets.

  

• DPI Settings

  Check to see if the DPI (Dots per Inch) settings match the resolution of the printer. Press the Test button on the BOCA Ticket Printer (Print a Test Ticket from Printer). The test ticket will include the DPI information.

  

  

After making adjustments to any or all of these settings in your Spektrix system and Spektrix Box Office App, please be sure to:

1. Reset your printer
2. Test Print from the App
3. Test Print from Spektrix (follow the instructions to print a ticket not an address label)

Check the Event Instance

Check that the correct Ticket Design is assigned to the Event Instance.

1. Navigate to the Admin Interface > Events.
2. Click the Event you would like to check.
3. Navigate to the Instances tab and select an Instance.
4. Check that the correct Ticket Design has been selected. If not, click the Edit button in the bottom right corner.
5. In the dropdown, select the correct Ticket Design.
6. Click Save.

Common Printing Issues

This section summarizes the issues most commonly encountered with BOCA Ticket Printers and highlights the parts of this article most relevant to that issue.

Print Queue shows but does not print

If the print queue shows the print job but does not print, there may be an issue with the driver/spooler. 

Follow the steps in these sections to troubleshoot:

1. Correct the Form Size
2. Uninstall the Printer Driver

If the issue persists, please refer to TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

Printing is delayed or prints too slowly

If printing is delayed or too slow, there are a few ways to resolve this issue.

• Change the Poll Period

  In Spektrix Box Office App versions 2.0 and higher, you can change the Poll Period, which controls how frequently the Box Office App will check for new information from your Spektrix system. If this period is set too high, it can lead to printing delays.

  To check which version of the Box Office App you are currently using, right-click on the Box Office App icon in your system tray. The Box Office App version will show at the top of the pop-up window.

  

  If your App is a version older than 2.0, please update to the latest version by clicking Check for Updates… in the App menu. If the App does not update, uninstall then re-download the latest version of the App. Uninstall the previous version of the App first before downloading the latest version. Check the steps under Uninstalling the Box Office App in the article Installing the Spektrix Box Office App, then download the latest version, from Software Downloads.

  Change the Poll Period to minimize printing delays.

  1. Navigate to the Settings Interface > Configuration > Box Office App
  2. Click the name of the computer where the printer is installed and registered
  3. In the Basic Details page, under Poll Period set the value to a number lower than the current number, no lower than 2000
  4. Click Save Box Office App

  

• Disable bidirectional communication

  If adjusting the Poll Period does not ease delays in printing, disable bidirectional communication:

  1. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop and search for the Control Panel
  2. Click View devices and printers
  3. Right click on your printer and select Printer Properties
  4. Click on the Ports tab
  5. Select your printer
  6. Uncheck Enable bidirectional support
  7. Click OK to save

  

• Bypass the print spooler

  If disabling bidirectional communication does not work, bypass the print spooler:

  1. Click the Windows symbol in the bottom-left corner of your desktop and search for the Control Panel
  2. Click View devices and printers
  3. Right click on your printer and select Printer Properties
  4. Click on the Advanced tab
  5. Select Print directly to the printer
  6. Click OK to save

  

  After each adjustment, perform a test print from the Windows driver.

Tickets are printing the wrong way

If your tickets are printing the wrong way, for example vertically instead of horizontally,, first make sure that the ticket stock is inserted correctly.  Refer to TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada) for instructions on how to insert ticket stock for your printer model.

If your tickets are printing the wrong way for every ticket, check the document orientation by following the steps in these sections:

• Adjust Orientation in the Document Properties

  Check that your tickets are set to the correct orientation.

  Adjust the settings under Orientation in the Document Properties in Spektrix and perform a test print to see if the ticket prints in the correct orientation. For more information on adjusting Document Properties, please refer to Check Ticket Design and Printer Settings.

  

If the problem is limited to one printer, then you may need to change a setting in the Spektrix Box Office App on the computer that the printer is plugged into. Please follow the steps in these sections to troubleshoot:

• Adjust Orientation in the Printer Settings

  Check that your tickets are set to the correct orientation.

  Adjust the printer settings in the Spektrix Box Office App and perform a test print to see if the ticket prints in the correct orientation. You may need to tick or untick Print Reversed. For more information on adjusting Printer Settings, please refer to Check Ticket Design and Printer Settings.

  

Extra blank tickets are printing with ticket orders

If extra blank tickets print with orders, the Document design templates may be set to the wrong size in Spektrix. If a document template is slightly too large, the printer may try to print it across two separate tickets, leading to extra blank tickets printing out with certain orders. This can apply to ticket designs as well as merchandise, address slip, gift vouchers, etc. Please follow the steps in these sections to troubleshoot:

• Correcting Ticket Size

  Check to see if the ticket size is correct. Measurements are in millimeters.

  TIP: Unlike Form Size settings on the driver, the Document Properties in Spektrix use width as the long-edge and height as the short-edge of tickets.

  Perform a test print to see if extra blank tickets stop printing. For more information on adjusting Ticket Size, please refer to Check Ticket Design and Printer Settings.

  

If this does not resolve the issue, the ticket design may be incorrectly aligned; proceed to the next section to check the form settings in the printer’s drivers.

Ticket Design is not aligned correctly

If blank tickets are still printing with orders, check the form settings in the printer’s drivers are correct. Please follow the steps in these sections to troubleshoot:

1. Correct the Form Size
2. Test Print from the App
3. Test Print from Spektrix (follow the instructions to print a ticket not an address label)

Tickets are not printing the correct font

If your tickets are not printing the correct font, check the Printing Mode in the Spektrix Box Office App. Please follow the steps in this section to troubleshoot:

WARNING: If you are using FGL mode, you will not be able to use custom Windows fonts on your Document Design.

• Adjusting to Generic Mode

  Check that the Printing Mode settings in Document Properties in Spektrix are set to Generic Mode and match the settings in the Add/Edit Printer section of your printer in the Box Office App by unchecking the Print using FGL box.

  

  TIP: FGL is a print language mainly used by BOCA printers. Only Generic mode supports the printing of tickets with special formatting like bold text or custom fonts. When using Generic mode, uncheck the Print using FGL option in the Add/Edit Printer section of your printer in the Box Office App.

• Printing Using FGL

  FGL is a print language mainly used by BOCA printers. When creating ticket designs in Spektrix, you can choose between three printing modes:

  1. FGL Basic
  2. FGL Extended
  3. Generic

  Using either of the FGL options means you will only be able to use a small number of predetermined fonts. The Extended mode has the most to choose from of the two, but some older BOCA models do not support this mode.

  Using FGL with BOCA printers means they may print more quickly, and you will have more control over when the printer physically cuts tickets as they print.

  With the Generic print mode you may see slightly slower printing, but will have a much wider range of fonts and formatting choices.

If you are still having trouble printing the correct font, check the font is installed on your PC. If the font is on your Spektrix System but not on your PC, you will need to install the font to your PC before continuing.

If the font is on your PC but not showing on the dropdown menu in the Document design tool page in Spektrix, please contact Support to ensure that your client system is configured correctly.

If the font is on your Spektrix System and on your PC but still not printing properly, the fonts may need to be installed on the printer. Please refer to TLS-BOCA Systems Support (UK & Ireland) or BOCA Systems Support (US & Canada).

WARNING: Make sure you have permission to use any fonts you are installing - some fonts require licenses for use in different contexts.

Tickets cut after every ticket

If you want your tickets to cut after every order rather than after every ticket, you can do so in FGL mode only. Please follow the steps in these sections to troubleshoot:

• Adjusting to FGL mode

  Check that the Printing Mode settings in Document Properties in Spektrix are set to FGL mode and match the settings in the Add/Edit Printer section of your printer in the Box Office App.

  

  TIP: FGL is a print language mainly used by BOCA printers. Only Generic mode supports the printing of tickets with special formatting like bold text or custom fonts. When using Generic mode, uncheck the Print using FGL option in the Add/Edit Printer section of your printer in the Box Office App.

You should now have all the information needed to troubleshoot your BOCA Ticket Printer.