MSR120 Programmer’s Manual UDN PM010, Rev. 1.1
Section 4 – Commands and Responses 2003/1/21
Section 4 COMMANDS and RESPONSES
This section describes the commands and responses available for the MSR120 series. Each item includes the ASCII,
hexadecimal codes and comments paragraph. The comments paragraph provides an explanation of the command. The
letter ‘x’ indicates a variable and the letter 'h' is an abbreviation of 'hexadecimal'.
All readers are capable of communicating in 3 protocols: 0, 1 and 2. If protocol 0 is selected, all commands and
responses are as listed in this section. If protocol 1 is selected, the characters STX, ETX and BCC must be added to all
transmissions. If protocol 2 is selected, the characters SOH, ADDRESS, COUNT and BCC must be added to all
transmissions.
!"
Command
!
Host to Reader
P (50h)
"
Ready to Read
Comments
1 Clear buffers
2 Transmit "ACK"
3 Expect for card swipe
4 Transmit "ACK" after card swipe
After an "Ready to Read" command is received and acknowledged, the only valid commands that will be accepted
for execution are: "Abort" <ESC>, "Status" <$> and LED control commands. When the reader is ready for "Read
on Insert", the "ACK" after card swipe will be transmitted after the rear sensor is activated. For read on reverse
swipe, the "ACK" after card swipe will be transmitted after the front sensor is de-activated.
p (70h)
"
Ready to Read
Comments
Same as 'P' command, except an extra response " ( " is reported when a media is detected through the read head.
A " ) " response is reported when media detect goes inactive, and response " > " when no magstripe.
Q (51h)
"
Transmit Standard Data, Track 1
R (52h)
"
Transmit Standard Data, Track 2
S (53h)
"
Transmit Standard Data, Track 3
Comments
1 Process data in the read buffer for the specified track according to ISO, AAMVA and DVM format.
2 Transmit data in ASCII.
3 If error is detected, transmit proper error response "*". If no data transmit "+". (Refer to
Responses
!
Reader to Host
later in this section).
Page 4-1
Proprietary and Confidential
Total 36 pages
