Cash Machines In Windows Seize Up!

[worker201]

[OFFTOPIC]

P.S. The only real reason to watch X-Files is for Gillian Anderson :thumbup:

Take notes, kids - I was out at the bar the other night, and because I've been watching so much X-Files lately, I thought a lot of girls looked a bit like Gillian Anderson.  Being somewhat drunk, I told them so.  Girls fucking dig that!  Seriously, they responded amazingly well.  Apparently, Gillian Anderson is highly regarded by women as a hottie, so telling them that they look like her scores you serious bonus points.  I recommend watching lots of X-Files, just because it can help you score.  Actually, watching all kinds of random tv and movies is kinda useful too.  I told some girl that she looked like Claire Forlani, and she had no idea who that was, but we talked for like 20 minutes, and she kissed me.  I told some other girl that she looked like Sarah Jessica Parker, and even though she was offended, we ended up talking for like an hour, and she bought me a drink and gave me her phone number.

Thank god for beer![/OFFTOPIC]

[Jack2000]

why not try ascii codes
alt + them digits
it may work you could even control the shitty thing

[piratePenguin]

That keypad is probably handled by the same keyboard driver as usual. You could probably replace it, and with a bit of work, hook in a normal keyboard. If you're crazy enough to try that, throw on a boiler suit or something and bring a box of tools, so people think you were brought in to fix it, haha (in town before these guys were replacing a window of a house, and I thought it would be very possible that they were very sneakingly robbing the place).

[Calum]

you're missing the point. he's saying the software is provided by the third party hardware provider as part of a package that they have tendered for, from the bank (as i see it). for a change to be made to linux, another company would have to go "that windows stuff sure is expensive, i bet those diebold guys are paying microsoft through the nose for that crap, why don't we start hiring out cash machines to banks and undercut the bastards? we'll write some foolproof ultra-security linux software and slap in a few adverts for the bank's products and be the new monopoly for cash machines!"

to my knowledge, no company has said this yet, or the machine would already be running linux.

by the way: http://www.polytheism.org.uk/pix/easter-road-cash-machine-7.jpg

i pushed all the buttons and couldn't get it to do anything. all the windows appear to be deselected as though somebody had clicked on the desktop. i have no idea how the display keeps changing if none of the buttons do anything.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

Hmmmm ... you know ... it just might be a ghost in the machine

[Lead Head]

Hehe. iRobot.

[mobrien_12]

Those keypads are not rigged to standard keyboard controllers and is thus not controlled by standard keyboard drivers.  

I am pretty sure the manufacturer writes their own software.  From what I read, many times they pick Windows because they have these braindead programmers coming out of college now who are used to  win32.  

On one hand, Linux would be a good choice for these boxes, because you could strip it down completely and tweak the kernel.  OTOH,  Diebold would have to release the source of their custom kernel, and this is something that would turn off a heck of a lot of managers, and would scare off many clients.

No, BSD would be the better choice.

But Windows lets you do all the pretty graphics and talking sounds and stuff easier than BSD would.  All of which is utterly useless and just pisses me off.  IMHO bank machines should be spartan and reliable, something Windows is not.  OS/2 fit the bill nicely.