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Tag is not detected

You put a tag on the reader and the station does not react, or it reports a reader problem. Go through the table from the top.

What you see

On Manage tag, a reader that is not working looks the same as no tag: PLACE A TAG. Home shows Place a spool in both cases. To see the reader's own status, open touchscreen Settings → Wi-Fi & services and tap Next until the step NFC READER. In the browser, Manage tag shows the reader's status at the top.

What you see What it means What to do
NFC READER step: NFC reader starting... (browser: NFC deferred: provisioning) The reader has not started yet. It starts only once the station is connected to your Wi-Fi. See The reader waits for Wi-Fi.
NFC READER step: NFC reader problem. Check the NFC wiring. (browser: NFC reader error) The reader module does not answer, or reading the tag on it failed. The station tries again every 5 seconds. Remove the tag. If the message stays, see The reader does not answer.
PLACE A TAG although a tag is on the reader The reader is not running, or it works but sees no tag: wrong tag type, tag too far away, or metal in between. Check the NFC READER step first. If it says the reader is ready, see The reader is ready but sees no tag.
Tag type not supported yet with a tag kind such as NTAG or other Type 2 tag (NFC-A) (NFC READER step: Tag found. Its type is not supported yet.; browser: Not supported yet) The tag is an NFC-A (ISO 14443A) tag. The reader sees it, but this release reads nothing from it. Use an OpenPrintTag on NXP ICODE SLIX2. See Which tags work.
Two tags on the reader. Remove one. on Manage tag (NFC READER step: More than one tag. Use one tag at a time.; browser: Multiple NFC-V tags detected or Multiple NFC-A tags detected) Two or more tags are in range. Remove the others, including tagged spools lying next to the station.
This tag can't be used as it is The tag is an NFC-V tag, but it is not blank SLIX2 and holds no OpenPrintTag data the station can read. Use a blank SLIX2 tag. See Which tags work.
"Reading tag" with the spinner for a long time, or the tag appears and disappears The tag is at the edge of the reader's range, or more than one tag is in range. Remove other tags. Move the tag closer to the antenna and keep it still.
The tag is read, but Manage tag says "Spoolman is not reachable. The tag's link cannot be checked right now." (browser: "Link not checked") The tag is fine; the station cannot reach Spoolman to find out which spool it belongs to. Fix Spoolman: Spoolman problems. Leave the spool where it is; the station looks it up again by itself, usually within about 30 seconds after Spoolman is back.
The tag is read and "Looking up this spool in Spoolman..." stays for a long time Spoolman is slow to answer. Wait. If it ends with "Spoolman is not reachable…", see the row above.

The station identifies a spool as soon as the tag is read. It does not need a steady weight or a calibrated scale for that.

The reader waits for Wi-Fi

The NFC reader stays off until the station is connected to your Wi-Fi.

  • Normal start: the reader starts as soon as Wi-Fi is connected.
  • During first setup, or whenever the setup network OpenTag-Setup-XXXX is open: the reader starts about 30 seconds after the station has connected, when the setup network closes.
  • Once started, the reader keeps running even if Wi-Fi drops later.

So if the NFC READER step keeps showing NFC reader starting..., fix the Wi-Fi connection: Wi-Fi and reaching the station. A station that has never been connected to Wi-Fi cannot read tags.

The reader does not answer

Unplug the station, then check the wiring:

  1. The I2C solder bridge on the NFC module is closed.
  2. Module pin 6 has 5 V and pin 7 is connected to GND.
  3. Module pin 5 (SDA) goes to GPIO13, pin 3 (SCL) to GPIO14, pin 1 (IRQ) to GPIO12.
  4. Module pins 2 and 4 are not connected to anything.

To test the reader on its own: touchscreen Settings → Wi-Fi & services, tap Next until the step NFC READER. A working reader shows NFC reader ready. Place a tag on it to test.

The reader is ready but sees no tag

  1. Check the tag type. Only NFC-V (ISO 15693) tags are read, and only NXP ICODE SLIX2 can be written. NTAG and MIFARE stickers, the common phone tags, are found and named (Tag type not supported yet) but not read. NFC-B and NFC-F tags are invisible to this reader: the screen does not change at all.
  2. Move the tag. Hold it flat against the antenna on the NFC module, then try the position it has on the spool.
  3. Remove metal. The load cell, screws or a metal plate near the antenna or the tag can block reading.
  4. Wait a moment. The station needs to see the tag for about a second and a half before it shows it.
  5. Try another tag to rule out a damaged one.

If the tag reads on the open bench but not in your enclosure, see Scale platform and enclosure.