Fun With the Sears POS

by chr0nicxb0redOm  (mediscript4540@hotmail.com)

Initial Disclaimer:  Any knowledge gained from this article is for informational purposes only.  In other words, don't be stupid.

In late November 2005, all Sears stores (Sears Holding, as they are now called, being owned by Kmart) were required to upgrade the Point of Sale (POS) systems from ten-year-old CompuAdd registers to the new IBM Aspen SurePOS 700 series.  (OS Install Guide)

I happened to be working at a small Sears dealer store at the time and personally handled the changeover to the new system.  The new registers feature LCD monitors with touch-screen capability for further down the road, a staggering amount of memory for a POS system (512 MB), and an Intel 2.2 GHz processor.  The systems are also equipped with a mag strip reader (of course) and a wand emulation barcode scanner, much like the old systems were.

The CompuAdd register had a small toggle switch on the front, just below the monitor for powering on (and off) the machine.  The new system has upgraded to an ATX form factor power supply, and therefore shuts down automatically upon kill.

For the most part, the new systems feature everything that you might find on your desktop PC at home.  A headphone jack in the front, a built-in microphone on the monitor, a non-functioning mouse, and two front USB ports, just above the cash drawer.

I cannot express how surprised/happy I was to see them.  Due to the hardware stats I mentioned before, I'm willing to bet that they're USB 2.0.  Like any happy hacker, I always carry around my Kingston DataTraveler, but was disappointed to discover that the case itself, for lack of space, prevents the insertion of the drive.  But that's nothing an extension cable can't resolve.  USB put to U-S-E.

The software running on the machine remained the same between the old and the new systems; a seemingly DOS-based application inescapable at any time, except of course for CMOS.  To get into CMOS, one must power down the system.  Type in 99 then press "Accept" to close the register.  It will then ask you for an Associate ID.  The Sears Manager override ID is 125 (which can used at any prompt), but it's just as easy to flip down the panel above the cash drawer and hold the black button down for five to ten seconds.

Push again to restart the machine.  Watch the display for the message "OPTIONS AVAILABLE" screen to appear and push the letter D on the keyboard twice within five seconds.

You should then see the "360Commerce POS Utility Menu."  In this menu, you can select the boot source.  The default is over the network.  All registers in the front of the store are networked to the Dell server in the back, which stores customer information, store stock, prices, deliveries, etc.

The back-of-the-house server is, of course, dialed into the Sears headquarters in Chicago at all times, to receive up-to-date price changes, stock placement diagrams, upcoming promotions, and who knows what else.  Very interesting.

Just like any other computer, the IBM POS will do pretty much whatever you tell it to do.

At Sears, coupon barcodes are amazingly simple to duplicate with any barcode generating software (I use Barcode Magic 3.1 myself), and are just as easily modified.  Any barcode ending with %2500, etc. is of course the percentage off.

10, 25, and even 65 percent off "discount" signs are usually posted every few paces and are very easily swiped, especially at small stores.  Also, every couple of months, stores hand out $10 (or so) gift cards to the first however many customers of the day.  Although these cards are good for one day only, they can be used as many as fifteen at a time to purchase another gift card good for two years from the date of purchase.

POS End-of-Life

When the old POS systems went out of commission, a procedure was done in which all data on the registers was erased, making them useless to whoever plucked them out of the Dumpster.

This process was called "End-of-Life."  Well, at my particular store, we had two registers that were supposed to be "killed."  Being that I was doing the killing, I decided to only murder the one register and save the other.  By sheer luck, Sears decided that it was the Dealer Store owner's responsibility to dispose of the old equipment.  Of course, I took them both home.

The register that had been "killed" booted up as apparently new, asking for a configuration of hardware and such.  This register I destroyed to make use of the mag strip reader and the barcode scanner.  (I've since come to find out that the Symbol Technologies LT-1810 scanner, although it uses a COM interface, is only a wand emulator and is useless with a PC.  No drivers or software are available for download from the Symbol site and even Google finds nothing.)  The register that was still "alive" attempted to connect to the Sears network.  That's as far as I've gone with it, actually.  It now sits in the corner collecting dust.  I do plan on selling it.

Although I never attempted to do so, I know that it is possible to crash... er... "End-of-Life" the new IBM POS systems, too.

To do so, one would do as follows: restart machine as described above, pressing D twice at the "OPTIONS AVAILABLE" screen.

At the "360Commerce POS Utility Menu," select option 4, "Program Download."

At the "POS Program Download Menu," press the Alt+N keys together.

From the Download Verification selection, press the B key to select "Both."

When prompted for the file download, type in CUAEND.DNL and press "Accept".  The register will reboot and this is your point of no return.  "Are you certain you want to proceed with end of life?" will appear.

If you press "1" to accept, you will see several screens showing you that files are being deleted and a message "This register has been processed for retirement - power off" will appear.

Insecurities with the OS

While alone in the store (I did mention that it is a small store), I have played with the keyboard, trying different key combinations.

Ctrl+Alt+S brings you to the supervisor's menu, where you can change taxing information, store location, and even the Sears telephone numbers that appear on receipts.

In this menu, you also have the ability to perform a hex CMOS dump and print "electronic journals," which print just as receipts do, and display Associate IDs, customer information (Sears card numbers, telephone numbers, addresses, and occasionally Social Security numbers..

On more than one occasion, I have been told to just throw extra journals in the trash.  For the safety of customers and of my ignorant boss, I always burned them.

Journals may also be printed by pressing Alt+J, without requiring an Associate ID.

When customers use a Visa, Mastercard, or Sears card, they are required to sign a special little box with a stylus.  The signatures are saved as bitmaps and are uploaded to "headquarters" during "end day."

The registers may be locked or unlocked with "Alt" + "F4" and an Associate ID.

Shouts: Melissa, forever. & Michael Eistophe.