Common Problems

If you encounter problems while using RICOH Data Collector, you might be able to solve them by using the information in this section.

Collecting Traces

To help troubleshoot a problem, you can gather traces from your data collector. RICOH Data Collector uses a tracing mechanism that records the code activity.

Use one of these methods to collect the data collector traces together with any additional system information, such as installation details and disk space:

  • Upload diagnostic data. For more information, see Uploading Diagnostic Data.

      Note:
    • The traces are automatically collected and uploaded to cloud.
    • You need to sign in to upload diagnostic data.

  • Download the traces by entering this URL in the address bar of your web browser:

    http://server_address:port_number/DataCollector/traces

    where server_address is the host name or the IP address of the computer where RICOH Data Collector is installed and port_number is the web server port.

    If you are on the computer where RICOH Data Collector is installed and you are using the default port, you can go to http://localhost:19280/DataCollector/traces.

    The resulting package is named dc_traces_yyyymmdd_hhmmss_code.zip, where yyyymmdd and hhmmss represent the date and time when the traces were collected and code is a randomly generated identification code.

      Note:
    • The first part of the URL for collecting traces matches the RICOH Data Collector URL. You can simply add /traces at the end of the URL that you are using to access the application.
    • You can collect the traces without signing in.
    • You must send the traces to a Ricoh representative.

  • Manually generate a zip file with collected traces, following these steps:

    1. Log in remotely on the machine where RICOH Data Collector is installed.
    2. Download the traces by launching the getTraces.bat script on Windows or the getTraces.sh script on Linux. If RICOH Data Collector is installed in the default location, the location of the .bat is C:\Program Files\RICOH\DataCollector\bin for Windows and the location of the .sh on Linux is/opt/RICOH/DataCollector/bin for Linux.
    3. The resulting package is named DataCollector-Traces-timestamp.zip, where timestamp represents the timestamp in milliseconds when the traces were collected.

    Note: You can collect the traces when RICOH Data Collector is not accessible via web browser.

Your Region Is Unreachable During the Installation

If the region where you want to store your data cannot be selected in the Choose Region dialog box, make sure that the proxy or firewall settings do not block access to the region URL:

  • United States: https://datacollector.app-ricohsoftware.com/account-details.json
  • Europe: https://datacollector.app-ricohsoftware.eu/account-details.json

Issues with Blocked URLs

For installing RICOH Data Collector, make sure that you allow access to these URLs:

  • For the United States:
    • ricohsoftware.com
    • help.ricohsoftware.com
    • rpi.app-ricohsoftware.com
    • services.app-ricohsoftware.com
    • datacollector.app-ricohsoftware.com
    • fileupload.app-ricohsoftware.com
    • cognito-idp.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
  • For Europe:
    • ricohsoftware.eu
    • help.ricohsoftware.com
    • rpi.app-ricohsoftware.eu
    • services.app-ricohsoftware.eu
    • datacollector.app-ricohsoftware.eu
    • fileupload.app-ricohsoftware.eu
    • cognito-idp.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com

Restarting the RICOH Data Collector Service

Use this procedure if you encounter problems and need to restart the RICOH Data Collector service manually:

To restart the RICOH Data Collector service, follow these steps on the computer where RICOH Data Collector is installed:

  • On Windows, go to Control Panel ⇒ Administrative Tools and double-click Services. In the list of services, right-click RICOH Data Collector and select Restart.
  • On Linux, use this command: 
    sudo systemctl restart RicohDataCollector

In the RICOH Data Collector application, check the status of the data collector and of your registered printers.

Make sure that there are no connectivity or data collection issues.

The Data Collector Appears to Be Unregistered from the Cloud, Your Subscription Is Valid, and This Instance of RICOH Data Collector Has Been Previously Registered

Your data collector might get unregistered from the cloud if there is a power outage, the disk is full, or the internal database gets corrupted. The internal database is used for storing data source information until the data collector is connected to the cloud. Data source information might be lost during a power outage or if the disk is full.

Repeat the authentication steps in RICOH Predictive Insight and restore your data collector. Instead of selecting a new instance, select the data collector corresponding to your previous installation.

To prevent data loss:

  • Make sure that you use an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for power outages.
  • Limit access to the computer where RICOH Data Collector is installed.
  • Check your disk integrity and space availability periodically.
  • It is recommended to keep your data collector connected to the cloud.

Cannot Launch the Application

If RICOH Data Collector does not launch after you restart the computer, run Repair, then restart the computer again.

Or uninstall and reinstall RICOH Data Collector. Make sure that you do not select the Delete the Data Collector from the cloud check box when you uninstall the application. Otherwise, any stored data is lost.

Cannot Sign In

Make sure that you enter your email address and password correctly. The password is case-sensitive.

If you forgot your password, click Forgot password on the sign-in page and follow the required steps. After you provide the email address for your account, you receive a verification code for resetting the password.

Cannot Access the Application After Changing the RICOH Data Collector Server IP Address or Host Name

To avoid issues, restart the RICOH Data Collector server after you change its IP address or host name.

Incorrect Display of a Page

The page was not loaded correctly. Clean the web browser cache and reload the page. See your web browser documentation for instructions on how to clean the cache and reload a page.

Make sure that you are using a supported web browser that is properly configured.

Events Are No Longer Received in the Cloud

Make sure that the data collector is online.

Disable the Store Data Locally option in the General Settings tab.

Disable power saving on the computer where RICOH Data Collector is installed. Otherwise, the computer might enter sleep or power save mode and the communication with the cloud might be interrupted.

Events Collected by RICOH Data Collector While RICOH Predictive Insight Is in Maintenance Are Lost

If events are not stored locally and sent to the cloud after the scheduled RICOH Predictive Insight maintenance period, you might have an older version of RICOH Data Collector. Upgrade to the latest version.

The Data Collector Is Not Connected to the Cloud

Check your internet connection and your proxy settings.

Cannot Add, Edit, or Delete a Data Source

Make sure that you are connected to the cloud. When the data collector is not connected to the cloud, you cannot add, edit, or delete a data source.

Make sure that you still have available data sources. See the application footer for information on data source usage.

Make sure that you have appropriate user authority. Contact your Ricoh representative to verify the user role provided by your account.

Printers Are Not Automatically Discovered Through the Scan for Printers Function

For RICOH Data Collector to find printers through the Scan for Printers function, you must first enable the SNMP v1/v2 protocol on the physical printer. For more information, see the printer documentation.

Make sure that the scanned printers are online.

Information About Printer Status Is Missing

Make sure that you enable the SNMP protocol on the physical printer and that you configure RICOH Data Collector printers with the SNMP communication channel. For information on enabling SNMP on the printer, see the printer documentation.

Information About Jobs Is Missing

Make sure that you select the correct printer type for your printer model and enable the SNMP protocol on the physical printer. For information on enabling SNMP on the printer, see the printer documentation.

Job Names Are Displayed Incorrectly

There is a limited number of characters for the job name field. The limit varies based on the printer you receive information from. If you use more, the printer will send truncated or modified data. To correctly display the job name, limit the field characters to:

  • Continuous form printers - maximum 255 characters
  • Printers that are operated through Fiery controllers:
    • SNMP - maximum 64 characters, or
    • Fiery API - maximum 256 characters
  • Cut sheet printers that are operated through TotalFlow Print Server controllers - maximum 255 characters
  • Other printers that use SNMP - maximum 64 characters.

To correctly display printer data, such as job names, when RICOH Data Collector receives information through SNMP, make sure that the value set for the Printer Character Set option matches the language settings configured on the printer. For more information, see the printer documentation.

The Printer Character Set option is available when you add or edit printers that use the Generic SNMP Printer, RICOH GW Cut Sheet Printer, or RICOH Fiery Cut Sheet Printer configuration.

Information About Ink or Roll Usage Is Missing

Make sure that you select the correct printer type for your printer model and enable the RICOH Productivity Tracker communication channel.

Access to RICOH Data Collector Settings Is Allowed Without Authentication from the RICOH Data Collector Host Server

You must secure the RICOH Data Collector host server and allow access only to authorized personnel.

RICOH Data Collector Does Not Manage Local Data Storage

If you enable the Store Data Locally option in the General Settings tab, RICOH Data Collector creates a series of files with the data collected from the printers, in the specified location, each time new data is collected. It is your responsibility to process or remove the files.

Cannot Access the RICOH Data Collector Online Help System

The RICOH Data Collector online help system can be viewed only from computers with internet access. Enable internet access on your computer or use the on-screen field help for useful information.

Data Collected for 1-Sided or 2-Sided Jobs Is Not Accurately Reported Through SNMP

If you are submitting jobs with the same printing side, either 1-sided or 2-sided, make sure that they are all completed and reported as printed by RICOH Data Collector, before submitting another set of jobs with the same printing side.

If you want to print jobs with different printing sides, 1-sided or 2-sided, make sure that you submit the jobs one by one. After each submitted job is completed and reported as printed by RICOH Data Collector, you can submit the next job.

Performance Issues Caused by Insufficient Random Access Memory (RAM)

To avoid performance issues, we recommend that you register up to 15 printers for 4 GB available RAM.

If you want to monitor a larger number of printers, increase the available RAM or install additional data collectors.

Missing or Inaccurate Data after Power Outage

In case of a power outage, we recommend that you uninstall and reinstall RICOH Data Collector. Make sure that you do not select the Delete the Data Collector from the cloud check box when you uninstall the application. Otherwise, any stored data is lost.

To prevent any power outage related issues, make sure that you use an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for power outages.

Manually Uninstall RICOH Data Collector

Manually deleting the RICOH Data Collector service does not allow installing a new data collector.

This procedure provides the steps for manually uninstalling RICOH Data Collector.

Make sure that you have appropriate user authority. You must have administrator role to complete the procedure. Contact your Ricoh representative to verify the user role provided by your account.

  • On Windows:

    1. Stop the RICOH Data Collector service using one of these methods:
      • Use the Services app.
      • Use this command:
        net stop RicohDataCollector
    2. Remove the RICOH Data Collector service using one of these methods:
      • Use the regedit tool, following these steps:
        • Open regedit.
        • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RicohDataCollector.
        • Right click on RICOH Data Collector and select Delete.
      • Use this command:
        reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RicohDataCollector" /f

        If the RICOH Data Collector service entry from the Services app is still available, restart the machine where RICOH Data Collector is installed.

    3. Remove the RICOH Data Collector uninstall entry from Control Panel using one of these methods:
      • Use the regedit tool, following these steps:
        • Open regedit.
        • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\RICOH Data Collector.
        • Right click on RICOH Data Collector and select Delete.
      • Use this command:
        reg delete “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\RICOH Data Collector” /f
    4. Edit the Zero G Registry file:
      • Open File Explorer and change the View options by making the system files and folders visible.
      • Go to C:\Program Files\Zero G Registry and edit the .com.zerog.registry.xml file by deleting everything related to RICOH Data Collector and to the path where RICOH Data Collector was installed.

      If there are other products mentioned in this file, make sure you only delete the entries related to RICOH Data Collector.

      If there is only information related to RICOH Data Collector, you can delete the file.

    5. Delete the installation folder (Example: C:\Program Files\RICOH\DataCollector).
    6. Delete the RICOH Data Collector shortcuts from the Desktop.

  • On Linux:

    1. Stop the RICOH Data Collector service using one of these commands:
      sudo service RicohDataCollector stop
      or 
      sudo systemctl stop RicohDataCollector
    2. Remove the RICOH Data Collector service using this command:
      sudo rm -f /etc/init.d/RicohDataCollector
    3. Edit the Zero G Registry file:
      • Search for .com.zerog.registry.xml (Example: /var/.com.zerog.registry.xml) or use this command: 
        sudo find -iname *zerog.registry.xml
      • Edit the file by deleting everything related to RICOH Data Collector and to the path where RICOH Data Collector was installed.

    4. Delete the installation folders (Example: /opt/RICOH/DataCollector) using the commands:

      sudo rm -rf /opt/RICOH/DataCollector
      sudo rm -rf /root/.DataCollector

Contacting Ricoh Support

If you need help with a RICOH Data Collector issue, you can contact a Ricoh support representative.

For technical support inside the United States, contact 1-877-318-8968. For all other regions, contact your Ricoh sales representative or technical support.

Parent topic: Troubleshooting and Support