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Affordable Mag-Stripe Card Readers for Linux?

Posted by timothy on from the things-that-sound-simple-but-aren't dept.

Skip Franklin asks: "I'm looking for a mag-stripe card reader to use with a Linux kiosk. I've searched all over the web, but I'm not finding much in the way of hardware vendors that say they support Linux. There's tons of stuff on smartcards, but I just want a simple (read: cheap) mag-stripe reader. Anyone using one of these (preferrably USB interface, serial if necessary)?" Anyone who's had better luck than Skip at finding such a beast?

11 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Keyboard Wedges by citmanual · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would poke around for small business going under. One firm I worked for used to install Point Of Sale (POS) systems for just such places. They come with a keyboard wedge that plugs into the keyboard connector. You can get barcode scanners that do just the same thing.

    It strikes me that they cost about $75/per when we were buying them. But, those wedges also cost about $50. Not too mention they need a dedicated PC for each one.

  2. MagTek by eric2hill · · Score: 5, Informative

    MagTek readers are very common in our industry. They have stand-alone readers availible in USB, RS232, keyboard wedge, and TTL configurations. You can also pick up insert kiosk-style readers for use in your own custom designed enclosures. The small form factor keyboard wedges are around $70 from many dealers. I've installed more of those than I can count. Search Google for the part number you're looking for and you'll probably get pages of matches.

    If you're looking for more configurability, have a look at IDT-Net's readers. They are available in the stand-alone and kiosk-styles like MagTek, but they have models that can be programmed to pre-pend, post-pend, and modify swiped data before transmittal. That feature is REALLY nice when you're trying to decode some custom membership card that's got it's own wierd track II format. The Omni readers are in the $180 range.

    --
    LOAD "SIG",8,1
    LOADING...
    READY.
    RUN
  3. OS independence... use a keyboard wedge by ka9dgx · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Back when I did barcode stuff for a living (1987-1994), we got a Symbol Technologies wedge, which intercepted the keyboard, trasmitted function keys (of your selection) before and after the data. Surely you could just intercept F3 (or whatever) in your application, and have at it.

    --Mike--

  4. Smart Card readers are cheaper. by ivan256 · · Score: 5, Informative

    If cheap is your main requirement, you'll likely be better off with smart cards. Mag stripe readers have a mechanical component (to determine what speed you're running the card through at) Where a passive smart card reader is basically a cable with a fancy socket.You can get fully capable smart card readers for under $30. I found this link on google in seconds: http://www.danaco.net. They even have unassembled readers that you can put together yourself to save extra bucks.

    1. Re:Smart Card readers are cheaper. by stienman · · Score: 2

      Mag readers generally do NOT have a component to determine the speed - the data on the stripe is self clocking.

      -Adam

    2. Re:Smart Card readers are cheaper. by ivan256 · · Score: 3, Informative

      You'd be surprised. If all you want is data storage the cards are very inexpensive.

      A quick check on google shows that mag strips cards average around $0.30 each in quantities of 100. Smartcards that hold 1k of data are the same price.

    3. Re:Smart Card readers are cheaper. by fwc · · Score: 2
      Plus, most intellegent readers can read the data when swiped in either direction. Sometimes you'll get set of data which is either mangled enough or just a "difficult" pattern to read forwards - if you have a good reader, you can swipe the card in the opposite direction of "normal" motion and a lot of times you can get a good read off of a card which is almost impossible to read the other way.

      My understanding of the encoding is that it is a LOT like barcodes - in fact I've dealt with a percon barcode reader in the past which you could just replace the barcode wand with a mag stripe reader and read magstripes. They also had a barcode reader which worked like a magstripe "slot" reader. Imagine the mess if you had to "clock" a barcode with a mechanical roller or similar. Goodbye automatic package handling.

    4. Re:Smart Card readers are cheaper. by cloudmaster · · Score: 2

      If you're going with smart cards, why not go a step further and use ibuttons (http://www.ibutton.com/)? They're fairly cheap (64K button for $1.44 each in 100 lots) and can do way more (there are counter buttons for a similar price, for example). There are readers for under $10. I'm personally looking at replacing all of my key locks with ibutton-powered locks. That'll be cool.

  5. Re:What about writers? by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 4, Interesting
    You could really play some mind games. Copy the mag stripe info from your new Visa to your expired Texaco card, then wipe the Visa card blank. Thief steals your wallet, tosses the expired Texaco card and tries to use the Visa. :-)

    --
    If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  6. Build it yourself... by CoolVibe · · Score: 3, Informative
    Well, they're not swipe-cards, but probably even more useful. I am talking about smart-cards.

    Check here for schematics and other info about smartcards.

    There's also source code available to drive the damn machine you can build with the info on the site. AFAIK tested on Linux and FreeBSD and it worked.

  7. Correct me if I am wrong, but.... by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 2

    Aren't most of these devices (the ones that you hook into your computer) just standard RS-232/Parallel Port or Keyboard port devices ala Cue Cat? The device handles decoding the stripe and feeds the number down to the computer. I'd say MOST of these would be supported. It would just be a matter of writing the program to pass it to a credit verification program.
    Should work with Linux or anything you use I'd imagine.

    --

    Gorkman