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Error: Track2 Data Not in Valid Format

Wondering why I get this message?

 

I'm sure the swiper is setup right because when I look at the swipe data it checks out.

 

I read in the SDK docs that the beginning and ending characters must be removed.

 

Still no luck.

 

Wondering what else it could be?

 

Any insight appreciated.

bbftsoftware
Member
2 REPLIES 2

Well, give us a sample of the track 2 data as it's coming out of your swiper (with the credit card number and expiration date x'd out, of course). Then show us a print of the data that you're putting into Authorize.net. The docs seem a bit ambiguous, first they say this:

 

For track 2 data, the Start Sentinel is ASCII $0B, while the End Sentinel character is ASCII $0F. If the bytes in track 2 data are converted to ASCII, this turns the Start Sentinel character to a semicolon (;), and the End Sentinel to a
question mark (?).

 

The Start Sentinel and End Sentinel characters must be removed from any data submitted for x_track1 and x_track2.  

Then this:

The Track 2 data read from the cardholder's card is checked for parity and LRC errors, and then converted from the four-bit characters encoded on the card to seven bit characters as defined in ANSI X3.4. As part of the conversion, the terminal must remove the start sentinel, end sentinel, and LRC characters. The separators must be converted to either an ASCII "=" (HEX 3D) or ASCII "D" (HEX 44) characters. The entire unaltered track (excluding framing characters) must be request message, or an error message is generated.

 

So I'm not entirely sure whether those start and end characters should be removed, and there's obviously a lot of scope for potential error in the encoding conversions if your swiper isn't handling that correctly.

TJPride
Expert

Wait a sec, is this a credit card or a debit card you're trying to swipe? I found this thread:

http://community.developer.authorize.net/t5/Integration-and-Testing/Debit-Card-Processing/td-p/1676