Troubleshooting

Stuff breaks. A tablet hangs, Wi-Fi drops, a customer taps somewhere nobody predicted. This page is a running list of the most common kiosk issues we see in the field and the quickest way to fix each one. If your issue isn't here, email support@yumkiosk.com with the kiosk's display name and a description — we'll add it to this list for next time.

#Kiosk is stuck on "Connecting..."

Symptom: customer tapped Tap to Order, spinner shows for >10 seconds, nothing happens.

Causes and fixes:

1. No agent available. Check the owner panel → Team → Agents. If nobody is Available, you need an agent on shift. The kiosk will auto-cancel after 60s and return to attract.
2. WebSocket blocked by firewall. Open Chrome DevTools on the tablet (plug into a laptop via USB, use chrome://inspect). Look for failed WSS connections to agent.yumkiosk.com/ws/. If blocked, see the Network requirements page.
3. Stale device token. Rare, but if the kiosk was paired months ago and sat idle, the device token may have expired. Unpair and re-pair.

#Video works but no audio

Symptom: customer can see the agent but can't hear them (or vice versa).

Causes and fixes:

1. Tablet mic permission denied. In Chrome / Safari settings, re-grant mic permission for kiosk.yumkiosk.com. Same for camera.
2. Volume muted. Check the hardware volume buttons on the tablet and the OS mute toggle.
3. Agent mic muted on their side. Have the agent check their own browser's mic indicator and the mute button in the session panel.

#Menu items look wrong or out of date

Symptom: customer orders a burger and the price is old, or a deactivated item still shows.

Cause: the kiosk caches the menu for 60 seconds. If you just edited the catalog, wait a minute. If the menu is still wrong after 2 minutes:

1. Pull to refresh on the attract screen (drag down from the top).
2. Or, force-reload the PWA by closing and reopening it.
3. If neither works, unpair and re-pair — this forces a full catalog rehydrate.

#Payment screen freezes

Symptom: customer enters card info, taps Pay, spinner forever.

Causes and fixes:

1. Stripe Terminal reader lost USB connection. Unplug the reader, wait 5 seconds, plug it back in. Chrome should re-enumerate it.
2. Stripe API outage. Check status.stripe.com for current status. If Stripe is down, there's not much to do except wait.
3. Card declined but the error didn't show. Tap Cancel, try a different card. The customer may need to contact their bank.
4. Tablet network drop mid-payment. See next item.

#Kiosk keeps going offline

Symptom: owner panel shows the kiosk flipping between online and offline every few minutes.

Causes and fixes:

1. Weak Wi-Fi signal. Move the access point closer or add a mesh node.
2. DHCP lease too short. Set a static or reserved IP for the kiosk.
3. Tablet sleeping. Make sure auto-lock is disabled in tablet settings. Set screen timeout to "Never".
4. Chrome battery saver. Disable battery saver in Chrome settings — it can suspend background WebSocket connections.

#Tablet won't boot or crashes

Symptom: tablet shows a boot loop, freezes on the logo, or reboots mid-session.

Causes and fixes:

1. Overheating. Check the enclosure ventilation. Restaurant counters can hit 40°C next to a grill — tablets throttle or shut down above that.
2. Failed SD card (if present). Remove any external storage.
3. OS update pending. Reboot and let it finish any background updates.
4. Hardware fault. If it's under 1 year old, return for warranty. If not, replace — tablets are cheap and we'd rather you have a stable deployment.

#Customer gave up during payment

Symptom: customer walked away with an unpaid order on screen.

Fix: the agent should end the session with Customer abandoned. The pending order is cleaned up automatically, no card is charged, no order is saved. The next customer sees a fresh attract screen.

#"Unable to reach server" on attract screen

Symptom: red banner on the attract screen saying the server is unreachable.

Causes and fixes:

1. Wi-Fi down. Most obvious first. Check the tablet's Wi-Fi indicator.
2. DNS failing. Try navigating to https://api.yumkiosk.com/health in the tablet browser. If that fails, DNS is likely the issue. Switch to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 DNS.
3. YumKiosk outage. Check status.yumkiosk.com for current status.

#Still stuck?

Open a support ticket via support@yumkiosk.com or the chat widget in the owner panel. Include:

• The kiosk's display name and device ID (visible in the owner panel)
• Time the issue happened
• A screenshot if applicable
• Whether it's a one-off or ongoing

Our support SLA is 4 hours during business days, 24 hours on weekends.