Zebra VC8300 troubleshooting: power, ignition, Wi-Fi, scanner

CauseThe power cable is loose or unplugged, the vehicle's main power switch is off, or the vehicle battery is flat.

Fix

1. Check the power cable under the dust cover on the back, switch on the vehicle's main power and charge a low vehicle battery.
2. Ask your electrician to check the connections and the fuses in the power line.
3. When the Power LED turns amber, press and hold Power for about 5 seconds.

CauseA badly connected ignition sense wire, a power cable without ignition sense (you need one such as CA1220), wrong settings, power taken from a large electrical load (Zebra warns of random restarts), or an empty UPS battery: without vehicle power the computer shuts down below 7%.

Fix

1. Have your electrician check the ignition sense wiring against Zebra's wiring section and the cable's instructions, and connect the power cable as close to the vehicle battery as possible.
2. Open the VC Settings app and check Ignition ON turns on VC, Ignition OFF shuts down VC and the delay in Shut down VC after.
3. If the Power LED flashes green slowly, the computer is running on its UPS battery: restore vehicle power.

CauseSolid red means the UPS battery temperature is outside its charging range. Blinking red means another battery or charging fault, such as a communication error, a charging timeout or a defective battery.

Fix

1. Solid red: the battery is too warm or too cold to charge. Check that the computer works within its −30 to 50 °C range. Freezer units have a battery heater, set in the Heater Control app.
2. Blinking red: open the Battery Manager app and check the battery health and error status.
3. If the fault stays, the UPS battery may need replacing. Zebra's UPS battery installation instructions require a Torx T10 screwdriver, a new thermal pad and VC8300 firmware 3.3.04 or higher. Contact us before you open the computer.

CauseNormal pre-heat on Freezer units: when the inside temperature is below −25 °C and you press Power, the computer warms up before it starts.

Fix

1. Wait: pre-heat lasts at most 15 minutes, then the computer starts by itself.
2. Keep external power connected. Below −30 °C, the bottom of the operating range, it does not pre-heat.

CauseThe computer is off or asleep, the brightness is too low, or Screen Blanking is set up to turn the screen off while driving.

Fix

1. Power LED off: press Power. Fast flashing green means sleep: press Power to wake it.
2. Raise the brightness. On the 10-inch, use the speaker/display key.
3. Dark only while moving: Screen Blanking is working as set up in VC Settings.
4. To keep the screen on while on external power, turn on Stay awake in VC Settings.

CauseA damaged screen protector, a touch mode that does not suit gloves, or a damaged touchscreen.

Fix

1. Replace a damaged or lifted screen protector.
2. For gloves, open Settings › Display › Touch Panel UI (Android 11: under Advanced) and choose a Glove and Finger mode that matches your screen protector setting.
3. If the screen itself is damaged, contact us for repair.

CauseThe antenna selection does not match the installation, or an external antenna is loose, broken or the wrong type.

Fix

1. In VC Settings, open Choose Antenna and select Internal Antenna or External Antenna to match what is fitted.
2. Check that the external antennas on ANT 1 and ANT 2 are tight and undamaged. ANT 1 also carries Bluetooth.
3. Use only antennas from Zebra's VC8300 accessory list.
4. Rejoin the network in Settings › Network & internet › Internet (Android 11: Wi-Fi).

CauseDepends on the connection: Bluetooth range or pairing, the wrong USB mode, no power on the serial port, or a DataWedge profile without the right input.

Fix

1. Bluetooth: switch the scanner on, move closer, and scan the pairing barcode on the front of the VC8300 again.
2. USB: unplug and reconnect the cable, and set the scanner to the mode your setup uses (SSI or HID). Disconnect any USB cable from the port on top of the computer: while it is connected, the USB and RS-232 ports underneath are disabled.
3. RS-232: check the COM port, turn on +5V output for that serial port in VC Settings, and enable Serial port input in the DataWedge profile. Close any other app that uses the port.
4. Test in DWDemo. If it works there but not in your app, fix the profile with our DataWedge setup guide.

Shorter scan range on some electric forklifts can be electromagnetic interference; Zebra advises asking the forklift maker. For scanner-side problems, see DS3608/DS3678 troubleshooting.

CauseAn app or the system has stopped responding, or the app does not accept key input.

Fix

1. Restart: press and hold Power until the menu appears, then touch Restart, or Power off and switch on again. Apps and data are kept.
2. If the computer does not react at all, do a hard reset: press and hold Power for at least 16 seconds and release it when the Zebra logo appears. Remove any USB drive first, because Zebra warns a hard reset can damage it. Apps and saved data are kept.
3. An Enterprise or Factory Reset wipes the computer. On the VC8300 it needs a reset package from Zebra, installed from a USB drive or with ADB (see the VC8300 Product Reference Guide). Ask IT first; Reset a Zebra Android device explains what each reset erases.