A MiniSmart II is a chip-only card reader. You can use the uDemo to test/demo the MiniSmart II. You will need a chip card. If you wish to test/demo EMV, you will need an EMV chip-enabled card (a financial chip card). Start with the chip card seated in the reader in the correct orientation.
you do not need a card to get the firmware version.
Start with the card seated. The ICC will automatically power down after a few moments.
It will tell you if the ICC is currently powered on and/or if a card is seated in the reader.
Use an EMV chip-enabled card. Start with the card seated. The options in (2) will auto-authenticate and auto-complete... if these options are not set you will need to run the Authenticate EMV and Complete EMV commands manual. The results will vary depending on the card you use.