Star Micronics XB24-250 II - Manuals

2 Printer Setup Unpacking the printer Check to make sure that the carton contains each of the items shown in the following illustration. If anything is missing, contact the store where you bought the printer and ask them to supply the missing part. Note that it is a good idea to keep the original bo...

General guide 3 General guide The following illustrations show the major components of the your printer.

4 Printer Setup Installing the platen knob You can find the platen knob in the box of items that contains this manual. ❏ Install the knob on the shaft located inside the large hole on the right side of the printer. Make sure that the two metal pins on the platen shaft fit into the slots inside the k...

Removing the front cover 5 Removing the front cover Normally, you should leave the front cover connected to the printer, using the procedure described above to open and close it as required. You can also completely remove the front cover using the steps described below. ❏ Lift up on the front cover ...

Removing the ribbon cartridge 7 Removing the ribbon cartridge Use the following procedure to remove the ribbon cartridge from the printer when you want to replace it with a new one. ❏ Make sure that the printer is unplugged from its power outlet. Caution! Never touch the print head while the printer...

8 Printer Setup ❏ To remove the paper guide from the printer, stand it up while gently pulling it towards the front of the printer, Next carefully lift the paper guide straight up. Adjusting the paper guide position ❏ The paper guide has two positions: raised and lowered. You can use either position...

Loading fanfold paper 9 Loading fanfold paper This section tells you how to load fanfold paper. Note that you can also use cut-sheet paper and multi-part form paper. For details on using other types of paper, see “Paper Handling” on page 38 of this manual. ❏ Remove the paper guide from the printer. ...

10 Printer Setup ❏ Pass the fanfold paper through the space between the printer case and the rear cover, with the side you want to print on facing down. ❏ Unlock the two tractors by pulling up their gray levers, and slide the tractors so they are aligned approximately with the holes on the sides of ...

Loading fanfold paper 11 ❏ Install the paper guide so that it is standing up. In this position, the paper guide keeps the printed paper separate from the unprinted paper. ❏ Turn on the printer.The printer will beep a number of times if paper is not loaded properly. Also, the control panel’s POWER in...

12 Printer Setup Printing on fanfold paper When printing on fanfold paper, take care not to print too close to the perforations that separate each sheet. The following shows the recommended print area for fanfold paper and cut-sheet paper. Fanfold forms Single sheets Perforation (*80 mm for Push Fee...

Parking fanfold paper 13 Parking fanfold paper It is not necessary to remove fanfold paper currently loaded in the printer in order to print on cut-sheet paper. Instead, simply use the following procedure to park the fanfold paper. ❏ Tear off the paper at a perforation so there is no more than half ...

14 Printer Setup The short tear-off operation causes the paper to be fed automatically so the tear assist edge of the printer cover is located just below the last line printed on the paper. ❏ Pull the paper against the tear assist edge to tear it off. Connecting to your computer The computer sends d...

Connecting to your computer 15 ❏ Plug the other end of the parallel cable into the socket on the back of the printer and secure it in place with the clips. Note: Consult your dealer for details on how to set up your computer when using the optional SPC-8K serial-to-parallel interface converter, the ...

16 Chapter 2: Control Panel Operations The control panel gives you push-button control over the printer’s operations. It includes indicator lights, which tell you the current status of the printer at a glance. This chapter describes control panel functions that can be performed while the printer is ...

Selecting a font 17 Selecting a font ❏ Make sure the printer is off-line ( ON LINE indicator is not lit). ❏ Press FONT to change the font selection. An indicator lights to the left of the name of the font that is currently selected. Note: The font setting you make with the above procedure can be cha...

18 Control Panel Operations Setting the character pitch The character pitch setting controls how many characters are printed per inch. Use the following procedure to select the pitch you want. ❏ Make sure the printer is off-line ( ON LINE indicator is not lit). ❏ Press PITCH to change the pitch sele...

Line feed 19 Line feed ❏ Make sure the printer is off-line ( ON LINE indicator is not lit). ❏ Press LINE FEED once to feed paper one line. Holding down LINE FEED continually feeds paper, one line at a time, until you release the button. Paper eject (cut-sheet paper) ❏ Make sure the printer is off-li...

20 Control Panel Operations Setting the top of form position The current position of paper loaded in the printer is automatically set as the top of the page whenever you turn power on. You can also use the following procedure at any time to specify a different position as the top of the page. ❏ Make...

Changing the auto load position 21 ❏ Make sure the printer is on-line ( ON LINE indicator is lit). ❏ Press SET/EJECT/PARK , to toggle between the Quiet Print Mode and normal printing.The printer emits one short beeps when the Quiet Print Mode is selected, and two short beep when normal printing is s...

22 Control Panel Operations Saving a macro Normally, any settings you make on the control panel are cleared when you turn the printer off. Use the following procedure to save the current control panel settings so that they are used whenever you turn the printer on. ❏ Make the control panel settings ...

Initializing the printer 23 Initializing the printer The following procedure initializes the printer to its power-on settings. If you have control panel settings stored in memory, this procedure sets up the printer using them. ❏ Use ON LINE to take the printer off line ( ON LINE indicator is not lit...

24 Chapter 3: Using the EDS Mode The letters “EDS” stand for “Electronic DIP Switches.” Just like the small DIP switches that are used by many computers, printers, and other devices, the EDS mode lets you configure the printer so that it matches your system and software needs. This chapter describes...

Selecting a bank 25 Selecting a bank ❏ While in the EDS Mode, use the control panel’s BANK button to select a bank. When the BANK indicator flashes it indicates the current bank selected. Selecting a switch ❏ While in the EDS Mode, use the control panel’s SWITCH button to select a bank switch. When ...

26 Using the EDS Mode Printing the current switch settings ❏ In the EDS Mode, press the control panel’s PRINT button to print out the current switch settings. Asterisks on the printout show whether a switch is turned on or off. Checking the settings of switches in a bank ❏ After selecting a bank, pr...

EDS Mode Settings 27 EDS Mode Settings The following details all of the settings you can program in the EDS Mode. You can print out a detailed overview of all the settings by performing a test of the printer (page 46). BANK A Switch 1: Emulation Selects Standard emulation (ON) or IBM emulation (OFF)...

28 Using the EDS Mode Switch 6: Multi-Part Mode Specifies whether the printer’s Multi-Part Mode is enabled (OFF) or disabled (ON). When the Multi-Part Mode is enabled (OFF), the impact of the print head is increased, but head life is decreased. Enable the Multi-Part Mode when printing on four to fiv...

EDS Mode Settings 29 BANK C Switches 1, 2: Print Mode Turn these switches on or off to select the print mode you want to use. Switches 3, 4, 5: Print Pitch Turn these switches on or off to form the pattern that matches the print pitch setting you want to make. Switch 6: Quiet When the Quiet Mode is ...

30 Using the EDS Mode BANK D Switches 1, 2, 3, 4: Page Length Turn these switches on or off to form the pattern that matches the Page Length setting you want to use. Switch 5: CR Centering Position If you set this switch OFF, the carriage moves to the center each time to feed paper near the perforat...

EDS Mode Settings 31 Code Page SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 SW5 SW6 #437 IBM-PC ON ON ON ON ON ON #850 Multi-lingual OFF ON ON ON ON ON #860 Portuguese ON OFF ON ON ON ON #861 Icelandic OFF OFF ON ON ON ON #863 Canadian French ON ON OFF ON ON ON #865 Nordic OFF ON OFF ON ON ON #866 Russian ON OFF OFF ON ON ON #3...

32 Using the EDS Mode #3850 Standard KU OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF ON #3860 Rajvitee KU ON ON ON ON ON OFF #3861 Microwiz KU OFF ON ON ON ON OFF #3863 STD 988 TIS ON OFF ON ON ON OFF #3864 Popular TIS OFF OFF ON ON ON OFF #3865 Newsic TIS ON ON OFF ON ON OFF Code Page SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 SW5 SW6

EDS Mode Settings 33 A code page is the set of symbols and characters that your printer can print. Your printer converts ASCII hexadecimal data according to a code page to print symbols and characters. By supporting different code pages, the printer can print in a variety of different languages. The...

34 Using the EDS Mode #869 Greek Greece #928 Greek Greece For UNIX #2001 Lithuanian-KBL Lithuania Commonly used for DOS #772 Lithuanian Lithuania New standard #774 Lithuanian Lithuania #3001 Estonian-1 Estonia #3002 Estonian-2 Estonia Most often used #3011 Latvian-1 Latvia #3012 Latvian-2 Latvia Gov...

EDS Mode Settings 35 If your EDS settings specify Standard emulation (Bank A, Switch 1 ON) with the italic character table (Bank A, Switch 2 OFF), use the Bank E switches to select the international character set you want to use. This setting determines the assignment of 14 character codes in the St...

36 Using the EDS Mode BANK F Switches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: LQ Font Selection Turn these switches on or off to form the pattern that identifies the font you want to use for LQ printing. Note: Bank C switches 1 and 2 need to be in the correct positions before the above setting will have any effect. Switch 6...

37 Chapter 4: Using the Printer with MS-DOS This chapter contains information about how to use the printer with applications software running under MS-DOS. In this chapter, you will learn about: ❏ How to set up for printing with MS-DOS Setting up for printing with MS-DOS To print from an application...

38 Chapter 5: Paper Handling Your printer is designed to print on a variety of paper types. This chapter tells you everything you need to know about paper, and how to set the printer up for manual paper feed. In this chapter, you will learn about: ❏ Selecting the best type of paper ❏ Adjusting for p...

Adjusting for paper thickness 39 Original + 3 to 4 (Multi-Part Mode)Multi-part Mode and an optional pull tractor are recommended when printing on 4 or 5-ply paper. Adjusting for paper thickness Paper comes in different weights, normally expressed as gsm (grams per square meter) or lbs (pounds). Some...

40 Paper Handling The following table provides a general guide for setting the adjustment lever. Experiment with different settings until you find the one that gives you the print quality you want. Important! Continuous use of the wrong adjustment lever setting can drastically reduce print head life...

Clearing paper jams 41 Insert a sheet of paper into the paper guide, with the side you want to print on facing the back of the printer. Gently lower the paper down into the printer until you feel it stop. ❏ Press the SET/EJECT/PARK button to feed the paper to the starting position. ❏ If you want to ...

42 Chapter 6: Optional Accessories This chapter introduces the following optional accessories that are available for this printer: ❏ Automatic Sheet Feeder (SF-15DM 2 ) ❏ Pull Tractor Unit (PT-15XM) ❏ Serial Interface Cartridge (IS-8XL) ❏ Baffered Parallel Interface Cartridge (IP-128XL) ❏ Serial-to-...

44 Optional Accessories Buffered Parallel Interface Cartridge (IP-128XL) Installing the parallel interface cartridge provides parallel data communications capabilities between the printer and your computer. Refer to the manual that comes with the buffered parallel interface cartridge for further det...

Serial-to-Parallel Converter (SPC-8K) 45 Specifications Refer to the manual that comes with the serial-to-parallel converter for further details on installation and operation. Interface RS-232C-level Synchronization Asynchronous Baud rate 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 BPS (selectable)...

46 Appendix A: Troubleshooting This appendix will help you if you experience problems with your printer. It tells you how to test the printer, how to check system software settings, and how to adjust the vertical alignment. In addition, there is information on actions to take for specific problems. ...

Hexadecimal dump 47 Hexadecimal dump This procedure prints in hexadecimal format all codes (character codes and control codes) that are sent to the printer by the computer. The printer does not execute any control codes (such as 0A - linefeed), it just prints them out. The hexadecimal dump is useful...

48 Troubleshooting ❏ While holding down the control panel’s FORM FEED and ON LINE buttons, turn the printer back on to enter the Dot Adjustment Mode.The printer will print something like the following. Note that the printer will feed the paper forward and back each time during this operation so you ...

49 Troubleshooting guide Use the following table to help track down the causes of problems and to determine the best solution to deal with them. Problem Possible Cause Recommended Action The ON LINE indicator does not light. The printer is not receiving power. Check whether the power cord is correct...

52 Checking system software settings in MS-DOS If you are using a parallel cable and cannot print a text file using the MS-DOS PRINT command, you may have a problem with your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Open the file and look for the following line: MODE LPT1:=COM 1 or MODE LPT1:=COM 2 These lines indicate y...

53 Appendix B: Specifications Printing System Serial Impact Dot-Matrix Printing Speed Pitch Draft (cps/dpi) LQ (cps/dpi) Pica (10 cpi) 283/120H (Normal) 350/80H (HS) 94/360H Elite (12 cpi) 340/120H 113/360H Semi-condensed (15 cpi (S)) 425/120H 141/360H Semi-condensed (15 cpi (I)) 212/240H 141/360H C...

54 Specifications Environment Operating temperature: 41 ° F to 95 ° F (5 ° C to 35 ° C) Storage temperature: –22 ° F to 149 ° F (–30 ° C to 65 ° C) Operating humidity: 30% to 80% (non-condensing) Storage humidity: 20% to 90% (non-condensing) Paper Cut-sheet (manual feeding)Paper width: 7.2 ″ to 16.5...

56 Appendix C: Interface Pin Outs Parallel Interface Pin Name Function 1 STROBE Goes low for ≥ 0.5 µ s when active. 2 DATA0 These signals represent information for the 1st through 8th bit of parallel data, respectively. Each signal is HIGH when data is logical 1, and LOW when logical 0. 3 DATA1 4 DA...

57 Appendix D: Character Sets Standard Italic Character Set International Character Set The character codes shown in the table are hexadecimal.

59 IBM Special Character Set The following characters can be printed using the <ESC> ^ command. Code Page #850Multi-lingual Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #860Portuguese Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #861Icelandic Oth...

60 Character Sets Code Page #863Canadian French Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #865Nordic Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #3840 IBM-Russian Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #866 Russian Oth...

64 Character Sets Code Page #928 Greek Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #869 Greek Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #772 Lithuanian Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #2001 Lithuanian-KBL Other ...

66 Character Sets Code Page #3021 Bulgarian Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #3012 Latvian2 Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #3041Maltese Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code Page #3031 Hebrew Other ch...

Checking system software settings in MS-DOS 69 Appendix E: Printer Control Codes This appendix lists the printer’s control commands. It gives the name of each control command, along with the applicable emulation mode (Standard and IBM), and the applicable ASCII code. Standard Mode ASCII Code Functio...

70 Printer Control Codes ESC $ n L n H Set absolute horizontal print position ESC % n n = 00 01 Select user defined characters Normal (ROM) charactersUser-defined (RAM) characters ESC & 00 n m a 1 a 2 a 3 d 1 ...d k Define user defined characters ESC (- n L n H m d 1 d 2 d 1 = 01 0203 d 2 = 00 0...

Checking system software settings in MS-DOS 71 ESC 6 Enable printing of upper control codes (Character Set #2) ESC 7 Enable upper control codes (Character Set #1) ESC 8 Disable paper out detector ESC 9 Enable paper out detector ESC < Unidirectional mode (1 line) ESC = Set MSB to 0 ESC > Set MS...

72 Printer Control Codes ESC R n n = 00 0102030405060708090A0B0C0D0E40 Select an international character set #0 U.S.A. #1 France #2 Germany #3 England #4 Denmark I #5 Sweden #6 Italy #7 Spain I #8 Japan #9 Norway #10 Denmark II #11 Spain II #12 Latin America #13 Korea #14 Irish #64 Legal ESC S n n =...

Checking system software settings in MS-DOS 73 ESC [T 04 00 00 00 n 1 n 2 n 1 n 2 = 01 B5 03 5203 5C03 5D03 5F03 6103 620F 000F 010F 030F 040F 050F 060F 070F 0803 5403 E902 E103 5303 6503 A007 D103 0403 060B B90B BA0B C30B C40B CD0B D70B E10F 0A0F 140F 150F 170F 180F 19 Select code page #437 USA #85...

74 Printer Control Codes ESC l n Set left margin ESC p n n = 00 01 Turn proportional mode on/off Returns to current fixed character pitchSelects proportional spacing ESC q n n = 00 010203 Select character style Cancel shadow/outline printingSet outline printingSet shadow printingSet shadow & out...

Checking system software settings in MS-DOS 75 FS ^ Print a character from all character chart DEL Delete last character in buffer Standard Mode ASCII Code Function

76 Printer Control Codes IBM Mode ASCII Code Function BEL Beeper BS Backspace HT Tab horizontally LF Line feed VT Tab vertically FF Form feed CR Carriage return SO Select double width printing (1 line) SI Select condensed printing DC1 Select printer DC2 Select 10 cpi DC4 Cancel double width printing...

Checking system software settings in MS-DOS 77 ESC H Cancel double strike printing ESC I n n = 00 0810020A1203040C14060E1607 Select print pitch and download Resident draft picaResident draft eliteResident draft condensedDefault LQ picaDefault LQ eliteDefault LQ condensedDefault LQ proportionalDownlo...

Checking system software settings in MS-DOS 79 Appendix F: Control Panel Operation Guide Note: A dot means press and hold and an arrow means to just press. A dot and arrow tied together means hold one while pressing the other. Font & Pitch Lock EDS Mode On-Line Line Feed Form Feed Pitch Selectio...