Star Micronics LC-240C manual

USERS MANU AL LC-240C LC-240 NX-2460C NX-2460 HBA 80825632 PRINTED IN CHINA DO T MA TRIX PRINTER[...]

Federal Communications Commission Radio Frequency Interference Statement The 120V v ersion equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital de vice, pursu- ant to Part 15 of FCC Rules. These limits are designed to pro vide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equip[...]

T rademark acknowledgments LC-240C, LC-240, NX-2460C, NX-2460, LC24-30, NX-2450, PT -10Y , SPC-8K : Star Micronics Co. Ltd. LQ850, LQ860, LQ1050, LQ1060 : Seiko Epson Corporation IBM PC, IBM Proprinter X24E, IBM Pr oprinter XL24E, IBM Proprinter X24, IBM Proprinter XL24 : International Business Machines Corporation. T rueT ype : Apple Computer Inc.[...]

About this manual This manual describes how to set up, use, and care for the Star LC-240C and NX-2460C color printers, and the LC-240 and NX-2460 monochrome printers. All of the operations contained in this manual apply to all of these models, except where specifically noted otherwise. The following is a list of what you can expect to find in each [...]

Contents Chapter 1: Printer Setup … 1 Choosing a place for the printer … 1 Unpacking the printer … 2 General guide … 3 Opening the front cov er … 4 Removing the print head protector (color printer only) … 4 About ribbon cartridges … 5 Installing the ribbon cartridge … 5 Installing the paper support … 7 Connecting to your computer [...]

Chapter 4: Control P anel Operations … 37 T o enter the Sleep Mode … 37 T o restore full power from the Sleep Mode … 37 T o switch between the Ready and Not-Ready Modes … 38 T o feed single-sheet paper into the printer … 38 T o eject single-sheet paper from the printer … 38 T o advance paper … 38 Errors … 38 Chapter 5: P aper Handli[...]

1 Chapter 1: Printer Setup This chapter contains important information on setting up your printer. Be sure to read this chapter carefully before using the printer for the first time. In this chapter you will learn about: ❏ Choosing a place for the printer ❏ Unpacking and setting up the printer ❏ Installing the ribbon cassette ❏ Loading pape[...]

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. A push tractor unit (PT-10Y) and a Serial-To-Parallel Interface Converter (SPC-8K) are also available[...]

General guide 3 General guide The following illustrations show the major component parts of the your printer. For a description of what each part does, see the Glossary on page 72 of this manual. Control panel Front cover Automatic sheet feeder Paper support Interface connector Paper button Power button Paper tray cover Platen Print head Cartridge[...]

4 Printer Setup Opening the front cov er ❏ Hook your fingers under the two small tabs on either side of the front co ver and pull upwards to swing the front cov er open. Note: Y ou can completely r emove the fr ont cover fr om the printer . However , we r ecommend that you normally leave it in place. The cover pr otects against objects getting i[...]

About ribbon cartridges 5 About ribbon cartridges The type of ribbon cartridge that comes with your printer depends on whether it is a color printer or a monochrome printer. Monochrome printer models come with a monochrome ribbon cartridge with a built-in print head shield, while color printer models come with a color cartridge without a print head[...]

6 Printer Setup ❏ Carefully place the cartridge onto the cartridge holder making sure that the spindle of the holder fits into the socket on the bottom of the cartridge. ❏ If you hav e a color printer model, be sure to carefully position the ribbon between the print head and the print head shield as shown in the illustration. ❏ Press do wn g[...]

Installing the paper support 7 ❏ Replace the front cov er of the printer . Press do wn on the raised parts at the back of the cov er until it snaps securely shut. Installing the paper support ❏ Insert the ends of the paper support into the slots on the printer as sho wn in the following illustration. Connecting to your computer The computer sen[...]

8 Printer Setup Important! The following instructions apply to the Centr onics parallel cable that is used with an IBM-compatible personal computer . Note that they do not apply to all types of computers and cables. If you ar e unsur e about what type of cable you should use to connect with your computer , consult with your dealer . For an IBM-comp[...]

Connecting to a power outlet 9 Connecting to a po wer outlet ❏ Plug the po wer cord of the printer into a standard power outlet whose v oltage matches the po wer rating noted on the label af fix ed to the bottom of your printer . Note that the printer does not have a power switch to turn power on and off. Instead, its Sleep Mode automatically re[...]

10 Printer Setup ❏ Pull the paper tray cov er of the automatic sheet feeder forward. ❏ Slide the left-hand paper guide all the way to the left. Paper guide[...]

Loading paper 11 ❏ Pick up the stack of paper with both hands, and fan through the paper with your thumb . This prevents paper from sticking together when it is fed by the automatic feeder . Note: The automatic sheet feeder can hold about 55 sheets of paper at one time. ❏ Make sure that all four edges of the stack are smooth and e ven. T ap the[...]

12 Printer Setup ❏ Slide the left-hand paper guide to the right so that the stack of paper now sits snugly between the two guides. The paper should be able to slide freely into the printer , but it should not be able to mov e from side to side. ❏ Push the paper tray cov er of the automatic sheet feeder closed. Detaching the automatic sheet feed[...]

Detaching the automatic sheet feeder 13 ❏ Grasp the automatic sheet feeder and pull it gently to wards the front of the printer until it stops. ❏ Lift the automatic sheet feeder straight up.[...]

14 Printer Setup Re-installing the automatic sheet feeder ❏ Open the front cov er of the printer . ❏ Carefully lo wer the automatic sheet feeder into the printer , making sure that the two round tabs on either end of it enter into the corresponding slots inside the printer . Y ou should ha ve the automatic sheet feeder angled tow ards the front[...]

15 Chapter 2: User Setup Utility In addition to the Windows 3.1 driver, the 3.5” floppy disk drive that comes with this printer also contains a User Setup Utility that gives you total control over a variety of printing features and functions. In this chapter you will learn about: ❏ Installing the User Setup Utility ❏ Starting up the User Setu[...]

16 ❏ Execute the command that installs the User Setup Utility: A:>SETUP ↵ ❏ Select the language you want to use and then press Enter . The abov e screen appears in the language that you selected in the pre vious step. ❏ Input the dri ve and directory names where you want the User Setup Utility stored. The follo wing is the default direc[...]

Starting up the User Setup Utility 17 Starting up the User Setup Utility ❏ T o start up the User Setup Utility , mo v e to the directory you specified under “Installing the User Setup Utility” on page 15. If you want to mov e to the directory we named “star” in our example in the pre vious section, you would input the follo wing: C:>[...]

18 User Setup Utility Important! Y our printer cannot r ead the settings if your computer and printer are connected thr ough an optional Serial-T o-P arallel Interface Con verter . In such a case, you can still use the User Setup Utility to send settings to the printer , but you cannot r ead the printer’ s current settings. Changing User Setup Ut[...]

Using the General window 19 The other type of parameter box are “toggle” type, which means that you select one setting or the other. Note that with both types of parameter boxes, the currently selected setting is indicated by a ball inside the parentheses on the left of the setting. Asterisks to the right of the parameters indicate default sett[...]

20 User Setup Utility Emulation ❏ Select either standard emulation or IBM emulation. Note that the emulation you choose determines the character set and printer control commands that are applied for printing. See “Character Sets” on page 60 for the character sets used by each type of emulation. See “Printer Control Codes” on page 66 for d[...]

Using the General window 21 RAM Usage ❏ Specify whether RAM should be used as an input buf fer or as a download buf fer . Selecting Input Buffer tells the printer to use available RAM to store data it receives from the computer. This speeds up the printing operation, but it also means that RAM cannot be used to store character patterns used to de[...]

22 User Setup Utility Using the F ont window ❏ While in the User Setup Utility , select F ont from the menu bar . The following describes the various settings that are available for each parameter on this screen. LQ Font ❏ Select the font that you want to use as the printer’ s default letter -quality font. Pitch ❏ Select the print pitch (ch[...]

Using the Font window 23 Font Lock ❏ Switch the font lock on ( Enabled ) or of f ( Disabled ). When font lock is enabled, the printer will not allow the font to be changed by the software application you are using. When disabled, the application software can control the fonts used for printing. Zero style ❏ Select the type of zero you want to u[...]

24 User Setup Utility Using the P aper window While in the User Setup Utility, select Paper from the menu bar. The following describes the various settings that are available for each parameter on this screen. P age Length ❏ Specify the length of the paper you are using. Line Spacing ❏ Select the line spacing you want to use. A uto LF with CR ?[...]

Using the Paper window 25 T op Margin ❏ Select the spacing from the top of the paper to the first line of printing. P aper Out ❏ Switch the paper out detect function on ( Enabled ) or of f ( Disabled ). When paper out detection is enabled, the printer automatically stops printing whenever it senses there is no more paper. When disabled, the pr[...]

26 User Setup Utility Adjusting the printer’ s vertical alignment ❏ While in the User Setup Utility , select Adjust . from the menu bar . The above window is used to test and adjust the vertical alignment of the printer in each printing mode. You may never have to use the procedure described in this section, but after you have been using your p[...]

Changing the printer port 27 ❏ If you see that your printer requires adjustment, select the box for the mode you want to adjust (by clicking inside it with the mouse or by mo ving to it by pressing T ab ). ❏ Next, select a ne gati ve value to shift the lo wer row left, or a positi ve value to shift the lines right. The extent of the shift is in[...]

28 User Setup Utility Saving setup data as a new configuration file Use the following procedure to save the current User Setup Utility settings as a configuration file. ❏ While in the User Setup Utility , select the Save item from the menu bar . ❏ Input the name that you want to assign to the configuration and press Enter . The displayed con[...]

Importing setup data from a configuration file 29 Importing setup data from a configuration file Use the following procedure to load setup data from a previously saved configuration file. ❏ While in the User Setup Utility , select the Load item from the menu bar . The currently selected configuration file is the one that is highlighted in the l[...]

30 Exiting the User Setup Utility ❏ While in the User Setup Utility , select the Exit item from the menu bar . ❏ Specify whether or not you want to send the settings to the printer by clicking on the corresponding item on the screen. Or you can use the up and down arro w keys to highlight the selection you w ant and then press Enter to ex ecute[...]

31 Chapter 3: Using the Printer with W indo ws 3.1 This chapter contains specific information you need to know when using the printer with Microsoft Windows 3.1. It also tells you how to install the printer driver on your computer so that it can control the printer correctly. In this chapter, you will learn about: ❏ Ho w to set up for printing wi[...]

32 Using the Printer with Windows 3.1 You can also accomplish the same result by clicking on Bro wse… and selecting the drive where the driver floppy is loaded. Next you should select INSTALL.EXE and click OK . ❏ Click on the language that you want to use and then click on Install to start the installation. The language we will use here is Engl[...]

Getting ready to print 33 Getting ready to print Before printing, there are a number of things you must first do to set up the printer. You must select the printer driver, and the paper source, size, and orientation. Use the following procedure to make these selections. Note: Y ou do not need to perform printer driver and paper selections mentioned[...]

34 Using the Printer with Windows 3.1 Note: The P aper Source pull down menu in the abo ve window gives lets you choose between A uto Sheet F eeder and Manual F eed. If you are using the optional push tractor unit, you must use the P aper Source menu to specify the push tractor unit as the paper sour ce. T o do this, clic k on the Options button in[...]

Printing a document 35 Use this window to specify the range of the pages to be printed, the quality of the printing (in dots per inch), and the number of copies you want to print. Note also that there are boxes that you can select to specify printing to a file or collating (printing from back to front). Y ou can change the printer setup by clicking[...]

36 Using the Printer with Windows 3.1 Installing T rueT ype fonts The TrueType fonts that are supplied on the 3.5” floppy disk that comes with the printer can be used only when you are running Windows 3.1 or later. Use the following procedure to install the fonts. ❏ Launch W indows. ❏ Open the W indows Control Panel . ❏ Double-click the Fon[...]

37 Chapter 4: Control P anel Operations The control panel gives you push-button control over the printer’s power and paper feed operations. It also includes an indicator light that tells you the current status of the printer at a glance. Note: F or full details on paper handling, see pa ge 39 of this manual. T o enter the Sleep Mode ❏ Hold down[...]

38 Control Panel Operations T o switch between the Ready and Not-Ready Modes ❏ Press P ower to switch the computer between being the Ready and Not- Ready Modes. ❏ When the printer is in the Ready Mode, the READ Y indicator is lit and the printer can recei ve data from the computer . This means that you should mak e sure that the printer is in t[...]

39 Chapter 5: P aper Handling Your printer is designed to print on a variety of different paper types. This chapter tells you everything you need to know about paper, and how to set the printer up for automatic paper feed and manual paper feed. In this chapter, you will learn about: ❏ Selecting the best type of paper to use ❏ Adjusting for pape[...]

40 Paper Handling Adjusting for paper thickness Paper comes in different weights, normally expressed as gsm (grams per square meter) or lbs (pounds). Some form paper also has multiple pages that make them quite thick. Use the following procedure to change the gap between the print head and the platen and adjust for paper thickness. ❏ Mov e the ad[...]

Automatic sheet feeding 41 A utomatic sheet feeding Your printer comes with a built-in automatic sheet feeder that can hold up to 55 sheets of paper. See page 9 of this manual for details on using the auto sheet feeder. ❏ T o feed paper into the printer , press the control panel’ s P APER b utton twice. Manual sheet feeding You can use the foll[...]

42 Paper Handling ❏ Lifting up on the two paper release le v ers on the back of the printer , pull the jammed paper out. ❏ After you clear the jam, replace the automatic sheet feeder (see, “Re- installing the automatic sheet feeder” on page 14). ❏ Reload paper into the automatic feeder . ❏ Close the front cov er of the printer . Paper r[...]

43 Chapter 6: 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: ❏ Ho w to set up for printing with MS-DOS ❏ Ho w to select fonts from within an application Setting up for printing with MS-DOS To print from an applic[...]

44 Using the Printer with MS-DOS ❏ If none of the printers listed abov e is av ailable in the application, choose one of the follo wing. Once ag ain, you should choose the one that is nearest to the top in the follo wing list. Use User Setup Utility to select IBM emulation (page 20). The above two printers are shaded because they are not color pr[...]

45 Chapter 7: Other Printing F eatures This chapter details other features that you are sure to find helpful, no matter what kind of document you are printing. They provide you with the versatility to make your output look exactly as you want it. In this chapter, you will learn about: ❏ Ho w to pause printing ❏ Feeding paper ❏ Form feeding Ho[...]

46 Appendix A: T roubleshooting The appendix tells you what you need to know 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, and on the meanings of printer b[...]

Testing the printer 47 Short test The short test prints the version number of the software contained in the printer’s ROM, followed by seven lines of text. If you are using a color ribbon, each line is printed using a different color. Long test A long test continually prints the version number of the software contained in the printer’s ROM, fol[...]

48 Troubleshooting Instead of a normal printout, data will be printed in sixteen columns of hexadecimal numbers (two groups of eight numbers each). The equivalent printalble characters (or dots in the case of unprintable codes) are printed to the right of each row of hexadecimal numbers. After you start the hexadecimal dump (by using the procedure [...]

Troubleshooting guide 49 T roubleshooting guide Use the following table to help track down the causes of problems and to determine the best solution to deal with them. Prob lem P ossible Cause Recommended Action The READ Y indicator does not light or flash. The printer is not receiving power . Check whether the power cord is correctly plugged into[...]

50 Troubleshooting Pr inter test w orks, b ut pr inter will not print out data from the attached computer . The interf ace cable is connected incorrectly or damaged. Check to mak e sure that the printer interface cab le is connected correctly . If it is, tr y a diff erent cable. F ont selection changes une xpectedly . Y our application software is [...]

Troubleshooting guide 51 Line spacing is incorrect. Jamming paper . Set up the printer for the paper thickness y ou are using. See “Adjusting f or paper thic kness” on page 40. The line spacing or leading selected your application program is wrong. Choose a diff erent line spacing or leading setting from your application. A uto line f eed with [...]

52 Troubleshooting T ext and gr aphics are malf ormed. Print quality is poor . The print head is damaged. Return the printer to your dealer f or repair . F orms are smudged. Printing is too dar k. The printer is not set up correctly f or the thickness of paper being used. Set up the printer for the paper thickness y ou are using. See “Adjusting f[...]

Troubleshooting guide 53 Printer pr ints past the edge of the paper . The paper guide is not positioned correctly . Remov e the paper and adjust the position of the paper guide. Reload the paper and tr y printing again. The ribbon is jammed, causing the print head to jam. Make sure that the ribbon car tridge is installed correctly . See “Installi[...]

54 Troubleshooting Left margin mov es to the right dur ing printing. Static electricity caused by interf erence from nearby electrical devices or b y low- le v el humidity is aff ecting printer operation. Make sure that the printer is not too close to any de vices with electric motors or that raise the humidity le vel. Some char acters are pr inted[...]

Checking system software settings in Windows 55 Checking system software settings in W indows Whenever you have problems printing from a Windows application, you should check the following three things: ✓ Is the printer you are using set as the default printer? ✓ Is the printer you are using correctly selected in your application? ✓ Is the co[...]

56 Troubleshooting 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 printing you are using a serial cab[...]

57 Appendix B: Specifications Printing System Serial Impact Dot-Matrix Printing Speed Pitch Draft (cps/dpi) LQ (cps/dpi) Pica (10 cpi) 160/120H 53/360H Elite (12 cpi) 192/120H 64/360H Semi-condensed (15 cpi (S)) 240/120H 80/360H Semi-condensed (15 cpi (I)) 120/240H 80/360H Condensed pica (17 cpi) 136/240H 91/360H Condensed elite (20 cpi) 160/240H [...]

58 Specifications Paper Single-sheet (manual feeding) P aper width: 7 ″ to 10.5 ″ / 178 to 267 mm P aper length: 5.5 ″ to 14 ″ / 140 to 356 mm P aper thickness: 0.00276 ″ to 0.00472 ″ / 0.07 to 0.12 mm P aper weight: 52 to 90 g/m 2 / 45 to 77 kg / 14 to 24 lbs. Single sheet (automatic sheet feeding) P aper size: A4 and Letter P aper thi[...]

59 Appendix C: Interface Pin Outs P arallel Interface Pin Name Function 1 STROBE Goes low f or ≥ 0.5 µ s when active . 2 D A T A0 High when active . 3 D A T A1 High when active . 4 D A T A2 High when active . 5 D A T A3 High when active . 6 D A T A4 High when active . 7 D A T A5 High when active . 8 D A T A6 High when active . 9 D A T A7 High wh[...]

60 Appendix D: Character Sets Standard Character Set #2 International Character Set The character codes shown in the table are hexadecimal.[...]

Checking the port settings in the User Setup Utility 61 IBM Character Set #2 Code P age #437 (IBM-PC) Code P age #850 Multi-lingual Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #852 Latin-2 (LC-240/240C only) Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437.[...]

62 Character Sets Code P age #860 P or tuguese Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #861 Icelandic Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #863 Canadian French Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #865 Nordic Other characters are the same as those for Co[...]

Checking the port settings in the User Setup Utility 63 Code P age #3840 IBM-Russian (LC-240/240C only) Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #866 Russian (LC-240/240C only) Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #3843 P olish (LC-240/240C only) Other characters are the same as those fo[...]

64 Character Sets Code P age #3845 Hungarian (LC-240/240C only) Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #3844 CS2 (LC-240/240C only) Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #3847 Brazil-ABNT Other characters are the same as those for Code Page #437. Code P age #3846 T urkish (LC-240/240C o[...]

Checking the port settings in the User Setup Utility 65 Character Set #1 Other characters are the same as those for Character Set #2. IBM Special Character Set The following characters can be printed using the <ESC> ^ command. Code P age #3848 Brazil-ABICOMP The other characters are the same as in code page #437.[...]

66 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, IBM, or Both), and the applicable ASCII code. Font and Character Set Control Commands Description Mode ASCII Code Select italic STD ESC 4 Cancel italic STD ESC 5 Se[...]

Checking the port settings in the User Setup Utility 67 Print Pitch Contr ol Commands Description Mode ASCII Code Select one line expanded print Both SO Same as SO Both ESC SO Select condensed print Both SI Same as SI Both ESC SI Cancel condensed print STD DC2 Set print pitch to pica IBM DC2 Cancel one-line expanded print Both DC4 Set print pitch t[...]

68 Printer Control Codes Special Print Mode Commands Description Mode ASCII Code Set master print mode STD ESC! Cancel underlining Both ESC-0 Select underlining Both ESC-1 Select emphasized print Both ESC E Cancel emphasized print Both ESC F Select double-strike print Both ESC G Cancel double-strike print Both ESC H Select superscripts Both ESC S0 [...]

Checking the port settings in the User Setup Utility 69 Line Spacing Commands Description Mode ASCII Code Advance paper one line (line f eed) Both LF Rev erse paper one line STD ESC LF Set line spacing to 1/8 ″ Both ESC 0 Set line spacing to 7/72 ″ IBM ESC 1 Set line spacing to 1/6 ″ STD ESC 2 Execute ESC A IBM ESC 2 Set line spacing to n /18[...]

70 Printer Control Codes Horizontal Print P osition Control Commands Description Mode ASCII Code Mov e print head to next horizontal tab position Both HT Return pr int head to left margin (carriage retur n) Both CR Mov e print head to absolute horizontal position STD ESC $ n1 n2 Add n dot spaces between characters STD ESC SPn Cancel automatic line [...]

Checking the port settings in the User Setup Utility 71 Set initial condition IBM ESC [K Ignored STD ESC h n Stop printing IBM ESC j Select printing color Both ESC r n Cancel double-high mode STD ESC w0 Select double-high mode STD ESC w1 Ignored STD ESC ~ n NEC Commands Description Mode ASCII Code Set line spacing to n /360 ″ STD FS 3 n Initializ[...]

72 Appendix F: Glossary A.E.C Automatic Emulation Change feature that allows the printer to automatically select the proper emulation mode (standard or IBM). automatic sheet feeder Device built into the printer that automatically feeds individual sheets for printing. Centronics cab le Parallel cable normally used to connect the printer to the compu[...]

A adjustment lever 40, 41 Adjustment window 26 application printer selection 60 AUTOEXEC.BAT 48, 50, 60 Automatic Emulation Change 21 automatic sheet feeder detaching 12 reinstalling 14 automatic sheet feeding 41 B bidirectional printing 21 C cable parallel 11, 12, 60 serial converter 46, 47 carton contents 2 character patterns 22 Character Set IBM[...]

General Options window 20 General window 26 graphic direction 21 H Help menu 29 hexadecimal dump 52 I ink color 22 input buffer 22 M manual sheet feeding 41 Microsoft Windows setting up for 30 MS-DOS selecting a printer 43 selecting fonts with 44 setting up for printing 43 N Not-Ready 38 O options 2 P paper advancing 38 automatic feeding 41 ejectin[...]

ribbon cartridge color 5 installing 5 monochrome 5 S serial-to-parallel converter connecting 47 DIP switches 48 with MS-DOS 50 serial-to-parallel interface converter 46, 78 Sleep Mode entering 37 precautions 22 system software settings MS-DOS 60 Windows 59 T test long 52 short 52 time-out printing 21 troubleshooting 53 TrueType fonts installing 35 [...]

Customer service information If you experience an y technical difficulties with your Star printer , please refer to Appendix A Ho w to deal with printing problems. This chapter describes easy methods to diagnose and resolve some of the problems that you may encounter . For further technical support, you should first contact your Authorized Star D[...]