Star Micronics LC-90 NX-1010 manual

USERS MANU AL LC-90 NX-1010 HA 80825641 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-10, LC-90, LC-100, NX-1000, NX-1010, NX-1040, PT -10Y , SPC-8K : Star Micronics Co. Ltd. EX-800, FX-850, LX-810, LX-850 : Seiko Epson Corporation IBM PC, IBM Proprinter , IBM Proprinter 2 , IBM Proprinter 3 : International Business Machines Corporation. T rueT ype : Apple Computer Inc. MS-DOS, Microsoft W indows, Windo[...]

About this manual This manual describes how to set up, use, and care for the Star LC-90 and NX- 1010 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 chapter. Chapter 1 Choosing a place for your [...]

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 Installing the ribbon cartridge . . . 5 Installing the paper support . . . 6 Connecting to your computer . . . 7 Connecting to a power outlet . . . 9 Loading paper . . . 9 Detaching [...]

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 [...]

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 Cartridge Print head[...]

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 co ver 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[...]

Installing the ribbon cartridge 5 Installing the ribbon cartridge ❏ Rotate the knob on the cartridge clockwise to take up an y slack in the ribbon. ❏ Carefully push the cartridge holder by hand all the way to the left side as f ar as it will go. Important! Never try to move the print head while the printer is plug ged in. Doing so can damage th[...]

6 Printer Setup Important! Be sur e to double c hec k that the ribbon is pr operly positioned between the print head and print head shield. If it isn’ t, you may get poor print quality or e ven end up damaging the ribbon. ❏ 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 securel[...]

Connecting to your computer 7 Connecting to your computer The computer sends data to the printer through a cable. This printer does not come with a cable, so you must purchase one of your own. You will probably want to use a standard parallel cable for connection, but note that you can also use an optional Serial-To-Parallel Interface Converter (SP[...]

8 Printer Setup Important! Make sur e that the printer is unplugged fr om the A C outlet and that the computer is switched of f before connecting them. ❏ Plug one end of the parallel cable into the parallel port of your computer . The parallel port should be labelled “Printer , ” “Parallel, ” “PRN, ” “LPT1, ” or something similar [...]

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 no w 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 fee[...]

Detaching the automatic sheet feeder 13 ❏ Grasp the automatic sheet feeder and pull it gently tow ards 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 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 Setup Util[...]

16 User Setup Utility ❏ Execute the command that installs the User Setup Utility: A:>SETUP ↵ ❏ Select the language you want to use. and then press Enter . The above screen appears in the language that you selected in the previous step. ❏ Input the dri ve and directory names where you want the User Setup Utility stored. The following is [...]

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 mo ve 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. NLQ Font ❏ Select the font that you want to use as the printer’ s default near letter - quality font. Pitch ❏ Select the print pi[...]

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 P aper 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 C[...]

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 off ( Disabled ). When paper out detection is enabled, the printer automatically stops printing whenever it senses there is no more paper. When disabled, the pri[...]

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 moving 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 indi[...]

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 Sa v e item from the menu bar . ❏ Input the name that you want to assign to the configuration and press Enter . The displayed c[...]

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 User Setup Utility 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 do wn arrow k eys to highlight the selection you want and then pres[...]

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: ❏ How to set up for printing wit[...]

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: ❏ How to set up for printing with MS-DOS ❏ How to select fonts from within an application Setting up for printing with MS-DOS To print from an applicat[...]

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). ❏ T o print, follow the instructions gi ven in the manual of [...]

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: ❏ How to pause printing ❏ Feeding paper ❏ Form feeding Ho [...]

46 Troubleshooting 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 meani[...]

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. Long test A long test continually prints the version number of the software contained in the printer’s ROM, followed by the current User Setup Utility settings, and the entire character set in each available fo[...]

48 Troubleshooting ❏ Begin printing from your computer , 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 h[...]

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 the power outlet. Che[...]

50 Troubleshooting Pr inter test w orks, b ut pr inter will not print out data from the attached computer . The wrong emulation is selected. Check the em ulation selection and change if necessar y . See “Emulation” on page 20. Y our application prog ram’ s or system software’ s printer selection is wrong. Check the printer selection of your[...]

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 carriage retur n is en[...]

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[...]

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 “Installing the ribbon car trid[...]

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[...]

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 correct port selected? You should also refer to[...]

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) NLQ (cps/dpi) Pica (10 cpi) 160/120H 40/240H Elite (12 cpi) 192/120H 48/240H Condensed pica (17 cpi) 136/240H 68/240H Condensed elite (20 cpi) 160/240H 80/240H H: half-dot Print Direction Draft: Bi-directional logic seeking NLQ: Uni-directio[...]

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[...]

Now preparing the acr obat data Appendix C: Interface Pin Outs Appendix D: Character Sets Appendix E: Printer Control Codes Click here to refer to Multiple Language Manual LC-90.[...]

72 Glossary 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 [...]

A A.E.C. 20, 73 adjustment lever 40 application printer selection 55 auto LF with CR 24 AUTOEXEC.BAT 56 Automatic Emulation Change 20, 73 automatic sheet feeder 41, 73 detaching 12 reinstalling 14 B bidirectional printing 20 C cable parallel 7, 27, 55, 56 carton contents 2 char. table 23 character patterns 21 character set IBM #2 61 international 6[...]

emulation control 20 RAM usage 21 Sleep Mode 21 H Help window 30 hexadecimal dump 47 I input buffer 21 L line spacing 24 M manual sheet feeding 41 Microsoft Windows 31 setting up for 31 MS-DOS 43 selecting a printer 43 selecting fonts with 44 setting up for 43 N NLQ Direction 20 NLQ Font 22 Not-Ready 38 O options 2 P page length 24 paper advancing [...]

S serial-to-parallel converter 7, 8, 17 Sleep Mode 21 entering 37 precautions 21 system software settings MS-DOS 56 Windows 55 T tear-off 25 test long 47 short 47 timeout printing 25 top margin 25 troubleshooting 49 TrueType fonts installing 36 U unidirectional printing 20 User Setup Utility default settings 29 Exit 30 exiting 30 Font window 22 Imp[...]

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[...]