Costar LabelWriter XL User manual

m
STAR

hank you for purchasing the Labelwriter printer.
T Your Labelwriter printercomes with 2 manuals and
2 disks. Please follow these steps to set up and use your
Labelwriter
XL or XL Plus printer.
I. Follow the directions in the thin Labelwriter User
Manual. It explains:
How to set up your Labelwriterprinter.
How toload and change labels.
How to installWindows print drivers (see #2 below).
2. Next, to install theAddressMatesoftware, open the
AddressMate manualand follow
the directions covering
the installationand use of the software.AddressMate
will promptyou
to installyourWindows print drivers
near the end of
its installation.Youcan refer to
Appendix
E inyour Labelwriter User Manual or
Appendix E in the AddressMate manual for step by
step instructionson installingWindows print drivers.

LABELW RlTER
User Manual for use with Labelwriter XL,
XLPlus, BC and BC Plus printers.
Includes:
Setting
Up Your Printer
Loading Labels
Maintenance
& Troubleshooting
Ordering More Labels
Printer Specifications
Development
Tools
Installing Windows Print Drivers
Using Labelwriter With3rd Party Software
Costar Corporation
599 West PutnamAvenue
Greenwich,
CT 06830

FCC compliance
statement
This equipmenthas beentested and found tocomply with the limits
CommunicationsCommittee) rules. These limits are designed toprovide
reasonableprotection against harmfulinterference in a residentialinstalla-
tion. This equipmentgenerates, uses, and can radiateradiofrequency
energy, and,
if notinstalled and used inaccordancewiththe instructions,
may cause harmful interferencetoradio communications.
However, there
is noguarantee that interferencewill notoccur in a
particular installation.
If this equipmentdoes cause harmfulinterference
toradio ortelevisionreception,which can be determined byturningthe
equipmentoff and on, the user
is encouraged totry correctingthe inter-
ference by one ormore ofthefollowingmeasures:
for aClass
B digital device, pursuantto Part I5 ofthe FCC (Federal
~
Reorient or relocatethe receivingantenna.
Increasethe separation betweenthe equipmentand the receiver.
Connect the equipmentintoan outlet onacircuit different from thatto
Useshieldedcables toconnectthis device tocomputers.
Consult the dealer oran experiencedradiomtechnician for help.
You may find helpfulthe followingbooklet, prepared by the FCC:
Interference HandbookThis booklet
is available fromthe U.S. Government
PrintingOffice, Superintendentof Documents,Washington, DC20402-
which the receiver
is connected.
9325; [phone].
Warning: Changes or modificationstothis unit notexpresslyapproved
bythe party responsiblefor compliancecould void the user's authority to
operate the equipment.
Copyright
01 991-95Costar Corporation. All rights reserved.
Trademarks
Labelwriter is a trademark of Costar Corporation. All other trademarks
are trademarks oftheir respective holders.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I . Labelwriter Printer Setup ............................................................................. i
Do you have what you need ...................................................................................................... i
Where toput your printer ........................................................................................................ 2
Connectingthe power
................................................................................................................ 5
~ ~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Unpackingthe printer .................................................................................................................. i
Identifyingprinter components ................................................................................................. 3
Locatingprinter controls
............................................................................................................ 4
Connectingthe serial cable ........................................................................................................ 5
Installingthe label guide
.............................................................................................................. 6
Loading labels ................................................................................................................................. 8
Removingan empty label roll .................................................................................................. IO
Chapter 2 . Maintenance and Troubleshooting ........................................................... 1 1
Printer maintenance ................................................................................................................... 1 1
Exterior maintenance ................................................................................................................ 12
Interior maintenance ................................................................................................................. 12
Clearinglabel jams ..................................................................................................................... 13
Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................................... 13
IRQ settings ................................................................................................................................. 13
Printer isn’t getting power
....................................................................................................... 14
Printer is on but doesn’t print ................................................................................................. 15
Self-test works but printer still doesn’t
printfrom application
................................................................................................................ 15
Howtocorrect poor print quality ......................................................................................... 16
Chapter 3 . Ordering More Labels ..................................................................................... 17
Appendix A . Printer and Serial Interface Specifications ....................................... 19
Appendix B . Warranty and Service ................................................................................. 21
Appendix C . Development Tools ...................................................................................... 23
Appendix D . Battery Pack .................................................................................................... 25
Appendix F . UsingLabelwriter with 3rd Party Software .................................... 35
Appendix E . InstallingWindows Print Drivers ............................................. : ............. 27

CHAPTER 1
SETUP
This chapter explains how to set up your new Labelwriter
printer
for optimum performance.
Unpackingthe
printer
The first step in setting up your printer is, naturally, unpacking
the pieces. Be sure tosave all the original packing materials.
They are specially designed to protectthe printer and
will make
repacking easy
if you ever need toship the printer. Now, let’s
take inventory.
Do you have
what
you need?
Having unpackedyour Labelwriter printer, it’s agood ideato
check now
to see that you have all the pieces. You should find the
following items (shown in Figure
I - I):
LabelwriterXL, XLPlus, BC or BC Plus printer
Serial cable
Power transformer
Roll of labels
User manual
Check carefully
to see if anything is missingor damaged. If so,
contact Costar immediately.
Everythingchecked out?Let’s set up the Labelwriterprinter

Figure 1-1. The Labelwriter printer comes with these items:printer, power
transformer, serial cable, roll of lab& user manual.
Whereto put
your printer
Before setting up your Labelwriter,take a few moments to
consider where you plan
to put it. Ofcourse, we can’t cover all
possible setups, butthere are afew general guidelines you might
consider.
Be sure there’s enough roomaround the printer to allow labels
toflow out freely.
Avoid placingthe printer in areas where sudden, severe changes
intemperature and humidityoccur.
Avoid areas with direct sunlight, dust and grease.
Picka clean area.
Select a steady source of electricity and check for other appli-
ances which may be usingthe same circuit. Copiers, heaters, air
conditioners and other motorized equipment can cause power
fluctuations which may interfere withyour printing.
Use a surge protector.

Identifyingprinter
components
Figure 1-2 highlightsthe main components ofthe LabelWriter
printer. Beforesetting up the printer,
let’s see what these compo-
nents do:
I
+z+
Power light
Label
tear bar
-
Formfeed
button
I
Onloffbutton
Figure 1-2. LabelWriter components.
Cover - The cover protects the internal components ofthe
printerfrom dust, moisture and the outside world in general. The
cover
is easily openedwhen changing label rolls.
Power light - The power lightglows green when the printer is
turned on. It flashes when there is somethingwrongwith the
printer, such as when the printer runs out of labels.
Onloffbutton - The on/off button turns the printer on and off.
Form feed button - The form feed button advances the roll
of labels one label each time you press the button.
Label spindle - The label spindle, located insidethe printer,
holds the
roll oflabels.
Label tear bar - The serrated tear bar on the label exit slot
allows quick, clean label removal.

Interface connector - The interface connector,which looks
likea telephone jack,
is a serial connector. One end of the special
serial cable that comes with the printer
is pluggedintothis con-
nector and the other end
is attached toyour computer.
Power transformer - The powertransformer provides
electrical powertothe printer. Connect thetransformer toa
standard grounded outlet.
~~~
-~ ~ -~ ~
Locatingprinter
controls
The printercontrols allow you to turnthe printer onand off, and
advance the label
roll. Refer toFigure 1-3 to locate the following
printer controls onyour Labelwriter printer.
The On/Off Button
The On/Off power button is the left buttononthe front panel of
the printer. Onceyou have the power cord pluggedin, push the
on/off buttontoturn the printer on; press
it again toturn the
printeroff.
\\A-
-
Figure 1-3. Labelwriter onlofand form feed buttons.

Power Light
Whenthe printer is on, the power light located on the front panel
ofthe printer
will glowgreen. The light goes off when you turn
the printer
off.
Form Feedbutton
The form feed button is the right button on the front panel ofthe
printer. Push this buttononce toadvance the label roll one label,
so the nextset ofthree guide holes on the label roll aligns with
the labeltear bar. The label rolladvances one label each time you
press the form feed button.
Connectingthe
power
The power cord is connected to the rear of the printeras
shown in Figure
1-4. Plugthe powertransformer into astandard
grounded outlet.
Connectingthe
serialcable
Your printer and computer communicate through the special
serial cable that comes withyour Labelwriter. The cable has a
telephone-like connector at one end that plugs intothe back
of
the Labelwriter,and two serial connectors at the other end - a
DB9 and DB25 connector. Your PC
will use one or the other of
these two connectors, notboth.
Followthe steps below while referring
to Figure 1-4 to makethe
properconnections:
I. Turnyour computer and printer off.
I
Figure 1-4. Mokingthe right connections. Always connect the power cord to
a grounded outlet.
2. Connectthe printer end ofthe serial cable tothe rear of the
printer.
It fits only one way just like pluggingin a telephone.