Epson Printer Interface Cartridge User manual

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other-
wise, without the prior written permission of Epson America, Inc. No patent liability is
assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution
has been taken in the preparation of this book, Epson America, Inc. assumes no responsibility
for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of
the information contained herein.
Commodore 64 and VIC-20 are registered trademarks of Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
HomeWriter and PIC are trademarks of Epson America, Inc.
Middle Earth by Wayne Schmidt.
Doodle! art courtesy of City Software.
Doodle! is a trademark of City Software.
Copyright© 1985 by Epson America, Inc.
Torrance, California 90505
P8492053
ii

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
2
3
Installation and Operation
......................
Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge
...........
Printing the Test Patterns
.......................
Connecting the Printer to Your Commodore
.......
Control Panel
.................................
Using Your Printer
.............................
SelecType
....................................
Dot Matrix Printing
............................
Near Letter Quality
..........................
Emphasized
................................
Double-Strike
...............................
Compressed
................................
SelecType Operation
...........................
Turning SelecType mode on
...................
Using SelecType
.............................
SelecType practice
...........................
SelecType exercise
...........................
Mode combination
..........................
SelecType Tips
................................
HomeWriter- Features ........................
Demonstration Programs
.......................
The HomeWriter- and BASIC .................
HomeWriter- Features ........................
Expanded printing
...........................
Reverse printing
.............................
Uppercase/Graphic/Lowercase modes
..........
Tabs.. .....................................
Line spacing
................................
1
3
3
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
8
9
9
9
10
10
11
11
13
14
15
15
16
17
18
19
19
22
23
. . .
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4
Introduction to Dot Graphics
....................
25
Dot Patterns
..................................
26
The Print Head
...............................
27
Graphics Mode
...............................
27
Pin Labels
....................................
28
First Graphics Program
.........................
29
Multiple-Line Exercise
..........................
30
Design Your Own Graphics
.....................
31
A HomeWriter- Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-l
B HomeWriter- Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-l
CThe DIP Switches
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-l
DUsing the Optional Tractor Unit
..................D-l
Printer Location
...............................D-l
Tractor Unit Installation
........................
D-2
Loading Continuous Paper
...................... D-4
E
Troubleshooting and Advanced Features
...........E-l
Problem/Solution Summary
....................E-l
Beeper Error Warnings
.........................E-l
Hex Code Dump Mode
......................... E-2
Installing Applications Programs
................. E-3
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Introduction
The Epson HomeWriter- printer combines low price with the
high quality and advanced capabilities formerly available only on
more expensive printers.
HomeWriter- Features
In addition to the reliability and quality you’ve come to expect from
Epson printers, the HomeWriter- has many features. A few of the
highlights are:
l Draft mode for quick printing of ordinary work
l Near Letter Quality mode for top quality printing
l A variety of print styles, including expanded, reversed, and two
kinds of bold printing
l Graphics for charts, diagrams, and illustrations
l Easy paper loading
l Ribbon cassette for quick and clean ribbon changing
About This Manual
The HomeWriter-10 Setup Instructions tell you how to set up your
printer. This Printer Interface Cartridge Operation Manual gives you
the specific information you need to use the HomeWriter- with your
Commodore computer.
1

We’re not going to waste your time with unnecessary information,
but we won’t neglect anything you need to know about the
HomeWriter- and its many features.
You can read as much or as little of this manual as you wish. If you
have used printers before and have a specific program that you want
to use with the HomeWriter-10, a quick reading of the first chapter
may be all you need.
For a preview of what your HomeWriter- can do, look at the
following samples of graphics and typestyles:
Your HomeWriter- can produce:
EXPANDEDPRINTING
REVERSED PRINTING
Emphasized printing
Double-strike printing
Compressed printing
The Near Letter Quality mode offers
high quality,
typewriter-style print.
2

Chapter 1
Installation and Operation
After you have set up your printer and loaded the paper (following
the directions in the Setup Instructions), you are ready to plug in your
Printer Interface Cartridge (PIC™) and begin printing.
Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge
Inserting the PIC is easy. Simply follow the directions on the
HomeWriter- instruction card. Once the PIC is installed, you are
ready to test your printer.
Caution: Be sure you turn OFF all your computer equipment and
printer before inserting or removing the cartridge.
Printing the Test Patterns
It’s time to see the HomeWriter- in action. You’ll start with a test
pattern. Don’t connect the printer to your computer yet-just follow
these steps:
1) Make sure that your printer has paper in it and that the power
switch (on the right side of the printer) is off.
2) Press LF on the control panel while you turn the printer on with the
power switch.
3

The HomeWriter- will begin printing letters, numbers, symbols,
and graphics characters in the draft mode. It won’t stop until you turn
it off or until it gets near the end of the paper.
To see the same test in the NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode, turn
the printer on while pressing FF. Figure l-l shows what both test pat-
terns look like.
NLQ
Standard
Figure 1-1. Test patterns
Connecting the Printer to Your Commodore
Before connecting the HomeWriter-10, be sure that all your com-
puter equipment is turned off.
If you have a disk drive, plug the cable into the serial bus port in the
back of the disk drive. If you do not have a disk drive, plug the cable
into the serial port connector in the back of your computer. See the
manual for your computer or disk drive if you are not sure which
connection to use.
4

Control Panel
When your HomeWriter- is connected to your computer system,
turn on the printer and look at the control panel on the top.
Figure 1-2. Control panel
You have already used the touch-sensitive control panel for a spe-
cial purpose, printing the test patterns. Here are the main functions of
the lights and rectangles on this panel:
l The POWER light glows green when the power is on.
l The READY light glows green when the printer is ready to accept
data. Don’t worry if this light flickers somewhat during printing;
such flickering is normal.
l The PAPER OUT light glows red when the printer is out of paper or
the paper is loaded incorrectly.
l The ON LINE light glows green when the printer can receive data.
(If it does not come on when you turn the printer on, check to see
that the computer and disk drive are on.)
5

In addition to the lights, the control panel has three touch-sensitive
rectangles. Their functions are:
l ON LINE switches the printer between on-line and off-line status.
When the printer is on-line, the ON LINE light glows and the
printer is ready to accept data.
The following two functions work only when the ON LINE light is
off. If the ON LINE light is on, press ON LINE before you use these.
l FF (Form Feed) advances continuous paper to the top of the next
page.
l LF (Line Feed) advances the paper one line at a time.
The control panel can also be used to turn on several printing func-
tions using a feature called SelecType, which is described in the next
chapter.
Using Your Printer
If you have a word processing or other commercial software pro-
gram, just load the program in your computer, follow the printing
instructions, and watch your HomeWriter- print.
If you plan to use your HomeWriter- for printing program list-
ings, load a program and use the appropriate listing command for the
programming language you are using. For the BASIC that is built in to
the Commodore computer, type the following:
OPEN9,4: CMD9: LIST
After the printer has listed the program, restore normal operation by
typing this:
PRINT#9: CLOSE9
You can now begin using the HomeWriter-10 with your software, or
you can find out about the special features of the printer in the next
chapters.
Note: If you need to print on the last 2 inches of single-sheet paper, see
Appendix C.
6