POSMicro SL4M User manual

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Printronix T4M Manual
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User’s Manual
SL4M™ and T4M™
RFID Smart Label and Thermal Printers

This document contains proprietary information protected by copyright. No
part of this document may be reproduced, copied, translated or incorporated
in any other material in any form or by any means, whether manual, graphic,
electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior written consent of
Printronix.
COPYRIGHT © 2007, 2011 PRINTRONIX, INC. All rights reserved.
Trademark Acknowledgements
SL4M and T4M are trademarks of Printronix, Inc.
Printronix, IGP, IGP/Auto Label Mapping, PGL, and PrintNet are registered
trademarks of Printronix, Inc.
HP is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.
PCL is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.
IBM is registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp.
MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Centronics is a registered trademark of Genicom Corporation.
IEEE is a registered service mark of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers, Inc.
ANSI is a registered trademark of American National Standards Institute, Inc.
EIA is a registered service mark of Electronic Industries Association.
ZPL, ZPL II, and Zebra are registered trademarks of Zebra Technologies
Corporation.
TEC is a registered trademark of the Toshiba TEC Corporation.
Intermec is a registered trademark of the Intermec Technologies Corporation.
SATO is a registered trademark of SATO America, Inc.
DPL is a trademark and Datamax is a registered trademark of Datamax
Technologies Corporation.
Monarch is a registered trademark of Paxar Corporation.
IER is a registered trademark of IER Siège
Andalé is a registered trademark of Monotype Corporation.

1 Introduction ......................................................... 11
The SL4M/T4M Thermal Printer .......................................................... 11
Standard Features ........................................................................ 11
Optional Features.......................................................................... 12
Thermal Printer Technology ................................................................ 14
The Printing Process ..................................................................... 14
Manual Conventions ............................................................................ 14
Warnings And Special Information ...................................................... 15
Related Documents ............................................................................. 15
Thermal Consumables......................................................................... 16
Media Selection............................................................................. 16
Ribbons ......................................................................................... 16
2 Operation ............................................................ 17
Unpacking The Printer ......................................................................... 17
Installation............................................................................................ 18
Power Cord Requirements ............................................................ 21
Setting Up The Printer ......................................................................... 21
Loading Ribbon ............................................................................. 22
Loading Roll Media ....................................................................... 25
Loading Fanfold Media.................................................................. 30
Operating Modes ................................................................................. 34
Controls And Indicators ....................................................................... 35
Power Switch ................................................................................ 35
Powering On The Printer............................................................... 35
Control Panel ................................................................................ 36
Media Handling Modes ........................................................................ 40
Printhead Pressure Adjustment ........................................................... 41
Media Thickness Adjustment ........................................................ 41
Media Width Adjustment ............................................................... 42
Printhead Alignment...................................................................... 43
Positioning The Media Sensors ........................................................... 44
Sensing Different Media Types ..................................................... 46
Running Auto Calibrate........................................................................ 47
Running Media Profile ......................................................................... 48
Running Manual Calibrate ................................................................... 50
Table of Contents

Table of Contents
3 Standard Interfaces............................................. 53
Overview.............................................................................................. 53
Auto Switching ..................................................................................... 53
Parallel Interface.................................................................................. 54
Centronics ..................................................................................... 54
IEEE 1284 ..................................................................................... 56
Serial Interface..................................................................................... 59
RS-232 .......................................................................................... 59
4 Configuring The Printer ....................................... 61
Overview.............................................................................................. 61
Setting Printer Configuration Parameters ..................................... 61
Moving Within The Configuration Menu ........................................ 61
Selecting A Menu Option .............................................................. 63
Changing Printer Settings ............................................................. 64
Hidden Menus...................................................................................... 64
Menu Overview.................................................................................... 65
Main Menu ........................................................................................... 66
MEDIA SETUP Menu .......................................................................... 68
MEDIA SETUP Submenus............................................................ 69
SENSOR SETUP Menu....................................................................... 83
SENSOR SETUP Submenus........................................................ 84
EMULATION MENU ............................................................................ 90
Overview ....................................................................................... 90
EMULATION Submenus ............................................................... 96
PRINTER SETUP Menu .................................................................... 105
PRINTER SETUP Submenus ..................................................... 107
INTERFACES Menu.......................................................................... 116
INTERFACES Submenus ........................................................... 120
CONFIGURATION MENU ................................................................. 139
CONFIGURATION Submenus.................................................... 140
DIAGNOSTICS Menu........................................................................ 142
DIAGNOSTICS Submenus ......................................................... 143
Saving A Configuration ...................................................................... 145
Auto Save Configuration.................................................................... 146
Specifying A Power-Up Configuration ............................................... 148
Modifying A Saved Configuration ...................................................... 149
Printing A Configuration..................................................................... 150
Loading A Saved Configuration ......................................................... 151

Table of Contents
5 Downloading Software ...................................... 153
Loading Flash Memory ...................................................................... 153
Downloading Software With The Firmware Download Utility............. 154
Downloading Software Through The Parallel Port............................. 155
Downloading Software Through The NIC .......................................... 156
Downloading Software Through The NIC Using FTP ........................ 158
Downloading Software Through The USB Port ................................. 160
Downloading Software If Flash Contains Only Boot Or
Corrupt Code ..................................................................................... 161
Using TrueType Fonts ....................................................................... 162
Downloading TrueType Fonts............................................................ 162
Printronix Windows Driver........................................................... 162
PGL Emulation (Online) .............................................................. 163
Download Mode .......................................................................... 163
PTX_SETUP ............................................................................... 166
Labeling Applications .................................................................. 166
Select And Print Downloaded TrueType Fonts.................................. 167
6 Routine Care And Troubleshooting................... 169
Cleaning............................................................................................. 169
Exterior Cleaning......................................................................... 169
Interior Cleaning.......................................................................... 170
Cleaning the Printhead, Platen Roller, Media Sensors, And
Media Damper............................................................................. 170
Printer Tests ...................................................................................... 174
Troubleshooting Common Situations................................................. 174
Improving Processing Time......................................................... 174
Data Exchange............................................................................ 175
Controlling Print Quality............................................................... 176
Determining Printhead Wear ....................................................... 176
Replacing The Printhead ................................................................... 177
Restore The Printer To Operation ..................................................... 179
Solving Other Printer Problems................................................... 180
Printer Alarms ............................................................................. 188
Fault Messages........................................................................... 188
Status Messages......................................................................... 210

Table of Contents
A Specifications .................................................... 213
Print Method................................................................................ 213
Media .......................................................................................... 214
Ribbon......................................................................................... 216
Indicators And Switches .............................................................. 216
Memory ....................................................................................... 217
Optional Expanded Memory Cartridge ........................................ 217
Media Cutter Option .................................................................... 217
Host Interfaces ............................................................................ 218
Power .......................................................................................... 218
Environmental ............................................................................. 219
Physical....................................................................................... 219
Acoustic Noise ............................................................................ 219
B Printer Options .................................................. 221
Hardware Options.............................................................................. 221
Interface Options ............................................................................... 223
Software Options ............................................................................... 223
Installing The QCMC ......................................................................... 225
Saving The Printer’s Configuration To The QCMC............................ 227
Copying The QCMC “Snapshot” Image to a Second Printer ............. 229
Updating The Printer Configuration To The QCMC .................... 231
Loading New Firmware On The Printer....................................... 231
Installing The EMC ............................................................................ 232
Using The Standard Peel Without Liner Rewinder ............................ 234
Configure The Printer Menu........................................................ 234
Load Media ................................................................................. 235
Using The Full Media Rewinder Option ............................................. 237
Configure The Printer Menu........................................................ 237
Load Media ................................................................................. 237
Rewinder Full Sensor Setup ....................................................... 240
Using The Full Media Rewinder With 3 Inch Diameter Core
Adapters ............................................................................................ 241
Configure The Printer Menu........................................................ 241
Install The Core Adapters And Media Take-Up Core.................. 241
Load Media ................................................................................. 243
Rewinder Full Sensor Setup ....................................................... 245
Using The Standard Peel With Liner Rewinder Option...................... 246
Configure The Printer Menu........................................................ 246
Load Media ................................................................................. 247
Removing Label Liner from the Rewinder................................... 251

Table of Contents
Supplies ............................................................................................. 252
Genuine Printronix Thermal Transfer Ribbons............................ 252
Genuine Printronix Media............................................................ 253
Ribbon And Media Usage ........................................................... 254
C ASCII Control Codes......................................... 255
D General Information .......................................... 257
Printronix Customer Support Center.................................................. 257
Printronix Supplies Department................................................... 257
Corporate Offices ........................................................................ 258
Training Available On Printronix Products ......................................... 258
Warranty Information ......................................................................... 259
Communication Notices..................................................................... 260
Software License Agreement............................................................. 263
Limited Software Product Warranty ................................................... 265
E Glossary............................................................ 267