Wincor Nixdorf TH230 Manual

TH230/TH230+
POS Printer
Programmers Guide (July 2013)

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TH230/TH230+, POS Printer, Programmers Guide

TH230/TH230+
POS Printer
Programmers Guide
July 2013

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Copyright © Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH, 2013

Contents
Overview ..................................................................................................................................1
Purpose of this document .................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 1
Firmware Characteristics of the Controller........................................................................................ 3
Line feed 3
Offline State........................................................................................................................................ 4
Online / Offline State Diagram ....................................................................................................... 4
Operator Panel ................................................................................................................................... 5
Linefeed Button .............................................................................................................................. 5
Power LED Green............................................................................................................................ 5
Paper End LED Yellow ..................................................................................................................... 5
Error LED Red.................................................................................................................................. 5
Sleep Mode......................................................................................................................................... 6
Diagram of Power States TH230 / TH230+......................................................................................... 7
Programming Hints............................................................................................................................. 8
Vertical Dot Lines............................................................................................................................ 8
Horizontal Dot Lines ....................................................................................................................... 8
Reverse Feed after Cutting............................................................................................................. 8
Small Graphics Printing................................................................................................................... 8
Power off control by the host......................................................................................................... 9
Page Mode Tips .................................................................................................................................. 9
Basic processing procedure for the page mode:.......................................................................... 10
Characteristics of the page mode................................................................................................. 10
Absolute Origin of Graphics and Text in Page Mode ................................................................... 11
Barcode......................................................................................................................................... 12
Control Sequences .................................................................................................................. 13
Control Characters and Control Sequences ..................................................................................... 13
Notation of the Command Description............................................................................................ 13
Command Overview......................................................................................................................... 14
Commands sorted by function groups ......................................................................................... 17
Ignored Commands .......................................................................................................................... 22
Description of the Control Characters and Sequences: ................................................................... 23
Transmit Status Identification Table .............................................................................................. 196
Printer Parameter Table................................................................................................................. 197
Character Sets and Fonts....................................................................................................... 199
Representation of the printed data ............................................................................................... 199
Character Fonts .......................................................................................................................... 199
User defined character sets........................................................................................................ 200
Character code tables................................................................................................................. 201
Standard code pages - tables ......................................................................................................... 206
Character code table Page 0 (PC437: USA, Standard Europe): .................................................. 206
Character code table Page 1 (PC850: Multilingual Latin I):........................................................ 207
Character code table Page 2 (PC852: Latin II): ........................................................................... 208
Character code table Page 3 (PC860: Portuguese): ................................................................... 209

Character code table Page 4 (PC863: Canadian French):........................................................... 210
Character code table Page 5 (PC865: Nordic): ........................................................................... 211
Character code table Page 6 (PC858: Multilingual I + Euro): ..................................................... 212
Character code table Page 7 (PC866: Russian):.......................................................................... 213
Character code table Page 8 (WPC1252: Latin I):....................................................................... 214
Character code table Page 9 (PC862: Hebrew): ......................................................................... 215
Character code table Page 10 (PC737: Greek): .......................................................................... 216
Character code table Page 11 (PC874: Thai): ............................................................................. 217
Character code table Page 12 (PC857: Turkish): ........................................................................ 218
Character code table Page 16 (WPC1254: Turkish):................................................................... 219
Character code table Page 17 (WPC1250: Central Europe): ...................................................... 220
Character code table Page 18 (WPC28591: Latin 1): ................................................................. 221
Character code table Page 19 (WPC28592: Latin 2): ................................................................. 222
Character code table Page 20 (WPC28599: Turkish):................................................................. 223
Character code table Page 21 (WPC28605: Latin 9): ................................................................. 224
Character code table Page 22 (PC864: Arabic):.......................................................................... 225
Character code table Page 23 (PC720: Arabic):.......................................................................... 226
Character code table Page 24 (WPC1256: Arabic): .................................................................... 227
Character code table Page 25 (WPC28596: Arabic):.................................................................. 228
Character code table Page 26 (KATAKANA: Asia):...................................................................... 229
Character code table Page 27 (PC775: Baltic):........................................................................... 230
Character code table Page 28 (WPC1257: Baltic): ..................................................................... 231
Character code table Page 29 (WPC28594: Baltic): ................................................................... 232
Asia Code Pages – Definition for USB Loader............................................................................. 233
USB Interface........................................................................................................................ 235
USB Descriptors.............................................................................................................................. 235
Device Descriptor ....................................................................................................................... 235
Configuration Descriptor ............................................................................................................ 236
Interface Descriptors .................................................................................................................. 237
Endpoint Descriptors.................................................................................................................. 238
String Descriptors ....................................................................................................................... 240
Printer Interface ............................................................................................................................. 242
IEEE 1284 Device ID (GET_DEVICE_ID) ....................................................................................... 242
SOFT_RESET ................................................................................................................................ 242
USB Reset ....................................................................................................................................... 242
USB Detach/Attach......................................................................................................................... 242
Receipt Buffer................................................................................................................................. 242
RS232 Interface..................................................................................................................... 243
Specifications.................................................................................................................................. 243
Handshake control ......................................................................................................................... 243
Receipt Buffer................................................................................................................................. 244
Ethernet Interface................................................................................................................. 245
Overview 245
Features 245
Handshake control ......................................................................................................................... 245
Receipt Buffer................................................................................................................................. 245

Service Menu........................................................................................................................ 246
Menu handling ............................................................................................................................... 246
Selecting the service menu......................................................................................................... 246
Controlling the service menu ..................................................................................................... 247
Save changed settings ................................................................................................................ 248
LED Service Menu........................................................................................................................... 248
Reset Printer ............................................................................................................................... 248
Run sensor test ........................................................................................................................... 248
Set EEPROM to default ............................................................................................................... 248
Print Service Menu ......................................................................................................................... 249
Exit .............................................................................................................................................. 256
Print Selftest ............................................................................................................................... 256
Diagnostic - Menu....................................................................................................................... 256
Configuration - Menu ................................................................................................................. 258
Information - Menu .................................................................................................................... 265
MF Menu .................................................................................................................................... 265
TH230 Diagnostic Functions .................................................................................................. 266
Selftest Printout.......................................................................................................................... 267
Sensor Test ................................................................................................................................. 273
EEPROM default settings............................................................................................................ 273
Endurance test............................................................................................................................ 275
Black Mark test ........................................................................................................................... 277
Description of EERPOM Updates.................................................................................................... 278
Specialties................................................................................................................................... 278
Calculating Power On Time ........................................................................................................ 279
Technical Specifications ................................................................................................................. 280
ERROR Blink Pattern ....................................................................................................................... 285
Recoverable Errors ..................................................................................................................... 285
Automatic Recoverable Errors.................................................................................................... 285
Unrecoverable Errors.................................................................................................................. 285
Power-Up-Test Errors ................................................................................................................. 286

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
1
Overview
Purpose of this document
This Programmers Guide describes the properties of the controller for the high speed ESC-
POS thermal printer TH230/TH230+.
Introduction
The TH230 and the TH230+ are powerful and low cost thermal printers for all kind of POS
systems.
In this manual both printers will be referred to as TH230. Only in case of essential
differences there will be a distinction between TH230 and TH230+.

Programmers Guide TH230/TH230+
2
General Characteristics of the Printer
•High speed ESC-POS thermal printer
•Interface Board Changeable
•Different Host Interfaces: RS232, USB, PoweredUSB and others
•Printer is able to operate in horizontal and vertical position
•Paper width: 80 mm or 57.5 mm
•Diameter of Paper rolls: up to 90 mm
•High Print speed: up to 220 mm/s (110 mm/s with two color paper)
•Thermal print line: 80mm width, 640 Dots, 203 dpi (0.125 mm) resolution
•Print width 72 mm centered on 80 mm paper width
•Different Codepages and loadable Character Sets
•Bar Code printing
•Paper feed with Stepper motor, vertical resolution: 203 dpi (0.125 mm)
•Fast Cutter with Stepper motor and Home Sensor (cutting time is 300 ms)
•Automatic Reverse Feeding after Cut to reduce Top Margin to 5 mm.
Sensors for Cover Open, Paper Near End, Paper End
•Optional Mark Sensor usable for 80 mm paper on different positions
•Parameter setting with configuration menu
•Self test and Statistic Functions
•Adjustable Power Consumption from 48 W to 110 W
•Automatic Power Detection for Wincor-Nixdorf Power Supplies

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
3
Firmware Characteristics of the Controller
The TH230 printer is controlled with the aid of control sequences, i.e. a series of
characters. The standard setting is thus overridden, which means that you are able to set
many print functions individually if the standard values do not correspond to your
requirements. Possible changes are, among others, the selection of different line feed
sizes and the printing of various graphics. You will see that it is very simple to control the
printer according to your own personal requirements. However, a precondition for proper
use is the correct installation and/or configuration of the system. In addition, you should
be familiar with the operating system of your computer.
With the interfaces USB 1.1 (USB 2.0 compliant) or RS232, all the status information’s can
be called up using the different control commands. Via this interface, it is possible to
synchronize the user software and the printing properties. The TH230 printer supports an
ESC POSTM command set.
Line feed
The line feeds of the TH230 printer are initiated by the control commands LF and ESC d.
The line spacing between 2 lines can be set by the control command ESC 3. The default
value after reset or power on is 3.37 mm, which equals 27 micro steps. One micro step
equals one dot distance of 1/203”.

Programmers Guide TH230/TH230+
4
Offline State
If the TH230 printer leaving the online state, nevertheless it responds to all real time
commands and real time status commands. Sending other data than real time commands
may lead to data loss (see memory switch 2-8 Listen to Real-Time-Commands).
Online / Offline State Diagram
OfflinePaper EndOnline
Paper near end +
Print stop at paper near end enabled
Paper end
Low / High
Voltage
Error
Offline
Offline
Cutter
Error
Offline
Character >= Space,
Linefeed or Cut received
User inserts
new paper
User inserts
new paper
Recoverable
Error
Real time request to
printer (DLE ENQ n)
Character >= Space,
Linefeed or Cut received
Real time request to
printer (DLE ENQ n)
Automatic
recoverable
error
Character >= Space,
Linefeed or Cut received
Voltage comes back
to normal value
Voltage comes back
to normal value
Unrecoverable Error
(Thermistor Error)
Switch off/on the printer
Remark: If the printer enters Offline State the Busy bit is set (see commands DLE EOT, GS
ENQ and GS a).

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
5
Operator Panel
The Operator Panel consists of one button and three LED’s. In addition there is one power
button to switch the printer on and off. In the following description, you can see which
function of the printer influence the LED’s and which functions are executed with the
buttons:
Linefeed Button
If you push this button once and release it, the printer executes a small paper feed. If you
push this button and hold it down, the printer feeds the paper as long as the button isn’t
released.
This button is also used in the self-test printing see chapter Print Service Menu on page
246.
Power LED Green
Off: Power is not stable.
On: Power is stable.
Blinking: The maximum power setting is auto and no Wincor Nixdorf power supply is
used. The maximum power setting can be changed by the command GS ( E
fn=5 (see page 105). The user has to set a fix maximum power setting
according to the used power supply.
This LED is also used in the Diagnostic mode (see page 246).
Paper End LED Yellow
Off: Paper is loaded (Normal condition).
On: Printer detects paper roll end or paper roll near end.
This LED is also used in the Diagnostic mode (see page 246).
Error LED Red
Off: Normal Condition.
On: Offline.
Blinking: Error.
This LED is also used in the Diagnostic mode. For an exact description of this LED see page
246 and page 287.

Programmers Guide TH230/TH230+
6
Sleep Mode
The Sleep Mode is used to save energy when the printer is switched on but has nothing to
print. This mode reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Sleep Mode is switched on by
a Memory Switch. The Sleep Mode Waiting Time is set by a Customized Setting Value and
defines the time; the printer has to wait before it changes into Sleep Mode.
In the following state diagram the coherence between the different modes is described.
Printing
Mode
Ready Mode
Sleep Mode 1
Printing or
Linefeed
stops
(X - 5)* seconds
after Ready or
Command ESC w n c
(ASB IDLE ON)
Print data received or
Linefeed button pressed or
Power button pressed (short-time) or
Cover closed or
Data for Customer Display or
Command for Cash Drawer
(ASB Sleep off)
Status
command
received or
Cover open
Off Mode
* X is controlled by Customized Setting Values -
GS ( E - Function 5 - "Sleep Mode Waiting Time"
5 seconds after
entering from
Ready Mode
or last
command
finished
Print data
received or
Linefeed
button
pressed
Power button
pressed
(short-time)
Sleep Mode 0
State Diagram of Sleep-Mode
Power button
pressed for more
than 3 seconds
In previous models and firmware versions Sleep was called Idle and Ready was called
Standby. The terms are changed because of adaption on ENERGY STAR® nomenclature.
The current consumptions depend on different modes and the installed interface. Find
details in chapter “Technical Specifications”, page 282.

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
7
Diagram of Power States TH230 / TH230+
The following diagram is valid for TH230 and TH230+ and not for iPRINT.
There are different ways, to switch the Printer ON or OFF:
24V = OFF
and Printer = OFF
24V = ON
and Printer = OFF
24V = ON
and Printer = ON
24V = ON
and Power Button is enabled
and press Power Button
24V = ON
and Power Button is enabled
and Printer was ON before
24V = ON
and hit Power Button for 3 seconds
and (Power Button is enabled
or unrecoverable error
or undefined firmware)
24V = ON
and Power Button is enabled
and Printer was OFF before
24V = ON
and Printer = OFF
24V = ON
and Power Button
is disabled
24V = OFF
24V = ON
and DLE SO
and DLE SO is enabled
24V = ON
and press Power Button
and Power Button is enabled 24V = ON
and press Power Button
and Power Button is disabled
Fig.: Power ON and Power OFF
You will find additional information about “Power off control by host” on page 9.

Programmers Guide TH230/TH230+
8
Programming Hints
In this chapter programmers may find some hints and tricks to make the thermal printout
faster, look better or increase the lifetime of the thermal print head.
Vertical Dot Lines
To increase the lifetime of the thermal print head the programmer has to avoid
printing of long vertical dot lines like in the ticket on the left side. In this ticket the
two vertical dot lines are printed always with the same two print dots of the thermal
print line. This leads to a big mechanical wear and thermal wear for this two dots. To
avoid early failure of the dots, vertical lines can be printed as dotted lines instead of
solid lines. Another possibility is to move the printout from ticket to ticket
horizontally by one dot. This can be done for example 10 times. After this the
printout starts from the beginning. Thus the lifetime is much higher compared to
print always on the same position.
Horizontal Dot Lines
To increase the performance of the printer the programmer has to avoid printing of long
horizontal dot lines like in the ticket on the left side. If the printer has
to print such lines the current to heat the print line is very high. For
this reason the printer moves the paper slower and the performance
was decreased. To avoid bad performance, horizontal lines can be
printed as dotted lines instead of solid lines.
Reverse Feed after Cutting
To avoid paper bending the programmer should not use cuts with backward feeding of the
paper (command GS V(m=67).
Small Graphics Printing
If the printed graphics does not reach until the right border of the print area, the
programmer should transmit only this part of the graphics in which printed dots are
available. It is not necessary to transmit the null byte on the right side of the graphics and
this leads to a bad print performance.
Text
Text

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
9
Power off control by the host
The following is an example of the printer power off process when the printer is turned off
using DLE SO (fn = 2) command.
1) Transmits the following continuous procedure before the system is turned off.
- Execute the last print command such as LF, ESC d, etc.
- Execute GS (D pL pH m a b (pL=3, m = pH =0, m =20, a =2, b =1)
- Execute GS r n (n =1)
2) Waits for the paper sensor status from the printer by the GS r n command.
3) Transmits DLE SO n a b (n =2, a =1, b =8)
4) Waits for the power off status
• The power off status is transmitted by the power-off sequence within 10 seconds after
transmitting DLE SO n a b.
• If the power off status is not checked, waits for 10 seconds or more after transmitting
DLE SO (fn = 2).
• For the serial interface model, the printer status is transmitted regardless of the
condition of the host.
The behavior of the Power Button is described on page 7.
Page Mode Tips
The thermal printer TH230 supports two different print modes: standard mode and page
mode. The standard mode is supported by all banking printers and in this mode, the
printers print data in the print buffer by executing the print commands (such as LF, CR, and
ESC J) or when the buffer is full. The standard mode is the print mode which prints data
one line at a time.
The page mode executes batch printing with FF
or ESC FF for all data in the print buffer stored after the page mode is selected with ESC L.
In this mode, the print commands other than FF or ESC FF, such as LF, CR, or ESC J, only
move the printing position and do not execute actual printing. Executing ESC S or FF
returns to standard mode. The page mode is the print mode which prints data one page at
a time. The page mode print data can be deleted by CAN. There are generally four possible
print directions in page mode which can be adjusted by ESC T.
Standard
mode
Page mode
ESC L
ESC S, FF

Programmers Guide TH230/TH230+
10
Basic processing procedure for the page mode:
1. Select the page mode with ESC L (standard mode is changed to page mode).
2. Set the position and size for the printing area with ESC W.
3. Select the starting position and the direction for data development with ESC T.
4. Store print data (such as characters or graphics) in the print buffer.
5. Print all data in the print buffer collectively with ESC FF.
6. Return to standard mode with ESC S. (You can skip procedure 6 if you use FF
instead of ESC FF in procedure 5.)
Characteristics of the page mode
The flexible layout enables you to execute printing which you cannot accomplish in the
standard mode.
•Downloaded graphics, bit images or bar codes can be printed on the same line with
other data including characters at the same time.
•Characters and bit images can be rotated (90° clockwise, 180° clockwise (upside
down), or 90° counterclockwise).
Copy printing is possible.
•Because printing with ESC FF enables storing of data in the print buffer, executing ESC
FF repeatedly results in the same printing. It is also possible to print repeated data
with changes in some parts.
The printable area can be changed several times by ESC W. Nevertheless, the whole page
will be printed.

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
11
Absolute Origin of Graphics and Text in Page Mode
The printing area is set by the command ESC W (see page 63). The absolute origin of
graphics and text is the lower left of the printable area. This caused a different behavior:
Text and graphics (for example GS *, ESC (+*.BMP file) and GS ( L) can be printed in
the same row
Print buffer will be print form bottom to top.
Caution:
A graphics will be print with a count of print buffer
If no space to the upper edge for printing the graphics completely, the upper part
of the graphics will be cut.
If the print position in page on the upper edge (depend on print direction (ESC T)),
the print position will be set down with the height of the print buffer. Graphics
which are built with more than one buffer will be cut.
For printing graphics in page, take care for the space to the upper edge and to
upper print lines! If is the space to low, set with GS $ or GS \ the print position to a
better point.
The absolute origin for positioning the print buffer depends on the print direction
(set with ESC T).
TEXT
Graphics
Absolute origin
TEXT
Absolute origin
Graphics buffer 1
Graphics buffer 2
Graphics buffer 3

Programmers Guide TH230/TH230+
12
Positioning with Left to Right printing Positioning with Top to Bottom printing
TEXT Graphics
y
x
TEXT Graphics
y
x
Positioning with Bottom to Top printing Positioning with Right to Left printing
TEXT Graphics
y
x
TEXT Graphics
y
x
Barcode
Barcode can be used in Pagemode with limitations. Barcodes can only be print at start of
line, that’s why horizontal position commands do not work with barcode. For positioning
barcodes, ESC W is useable.

TH230/TH230+ Programmers Guide
13
Control Sequences
Control Characters and Control Sequences
The valid control characters are located in the code area below 20H. These are the
characters LF, FF, GS, DLE and ESC. All other control characters are not valid, and are
ignored by the controller.
The valid control characters (with the exception of ESC, GS and DLE) are single character
control commands, and directly start control functions.
ESC, GS and DLE are always the start of a multi-character control command, which consists
of a different number of characters after ESC, GS and DLE. They only perform the
requested command if the complete character string is valid. The whole control string will
be ignored if a wrong (not valid) character is found in the string. The next character is than
interpreted as the start of a new command.
Notation of the Command Description
XXXX Command Character or Command Sequence
Function:
Name of the command
Code: Code Sequence (Notation)
Hexadecimal = 0x..
Decimal = ..
Binary = <……..>B
ASCII = “…”
Repeat bracket contents = [ ] k Format
Range: Describes the permitted range of values.
Description:
Describes the function of the command.
Notes: Provides important information on settings.
Default: Describes the standard values.
Example:
Examples of the command in use.
Reference: Reference to other commands.