OKI Microline ML184TPLUS User Guide

MICROLINE

ML184T+

Printer Handbook

Oki Data Corporation

4-11-22 Shibaura, Minato-ku,
T okyo 108-8551, Japan
Tel : [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.okidata.co.jp

Oki Data (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

78 Shenton Way, #09-01,
Singapore 079120
Tel : [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.okidata.com.sg

Oki Systems (Thailand) Ltd.

956 Udomvidhya Building,
6th Floor, Rama IV Rd.,
Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Tel : [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.okisysthai.com

The IPL Group

63-85 Victoria Street,
Beaconsfield NSW 2015, Australia
Tel : [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.oki.com.au

Comworth Systems Ltd.

10 Constellation Drive Mairangi Bay ,
Auckland, New Zealand
Tel : [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.comworth.co.nz

IMPORTANT

You have just bought the best printer, so be sure to use the only ribbons
recommended for it. Original OKI ribbons are the only ones that the manu­facturers recommend. Ask for them by name.

Please remember that if you buy any other ribbon your warranty may be
invalidated.

Purchasing inferior ribbons really does not make sense. They do not last as
long. What is more, they are prone to shredding, which can cause damage
to your printhead. Any short term savings on cheap ribbons are quickly
lost.

So do not waste your time and money... insist on OKI consumables for
your OKI printer.

You can order them from your printer supplier.

i

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Printer ........................................... 1-1

Connecting to Your Computer................................................... 1-11

Chapter 2: Operating Your Printer............................................ 2-1

Buttons, Levers and Indicators.................................................. 2-1

Menu Mode................................................................................. 2-6

Sample Menu.............................................................................. 2-7

Summary of Menu Settings ....................................................... 2-8

Paper Loading............................................................................. 2-14

Installing and Using the Roll Paper Stand ............................... 2-19

Loading Single Sheets ............................................................... 2-22

Installing and Using the Tractor Feed Unit.............................. 2-24

Installation of the Cut-Sheet Feeder ......................................... 2-29

Chapter 3: Working with Software ............................................ 3-1

Basic Terminology ..................................................................... 3-1

Printer Drivers ............................................................................ 3-2

Appendix A: Printer Commands ................................................ A-1

Appendix B: Interface Cable....................................................... B-1

Appendix C: ASCII Character Codes........................................ C-1

Appendix D: Menu Selections ..................................................... D-1

Appendix E: Specifications.......................................................... E-1

ii

SPECIAL NOTE

This manual will help you install and use your new IBM/EPSON/OKI ML
compatible MICROLINE 184 Turbo+ printer. It contains everything you
need to know to print with your MICROLINE’s special features. If you
still need assistance after reading this book, please contact your dealer for
fast personal service. If your dealer cannot answer your questions, please
ask us.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this document
is complete, accurate, and up-to-date. OKI assumes no responsibility for
the results of errors beyond its control. OKI also cannot guarantee that
changes in software and equipment made by other manufacturers, and re­ferred to in this book, will not affect the applicability of the information in
this book.

© Copyright 1992 by OKI.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions
thereof in any form.

iii

IMPORTANT

The wires in this mains lead are coloured in accordance with the following
code:

GREEN AND YELLOW EARTH
BLUE NEUTRAL
BROWN LIVE

As the colours of the wires in the mains lead of this apparatus may not
correspond with the coloured markings identifying the terminals in your
plug — PROCEED AS FOLLOWS:

The wire coloured GREEN AND YELLOW must be connected to the ter­minal in the plug marked with the letter E or by the safety earth symbol or
coloured GREEN or GREEN AND YELLOW. The wire coloured BROWN
must be connected to the terminal marked with the letter L or coloured
RED. The wire coloured BLUE must be connected to the terminal marked
with the letter N or coloured BLACK.

WARNING: THIS APPARATUS MUST BE EARTHED

Ensure that your equipment is connected correctly . If you are in any doubt
consult a qualified electrician.

iv

Chapter 1

Setting Up Your Printer

Your IBM/EPSON/OKI ML-compatible ML 184 Turbo+ printer is packed
in a protective container along with some extra items you need. These
items include:

Paper separator

Platen knob

Ribbon

cartridge

AC cable

Optional equipment available for your ML 184 Turbo+ printer includes:

Roll Paper stand

Setting Up 1 -- 1

Tractor feed option kit

Tractor feed unit

Access cover

Acoustic cover

Cut-Sheet Feeder

Left paper guide

Paper test lever

Rear sheet support

Front sheet guide

Interface Equipment:

Super-Speed (19,200 baud) RS-232C serial board

1 -- 2 Setting Up

Front sheet support

Cut-Sheet Feeder unit

1. Do not plug in your printer until the following steps have been com­pleted.

2. Remove the access cover by inserting your hand in the top cover slot
(see figure below) and lifting.

Slot

Access cover

Setting Up 1 -- 3

3. Remove the carriage shipping restraint that keeps the print head in
place.

Carriage shipping restraint

4. Gently slide the print head to the middle of the printer or to the lefthand
side so that it is away from the rollers on the Bail bar.

Print head

Bail bar

1 -- 4 Setting Up

5. Place the black ribbon cartridge on the ribbon cartridge holder. The
easiest method is to tilt the back of the cartridge so that it slides into
the area of the plate that is nearest the front of the printer, then lower
the top of the cartridge (where the plastic ribbon shield is located)
over the print head. The tabs on both sides of the cartridge should
align perfectly with the inserts on the print head plate.

Important: Only use genuine OKI ribbon cartridges in your printer. Do not remove the
ribbon shield.

Ribbon cartridge

Ribbon shield

Holding position

Print head

Ribbon cartridge holder

Ribbon shield

Bail bar

Setting Up 1 -- 5

6. Press gently on the cartridge until you feel it snap into place. To re­move the ribbon cartridge, make sure the print head is moved away
from the edge of the platen, then grasp the cartridge on both sides of
the print head and lift up.

7. The blue lever located to the left of the ribbon cartridge is used to
adjust the print head gap for single or multi-part paper. When single
part paper or two part paper is in the printer, slide the blue lever for­wards towards the print head. To print on three or four part paper,
slide the lever towards the front of the printer.

Bail bar

Print head gap lever

Print release lever

1 -- 6 Setting Up

8. Put the platen knob shaft in the hole on the right-hand side of the
printer as shown.

9. Try running a self test to make sure your new printer is working cor­rectly . Insert a piece of computer paper (with sprocket holes) or a sin­gle sheet of typing paper into the printer as you would insert it in a
typewriter. If you are unfamiliar with typewriters, here is the method:

a. Open the paper release lever by sliding it towards you.

b. After letting the slit of the paper separator pass, the paper as far

as you can into the slots provided by the black paper guides.

Paper guides

Setting Up 1 -- 7

c. Close the paper release lever.

d. Turn the platen knob clockwise away from you to pull the paper

around the platen and behind the Bail bar.

e. Move the Bail bar back on to the platen so that the rollers rest on

the paper you have just inserted.

10. Advance the paper, using the platen knob, until 1 inch of paper ap­pears above the Bail bar.

11. Replace the access cover:

a. Insert the three tabs in the edge of the access cover into the holes

on the top front edge of the printer.

b. Lower the access cover on to the printer.

12. Grasp the paper and pull it through the opening in the access cover.
Use the platen knob if you need more paper.

13. Insert the connector end of the power cord into the socket at the rear
of the printer.

14. Make absolutely certain that the ON/OFF power switch on the side of
the printer is OFF. (A sudden power surge can damage the printer.)

15. Plug the power cord into a earthed (three-pronged) electrical socket.

Important: The printer must be earthed at all times.

1 -- 8 Setting Up

16. T o print the self test, hold down the LF (line feed) and SEL (SELECT)
button (located on the front panel) and turn the power switch ON.
When the printer is powered on (indicator lights), release the LF and
SEL button.

Line feed

SEL button

SELECT indicator

17. The following test pattern will be printed, beginning with a printer
revision number that is followed by a rolling character pattern.

Note: During self test printing the SELECT indicator is not lit.

Setting Up 1 -- 9

18. To stop the test, press the SEL button (located on the front panel) or
turn the power switch OFF.

After the printer has shown that it is functioning correctly, you are ready
to connect your computer. First, you need an interface cable. If you do not
have one, see your computer dealer or, if you have the equipment and the
technical expertise, make your own cable using the instructions in Appen­dix C.

Attention: Install your printer away from a CRT. An electromagnetic field may create a
distortion on your computer screen.

1 -- 10 Setting Up

Connecting to Your Computer

Parallel interface cable

Locking tab

Frame
ground
screw

Frame
ground
wire

Frame
ground

Connector
hole

You will need either a parallel, usb or serial interface cable to connect
your computer to your ML 184 Turbo+ printer. Before you connect the
cable, make sure both printer and computer power is OFF.
* More than one interface cannot be connected simultaneously.

Connecting a Parallel Interface

1. Insert the 36-pin plug into the appropriate socket on the rear of the
printer.

If there is no frame ground (FG) included in your interface cable, con­nect a frame ground wire from the computer to the frame ground con­nection hole at the back of the printer.

Setting Up 1 -- 11

2. Snap the two wire locking tabs on to the plug.

3. Insert the other end of the cable into your computer. You may also
connect it to another peripheral device, such as a disk drive, if your
equipment is designed for daisychain connection.

4. Turn on the equipment and try the one line BASIC program shown
below, using the proper print statement for your computer (the exam­ple uses LPRINT). Make sure you have paper and ribbon in the printer.

5. Type: LPRINT “Everything’s okay” and then run the program.

6. Y our printer should print “Everything’ s okay” at 10 characters per inch.

Note: If the printer did not print, make sure you entered the program correctly. Some com­puters require that you assign a number to the printer and specify that number in your print
statement; for example OPEN # 3 means the printer is on line # 3 to the computer.

7. Now try this BASIC program (change it, if necessary, to suit your
computer’s requirements):

10 LPRINT “EVERYTHING’S OKAY”
20 LPRINT “THIS LINE SHOULD BE SPACED 1/6“”;

CHR$(34);”UNDER THE FIRST”

8. The printout should look like this:

EVERYTHING’S OKAY
THIS LINE SHOULD BE SPACED 1/6” UNDER THE FIRST

1 -- 12 Setting Up

If it is overprinted, make a small adjustment to the printer menu settings
so that a line feed is automatically inserted at the end of a line.

Connecting a USB Interface

1. Connect a USB cable to a USB port on the back of a printer.

USB cable

Serial Interfaces

The Super-Speed board has a maximum speed of 19,200 baud with a choice
of either printer Ready/Busy or XON/XOFF protocol.

Before connecting your interface cable, make sure both your printer and
computer are off. If you are using a serial cable, you are probably required
to use an OPEN and PR #1 statement in BASIC programming instead of
LPRINT. Consult your computer documentation for details.

Setting Up 1 -- 13

Connecting a Serial Interface

1. Insert the 25-pin plug in the socket on the rear of the printer.

2. Tighten the mounting screw on each side of the connector shell so that
it is securely attached to the printer.

3. Insert the other end of the cable into your computer. You may also be
able to connect the cable to another peripheral device, such as a disk
drive, if your equipment accommodates daisychain connection.

4. Make sure you have a ribbon cartridge and paper in the printer.

Serial interface cable

1 -- 14 Setting Up

Screw

25-pin plug

5. Turn ON the power and try this one line BASIC program to make sure
the connection is correct:

LPRINT “Everything’s okay”

Note: Your computer may require a different print statement such as PRINT # 1 or PR #1.
Check your computer documentation for details.

6. Run the program. Your printer should print this at 10 characters per
inch:

Everything’s okay

7. Now try this BASIC program (modify it to suit your computer re­quirements):

10 LPRINT “Everything’s okay”
20 LPRINT “This line should be spaced 1/6”;

CHRS(34); “under the first”

8. The printout should look like this:

Everything’s okay
This line should be spaced 1/6” under the first

9. If the two lines of text have overprinted each other, you will have to
change the printer menu settings so that a line feed is automatically
inserted at the end of a line.

Setting Up 1 -- 15

Chapter 2

Operating Your Printer

Buttons, Levers and Indicators

Before using your printer, it is worth familiarising yourself with the but­tons, levers and indicators on the printer and to understand the various
methods of loading paper.

The front panel of the printer has six buttons, two of which were briefly
introduced in the setup procedure. In addition, there are indicator lights
that show the status of the printer, mode and pitch selected.

LINE

FEED

FORM

FEED

TOF

SELECT MODE

SET

ALARM PITCH

POWER 10

NLQ
12
17

UTILITY

HSD

POWER Indicator: Indicates that the printer power is turned ON.
SEL Button: Pressing this button after the printer power is ON

places the printer in deselect mode. In this mode
the computer cannot communicate with the printer .
T o return to select mode, simply press this button
again. Pressing this button also stops the self test.
It is also used to enter into HEX-dump mode: turn
the printer ON while holding down the SEL and
FORM FEED buttons.

Operating Your Printer 2 -- 1

Hex mode generates data rather than text, and a sample is shown below . To
terminate this mode, switch the printer off and on again.

Switching on the printer while holding down the Select and Line Feed
buttons will generate a rolling ASCII character display. Reset the printer
to terminate. A sample is shown below.

TOF SET Button: To set the first line position on each page (Top of

Form), deselect the printer when the print head is
in the desired position. You can also select 17.1
character per inch printing by holding this button
down when turning printer power ON.

2 -- 2 Operating Your Printer

SELECT Indicator: W orks together with the SEL button. Lights when

the printer is selected (ready to receive data from
the computer). The indicator is not lit when the
printer is deselected or during self tests. If an
abnormal status is detected during the self test,
the indicator flashes.

FORM FEED Button: To advance the paper to the next page (Top Of

Form), press this button while the printer is
deselected. You can also select NLQ (Near Let­ter Quality) with this button. Just hold down the
FORM FEED button while switching on the printer.

ALARM Indicator: Lights when paper supply is low or exhausted (un-

less you use the command to disable the alarm).
Printing stops until the paper supply is replen­ished. It is also lit when a jam is detected using
the CSF. The light flashes when high tempera­tures are detected in the printhead and space motor.
Allow the printer to cool down before re-using.

LINE FEED Button: If you want to advance the paper one line, press

this button while the printer is deselected. A DEMO
page print can be generated by switching on the
printer and holding down the Line Feed button.
This printout illustrates the various styles of printing
available from the ML 184 T urbo+. Once printed,
the printer automatically reverts to 10 cpi Utility
mode. An example of the DEMO page is on the
next page.

Operating Your Printer 2 -- 3

2 -- 4 Operating Your Printer

PITCH Button: This b utton allo ws you to manually select the char-

acter pitch. The appropriate lamp glows upon se­lection. The lamps also light as software changes,
for example, normal to condensed, are implemented.

MODE Button: Similar function to above, but this refers to the

print quality selected: NLQ, Utility or High Speed
Draft.

The levers on the printer allow you to adjust the paper.

PAPER LOCK/ Open (slide forwards) for inserting paper, and
RELEASE LEVER: adjusting paper, and when using tractor fed com-

puter paper. Close (slide back) for use with roll
paper and for single sheets.

PAPER GAP Slide towards the back of the printer when
ADJUSTMENT: inserting single sheets, and away when using

multipart paper.

Operating Your Printer 2 -- 5

Menu Mode

When your printer is in the Menu Mode, you can use the front panel con­trols to change the defaults for the printer parameters, including emula­tion, page length, line spacing, typeface, pitch, etc. For example, you might
want to change the page length to 14 inches if you’re printing on legal-size
documents, or to 3 inches if you’re printing on labels or small cards.

T o place your printer in the Menu Mode, To place your printer in the Menu
Mode, turn on the power with pressing the SEL button.

To exit the Menu Mode, hold the PITCH button and press the MODE but­ton. The MENU light will go out and the SEL light will come on.

2 -- 6 Operating Your Printer

Sample Menu

The menu is made up of groups of parameters. Within each group is a list
of items and each of those items has several possible settings. Here’s a
sample Menu printout. The first column lists the groups; the second, items;
the third, settings:

Operating Your Printer 2 -- 7

Summary of Menu Settings

The table below details the entries in the printer Menu as it comes from
the factory.
The factory defaults are marked with “*”.

Other entries will appear in the Menu depending on what options you have
installed and what emulation is engaged.

For a complete listing of all the available Menu selections, along with
explanations for each setting, see appendix D.

Group Item Sets

Printer Control Emulation Mode IBM *

Font Print Mode Utility *

DRAFT Mode HSD

Pitch 10CPI *

Proportional Spacing No *

Style Normal *

Size 1) Single *

2 -- 8 Operating Your Printer

Epson
ML

NLQ Courier
NLQ Gothic
DRAFT

SSD *

12 CPI
15 CPI

17.1 CPI
20 CPI

Yes

Italics

Double