OKI ML280 User Guide

IMPORTANT

You have just bought the best printer, so be sure to use only the 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9

Setting the Internal Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12

Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15

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

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

Paper Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

Rear Feed Paper Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

Bottom Feed Paper Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

Loading Single Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9

Chapter 3: Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

Basic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

If you have a Software Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

Programming the ML280 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9

Programming Bit-Image Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22

Appendix A: Programming Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Appendix B: Character Code Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1

Appendix C: Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-1

ii

SPECIAL NOTE

This manual will help you install and use your new OKI 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 1993 by OKI.

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

IBM, IBM PC XT , PC AT, and Graphics Printer are registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corp.
MS-DOS is the trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
WordStar is the trademark of WordStar International Limited.
Lotus, Lotus 1-2-3, are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation.

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 new OKI printer is packed in a protective container along with this
manual and some extra items you will need. These items include:

Paper separator

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

AC cable

Platen knob
(fitted)

E 280

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9 PIN PRINTER

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Ribbon cartridge

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

Slot

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Access cover

Setting Up 1 – 1

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 column indicator
bar.

Print head

Column
indicator
bar

1 – 2 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

Column indicator

Setting Up 1 – 3

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 three-position 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 away from the print head.

Column indicator
bar

Print head gap
lever

Paper release lever

1 – 4 Setting Up

8. The platen knob should already be fitted to the right hand side of the
printer. However, if this is not the case, or if it has been removed for
any reason, align its slot with the spigot on the platen shaft.

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. Insert the paper as far as you can into the slots provided by the

black paper guides.

Paper guides

Setting Up 1 – 5

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 column indicator bar.

e. Move the column indicator 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 column indicator 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 an earthed (three-pronged) electrical
socket.

Important: The printer must be earthed at all times.

1 – 6 Setting Up

16. To print the self test, hold down the LINE FEED button and turn the

E

PR

power switch ON. When the printer is powered on (indicator
lights), release the LINE FEED button.

9 PIN

Line feed

OKI MICROLIN

NLQ

UTILITY

10

PITCH

POWER

ALARM

SELECT

TOF
SET.

FORM

FEED
LINE
FEED

SELECT button

12

17

SELECT indicator

HSD

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

4YR4100–7200

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

Setting Up 1 – 7

18. To stop the test, press the SELECT button or turn the power switch
OFF.

After the printer has shown that it is functioning correctly, it is ready to
be connected to your computer using 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.

1 – 8 Setting Up

Connecting to your computer

You will need either a parallel or serial interface cable to connect your
computer to your printer. Before you connect the cable, make sure both
printer and computer power is OFF.

Connecting a Parallel Interface

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

Parallel interface cable

Locking tab

Setting Up 1 – 9

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 daisy chain 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. Your printer should print this at 10 characters per inch.

EVERYTHING’S OKAY

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 “THIS IS LINE ONE”
20 LPRINT “AND THIS IS LINE TWO”

8. The printout should look like this:

THIS IS LINE ONE
AND THIS IS LINE TWO

1 – 10 Setting Up

If it is overprinted, make a small adjustment to the printer switch
settings so that a line feed is automatically inserted at the end of a line.
(See Page 1-12 for details.)

Setting Up 1 – 11

Setting the internal DIP switches

Before altering the settings of the eight DIP switches, please read the
instructions on Page 1-14. These DIP switches are under the small cover
on the top of the printer. They allow the selection of a specific language
and to make the printer meet the requirements of your computer. This
section describes the switches and their factory settings.

Circuit board control
switches

Function switch
access hole

Switch cover

Note: If you have the optional interface board installed, this switch is located on the
lower board.

1 – 12 Setting Up

Switches 1 to 5 work in combination to select a foreign language (or
computer character set). The following table shows the correct switch
settings for all available languages.

Language Switch Number Page

Length

1 2 3 4 5 (inches)

USA OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF 12
French ON OFF OFF OFF OFF 12
German OFF ON OFF OFF OFF 12
British ON ON OFF OFF OFF 12
Danish 1 OFF OFF ON OFF OFF 12
Swedish 1 ON OFF ON OFF OFF 12
Italian OFF ON ON OFF OFF 12
Spanish ON ON ON OFF OFF 12
Japanese OFF OFF OFF ON OFF 12
Norwegian ON OFF OFF ON OFF 12
Danish 2 OFF ON OFF ON OFF 12
Dutch ON ON OFF ON OFF 12
Swedish 2 OFF OFF ON ON OFF 12
Swedish 3 ON OFF ON ON OFF 12
Swedish 4 OFF ON ON ON OFF 12
Turkish ON ON ON ON OFF 12
Swiss 1 OFF OFF OFF OFF ON 12
Swiss 2 ON OFF OFF OFF ON 12
USA OFF ON OFF OFF ON 11
French ON ON OFF OFF ON 11
German OFF OFF ON OFF ON 11
British ON OFF ON OFF ON 11
Danish 1 OFF ON ON OFF ON 11
Swedish 1 ON ON ON OFF ON 11
Italian OFF OFF OFF ON ON 11
Spanish ON OFF OFF ON ON 11
Japanese OFF ON OFF ON ON 11
Norwegian ON ON OFF ON ON 11
Danish 2 OFF OFF ON ON ON 11
Dutch ON OFF ON ON ON 11
Swedish 2 OFF ON ON ON ON 11
Swedish 3 ON ON ON ON ON 11

Setting Up 1 – 13

It is recommended that you set the printer for the language or character
set you use most. You can use a program command (see Page 3–9) to
change to another language within a document, so it is not necessary to
change these switch settings if you use more than one language.

Switch 6 is the automatic line feed selection. Before shipment, it is set to
OFF. If you discover that your text is being overprinted, it may be
because your computer does not send a line feed at the end of a line. In
that event, set this switch to ON and the printer will insert an automatic
line feed at the end of each line. If your computer automatically sends a
line feed at the end of every line you can use this feature to double space
a document by setting it to the ON position.

Switch 7 selects the slashed or unslashed zero font. The slashed zero font
should be chosen when it is important to distinguish between a zero and
a capital O. The switch is set to OFF to select the unslashed zero and to
ON to select the slashed zero.

Switch 8 selects the roll paper stand (RPS) or the cut-sheet feeder (CSF)
To select the cut-sheet feeder move this switch to the ON position.

Changing the DIP-switch settings

All the switches are set to OFF when the printer leaves the factory.

To reset the switches, proceed as follows:

1 . Make sure the printer is OFF and the power cable is unplugged.

2. Using a Phillips-head screwdriver, remove the screw on the switch
cover at the back of the printer and remove the cover.

3. Use a sharp tipped instrument, such as a ballpoint pen or toothpick,
to slide the appropriate switch(es) to the required new setting.

4. Replace the switch cover and tighten the screw.

1 – 14 Setting Up

Optional Accessories

Roll paper stand

Tractor feed option kit

Tractor feed unit

Access cover

Acoustic cover

Setting Up 1 – 15

Cut Sheet Feeder

Left paper guide

Rear sheet support

Front sheet support

Cut-sheet feeder unit

Paper test lever

Interface Equipment

Front sheet guide

RS-232C serial board

1 – 16 Setting Up

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 nine indicator
lights that show the status of the printer, mode and pitch selected.

POWER

ALARM

SELECT
TOF
SET.

FORM

FEED
LINE
FEED

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OKI MICROLINE 280

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10

PITCH

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LINE
FEED

FORM
FEED

TOF
SET

BUTTONS INDICATORS

SELECT

ALARM POWER

PITCH

MODE

10
12
17

NLQ
UTILITY
HSD

POWER Indicator: Indicates that the printer power is turned ON .

SELECT 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. To return to select mode, simply
press this button again. Turning the printer ON
whilst holding down the SELECT and FORM
FEED buttons switches on the HEX-dump mode.

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 supply off and on again.

Switching on the printer supply whilst holding
down the SELECT and LINE FEED buttons will
generate a rolling ASCII character display.
Pressing the SELECT button stops this test. A
sample is shown below.

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

Form), deselect the printer, hold down the TOF
button and press the FORM FEED to move the
paper up, or the LINE FEED to move the paper
down until the print head is in the desired
position.

2 – 2 Operating Your Printer

Release and then press the TOF SET button to
record the position, then reselect the printer by
pressing the SELECT button.

17.1 character per inch can be selected by holding
down the TOF SET button when switching the
printer supply on.

SELECT Indicator: Works together with the SELECT button. Lights

when the printer is selected (ready to receive
data from the computer). It 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: Pressing this button advances the paper to the

top of the next page, as set by the TOF SET
button. NLQ (Near Letter Quality) print can be
selected with this button by holding it down
whilst switching on the printer supply.

ALARM Indicator: Lights when paper runs out (unless the alarm

disable command has been used). Printing stops
until the paper supply is replenished. It also
lights if a jam is detected whilst using the CSF. It
also flashes if high temperatures are detected in
the printhead or space motor. Allow the printer
to cool down before re-using.

LINE FEED Button: Advances the paper one line when the printer is

deselected. A demonstration page illustrating
the print styles available on your printer can be
generated by holding down this button whilst
switching on the printer supply. When the
demonstration page is completed, the printer
will automatically revert to 10 cpi Utility mode.
An example of this printout is on the next page.

Operating Your Printer 2 – 3