SATO CL412E service manual Universal Serial Bus USB Interface, On/X-Off Flow Control

Section 3. Interface Specifications

X-On/X-Off Flow Control

X-On/X-Off flow control must be used whenever hardware (Ready/Busy) flow control is not available or desirable. Instead of a voltage going high/low at pin 20, control characters representing "Printer Ready" (X-On = 11 hexadecimal) or "Printer Busy" (X- Off = 13 hexadecimal) are transmitted by the printer on pin 2 (Transmit Data) to the host. In order for this method of flow control to function correctly, the host must be capable of supporting it. X-On/X-Off operates in a manner similar to the function of pin 20 (DTR) as previously explained. When the printer is first powered on and goes on-line, an X-On is sent out. In the Single Job Buffer mode, when the printer receives a viable job, it transmits an X-Off and begins printing. When it is done printing, it transmits an X-On. In the Multi Job Buffer mode, the printer sends an X-Off when the when the "Buffer Near Full" level is reached and a X-On when the data level of the buffer drops below the "Buffer Available" mark. When the printer is taken off-line manually, it transmits an X-Off indicating it cannot accept data. When it is placed back on line manually, it sends an X-On, indicating it is again available for receipt of data. If an error occurs during printing (paper out, ribbon out), the printer sends nothing in the Single Job Buffer mode since the last character transmitted was an X-Off. When the error is cleared and the printer is resumes printing, no X-On is sent until the current job is completed and the printer is once again ready to receive the next job. If it is in the Multi-Job Buffer mode, it sends an X-Off as soon as an error condition is detected. When the error is cleared and the printer is placed back on-line, it transmits as X-On indicating it is again ready to accept data.

Upon power up if no error conditions are present, the printer will continually send X-On characters at five millisecond intervals until it receives a transmission from the host.

Data Streams

The data streams for X-On/X-Off and Ready/Busy flow control are constucted in the same way as they are for Ready/Busy flow control.

<ESC>A .. Job#1 .. <ESC>Z<ESC>A .. Job#n .. <ESC>Z

Example: <ESC>A .. Job#1 .. <ESC>Z

NOTE: All characters are in ASCII.

3.6 Universal Serial Bus (USB) Interface

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface is a Plug-In Interface Module that can be installed by the user. It requires a driver (shipped with each printer that has the interface installed) that must be loaded on your PC and the PC must be configured to support USB peripherals using Windows 98 or above. Details for loading the USB driver are contained in the USB Interface Manual that is shipped with each printer with a USB Optional interface installed. Up to 127 devices may be connected to a USB port.

PN 9001078	SATO CL408e/CL412e Service Manual	Page 3-9
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