I
Figure 7-13. Short test pattern
Long se/f test To see the printer’s variety of type styles, you can run the long version
of the printer’s self test.
1. Check that paper is in position for printing.
2. With power off, press the Paper Feed switch on the control panel and
hold it down.
3. Still holding the Paper Feed switch down, turn the printer’s power ON.
The printer will automatically start printing a test pattern of its full
character set in various type styles. Watch the lights on the control panel;
they indicate which type style is printing. The test pattern varies depending
on the setting of DIP switch l-6 (ON - Standard mode, OFF - IBM mode),
but more about that later.
This test repeats indefinitely in a cycle of 30 or 70 lines. To stop the
test, switch power off.
interface test After confirming that the printer works by itself, it is time to test the
interface with the computer. The simplest way to do this is with a direct
command. Power up both the printer and computer, load paper, then try
a command like one of the following:
MS-DOS or PC-DOS command:
A>ECHO THE INTERFACE WORKS >PRN
Microsoft BASIC command:
LPRINT “THE INTERFACE WORKS“
Or you can try any other command understood by your computer to
print a line of text. Consult your computer manual if you need help. If you
repeat the command a few times, the printout will come into view.
Next you may want to try a test printout with word-processing software,
but for this to succeed you will have to set the printer’s DIP switches (see
the end of this chapter) and install your software to support the printer
correctly (see Chapter 3).