TransAct Technologies ITHERM 280 - Manual (Page 62)

How to Operate the ITherm ® 280 iTherm ® 280 Programmer’s Guide
Page 60 Rev C 28-07764
Hex-dump Mode
Hex-dump mode is used to diagnose communication problems with the printer. As
information is received by the printer, the information is converted to a Hex/ASCII format
and printed. No translation is made, which means no commands are interpreted. All
information is converted to Hex/ASCII and printed on the receipt tape. If a carriage return
is sent to the printer, it is translated to 0D in the hexadecimal field and "." in the ASCII
field.
Entering Hex-dump Mode
To enter hex-dump mode, perform the following sequence of operations:
1. Press and release the * button to turn the printer OFF. (The power indicator light
will be off.)
2. Press and hold the Feed button.
3. While holding the Feed button, press and release the * button.
4. When the red, error indicator light blinks, continue to hold the Feed button until
the blink pattern changes (about 5 seconds). After the pattern changes, release
the line feed button and the printer will enter Hex-dump mode.
Hex-dump format
The format follows.
54 68 69 73 20 69 73 20
This is
61 20 74 65 73 74 0D 0A a test..
Several indications of printer and host communication problems can be deduced from
hex dump mode. If the printer is printing all 3F "?" symbols, the parity or the number of
bits is wrong. If the printer is printing 3F "?" symbols when it should be printing other
characters, the communications are probably incorrect, such as the parity, baud rate, or
bit length setting. If the printer prints incorrect characters (like Hex C1 instead of Hex 41
"A"), it is set for 8-bit data, and the host is set for 7-bit. In most cases, the print problem
can be traced to the host and printer being configured differently.