Epson FX-286e Printer User Manual


 
Before you change any DIP switch settings, turn the printer around
to give you easy access to the switches. Then you can easily turn the
switches on and off with a thin pointed object, such as a small
screwdriver or the cap of a ballpoint pen. The switches are ON when
they are UP, and OFF when they are DOWN.
Note
When you change a DIP switch setting, turn off the power, reset the
switch or switches, then turn on the power again. The printer checks
and recognizes new settings only at the time you turn the power on.
The operating mode
The FX has two operating modes, ESC/P® and IBM® printer
emulation mode. ESC/P stands for Epson Standard Code for Printers,
a powerful set of commands developed by Epson and supported by
almost all application software for personal computers. This is the
mode that you should find the most useful and valuable for your
printing. The rest of this manual refers to the ESC/P mode simply as
the Epson mode.
The IBM printer emulation mode is for software that is designed only
for IBM printers. It is not necessary to use this mode for your FX to be
compatible with IBM computers. As you can see from the list of Epson
and IBM printer emulation mode commands in Appendix A, the
Epson mode has more commands and many more capabilities.
There are only two cases in which you may want to use the IBM
printer emulation mode:
1. Your software lists only IBM printers in its printer selection menu.
2. You need to use the following characters and your application
software will not print them in the Epson mode:
If you select IBM printer emulation mode with the DIP switch and
choose an IBM printer in your software’s printer selection menu, your
FX will behave as an IBM printer does. You can use most software that
supports IBM printers, but you will notice that the commands do not
allow you access to all the features of your Epson printer.
Setting Up Your FX Printer
1-19