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Section 6. Troubleshooting
SATO M10e PN 9001101 Rev. A Page 6-7
CABLE REQUIREMENTS
READY/BUSY FLOW CONTROL
Ready/Busy is the hardware flow control method for the serial interface on the M10e
printers. By raising/lowering the voltage level on Pin 20 of the RS232C port, the
printer notifies the host when it is ready to receive data. Pin 4 (RTS) and pin 20
(DTR) are the important signals on the printer for this method of flow control. The
host must be capable of supporting this flow control method for it to function properly.
X-ON/X-OFF FLOW CONTROL
X-On/X-Off flow control is 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 ìPrinter Readyî (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 it sends an X-Off
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 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 an 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 constructed in the
same way as they are for Ready/Busy flow control.
<ESC>A . . Job#1 . . <ESC>Z<ESC>A . . Job#n . . <ESC>Z