Control Panel Indicator Lights. OKIDATA Microline 520, Microline 521
Below you will find brief information for dot matrix printer MICROLINE 520, dot matrix printer MICROLINE 521. The dot matrix printer MICROLINE 520 and MICROLINE 521 are designed to provide high-quality printing, and the innovative, smart printhead automatically detects and adjusts to the thickness of the paper you're using. This printer is compatible with both single sheets and continuous-forms, and you can also install options like a Cut Sheet Feeder, Push and/ or Pull Tractors, to make it even more versatile. The printer also has the option of serial or parallel interface. The printer comes with a variety of fonts and print qualities to choose from, making it suitable for a wide range of print jobs.
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Chapter 5
Control Panel Indicator Lights
Control Panel Indicator Lights
ML520/521 ( 96-02-04 )
Control Panel Buttons: Print Mode
Control Panel Buttons: Print Mode
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Control Panel Buttons: Menu Mode
Control Panel Buttons: Menu Mode
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Print Mode
Print Mode
The seven buttons to the left on your control panel are multi-function buttons. In the print mode, they are used to manipulate the paper (see the illustration on the first page of this chapter).The PRINT QUALITY and CHARACTER PITCH buttons on the right side of the control panel are used to select the quality and size of the printing.
Note: The print quality and character pitch set by means of the front panel can be overridden by commands sent by thecommercial software package from which you're printing a document. If you run into this problem, see Problem Solving in Chapter 6 for information on how to correct it.()
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Selecting Print Quality
Selecting Print Quality
Press the PRINT QUALITY button successively until the light underneath the print quality you wish to engage is lit:
Note: Your printer also prints bar codes accessible through printer commands. For more information on programming barcodes, mail your request for # MS- 8837 OKIDATA MICROLINE Reference Manual to
OKIDATA, P.O. Box 4603,Trenton, NJ 08650-9852.
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Selecting Character Pitch
Selecting Character Pitch
Note: If the SI command is received from your software, the character pitch selected on the control panel will be overridden by the SI command.
Character pitch determines the width of the individual characters and is measured in characters per inch
(cpi).
Press the CHARACTER PITCH button successively to page through the possible selections.
Epson and IBM emulations 10 cpi, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi, or Proportional. The lights indicate which pitch is selected.
OKIDATA Microline Standard emulation 10, 12, 15, 17, or 20 cpi, either non-proportional or proportional: proportional is selected when both the light under the desired cpi and the light under
PROP are lit.
To reset the character pitch to the factory default (10 cpi), make sure the printer is deselected (SEL light out), then hold the SHIFT button while pressing CHARACTER PITCH button.
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Available Fonts
Available Fonts
Typeface
NLQ Courier
NLQ Letter Gothic
Spacing
10 cpi*, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi, Proportional
10 cpi*, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi, Proportional
Utility (Gothic)
High Speed Draft
(Gothic)
10 cpi*, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi, Proportional
10 cpi*, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi
Bar Code Code 39, UPC A, UPC E, EAN 8, EAN 13,
Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 128, Postnet
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Menu Mode
Menu Mode
When your printer is in the Menu Mode, you can use the front panel controls to change the defaults for the printer parameters, including emulation, page length, line spacing, typeface, pitch, etc. The changes you make in the Menu Mode will automatically be saved in your printer's memory when you exit the Menu Mode and will be retained even if you turn the printer off.
Note: If you are in the Menu Mode and turn the printer off without first exiting, any changes you have made in the menu will be lost.
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The Menu Mode: Entering, Exiting and Reseting
Entering The Menu Mode
To place your printer in the Menu Mode hold the SHIFT button while pressing the SEL button. The MENU light will come on and, if the printer was selected, the SEL light will go out.
Exiting The Menu Mode To exit the Menu Mode, hold the SHIFT button and press the SEL button. The
MENU light will go out and the SEL light will come on.
Resetting The Menu To reset the Menu to the factory defaults, turn the printer off, then hold the SEL and LF buttons while turning it back on.
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Sample Default Menu Printout
Sample Default Menu Printout
Note: To print out a list of your current Menu settings, enter the Menu Mode, then press the PRINT button.
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Summary of Menu Settings
Summary of Menu Settings
The table below details all possible entries in the printer Menu. The defaults are the First Item in the
Settings.
Group Item
Printer Control
Emulation Mode
Font
Print Mode
Font
Font
Font
Font
Symbol Sets
Symbol Sets
Symbol Sets
Symbol Sets
Rear Feed
Rear Feed
Rear Feed
Rear Feed
Rear Feed
Rear Feed
Bottom Feed
Bottom Feed
Bottom Feed
Bottom Feed
Bottom Feed
Pitch
Proportional spacing
Style
Size
Character Set
Language Set
Zero Character
Code Page
Line Spacing
Form Tear- Off
Skip Over Perforation
Page Width*
Page Length
Gap Control
Line Spacing
Form Tear- Off
Skip Over Perforation
Page Width*
Page Length
Settings
IBM PPR, Epson FX, ML
Utility, NLQ Courier, NLQ Gothic, HSD
10 cpi, 12 cpi, 15 cpi, 17.1 cpi, 20 cpi
No,Yes
Normal,Italics
Single,Double
Set I,Set II
American,French, German, British,
Danish I, Swedish, Italian, Spanish I,
Japanese, Norwegian, Danish II,
Spanish II, Latin American, French
Canadian, Dutch, Publisher
Slashed, Unslashed
USA, Canada French, Multilingual,
Portugal, Norway
6 LPI, 8 LPI
Off, 500ms, 1 sec, 2 sec
No, Yes
13.6, 8
11,11- 2/ 3, 12, 14, 17, 3, 3.5, 4, 5.5,
6,7,8,8.5
Auto Gap,Semi Auto Gap, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9
6 LPI, 8 LPI
Off, 500ms, 1 sec, 2 sec
No, Yes
13.6, 8
11,11- 2/ 3, 12, 14, 17, 3, 3.5, 4, 5.5, 6, 7,
8, 8.5
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Bottom Feed
Top Feed
Top Feed
Top Feed
Top Feed
Top Feed
Top Feed
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Gap Control
Line Spacing
Bottom Margin
Page Width*
Page Length
Gap Control
Wait Time
Graphics
7 or 8 Bit Graphics•
Receive Buffer Size
Paper Out Override
Print Registration
Auto Gap,Semi Auto Gap, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9
6 LPI, 8 LPI
Valid, Invalid
13.6, 8
11,11- 2/ 3, 12, 14, 17, 3, 3.5, 4, 5.5, 6, 7,
8, 8.5
Auto Gap,Semi Auto Gap, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9
1 sec, 500 ms, 2 sec
Uni-directional, Bi-directional
8, 7
64K, 1 Line, 32K
No, Yes
0, 0.05 mm Left, 0.10 mm Left, 0.15 mm
Left, 0.20 mm Left, 0.25 mm Left, 0.25 mm Right, 0.20 mm Right, 0.15 mm
Right,
0.10 mm Right, 0.05 mm Right
Operator Panel
Function
Reset Inhibit
Full Operation, Limited Operation
No, Yes
Print Suppress Effective Yes, No
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Set- Up
Parallel I/ F
Parallel I/ F
Auto LF
Auto CR•
Print DEL Code•
No, Yes
No, Yes
No, Yes
SI Select Pitch (10 cpi)• 17.1 CPI, 15 CPI
SI Select Pitch (12 cpi)•
Time Out Print
Auto Select
Printhead Gap Adjust
I- Prime
Pin 18
20 CPI, 12 CPI
Valid, Invalid
No, Yes
0, -1, +1
Buffer Print, Buffer Clear, Invalid
+5V, Open
Parallel I/ F Auto Feed XT© Invalid, Valid
Applicable only when optional Bottom- Feed Push Tractor is installed. * Model 521 only
© Appears only when Epson LQ emulation is selected. Appears only when IBM Proprinter emulation is selected. Appears only when IBM Proprinter emulation is selected.
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Explanation of Menu Items
Explanation of Menu Items
These explanations are in alphabetical sequence. Line Spacing, Form Tear-Off, Skip Over Perforation,
Page Length, and Gap Control appear several times in the menu.
7 or 8 Bit Graphics. Choose graphics your system uses: 7 or 8 (factory default) dots in each column printed.
Auto CR (IBM). If you wish to have the printer automatically add a carriage return when a Line Feed is received at the end of the line, change the setting to Yes.
Auto LF. If your printout is consistently double spaced, select No (factory default); if it overprints, choose
Yes.
Auto Feed XT (Epson). If your system uses pin 14 of the parallel interface to control automatic line feed, change the setting to Valid.
Auto Select. With the factory default (No) engaged, the printer will remain deselected after you load in paper so that you can set the Top of Form. If you always use the same Top of Form setting, change this setting to Yes.
Bottom Margin. Change the setting to Invalid if you want printer to ignore the bottom margin setting.
Caution!! This can cause loss of data and damage the printhead.Character Set. Choose IBM Set I
(factory default) or IBM Set II.
Code Page. Choose USA (factory default), Canada French, Multilingual, Portugal, or Norway.
Emulation Mode. Choose IBM PPR (default) for IBM Proprinter III, Epson FX, or ML for OKIDATA
Microline Standard.
Form Tear- Off. Choose 500ms, 1 sec, or 2 sec to turn this feature on and select a time interval for the printer to wait before advancing the paper.
Gap Control. Determines how the printhead gap is set. Auto Gap automatically determines paper thickness on first page: for single sheets, it also rechecks each page while printing. Semi Auto Gap is similar; but it does not recheck single sheets while printing. You can also choose a fixed headgap setting of 1 (narrowest) to 9 (widest).
Graphics. Change to bi-directional graphics for faster printing: optimize by the Print Registration setting in the Menu.
I- Prime. Sets what the printer does when it receives the I- Prime signal from software. Buffer Print
(factory default): prints out buffer contents before resetting. Buffer Clear: dumps buffer contents immediately. Invalid: ignores I-Prime signal.
Language Set. Replaces certain symbols with special characters used in the respective foreign language.
Line Spacing. Change from 6 to 8 lpi (lines per inch) to get more lines per page.
Operator Panel Function. Change to Limited Operation to deactivate PRINT QUALITY and
CHARACTER PITCH buttons when several people are using the printer and you don't want these settings changed from the control panel.
Note: This feature also prevents normal access to the Menu. To access the Menu, turn the printer off,
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then hold down theSEL key while turning the printer on.
Page Length. Selects the length of the paper you're using.
Page Width (Model 521 only). Choose 8 for letter- size paper.
Paper Out Override. Senses when less than one inch of paper remains and stops printing. Choose Yes to override the detector. Caution!! This can cause loss of data and damage the printhead.
Pin 18. Sets the signal on pin 18 to +5V (factory default) or Open..
Pitch. Choose character width measured in characters per inch (cpi).
Print DEL Code (Microline Standard). Change to Yes if you wish to print the DEL code (decimal 127) as a solid box.
Print Mode. Choose NLQ Courier or NLQ Gothic font for letter quality printing, utility (factory default) for faster draft printing, or HSD for fastest printing (lowest quality).
Print Registration. Change the setting as required to obtain the best registration for bi- directional printing.
Print Suppress Effective. If you system uses the DC1 and DC3 codes for something other than the print suppress mode, change the setting to No.
Printhead Gap Adjust. Fine tunes the automatic setting of the printhead gap. If your printer is consistently printing too light, change the setting to -1; if its too dark, change the setting to +1.
Proportional Spacing. Change the setting to Yes to engage proportional spacing of characters.
Receive Buffer Size. 64K (factory default), 1 Line, or 32K. Selects amount of memory devoted to holding received data. 1 Line will tie up your computer while printing, but if you abort the print job, the printer will stop printing much sooner.
Reset Inhibit. Selecting Yes prevents your software from resetting your printers settings.
SI Select Pitch, 10 CPI (IBM only). Sets the pitch (17.1 the factory default or 15 characters per inch) to be engaged when the printer control panel is set for 10 cpi and the SI command is received.
SI Select Pitch, 12 CPI (IBM only). Sets the pitch (20 the factory default or 12 characters per inch) to be engaged when the printer control panel is set for 12 cpi and the SI command is received.Size. Change to
Double for double width and height printing.
Skip Over Perforation. Change to Yes if you want the printer to go to the next page when it comes within 1 of the bottom. Keep it set to No if your software has its own page formatting controls.
Style. Change to Italics if you want the printed characters to be slanted.
Time Out Print. If your software spends a long time processing between portions of data it feeds to the printer, change the setting to Invalid to keep your printer from inadvertently dumping the received data while it's waiting for more.
Wait Time. Sets the amount of time 500 ms, 1 sec (factory default), or 2 sec the printer will wait for more data before moving to the form tear- off position.
Zero Character. If you dont wish the printer to use a slash to distinguish the number 0 from the capital letter O, change the setting to Unslashed.
ML520/521 ( 96-02-04 )

Public link updated
The public link to your chat has been updated.
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Key features
- Automatic printhead adjustment
- Single sheet and continuous-forms printing
- Cut Sheet Feeder, Push and/ or Pull Tractors options
- Serial or Parallel interface
- Variety of fonts and print qualities