All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Epson America, Inc. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, Epson America, Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Printout on page 45 courtesy of PalSoftware Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, drawn using ArtPak Presentation System. Artpak is a trademark of PalSoftware Corporation. HomeWriter, LX-90, and PIC are trademarks of Epson America, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark and PCjr is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International Corporation. Copyright © 1985 by Epson America, Inc. Torrance, California 90505 ii P8592021 Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 1. Installation and Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . Printing the Test Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting the Printer to Your PCjr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SelecType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 4 4 6 2. SelecType Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turning SelecType On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting typestyles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SelecType exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SelecType Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elements of Dot Matrix Printing and Computer/Printer Communications . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7 7 8 9 11 12 13 13 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 3. The Print Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Changing Pitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NLQ Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ESCape and ASCII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LX-90 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Demonstration Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How to Run BASIC Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pica Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Changing Pitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cancelling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Resetting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pitch Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Near Letter Quality Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III ... 5. Bold Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emphasized Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Double-Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expanded Mode.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Underline Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Master Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Superscript and Subscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Page Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Print Enhancements and Special Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 33 33 34 36 37 38 39 39 40 42 43 45 46 46 47 48 49 50 50 52 53 53 54 57 Margins.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Skip Over Perforation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line Spacing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paper Out Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justification with NLQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Defining Your Own Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Designing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition program 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Running the program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition program 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Running the program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining NLQ Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NLQ grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NLQ definition program 1 .................... NLQ definition program 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. User-Defined Characters ....................... Dot Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Print Head and Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graphics Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pin Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Graphics Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WIDTH Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple-Line Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Density Varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reassigning Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Column Reservation Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Designing Your Own Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . String variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Introduction to Dot Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendixes A. LX-90 Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Standard Character Mode (Draft) Standard Character Mode (NLQ) Alternate Character Mode (Draft) Alternate Character Mode (NLQ) B. ................ ................ ................ ................ A-l A-2 A-4 A-6 A-8 B-l B-9 C-l C-l C-l C-l c-2 c-2 c-2 c-2 c-3 c-3 c-3 c-3 D-l E-l E-l E-2 E-3 E-3 E-4 E-4 E-6 F-l Control Codes in Numeric Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Control Key Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Control Codes by Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Near Letter Quality Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Character Width (Pitch) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Character Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Print Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode and Character-Set Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Special Printer Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forms Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . User-Defined Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dot Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The DIP Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Troubleshooting and Advanced Features . . . . . . . . . . . D. E. Installation of Commercial Software Programs . . . . . SelecType Features and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beeper Error Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Dump Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBM PC BASIC Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V Introduction The Epson LX-90 printer combines low price with the high quality and advanced capabilities formerly available only on more expensive printers. The LX-90 User's Manual tells you how to set up your printer. This Printer Interface Cartridge Operation Manual gives you the specific information you need to use the LX-90 with your PCjr computer. This manual won't waste your time with unnecessary information, but it also won't neglect anything you need to know about the LX-90 and its features. You can read as much or as little of this manual as you wish. The first chapter tells how to test the printer and connect it to your computer. The second chapter explains SelecType, a feature that offers you five special typefaces. The other chapters explain the main features of the LX-90, and the appendixes give technical information on the printer. Note Although all references in this manual are to the Epson LX-90 printer, this PIC can also be used with the Epson HomeWriterTM-10. The samples of typestyles and graphics on the next page are a preview of what your LX-90 can do. 1 Expanded emphasized Typewriter-style Near Letter Quality Emphasized bold printing Double-strike bold printing Compressed narrow printing Elite printing Chapter 1 Installation and Operation After you have set up your printer and loaded the paper (following the directions in the LX-90 User's Manual), you are ready to plug in your Printer Interface Cartridge (PIPTM) and begin printing. Inserting the Printer Interface Cartridge Inserting the PIC is easy. The cartridge slides into the rectangular opening, as shown in the LX-90 manual. Be sure the printer is OFF when you insert the PIC. Once the PIC is installed, you are ready to test your printer. Printing the Test Patterns It's time to see the LX-90 in action. You'll start with a test pattern. Don't connect the printer to your computer yet-just follow these steps: 1. Make sure that your printer has paper in it and that the power switch (on the right side of the printer) is off. 2. Press the LF button on the control panel, and at the same time, turn the printer on with the power switch. The LX-90 begins printing letters, numbers, and symbols in the draft mode. It won't stop until you turn it off or until it gets near the end of the paper. To see the same test in the NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode, turn the printer on while pressing the FF button. Figure l-1 shows what both test patterns look like. Draft / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : : < = > ? @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\ . 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUUVWXYZ[\] 456789:;<=>? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] NLQ ' 3456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\] 456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^ 56789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^6789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^-' 789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\I^-'a A 89:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\l -'ab Figure I-l. Test patterns Connecting the Printer to Your PCjr Before connecting the LX-90, be sure that all your computer equipment is turned off. Plug the PIC cable into the socket marked S in the back of your PCjr. Now the printer can communicate with your computer. Control Panel After connecting your LX-90 to your computer system, turn on the printer and look at the control panel on the top. Figure 1-2. Control panel You have already used the control panel for a special purpose, printing the test patterns. Here are the main functions of the lights and buttons on this panel: l The POWER light glows green when the power is on. The READY light glows green when the printer is ready to accept data. Don't worry if this light flickers somewhat during printing; this flickering is normal. The PAPER OUT light glows red when the printer is out of paper or the paper is loaded incorrectly. The ON LINE light glows green when the printer can receive data. In addition to the lights, the control panel has three buttons. ON LINE-switches the printer between on-line and off-line status. l l l l When the printer is on-line, the ON LINE light glows and the printer is ready to accept data. The other two buttons, FF and LF, work only when the printer is off-line (when the ON LINE light is off). If the ON LINE light is on, press the ON LINE button before you use these. 5 l FF (Form Feed)-advances continuous pa ...