Addendum Advanced POS Printer Drivers

Addendum

Advanced POS Printer Drivers

Overview

With the introduction of version 4.0, The General Store now supports the use of advanced, manufacturer’s printer drivers for certain point of sale printers.

These drivers provide extended support for USB ports, graphics printing, and bar code printing on receipts.

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Star POS Printers

Currently, the following Star Printers and drivers are supported. Manufacturer Model

TSP600 and TSP 700 Series (Thermal) Star Micronics

SP200, SP300, and SP500 Series (Dot Matrix) Table 1 - Supported POS Printers

As you can see, these printers are divided into two categories: thermal and dot matrix.

Thermal versus Dot Matrix

The follow table shows the features supported in The General Store for Star thermal and dot matrix printers.

Printer Type Features Supported

Logo printing on receipts using the stored graphic feature (company logo at top of receipt).

Bar code printing on receipts (transaction number).

When to Install and Use Star POS Printer

Drivers

Remember, installing these drivers is only absolutely necessary if you are using a USB interface receipt printer from Star. Otherwise, if you do not need to print barcodes and graphics, you can use the “non-driver” options in The General Store when setting up receipt printers for each workstation. The table below show illustrates scenarios when you may need to install and use printer drivers from Star.

Printer Type Use Star drivers when you…….

Thermal …Want to print a company logo at the top of each receipt…

…Want to print a bar code at the bottom of each receipt that contains the transaction number….

…. have a USB interface printer…

Dot Matrix …. only if you have a USB interface printer… Table 3 - When to use Star Drivers

Where Do I Get The Drivers?

The drivers are included with The General Store. Instructions for loading them are discussed below.

Star Printer Setup

Step 1 – Install the Star Printer Driver

Double-click the “Add Printer” icon. You will then see a screen like the one shown below.

Click “Next”

Make sure “Local Printer” is selected. Also, make sure that the

“Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer” option is

Now you will be asked for the printer you wish to add. You must first click the “Have Disk” button.

Now you must click the “Browse” button to locate the proper driver file for your printer.

Use the provided navigation tools to locate the following folder: C:\Program Files\GenStor4\TgsDrvrs\Star.

You will then see directories for different operating systems. Click the directory that matches your operating system to open it.

Lastly, click the “oemprint.inf” file and then click the “Ok” button. In our example, we selected the driver file in the “ c:\tgswin\TgsDrvrs\Star\2k-xp\StarRas directory.

Now, to install the driver, we simply click the “OK” button.

Printer Type Change “Printer Name” field to….. Star TSP600 or 700 Series Star TSP600

Star SP200, 300,500,2000 Series Star SP200 Table 4 - Printer Naming Rules Once you change to printer name, click the “Next” button.

Select “No” to printing a test page and click the “Next” button.

If you see the picture above, click the “Continue Anyway” button to finish the installation. It may take a minute before you see the progress indicator below, so do not click the “Finish” button again.

Once the driver installation completes, you will be returned to the Windows desktop. Access the Windows print manager and you will see your new Star printer in the list of available printers. That is it for this step!

Step 2 – Optional – Install the Star Logo Printer

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Installing the Driver

In Windows 98/ME/2000/NT, click Start, Settings Printers. In Windows XP click Start, Printers and Faxes. You will see the screen similar to the one listed below.

Double-click the “Add Printer” icon. You will then see a screen like the one shown below.

Click “Next”

Select the appropriate port from the drop down window and click “Next”.

Now you will be asked for the printer you wish to add. You must first click the “Have Disk” button.

Here, you can see that we navigated to the “C:\Program

Files\GenStor4\TgsDrvrs\Star\2k-xp\StarLogo\Install” directory. Had we been installing the driver on a Windows 95, 98 or ME machine, we would have selected the “95-98-ME subdirectory as opposed to “2k-xp.

Click the “Next” button to install the driver.

Finally, click the “Finish” button to complete the installation.

Copying Bitmap Logo Images to the Printer

Now that the driver is installed, you must upload logo files to the printer’s NVRam.

Step 1 – Create You Logo Document

You must first store your logos in either a Word document or Excel spreadsheet.

Both the 72mm_LogoStoreSample.doc and the cdsLogoSample.doc files can be edited to contain your logos. Once completed, you can print these logos to your Star printer using the StarLogoPrinter driver.

Save the logo file by clicking file, then save.

Step 2 – Store Your Logos in The Printer’s Rom Memory

But you must first set your page setup to 72mm by 254mm. Click File, Page Setup, Paper Size.

From the drop down menu, select Custom, 72mm x 254mm. Then click OK. Now, click File, Print.

Then select the Star printer and click OK.

If You Get A Margin Error…

..cancel the print job and go back into the page setup. Set the paper size to 72mm by 254mm and click OK. Turn your printer off, and then turn it back on. Then re-print the logo document.

Step 3 – Set up the Printer in The General Store

From the General Store main menu, click Controls, Station Controls.

Setting Advanced Paper Tape Options

Next click the “Advanced Paper Tape Commands” tab shown below.

You may be confused as to why you see the hexadecimal value “30” in this field. This represents a binary “0” and is normal.

The fields that must be filled in with valid data are:  Initialize – 1B70000000000000

 Paper Cutter

Set this field to 1B64310000 only if your printer has a built in paper cutter. Otherwise, set this field to zeros.

 Print Logo – Even if you do not have a logo stored in your printer, fill in the field as shown above – 1B1C700130000000.

 Barcode Fields

Barcode Start – fill this field with zeros. Barcode Print – 1B62040201400000 Barcode End – 1E00000000

Fill in the rest of the fields with zeros. To save your entries, click the “save” (diskette) icon on the navigational toolbar.

A Note On The “Print Logo” Field

Notice in the illustration above that the “001” in the logo field is underlined. These digits represent the logo number that is stored in the printer. Remember that you can store multiple logos in the printer's memory. “001” represents the first logo stored in the printers memory. “002” represents the second, “003” represents the third, etc.

Step 4 – Set Receipt Printing at End Of Sale

The last step in your setup is to set the system to print the receipt at the end of the sale.

1. From the General Store main menu, click Controls, Store Controls Maintenance.

2. Click the POS Controls Tab

3. Click the option “Print paper tape receipt at end of sale” so that there is a check mark in it.

4. Click the save icon on the navigational tool bar at the top of the window to save your changes.

Epson POS Printers

Currently, the following Star Printers and drivers are supported. Manufacturer Model

Thermal Printers - TM-T88 Epson

DOT Matrix Printers - TM270, TM300, TM300II Table 5 - Supported POS Printers

As you can see, these printers are divided into two categories: thermal and dot matrix.

Thermal versus Dot Matrix

The follow table shows the features supported in The General Store for Star thermal and dot matrix printers.

Printer Type Features Supported

Logo printing on receipts using the stored graphic feature (company logo at top of receipt).

Bar code printing on receipts (transaction number).

Thermal

Supports USB, parallel, and serial ports. Dot Matrix Supports USB, parallel, and serial ports.

Table 6 - Thermal Versus Dot Matrix (Star)

When to Install and Use Epson Drivers

The table below show illustrates scenarios when you may need to install and use printer drivers from Epson.

Printer Type Use Star drivers when you…….

…want to print a company logo at the top of each receipt…

…want to print a bar code at the bottom of each receipt that contains the transaction number….

Thermal

….have a USB interface printer…

Dot Matrix ….only if you have a USB interface printer… Table 7 - When to use Epson Drivers.

Where Do I Get The Drivers?

The drivers are included with The General Store. Instructions for loading them are discussed below.

Epson Printer Setup

Step 1 – Install And Run Epson TM Logo Utility

If you plan to print logos on your thermal Epson TM-T88 printer, you must first install and run the Epson TM Flash logo setup utility.

Step 1A- Installing The Utility

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the C:\Program

Files\GenStor4\TgsDrvrs\Epson\TMT88III directory as shown below.

Click Yes here to proceed with the installation.

Click “I Agree” to proceed to the next step.

Accept the default install directory by clicking the “Continue” button. You will probably see the following message.

Step 1B – Running the Utility

Test Communications

First, make sure that POSPrinter and your model are selected as outlined in red above. Then click the “Comm Test” button. You should see the following message.

Special Note On Serial Printers

Consult your printer manual for dipswitch settings for :

Handshaking Set to XON/XOFF On TM-T88 Set

Bank 1 Dip Switch 3 to the On position Transmission Speed Set to 9600 baud On TM-T88 Set

Bank 1 Dip Switch 7 to the On position

Word Length Set to 8 bits On TM-T88 Set

Bank 1 Dip Switch 4 to the Off position

Parity Check Set to No On TM-T88 Set

Bank 1 Dip Switch 5 to the Off position Handshaking (Busy) Set to Receive buffer

full

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel 2. Double Click System

3. Click the “Hardware” tab

4. Click the “Device Manager” button 5. Double click “Port Configuration”

6. Select the serial port your printer is connected to 7. Set “Flow Control” to “Hardware” and click “Ok”. Now go back and try the communications test

Load Company Logo

Click “Yes” and the graphic you selected will be downloaded to the printer’s NV ram.

Click “Ok” when the download is completed.

Step 2 – Install the Epson Printer Driver

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the C:\Program

Files\GenStor4\TgsDrvrs\Epson\TMT88III directory as shown below.

Double click the ATM_301dE.exe program listed. This will commence the installation process as shown below.

Select the default installation directory by clicking the “Next” button. The installation of the printer driver program will commence as shown below.

Select only the printer model you are installing.

Select the port you are attaching the printer to. Make any appropriate settings, and click the “Finish” button. In the example below, we are installing a serial printer.

Notice how we set the baud rate, parity, data bits, stop bits and flow control.

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When the installation is complete, you will be required to restart the computer.

Click “Yes” to complete the driver installation.

Step 3 – Rename Printer Name In Print Manager

You must rename the printer in Windows Print manager to match that of the available printer names in the General Store.

Printer Type Change “Printer Name” field to…..

Epson TM-T88 Epson TM88

Epson TM-270, TM-300, TM-300II Epson TM270, Epson TM300, Epson TM300II

Table 8 - Valid Epson Printer Names

To change the printer name, click Start, Settings, Printers And Faxes. Select the Epson printer you wish to rename. In this example we are renaming the Epson TM-T88

Right click the printer and then left click “Rename”

That’s it.

Step 4 – Set up the Printer in The General Store

From the General Store main menu, click Controls, Station Controls.

Setting Advanced Paper Tape Options

Next click the “Advanced Paper Tape Commands” tab shown below.

You may be confused as to why you see the hexadecimal value “30” in this field. This represents a binary “0” and is normal.

However, for Epson TM88 printers, edit this tab so that it looks like the example shown on the following page.

For the Epson TM88, the fields that must be filled in with valid data are:  Initialize – 1B40000000000000

 Paper Cutter

Set this field to 1B56000000 only if your printer has a built in paper cutter. Otherwise, set this field to zeros.

 Print Logo – Even if you do not have a logo stored in your printer, fill in the field as shown above – 1C7001330000000.

As shown in the figure above, the “01” underlined represents the logo number stored in your printer (logo #1, logo #2, etc.). If you have multiple images downloaded to your printer’s NV ram, replace the “01” with the appropriate bitmap number, such as “02”, “03”, etc. Also, you can see that the “33” in this string is highlighted. This number represents the size option. “33” represents double height, double width. “30” represents the bitmap’s original size. “31” represents double height. “32” represents double width. Enter the appropriate number here for the bitmap logo you are using.  Barcode Fields

Barcode Start – 1D68321D6B4506 Barcode Print – 1D68321D6B4506 Barcode End – 0000000000

Step 5 – Set Receipt Printing at End Of Sale

The last step in your setup is to set the system to print the receipt at the end of the sale.

1. From the General Store main menu, click Controls, Store Controls Maintenance.

2. Click the POS Controls Tab

3. Click the option “Print paper tape receipt at end of sale” so that there is a check mark in it.

4. Click the save icon on the navigational tool bar at the top of the window to save your changes.