Serial [x] menu

PCL SmartSwitch

• On
• Off

Set the printer to automatically switch to PCL emulation when a print job received through a serial port requires it, regardless of the default printer language.

Notes:

• On is the factory default setting.
• When set to Off, the printer does not examine incoming data. The printer uses PostScript emulation if PS SmartSwitch is set to On. It uses the default printer language specified in the Setup menu if PS SmartSwitch is set to Off.

PS SmartSwitch

• On
• Off

Set the printer to automatically switch to PS emulation when a print job received through a serial port requires it, regardless of the default printer language.

Notes:

• On is the factory default setting.
• When set to Off, the printer does not examine incoming data. The printer uses PCL emulation if PCL SmartSwitch is set to On. It uses the default printer language specified in the Setup menu if PCL SmartSwitch is set to Off.

NPA Mode

• On
• Off
• Auto

Set the printer to perform the special processing required for bidirectional communication following the conventions defined by the NPA protocol.

Notes:

• Auto is the factory default setting. Auto sets the printer to examine data, determine the format, and then processes it appropriately.
• When set to On, the printer performs NPA processing. If the data is not in NPA format, it is rejected as bad data.
• When set to Off, the printer does not perform NPA processing.
• Changing this setting from the printer control panel and then exiting the menus causes the printer to restart. The menu selection is then updated.

Serial Buffer

• Disabled
• Auto
• 3K to [maximum size allowed]

Set the size of the serial input buffer.

Notes:

• Auto is the factory default setting.
• Disabled turns off job buffering. Any jobs already buffered on the disk are printed before normal processing is resumed.
• The serial buffer size setting can be changed in 1‑KB increments.
• The maximum size allowed depends on the amount of memory in the printer, the size of the other link buffers, and whether Resource Save is set to On or Off.
• To increase the maximum size range for the Serial Buffer, disable or reduce the size of the parallel, serial, and network buffers.
• Changing this setting from the printer control panel and then exiting the menus causes the printer to restart. The menu selection is then updated.

Job Buffering

• Off
• On
• Auto

Temporarily store print jobs on the printer hard disk before printing.

Notes:

• Off is the factory default setting. The printer does not buffer print jobs on the printer hard disk.
• On buffers print jobs on the printer hard disk.
• Auto buffers print jobs only if the printer is busy processing data from another input port.
• Changing this setting from the printer control panel and then exiting the menus causes the printer to restart. The menu selection is then updated.

Protocol

• DTR
• DTR/DSR
• XON/XOFF
• XON/XOFF/DTR
• XONXOFF/DTRDSR

Select the hardware and software handshaking settings for the serial port.

Notes:

• DTR is the factory default setting.
• DTR/DSR is a hardware handshaking setting.
• XON/XOFF is a software handshaking setting.
• XON/XOFF/DTR and XON/XOFF/DTR/DSR are combined hardware and software handshaking settings.

Robust XON

• On
• Off

Determine whether the printer communicates availability to the computer.

Notes:

• Off is the factory default setting.
• This menu item applies only to the serial port if Serial Protocol is set to XON/XOFF.

Baud

• 1200
• 2400
• 4800
• 9600
• 19200
• 38400
• 57600
• 115200
• 138200
• 172800
• 230400
• 345600

Specify the rate at which data can be received through the serial port.

Notes:

• 9600 is the factory default setting.
• 138200, 172800, 230400, and 345600 baud rates are only displayed in the Standard Serial menu. These settings do not appear in the Serial Option 1, Serial Option 2, or Serial Option 3 menus.

Data Bits

• 7
• 8

Specify the number of data bits sent in each transmission frame.

Note:  8 is the factory default setting.

Parity

• Even
• Odd
• None
• Ignore

Set the parity for serial input and output data frames.

Note:  None is the factory default setting.

Honor DSR

• On
• Off

Determine whether the printer uses the DSR Signal.

Notes:

• Off is the factory default setting.
• DSR is a handshaking signal used by most serial cables. The serial port uses DSR to distinguish data sent by the computer from data created by electrical noise in the serial cable. The electrical noise can cause stray characters to print. Set this to On to prevent stray characters from printing.