Performing a Hardware Self-Test on Star Printers

Star printers have the ability to perform a hardware self test for verification of the printer’s capabilities and functionality. This test is the foundation for trouble shooting Star printers. This test confirms the memory and DIP switch settings on the printer and gives information on the firmware and interface being used. The test will also include a character set which displays the range of characters the printer is capable of printing.

To perform the hardware self test, it is necessary to have the printer powered off. The feed button on most of the Star printers can be located on the front or top of the unit.

With the printer powered off, the feed button is to be held down while the unit is powered on. For most of our printers the hardware self test will begin right away, if not it may be necessary to hold the feed button until the printer actually starts to print. The printer, depending on the model that you have, will print out the self-test and then cut or need to be ripped off of the tear bar. If the feed button is held for too long a period of time the printer may not print or may print the self-test repeatedly, in this event take your hand off of the feed button.

In the event that the hardware self test cannot be performed, key issues to check include the type of paper used in the printer, the connection to the pc, the cutter, the cover, and/or the power supply. If using a LAN or Ethernet interfaced printer the self-test will print twice. The first copy of the test will include the memory and DIP switch settings, while the second copy will include the network properties associated with the printer, i.e. the IP address and the type of IP assignment, whether dynamic or static.