DJPMenu (c) Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company, 1994 All Rights Reserved Version 2.0 DJPMenu is a program to remotely change settings on the HP DeskJet Portable and the HP DeskJet 300 series printers for the DOS environment. It requires DOS Version 3.0 or later and 80 columns by 25 lines text display (monochrome or color). In addition, DJPMenu requires a direct connection to the printer via the parallel port of your computer. It will not work through the serial port, or if any print spooler (such as DOS PRINT) is installed, or through any network. DJPMenu provides: o Power mode indication o Print cartridge identification o Charging status o Battery (if installed) level indication o Printer settings indication/modification for o Media Size selection o Carriage return definition o Text scale mode o Perforation skip mode o Character set selection o Media Source selection o Quick charge battery activation o Discharge battery activation o Power off o Extended settings indication/modification for o Power off time o Sleep time o Graphics density o Input buffer size o Country default settings List of files provided with this package: DJPMENU.TXT - this file DJPMENU.EXE - DJPMenu DOS program To install, copy the program into any directory on your hard disk. To run DJPMenu, type "djpmenu" at the prompt. You can specify options for printer port in the format:- DJPMENU /N where N can be 0 - LPT1 1 - LPT2 2 - LPT3 3 - LPT4 It takes a few seconds for DJPMenu to query the printer for its current settings before displaying them on the screen. Refer to the troubleshooting section of the document if you encounter any problems. Power Mode ---------- The power mode indicated by DJPMenu refers to the active power source on the printer. This can be one of two possible values:- (a) Battery A battery is present and in use. If a power adapter is connected, it is probably not turned on, not plugged into the AC outlet or the power connector to the printer is not inserted fully. (b) Power Adapter The power adapter is turned on and connected properly. If a battery is installed, it is not used to supply any power to the printer but is set up for charging by the power adapter. Print Cartridge Identification ------------------------------ This identifies the print cartridge currently installed on the printer. It shows one of four possible values:- (a) None No print cartridge is currently installed in the printer. (b) Black The black print cartridge is currently installed in the printer. (c) Color The color print cartridge is currently installed in the printer. (c) Unknown The print cartridge currently installed in the printer is not recognizable. It may be because the black print cartridge is not properly installed or you try to use a print cartridge not supported by the printer. Charging Status --------------- Charging status indicates what is going on with the battery:- (a) Not charging The possible conditions for this indication are: no battery is installed; power adapter is not connected; power adapter is not turned on; battery is full. (b) Quick charging The power adapter is quick charging the battery. For an empty battery, this process will take about 6 hours or less. (see Quick Charge Battery Activation). (c) Discharging The battery is being discharged by a built-in discharging circuit in the printer. The discharging process can be activated either from the printer using the Settings button or by DJPMenu (see Discharge Battery Activation). (d) Normal Charging The power adapter is slow charging the battery. For an empty battery, this process will take about 10 hours. Battery Level Indication ------------------------ The battery gauge will only be displayed if the battery is installed and its state is known. This means that the battery must either have been detected as empty or full by the printer since it was last installed. The battery level is indicated by a bar graph as well as by a percentage value. Printer Settings ---------------- DJPMenu provides an easy and convenient means of changing the printer configuration settings via the computer. You no longer have to use the printer buttons to make changes. Changes are faster with DJPMenu because you can go straight to the group you intend to change instead of having to step through other preceding groups when using the printer buttons. Each group has a hotkey assigned to it which is highlighted in the group heading and also in the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. You can still step back and forth through the groups using the left and right cursor keys once a particular group is activated. The active group is highlighted. Within this group, you can move the marker to any setting by using the up and down cursor keys. Once you have determined your choice, press the key to confirm. Changing to other groups while the current group is active (by pressing the left or right cursor keys) or deactivating the current group (by pressing the key) will discard any changes you make for the current group. (a) Media Size You can select the default media size by pressing the key and using the up and down cursor keys to select the size you require (Letter, Legal, A4 or Executive). Confirm your selection by pressing the key. (b) Carriage Return Definition This defines how the printer interprets the receipt of a character. It can either accept it as it is (i.e. ) or replace it with 2 characters (i.e. ). Confirm your selection by pressing the key. (c) Text Scale Mode Because the printer cannot print in the region of the bottom 1/2 inch of the page, for a Letter size page with the default line spacing of 6 lines per inch, only 63 lines per page can be printed (with text scale off). If text scale is on, the printer adjusts the line spacing slightly so that 66 lines can fit into the page. (d) Perforation skip mode If this is set to on, a default top margin of 1/2 inch will be set. If this is set to off, a default top margin of 0 inch will be set. (e) Character set selection This selects the default character set to be used. It can be any of the 16 supported character sets. Quick Charge Battery Activation ------------------------------- If a battery is installed and the power adapter is connected (and turned on), you can activate the quick charge process by pressing the key as indicated on the menu bar of DJPMenu. Quick charging may take a few seconds to start after activation. DJPMenu does not allow you to activate quick charge without a battery installed or the power adapter not connected or not turned on. Caution: You must be certain that the battery is empty or near empty before starting quick charge to prevent any possible damage to the battery. Discharge Battery Activation ---------------------------- If a battery is installed and the power adapter is not connected or is turned off, you can activate the discharge process by pressing the key as indicated on the menu bar of DJPMenu. Discharging will start after a few seconds delay. DJPMenu does not allow you to activate discharge without a battery installed or with the power adapter connected and turned on. Note: Nickel-cadmium batteries lose charge capacity if recharged multiple times without being fully discharged. It is good practice to fully discharge the battery and fully recharge it once a month to maintain its performance. Power Off --------- You can switch off the printer from DJPMenu by pressing the key. Update Display -------------- DJPMenu will only communicate with the printer when you first run it or when you make any changes to its settings or controls. If for some reason the state of the printer changes (e.g. settings changed via the printer buttons, battery level changed because of charging or discharging), the display on DJPMenu will not be accurate. You can update the display to reflect the present state of the printer by pressing the bar. Additional Features ------------------- These features are only available if DJPMenu is communicating with the HP DeskJet 310 or 320 and not the HP DeskJet Portable printer: Printer Settings ---------------- In addition to the groups previously mentioned, it supports another group:- (f) Media Source This group determines the manner in which the printer feeds the next sheet of print media. If Sheet Feeder is selected, the printer will assume that the automatic sheet feeder is attached and executes the necessary movements to load a sheet from the sheet feeder. If Manual Feed is selected, the printer will assume the print media is fed through the paper feed slot and executes a short sequence of movements to load it in. Advanced Menu (DeskJet 310 and 320 only) ------------- The Advanced menu is activated by pressing the key. Once invoked, it replaces the Current Settings menu on the display. It behaves in the same manner as the Current Setting menu, providing the following extended printer settings:- (a) Power Off Time This determines the amount of time that the printer will wait starting from nonactivity before it powers off automatically. You can choose from 5, 10, 20 minutes or never. (b) Sleep Time This determines the amount of time that the printer will wait starting from nonactivity before it switches into a mode that conserves power. It returns to its normal operating mode when data comes in through the centronics port or when you press any of the printer buttons. The settings you can select are 1, 2, 5 minutes or never. (c) Graphics Density This sets the default graphics resolution used by the printer when it resets. You can choose 75, 100, 150 or 300 dpi. (d) Input Buffer Size (DeskJet 320 only) This sets the input buffer size of the printer. By default, the input buffer size is 16K. You may want to increase the buffer size to 48K when using DOS applications so that the computer takes a shorter time to send the document to the printer. If you are using a Windows application, the recommended buffer size is 16K, for optimal printing speed. Country Default --------------- The Advanced menu also allows fast localization of printer settings to countries. It sets the power-on default settings which can be made current by holding down the Online and Settings button while turning on the printer (by pressing the Power button). For the country selected, DJPMenu modifies the power-on default character set and media size settings. After selecting the country default, you must perform the power-on default button sequence described above. -------------------------------------------- Country Character Set Media Size -------------------------------------------- US PC-8 USA Letter UK UK A4 Germany Germany A4 France France A4 Italy Italy A4 Norway Norway 1 A4 Sweden Sweden A4 Spain Spain A4 Portugal Portugal A4 -------------------------------------------- You can return to the Current Settings menu by pressing the key. Troubleshooting --------------- When DJPMenu encounters any problem, it will display an error message describing the problem and the possible solutions. Assuming that the printer connected is an HP DeskJet Portable or an HP DeskJet 310 printer, the only problems that you may encounter when using DJPMenu are communication problems. There are many possible causes for the communication between the computer and the printer to fail. These consist of 3 groups:- (a) Printer - it may not have been turned on; it may not be Online; it may be busy; it may be out of paper or other error conditions. (b) Cable - it may not have been securely connected; it may be connected to the wrong printer port; a printer switchbox may have been used; a nonstandard centronics cable may have been used; it may be faulty. (c) Computer - a spooler such as PRINT may have been installed; the wrong port may have been specified in DJPMenu; the printer port may be faulty. Acknowlegment ============= Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.