Hi,
I installed the KR403 printer driver on Windows 10 using the available installation package (zd51166854-certified.exe).
From my C# app. I am able to print documents with the KR403 through the Windows PrintQueue.
All is fine.
However, I noticed that the printer status available from the KR403 Windows PrintQueue and also statuses displayed by the various Windows printer dialogs provide very little, limited information and nothing really specific to the actual printer state.
The only status that seems to be available is Offline, generated by turning the printer power OFF.
Statuses describing some printer state like Out of paper, Paper jam, Door open are never reported neither by Windows dialogs or by the .Net PrintQueue.QueueStatus property my C# code is using. The later works with an older Zebra printer, the TTP2030.
I verified with another printer, a std desktop Canon MP280 printer. When this printer is out of paper and is requested to print (e.g. Print a test page from the Windows Printer Properties dialog), then the printer status displayed goes from '1 document in queue' to 'Out of paper'.
With the KR403, for the same operation in same condition, the only status will be briefly '1 document in queue' while the Windows Spooler sends the job to the KR403. Status 'Out of paper' is not reported, as it is expected to.
This looks like only the basic statuses, probably the ones generated by the OS itself, are reported; nothing specific from the KR403 is.
I double-checked that KR403 Printer Properties - Ports - Enable bidirectional support is ON. The driver associated to the printer is named 'ZDesigner KR403', as expected.
So, at this point, it seems that using a KR403 is a downgrade vs the older TTP2030 from which statuses such as Out of paper are available through the OS. I hope this is not the case.
So, is it normal that Windows does not have access to the status of the KR403 ?
If not, any suggestion on printer parameters I should be looking for to enable this ?
Thank you,
Best,
Alain
2 Replies
Hi Alain, Many printers need an additional application installed in order to give more advanced status. This application is usually installed silently with the driver, including the TTP printers. The KR403 driver install gives you the choice of if you want that app installed and running or not. The app is called "Zebra Status Monitor". You may need to download the driver from Zebra.com in order to get it. KR403 Kiosk Printer Support & Downloads | Zebra The app for the TTP printers is called "Language Monitor". The KR403 is more similar to the label and receipt printers than to the TTP printers, so it uses the same status monitor as those printers.
Thank you Robin.
Meanwhile, I integrated the Link-OS SDK in our .Net app and used the ZebraPrinter class to acquire the status from the KR403. Works as intended. The sample code in the SDK project DeveloperDemo_Windows was very helpful.
I noticed that discovering the printer using the UsbDiscoverer.GetZebraUsbPrinters() vs UsbDiscoverer.GetZebraDriverPrinters() provided better performance when acquiring the status: the call to ZebraPrinter.GetCurrentStatus() takes approx 900 ms to complete and twice this duration if UsbDiscoverer.GetZebraDriverPrinters() was used toi discover the printer.
One thing: the Link-OS SDK is available only for .Net 4.7.2 and no earlier version such as .Net 4.6. A .Net 4.6 version of the SDK would have been handy and saved us time.
Cheers!