This tutorial is for Printronix industrial printers. The Printronix T6000e 6-inch RFID thermal printer is shown, but this tutorial will work for other Printronix printer models as well.
Have the tags or labels you've been working with for ages suddenly stop working? Can't get your RFID inlays to encode? In some cases, these mechanical issues can be traced to outdated firmware. You can check to see what firmware version your printer is running by taking the printer offline by hitting the green pause button, pushing the right soft-key, and navigating to info. The firmware version should match the version shown on the TSC/Printronix website (see Step 3 below.) If you find that your firmware does not match, then it is time to update your firmware!
Step 1 - Power up the printer in Download Mode
To install new files onto the printer, we first have to turn the printer on in Download Mode. While the printer is off, press and hold both the left and right soft-keys. Then flip the back power switch back on to turn on the printer. Keep the soft-keys pressed as the printer powers up (this should take about a minute.) When done, it will display a "Program Download" screen. You can now release the soft-keys.
Step 2 - Downloading the Firmware
While working from a computer that has a connection to the printer, either wirelessly or by ethernet, download the latest firmware from the TSC/Printronix website. Visit https://usca.tscprinters.com/en and search for your model printer. Under the "Resources" tab, expand the "Firmware" section and download the latest firmware. In this example, we are downloading firmware version P301712, so the downloaded files we are working with are going to share this name.
Step 3 - Rename the Installed File
Open the .zip file once it is finished downloading onto your computer and run the .exe program contained within the file. (Our computer's virus security flagged the program as a potential risk. If yours does this as well, select "More info" and then "Run anyway.") To keep from working within a compressed .zip file, we copied the .exe. file and transferred it to a local folder on the computer (in our case, the "Documents" folder) before running it.
The .exe file will install a new PRG file that has the same firmware name, just with .prg at the end of the file. Rename this new file to remove the ".prg" from the end of it. We already completed this step in the video above, but you can see the three firmware files in the document folder; the .exe application that we started with, the .prg file that we installed, and the renamed file that has the .prg removed from the file name.
Step 4 - Install the Firmware on your Printer
The printer's driver communicates information between the printer and the computer. We will use this connection to send the new firmware to the printer. To access the printer driver, go to...
Control Panel > Devices and Printers >
Right-click on the Printronix printer > Printer properties
We are now accessing the printer's driver. Select the "Tools" tab and navigate to the "About" submenu. At the bottom of the menu, you will find the "Send File To Printer..." option. Select this to open a new window and navigate to the folder where the firmware files are saved. Select the file WITHOUT the .prp extension and hit the "Open" button. The printer will automatically start downloading the file (which will take about ten minutes to install). When done, the printer will automatically reboot with the new firmware and will calibrate to your media.
You are now ready to print!
Troubleshooting
Still having trouble with your tags or labels? Often, a firmware update will reset some of your printer's settings. Load your media and ribbon and go through your basic printer settings, thermal transfer vs. direct thermal, gap vs. black mark, etc. You can quickly confirm these settings by pressing the green pause button to take the printer offline and use the "Printer Setup" wizard.
If you are working with RFID tags or labels, run the "RFID" wizard when finished with the "Printer Setup" wizard. This wizard will repeat the basic settings and the non-RFID calibration, which you can skip through as they have already been completed. The critical step from this wizard is the RFID Calibration. Once finished with both wizards, push the green pause button again to bring the printer back online. The printer will ask if you want to save these settings you have just completed as a "Configuration." Hit the enter button to save the settings (there are several options available, but we recommend using the default option of "Active Configuration.")
Still Having issues? Give us a call! We won't leave you stranded!
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