Cannot print labels with a Datamax O'Neil E4204B Mark III

[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello everyone,

I installed the QZ Tray Tool recently to use the UPS app on Shopify.

I have two label printers :
- a Zebra ZP 450
- a Datamax O'Neil E4204B Mark III

I managed to print a label with the Zebra, selecting ZPL 4x6 for the label format.

But with the Datamax, I can't print anything, nothing comes out of the printer. The problem is that I need to print with the Datamax especially, because we use only Datamax in our warehouse...

I work on a Macbook Air (M1, 2020) with macOS Monterey.

If you have an idea on how to print with the Datamax, that would be great.

If you need more infos, please let me know.

Have a very nice day,

Jorlan

[Ramo Karahasan-Riechardt]

Hi,

We do run into the same issue. Is there any support for this case?

[Lite Finocchiaro]

Ramo:

I would expect this printer to work with either ZPL or EPL based on the spec sheet:

Universal Printer Command Language
Support: PL-Z (Zebra), PL-B (Boca), PL-I
(Intermec), PL-E (Eltron), XML-Enabled

The one we have for testing is an E-Class MarkIII A, and takes DPL commands:

https://qz.io/wiki/raw#dpl

This is the most comprehensive specification sheet I could find, explaining the capabilities of all three versions (B, A, and P).

Based on the following knowledgebase article from Honeywell, you may have to upgrade the firmware:

https://support.honeywellaidc.com/s/article/E-Class-MIII-E4204B-Cannot-print-ZPL-label

Kind regards,

Lite Finocchiaro

VP, QZ Industries

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[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Lite, thanks for your answer.

Sadly, being on macOS, there is no driver available from Honeywell for the Datamax O'Neil E4204B Mark III.

If that can help, I run on Shopify an other app called "Colissimo" to generate all our shipping labels. Colissimo is the name of the service from the French postal services.

On the Colissimo app, I print labels with the Datamax, and the label format is ZPL.

Therefore, I think the Datamax is able to print with ZPL format, it's doing it correctly with the Colissimo app.

Anything else we can try to make the Datamax work with the QZ Tray Tool...?

Thanks in advance, have a nice day,

Jorlan

[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello again LITE,

another update on my researches.

I tried the app with another computer, working on Windows this time.

I downloaded the QZ Tray Tool, and managed to print a label with the Datamax, chosing ZPL format.

The only problem is that on the label, there is no spaces.

Here's a picture :

If that can help...

Thank you again for your help,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

Jorlan,

Can you please share the logs for this label?

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

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[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello,

what do you mean by "the logs" ?

Let me know,

Jorlan

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[Tres Finocchiaro]

what do you mean by "the logs" ?

https://qz.io/docs/faq#logs 

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

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[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Tres,

here are the files I get.

Thanks for your help,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

Mariotat,

Thanks kindly for the logs. There's a lot to pick apart.

1. I can see you sending SLCS raw language to this printer.
   Example:
   
   CB

   SM20,20

   CS0,6
   
   
   The SLCS code does not appear to be formatted properly.  Specifically, some lines are missing carriage returns.  I do not expect this to drop characters though, so take this information with a grain of salt.
   
   
2. I can see you sending EPL raw language to this printer
   The EPL code looks OK.
   Example:
   
   I8,A,001

   [...]

   B284,524,0,1,3,3,107,N,"42075019"

   B66,792,0,1,3,3,208,N,"1ZRA77616898337863"
   
   
3. I can see you sending ZPL raw language to this printer
   The ZPL code looks OK.  Using a ZPL emulator, the text appears correct, the spaces are there.
   Example:
   
   ^XA

   ^FO284,524^BY3^BCN,107,N,N,N,A^FV42075019^FS

   ^FO66,792^BY3^BCN,208,N,N,N,A^FV1ZRA77616898337863^FS

... which leads me to believe you may have a problem with your printer, but that's still very preliminary.

Some questions:

• What target format do you plan on using with this printer?
• Have you checked with Honeywell to make sure you have the latest firmware?

With some more specific information we may be able to provide some insight, but if those spaces are being dropped, it might be best directed at someone who supports the Datamax hardware.

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

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[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Tres, thanks for your response.

For the target format, I would say ZPL, because I think it's the most common. And like I said before, I'm also using with Shopify an app named "Colissimo" to generate and print shipping labels (Colissimo is the french postal service), the format selected with this app is "ZPL", and I have no problem to print labels correctly with my Datamax printer.

My ultimate goal is to use the UPS app for Shopify on Windows and Mac, and to print the UPS labels with a Datamax printer.

I just installed on the Windows system the latest driver for the Datamax, it runs smoothly with my Colissimo app, but now with the UPS app I have an error message : "Error: PrintService is no longer available."

Hoping this could help, thanks again for the time you are taking to help,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

I just installed on the Windows system the latest driver for the Datamax, it runs smoothly with my Colissimo app, but now with the UPS app I have an error message : "Error: PrintService is no longer available."

Thanks.

This error usually happens if Java loses track of a printer.  It might require a reboot, but it will almost definitely require restarting QZ Tray.

If you can reliably cause this issue, please file a bug report here https://github.com/qzind/tray/issues/new and we'd be happy to attempt to reproduce it ourselves.  Some issues we can fix ourselves, others require us working with the OpenJDK project to identify and fix.  We don't see this message very often, so I'm hoping it's an edgecase related to the driver installation. 

 

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

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[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Tres,

you were right, I just restart QZ Tray (by restarting the whole computer), and I was able to print the label again.

But despite the upgrade in driver, the problem is still the same : I have no spaces on the label for texts.

Any ideas on how to print a correct label on my Windows setup, and how to print a label with the macOS setup ?

Any way to add the Datamax specs to the QZ Tray tool, or something like that ?

Please let me know,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

Any way to add the Datamax specs to the QZ Tray tool, or something like that ?

I'm not sure what this means.  We offer pretty good support for EPL and ZPL, so that should work fine.

But despite the upgrade in driver, the problem is still the same : I have no spaces on the label for texts.

Did you update the firmware for the printer as well?

Any ideas on how to print a correct label on my Windows setup

I still believe this to be a Datamax-related issue.  We just send the printer what the website tells us to and from what I can see in the logs, the website is correct and we're sending it correctly. 

and how to print a label with the macOS setup

This is quite off-topic but we have full support for Mac as well, but often the website needs to use the "alternate printing" option, documented here:

https://qz.io/docs/raw#alternate-printing

 

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

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[Mariotat Jorlan]

Did you update the firmware for the printer as well?

So sorry I'm not very good with all of these, what are you calling "firmware" ? 

This is quite off-topic but we have full support for Mac as well, but often the website needs to use the "alternate printing" option, documented here: https://qz.io/docs/raw#alternate-printing

Again, so sorry, I click on your link, but it's not understandable for me... Can you please guide me on how to try/use the "alternate printing" option on my Mac?

Thanks again for your help,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

Hi,

Note, we are not affiliated with Honeywell, so this advice is offered as a courtesy ONLY and comes with no warranty.

Factory reset the printer: (Troubleshooting step):

https://youtu.be/s-1q8oQbl3I

Installing new firmware (Windows is required):

https://youtu.be/vwA2xPDC6iI

These tutorials are for advanced users only, so please take your time.

Note, we do not offer hardware support for any printers, we're simply the messenger here.  We do not alter the ZPL content before it is sent to the printer so any issues that you have are unrelated to our software and our company.

🍻

[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hi Tres,

thanks, but it was pretty difficult to make the Datamax work with our computers, and our apps using it, so I won't take the risk to factory reset it and install a new firmware.

For my Mac, can you please guide me through the "alternat printing" solution so that I try and see if I'm able to print with the Datamax ?

Have a nice day,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

> thanks, but it was pretty difficult to make the Datamax work with our computers, and our apps using it, so I won't take the risk to factory reset it and install a new firmware.

 

But it doesn't work, so I don't understand this statement.

> can you please guide me through the "alternat printing" solution so that I try and see if I'm able to print with the Datamax ?

This is documented here: 

https://qz.io/docs/raw#alternate-printing

I'm quite confused by the previous email.  I took time to track down detailed documentation for your exact hardware that we have absolutely no affiliation with and it was outright dismissed.

For that reason, I will kindly ask you to take this issue up with Honeywell, this email has run its course.

[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Tres,

> thanks, but it was pretty difficult to make the Datamax work with our computers, and our apps using it, so I won't take the risk to factory reset it and install a new firmware.

With that statement I was saying that, because everything works fine with the apps I use and need everyday to run my orders, I'm afraid to factory reset my printer. Like you said, it's for advanced users, and I'm not on, so if there is a problem after the reseting, and the printer don't work anymore, I would have a lot of problems to manage my orders correctly, and I can't take that risk.

So, for this problem (the spaces on the label on Windows setup), OK, I'll try to contact Honeywell.

For my second problem (I can't print any labels with the Mac system), and the solution you offer (https://qz.io/docs/raw#alternate-printing), being a non-advanced user, I can't understand how to use this documentation. I see lines of code, but where am I supposed to write them ? 
So sorry, like I said, this is unclear for me, but I would very like to find a solution to print labels on my Mac system, and try the alternate printing solution.

Hoping you could help,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

Jorlan,

Here's an advanced guide for Mac which will bypass the printer drivers.

• https://qz.io/rawosx
  
  Note:  This tutorial is a last resort.... Instead we recommend sending this link to whomever is responsible for integrating QZ Tray into the website you're using https://qz.io/docs/raw#alternate-printing.

I'm still confused exactly how you're using QZ Tray in the first place.  Your original email states "UPS app on Shopify" so I assume there's some type of Shopify integration that we're just not pervy to.

We have contacts at "Itembase" if they're the authors.  I'm not sure what type of technical support that they offer.

In regards to factory reset and firmware upgrades, I can sympathize with your reservations, but I would expect whomever set it up initially to be able to repeat those steps if needed.

[Tres Finocchiaro]

I just realized ram...@itembase.com is on copy of this, so yes, this is Itembase integration and these types of escalations would normally be taken offline (we're on our public mailing list right now).

I'm reading back on the history of this email thread and there's a LOT of variables, so let's break it down... 

• Jorlan is on a Mac and can ONLY uses Datamax printer.  Jorlan states there's no driver, so it sounds like Jorlan is asking to use a Datamax printer on a Mac without a driver.  There's only one way to do this, it's here: https://qz.io/rawosx
  
  

• The Datamax printer doesn't even work right when used in Windows.  Since Itembase offers EPL formats and this printer supports EPL, that's a viable workaround until you troubleshoot this issue with Datamax.
  
  

• Itembase should offer support for "alternate printing" when customers are using a Mac and sending raw formats such as EPL and ZPL.  This will help printers with drivers available.  This will NOT help printers that don't have drivers available.

Does that sum it up?

I think an undue burden has been placed onto Jorlan to resolve this issue themselves.

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Tres,

thanks for your response and the advanced guide for raw printing, I will take a look and try my best.

Here's more info following your questions :

Why and how I'm using QZ
I recently installed an UPS app for Shopify (https://apps.shopify.com/ups-shipping-dashboard?locale=fr), to generate and prints labels through the UPS app directly from Shopify. The generating of labels is no problem, but to print the labels with the thermal printer, the app support asked me to use the QZ Tray tool. So I installed the tool, but could not print any labels with my Datamax printer. When I asked about this to the UPS app support, they asked me to contact the QZ support.

Drivers
What I meant was that on the Datamax website (Honeywell), they don't offer any drivers for Mac, but only for Windows.
(For an other app we're using (Colissimo for Shopify, https://apps.shopify.com/colissimo-officiel?locale=fr), Colissimo made me install a "thermal print kit" that allowed me to print the labels generated by the app, with my Datamax. I don't know if it's useful info.) 

I'm sorry I know I may be unclear, but I'm trying my best to make this work and give you all the info you ask, with the clearly insufficient knowledge I have about these things. So thanks again for your help and the time you took.

Hace a nice day,

Jorlan

[Tres Finocchiaro]

Jorlan,

Yes, I understand.  Currently, QZ Tray has a fairly hard requirement to have the printer installed locally to use it.

We do also support printing directly to the printer's IP address (skipping the local raw stuff) assuming that  itembase determines it's a feature they'd like to support.

This issue really needs to be escalated to itembase and then to us, and this can be done on a private channel (e.g. sup...@qz.io). 

Due to the myriad of issues, it's my opinion that itembase needs to determine if they're willing to support this hardware and OS combination.  We support it on our end.  My recommendation is still to test EPL labels after setting the printer up as a raw device, but if Itembase's email stating that they were able to reproduce the issue is in fact true, they should be able to test this on their end before sending you down that rabbit hole.

Normally in times like this, @Lite Finocchiaro and I will just remote into a computer and fix the problem directly.  We have a pretty strict policy of not allowing an end-user to suffer with our name involved, but from what I've read this printer just doesn't work right with the ZPL, so I'd rather not dive in until itembase can support their own customer.

If itembase doesn't fix this, I will personally take the time to learn their website, switch it to EPL and configure this raw printer on your computer for you, but I'd rather not do this as it sours our relationship with our own client when we have to take these measures.

-Tres

- Tres.Fin...@gmail.com

[Mariotat Jorlan]

Hello Tres,

I understand, thanks again very much for your help, I'll let you know if I have any updates on this subject.

Have a nice day,

Jorlan