printing a QR code with Brother Q-810 using ESC/P

[oh-brother]

I am using a Brother QL-810w thermal printer, and trying to print a QR code using ESC/P commands, sending a hex fie directy to the printer. I am using a console utiity program named senddat.exe, which is actually Epson software. The labels are 1.1 x 3.5, which is DK-1201.

I am using a Brother QL-810w thermal printer, and trying to print a QR code using ESC/P commands, sending a hex fie directy to the printer. I am using a console utiity program named senddat.exe, which is actually Epson software. The labels are 1.1 x 3.5, which is DK-1201.

Printing from the Brother P-touch Editor 5.4 works.

Printing text using ESC/P commands in a hex file sent directly to the printer works.

Printing a QR code using ESC/P commands in a hex file sent directly to the printer does not work. The printer does not even make any noise indicating that it received any data.

The Epson senddat.exe utility does not show any error messages. It does have error messages built in, and if there is a problem, those messages will display.

I am using Frhed, a freeware hex editor, and since it creates a working hex file for text, I don't think that is the problem.

I think there is something wrong with my ESC/P commands.

Here is what I have in the data file:

1b696100 (put printer in ESC mode)
1b40 (init printer)
1b694c01 (landscape)
1b28430200ff02 (page length)
1b24ff00 (horiz pos)
1b285602007e00 (vert pos)
1b6b0b (font type)
1b58003200 (char size)
1b6951 (QR code)
03 (cell size)
02 (symbol type/model)
00000000 (params not used if no parts)
02 (err corr level)
00 (input method = auto)
313233343536373839 (data string in QR)
5c5c5c (end of data marker - \\\)
0c (print command)

what is wrong ?

 

[oh-brother]

update: fixed my own problem. The senddat.exe utility was swallowing some of the characters. It has a "script" option where you can type in all of the character input, and that works fine.

Having said that, I posted the following in the official Brother community forum, and got zero responses:

I have been through the "Developer's Reference", the YouTube videos, and anything else I can find in order to learn what anyone would need to know in order to use esc/p effectively.

Sadly, that information does not appear to be published.

What I have discovered is this:

1) The "Reference Manual" is mostly a list of the available commands, with very limited examples of how to actually use them. None of the commands function on their own. They need to be part of a context, which is not explained at all. There are multiple conflicting presentations of how commands are strung together, but no clear statement showing which commands need to be issued, and in what sequence, in order to get the desired output.

2) There is no diagnostic output to indicate where a problem is. You mostly get silence from the printer, and maybe a blinking LED. At a minimum, the printer should write a dump to its whopping 6MB of memory (come on, people, you can do better than that) which could be pulled and read. Some fairly dumb hardware can do that, so it can't be that tough to implement.

3) Some of the nomenclature in the "manual" needs to be cleaned up. "Page Length" is actually page width, as is shown in the labeling of the measurements for the example label. That'll throw a monkey wrench into the machine. It would be helpful if there was an indicator showing the leading edge of the label, so that a reader could understand where the measurements apply.

4) There is a mention of "columns" in the manual, but no explanation of what they are or how they are calculated or handled.

5) There are a number of codes which relate to the print area, but no cohesive section of the manual which describes how they work together, or how text/graphics are impacted by them.

6) There is no function in the P-touch Editor to display or export the equivalent esc/p commands for a template, which would be the easiest way to make esc/p a useable language.

I tried to do nothing more complex than print a QR code on a DK-1221 square label, and it was a nightmare. The code sometimes wouldn't print, or wouldn't move in spite of parameter changes that should have moved it. The P-touch Editor created a label with a medium sized QR code, and used a narrow margin. Labels created by issuing esc/p commands wouldn't do that.

It shouldn't be this hard.

"Bob", who claims to be the product manager for the QL series in his YouTube videos, mentions a piece of software named rawspl.exe, which is nowhere to be found, even though it is required to get the codes to the printer.

He could also use a cubicle upgrade, if his manager is reading this.

Tech Support refuses to be of ANY help with esc/p, which is pretty outrageous.

So where is the hidden manual that actually contains, in a clear and thorough presentation, all of the information we poor mortals lack ?

How about a rewrite of the manual ?

How about diagnostic dump of failed commands ?

How about a function in P-touch Editor to display or save the equivalent esc/p commands for creating a label ?

How about an upgrade for the memory to, let's say, 600 MB. Memory is dirt cheap. Why would you scrimp there ?

Informative responses are welcome.

PS: WSD as a printing configuration protocol is considered evil, and most network admins have banned it. It was only because I understood what I was looking at when I got into the management GUI that I was able to set up the printer correctly. I feel sorry for clueless end users.