Zebra Mobile Printers may not turn off though properly configured with an inactivity timeout setting

Topic or Information

The printer fails to power down when idle though properly configured due to access traffic from Network Management sources.

QLn and iMZ Series Printers

If an ethernet or WLAN network connected mobile printer does not turn off at the expected time that is configured in the printer’s idle timeout setting, the countdown timer may have been reset (changed) due to non-printing network activity. This activity usually occurs due to status or other queries originating from network management software. The most common activity of this type are TCP and SNMP communications which send and receive data via the printer’s SGD interface and SNMP protocol.

The printer’s inactivity time is controlled by its power.inactivity_timeout setting.

The default timeout value for mobile printers with a wireless WLAN radio is twenty minutes (1200 seconds). The printer will power itself down if no printing or data activity occurs for the length of this timeout. However, if the printer is accessed during this time period it will reset the countdown timer. To insure that the printers shutdown as expected, ensure that any polling activity occurs at an interval that is longer than the printer’s timeout value.

For Zebra’s ZebraNet Bridge Enterprise software, network device polling is controlled by its System Interval Heartbeat setting. This can be found in the application’s System Settings dialog located in the Preferences menu. Using the default mobile printer timeout of 1200 seconds as an example, you could set the heartbeat setting to a value of 25 minutes (1500 seconds). .

ZebraNet Bridge can be used to assign the desired network settings. Read More>>

You can use the Zebra Setup Utility Communications Window to type and send SGD commands Read More>>

When using Set Get Do commands (SGD) the syntax must be exact or the command will be ignored. Read More>>

Arthur P