The Ithaca 280 printer can be purchased with several different communication interfaces. Please use the below chart to identify which interface your printer has:

9 pin Serial Interface
Cable Required: Serial Null Modem Cable, 9 pin female to 9 pin female.
This cable is available for purchase from us.
Item No: 10-2020

36 pin Centronics Parallel Interface
Cable Required: Parallel Cable, 25 pin male to 36 pin Centronics male.
This cable is available for purchase from us.
Item No: 253-9800002

USB Interface
Cable Required: USB Cable This cable is available for purchase from us.
Item No: 98-04322

Ethernet Interface
Cable Required: CAT-5 Ethernet cable
This cable is not available for purchase from us.

25 pin Parallel Interface
Cable Required: Parallel Cable, 25 pin male to 25 pin male.
This cable is available for purchase from us.
Item No: 253-9800007

25 pin Serial Interface
Cable Required: Serial Null Modem Cable, 9 pin female to 25 pin male.
This cable is available for purchase from us.
Item No: 253-9800006

 Caution: The 25 pin Parallel and 25 pin Serial interfaces look exactly the same externally.  They both use a 25 pin D-shell connection.

A closer look will reveal that the electronics on the actual interfaces boards are different. The best way to determine which 25 pin communication interface is present in the printer is to print a configuration listing from the printer. This listing will show either RS232 Serial or P1284 Parallel. See Manual Configuration for how to print out this listing.

The Ithaca 280 printer has an RJ11 cash drawer port for connecting a cash drawer. This port can be hard wired in 3 standard configurations, Ithaca, EPSON, and Star. On the bottom of the printer there is a sticker the will identify which wiring the printer has currently. When purchasing a cash drawer, the correct cash drawer cable for this specified wiring configuration must be ordered. Cash drawer cables are not available from TransAct. Once you have the correct cable, you will still need to send the correct cash drawer command code to the printer to open the drawer. The cash drawer code depends on the Emulation Mode the printer is in. This can be determined by printing a configuration listing. See Manual Configuration for how to print out this listing. The follow are the codes for the common Emulation Modes:

Ithaca PCOS
Cash Drawer 1 | ASCII : [ESC] x 1 | DECIMAL: 27 120 1 | HEX: 1B 78 01
Cash Drawer 2 | ASCII : [ESC] x 2 | DECIMAL: 27 120 2 | HEX: 1B 78 02

EPSON
Cash Drawer 1 | ASCII : [ESC] p 0 | DECIMAL: 27 112 0 | HEX: 1B 70 00
Cash Drawer 2 | ASCII : [ESC] p 1 | DECIMAL: 27 112 1 | HEX: 1B 70 01

Star
Cash Drawer 1 | ASCII : [BEL] | DECIMAL: 7 | HEX: 07
Cash Drawer 2 | ASCII : [SUB] | DECIMAL: 26 | HEX: 1A

Microline
Cash Drawer 1 | ASCII : [BEL] | DECIMAL: 7 | HEX: 07
Cash Drawer 2 | ASCII : [BS] | DECIMAL: 8 | HEX: 08

The printer will cut the paper when the printer receives the cut command from the system. This command code depends on the Emulation Mode the printer is in. This can be determined by printing a configuration listing. See Manual Configuration for how to print out this listing. The follow are the codes for the common Emulation Modes:

Ithaca PCOS
Cut | ASCII: [ESC] v | DECIMAL: 27 118 | HEX: 1B 76

EPSON
Cut | ASCII: [ESC] i | DECIMAL: 27 105 | HEX: 1B 69

Star
Cut | ASCII: [ESC] d 0 | DECIMAL: 27 100 0 | HEX: 1B 64 00

Microline
Cut | ASCII: [EM] | DECIMAL: 25 | HEX: 19

In Windows 8.1/Windows 10, before installation, please change the "USB Mode" option in the internal configuration of the 280 printer to “USB Printer Only”. See Manual Configuration under the Quick Reference section.
NOTE: After you change this option, you must unplug the power cord from the printer, wait at least 1 minute, then plug the power cord back in. (This updates the interface with the new USB Mode.)
Then please follow the Windows Driver Installation Guide under the Drivers section to complete the installation.

The “Lang Mon” error is due to the driver's lack of privileges writing to the registry.

If you encounter this error, please use the “TransactPrinterProperties.exe” program found in the Utilities folder that comes with the Windows drivers.

Note:  You must Right Click the TransactPrinterProperties.exe program and select Run as administrator to allow the changes to be saved to the registry.

Change values as you want them, and then click the Save Changes button.

Then Select Yes to allow the Windows Print Spooler to be restarted for the change to take effect.