User Manual

Troubleshooting
278
Alert: Ribbon Out
• The printer is printing and stops while printing.
• A print job has been sent to the printer and the printer immediately reports this Alert.
Possible Cause - 1
The printer has detected the end of the ribbon. The end of the ribbon has a reflective trailer on the end of
Genuine Zebra Transfer Ribbon that the printer ‘sees’ as End of Ribbon.
Resolution
Remove the ribbon and replace the ribbon rolls or ribbon cartridge in the printer without turning the printer
OFF. Close the printer. You may need to press the FEED button once or the PAUSE button the get the
printer to resume your print operation. Go to Detecting a Ribbon Out Condition on page 180.
Possible Cause - 2 (ZD421 Cartridge Printer only)
A ribbon cartridge needs to be loaded in the printer. The printer is set for Thermal Transfer Mode. Go to
Loading the ZD421 Ribbon Cartridge on page 176.
Possible Cause - 3 (ZD421 Cartridge Printer only)
The media sensing is not working. Possible dirty ribbon cartridge data chip or cartridge sensor contacts;
data corruption of memory; or faulty cartridge or printer components.
Resolution
1. Try another working ribbon cartridge, if available.
2. Clean the Ribbon Cartridge chip with an alcohol moistened swab.
3. Clean the Ribbon Cartridge Sensor’s contact pins. Go to Upper Half of ZD421 Thermal Transfer Ribbon
Cartridge Printers on page 248 for cleaning instructions.
4. Reload the printer’s firmware. Go to Updating Printer Firmware on page 273.
5. If this does not fix this issue, call a service technician.