Case study

B&K 2318: reconstructing a thermal printer's serial interface

B&K 2318 documents measured behavior of a vintage thermal printer's ZI 0054 serial interface, including XON/XOFF flow control, text commands, character sets, and graphics. An ESP32-C6 and SP3232 adapter connects a modern computer to the unmodified printer; the repository includes firmware, a Python client, probe scripts, and logs.

Targets: Protocol
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
Evidence class: C2 code & docs, no demo or download

Stars: 1
Last commit: 2026-10-31
Language: Python
License (GitHub): CC0-1.0

GitHub data as of 2026-11-10

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Evidence

Observed: Code, documentation and a demo observed; no download method found.
Checked: 2026-11-08

How evidence classes are assigned

Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: The adapter build uses an ESP32-C6, SP3232 or MAX3232, and the documented B&K-SI wiring.
Scope: Measurements are from one B&K 2318 printer with a ZI 0054 module and PROM VP1915.
Limits: Only battery power is advised for the printer in the documented setup.
License: CC0 1.0 license.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{bk2318-esp32-case,
  title = {{B\&K 2318: reconstructing a thermal printer's serial interface}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/saschapo/bk2318-esp32}},
  url = {https://github.com/saschapo/bk2318-esp32},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/bk2318-esp32-case/}}
}

Plain text

B&K 2318: reconstructing a thermal printer's serial interface. https://github.com/saschapo/bk2318-esp32 (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/bk2318-esp32-case/

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About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · saschapo/bk2318-esp32 · Revision 70756cf
docs/protocol.md GitHub · saschapo/bk2318-esp32 · Revision 70756cf