Zebra Z4 Error message

The "ribon in" warning is because you set the printer to print DIRECT THERMAL insted THERMAL TRANSFER. The first mode is for printing directly on the thermal labels, not for using a ribon. The ribon sensor detects that a ribon is pressent and you get this message. You need to change the printing mode to Thermal Transfer from the printer Setup Menu, or from the Print Driver instaled on PC.

if use ribbon, change the seting DIRECT-TERMAL to TERMAL TRANSFER, or run manual calibratio and sensor profile, save, turn off the printer, and on again.

Hello, assuming the supplies are Zebra and there is no discernible damage to the ribbon, it could mean that the ribbon sensor on the printer is broken. if your printer is still under warranty you can ship back to Zebra (Illinois) to get it repaired. The zebra website has info on how to return printers for service. Hope this helps.

Try slowing down the print speed to 2 ips. Then increase the speed. Usually, this is a problem of exceeding the limits of the printer. The faster you print, the weaker the print. With a ribbon that is matched to the label stock, you will have an optimum speed for best performance.

Make sure the ribbon sensor is in the proper position and that there is nothing covering it, like a piece of label that came off and got stuck to the sensor. Here is a picture of where the sensor is located. Did you make sure you put the ribbon sensor plate back in? If not you will get this message. Make sure the Print Method is correctly set! Although I exclusively use Thermal-Transfer (ribbon is loaded along with label stock) my 140xIII had Print Method set to Direct-Thermal and printed labels just fine. The only problem I could see was that the Ribbon In warning would not go away.
After changing the Print Method the warning went away and printing continues as before

i have the same problem , but my printer is ZEBRA S4M ZPL

my solution is:

in your barcode software: change printer settings: 1 and 2

1 . in media setting : change media type --> Thermal transfer
2. in documents options , configuration --> use printer settings

by Lin Yu Hsien

Try going through the LCD menu and if it say "Direct Thermal" change it to "Thermal Transfer", Direct Thermal made means, no ribbon required, but it sounds like you do have ribbon in the printer, if so, try my recommendation. If it asks for a password, it's '1234'.

You will have to replace the print head. The thermostat is no longer regulating the temperature correctly. But this is pretty hard to do on a zebra Z4 Plus barcode printer, you may want to just replace it.

if you are not using a ribbon you should configure your printer properties in direct thermal the same with your printer configuration in LCD Panel, if your printer properties is different with the LCD Panel error condition ribbon out will come out to your LCD Panel

Had the same problem with a ZM400. As stated in the User manual (can be downloaded http://www.zebra.com/id/zebra/na/en/index/resource_library/manuals.results.html?FRRBarcodePrinters=6882), warning "Ribbon in" is usually caused by the wrong printing method (thermal direct instead of thermal transfer [which should be selected for ribbbons]). My error disappeared after choosing "thermal transfer" directly on the printer. For network printers this needs to be set by an admin in the network settings for the the printer to solve the problem permanently.