Zebra DS9308 setup: USB, angle, keyboard and Enter

The DS9308 is a corded presentation scanner: it stands on the counter, faces the items or phones your customers hold up, and reads them without a trigger press. You can also lift it off the counter for bulky items. This guide connects it, sets the angle, tests a scan and adjusts the settings that matter most in our markets.

Before you start

Out of the box the DS9308 works as a USB keyboard. Zebra calls this USB Keyboard HID: whatever it reads is typed where the cursor is, so you need no driver. It starts in presentation (hands-free) mode, which means it reads every bar code that appears in front of its window.

Settings are changed by scanning programming bar codes from the PRG, from paper or from a monitor. This guide names each bar code and section as Zebra prints them. Page numbers refer to PRG revision MN-003532-08EN. The most common bar codes, such as Enter, Tab and factory defaults, are also printed in the DS9308 Quick Start Guide.

Connect the USB cable

1. Put the scanner on a flat surface and tilt it all the way forward. This exposes the cable port at the rear of the base.
2. Push the cable's modular connector into the port until it clicks. Tug gently to check that it is locked.
3. Plug the USB end into the PC or POS terminal. The LED lights green and the scanner sounds three rising beeps (low, medium, high).
4. Windows installs it with its own keyboard driver. If Windows asks about the new device, accept the suggested driver.

The PC powers the scanner over USB. An external 5 V power supply is only needed if the host cannot power it. The DS9308 also uses cables and power supplies from the older DS9208.

To remove the cable later, tilt the scanner forward, lift the cable clip with a small screwdriver through the release opening under the port, and pull the connector out.

Place the scanner and set the angle

The base is part of the scanner and clicks into four positions, from 15° tilted back to 45° tilted forward. The cable leaves the base at an angle, so the scanner stays compact even when tilted.

• Place it where customers or staff naturally hold items and phones, with the window facing them.
• Try each position with your typical items and phones, and keep the one that reads most reliably.
• Keep the window free. Anything that stays in front of it, such as a stack of flyers, keeps the scanner busy.

For a fixed installation, Zebra offers two brackets. The multi-mount bracket (BRKT-MM0093C-04 in black) fixes to a table with two #8 screws or the adhesive pad, or to a wall with screws, and the scanner can still be lifted out for hand-held use. Zebra notes that screws hold more securely than the pad. The locking mount (BRKT-LM0093C-04) locks the scanner in place where it should not be removed. Both are described in the PRG, chapter "Getting Started", section "Mounting the Scanner" (page 33).

Test a scan

1. Open Notepad or any empty text field and click into it.
2. Hold a printed bar code in front of the window. You do not need to press anything.
3. While the scanner is ready, its LED shows solid green. When it reads the code, it beeps and the LED goes off for a moment.
4. The data appears as typed text.

Two things surprise many users at this point:

• No line break after the scan. By default the scanner sends the data without Enter or Tab. See step 6.
• Wrong letters or symbols. The scanner assumes a US English keyboard. See step 5.

Use it hands-free or hand-held

The factory trigger mode is Presentation (Blink) (PRG section "Trigger Mode", page 74). The scanner decodes whenever it detects a bar code in its field of view. After a period of non-use, its lights turn off until it senses movement again. In this mode there is no aiming dot.

For items that do not fit in front of the window:

1. Lift the scanner off the counter and press the scan trigger. A round aiming dot appears.
2. Put the dot on the bar code and hold the trigger until the scanner beeps.
3. Put the scanner back. After 5 seconds without a trigger press, the aiming dot turns off and the scanner returns to presentation mode.

The return time is set in section "Momentary Trigger Mode Timeout" (page 77), from 2 to 5 seconds. In hand-held mode the scanner reads only the bar code under the dot, because Enable Picklist Mode in Hand-held Mode is the default (section "Picklist Mode", page 78). That helps with sheets or labels that carry several codes close together.

Set the keyboard country

If the PC uses an Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Finnish, Polish or Czech layout, tell the scanner which one. Open the PRG chapter "Country Codes", section "USB and Keyboard Wedge Country Keyboard Types (Country Codes)" (from page 484), and scan the bar code that matches the layout active in Windows.

After you scan it, the scanner restarts and sounds its startup beeps. You do not need a code page bar code as well. Zebra sets a default code page for each keyboard type (Windows 1257 for the Baltic layouts, 1252 for Finnish, 1250 for Polish and Czech) and only asks you to scan one if that default does not suit you.

If your Windows layout is not on Zebra's list, for example Latvian (Standard), which is the Windows default for Latvian, use keypad emulation instead. It is on by default, so scan Disable Quick Keypad Emulation (section "Quick Keypad Emulation", page 247). The scanner then types every character as an Alt + number code, which works with any layout but is slower. The same country names and steps apply to our DS2208 scanners, so our keyboard layout guide explains how to check the layout in Windows and test the result.

Add Enter or Tab after each scan

The factory setting is Data As Is, so the scanner sends the data only. Most tills and spreadsheets need Enter or Tab after it.

• For Enter, scan Add Enter Key (Carriage Return/Line Feed) in section "Enter Key" (chapter "User Preferences & Miscellaneous Options", page 88).
• For Tab, scan Tab Key in section "Tab Key" on the same page.
• To remove it again, scan Data As Is in section "Scan Data Transmission Format" (page 91).

A high/low/high/low beep confirms each change. If your software adds its own Enter, leave the scanner at Data As Is, or each scan skips a field. Prefixes and other suffixes work as on the DS2208: see our Enter and Tab suffix guide, using the DS9308 PRG pages above.

Scan codes on phone screens

Zebra designed the DS9308 to read bar codes on phone and tablet screens, such as mobile coupons, loyalty cards and tickets, as well as codes behind cellophane. Its curved window reduces reflections from bar codes printed on glossy paper. No setting is needed for this: in the factory setting Normal Mobile Phone/Display Mode, phones already read.

• Ask customers to turn up the screen brightness and hold the phone still, with the whole code in front of the window.
• If phone codes often need several attempts, scan Enhanced in Hands-free Mode, or Enhanced in Both Modes if staff also scan phones hand-held. Both are in section "Mobile Phone/Display Mode" (page 82), which Zebra describes as improving reading from mobile phones and electronic displays.

Fine-tune with 123Scan (optional)

For more than a few settings, use Zebra's free 123Scan utility for Windows. Connect the DS9308 with its USB cable and start 123Scan. You can then change settings in a wizard, save them as a configuration file for further scanners, print them as a programming bar code, view scanned data and update the firmware.

If something does not work, see our DS9308 troubleshooting guide. All guides for this scanner are on our DS9308 page.