I just managed to fix the problem with the
init-sequence.
There was a faulty IC "9601PC" by which the controller senses that the
servo-motor isn't able to turn (paper jam).
I don't know how similar it is to the LA36, but on the latter printer
there is no 'home sensor' to dtect when the printhead has got to the left
side. Instead, at power on, it tuns the motor and bangs the head into the
left side plate, then detects that the motor has stalled (much as you've
described), and thne running the mtoor fowardsfro a few pulses. That's
the home position.
There's a nasty failure mode of this, though. The plastic key in the belt
sprocket breaks and the sprocket slips on the motor spindle. As a result
the motor never really stalls, it keeps on turning against a rather heavy
load. Since hte logic board doesn't detect the stall, the motor keeps
running, gets very hot, and in the ned the insulation burns off the windings.
This happend to an LA36 at Bristol University when I was there. A friend
and I spent an afternoon rewinding the motor (a replacement motor was
excessively overpriced!0.
-tony