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Salvador Freemanson
Guest
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 Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:03 am Post subject: parallel adapter |
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My new Toshiba laptop running XP doesn't have a parallel port (one
feature I didn't even think of checking before buying).
Needing to connect my elderly but well-performingm solid and economic (I
have obtained a large supply of toner) laser printer, I purchased a USB
to parallel adapter.
The leaflet that came with the adapter states that I should install the
printer on port USB0. There is no USB0 port. There is a plain USB, and
USB001. I've tried every port. Any ideas what to do anyone? |
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mike
Guest
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| Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:03 am Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Salvador Freemanson wrote:
| Quote: | My new Toshiba laptop running XP doesn't have a parallel port (one
feature I didn't even think of checking before buying).
Needing to connect my elderly but well-performingm solid and economic (I
have obtained a large supply of toner) laser printer, I purchased a USB
to parallel adapter.
The leaflet that came with the adapter states that I should install the
printer on port USB0. There is no USB0 port. There is a plain USB, and
USB001. I've tried every port. Any ideas what to do anyone?
|
First place to contact is the vendor of the adapter.
Second place is the vendor of the printer.
There seems to be more than one version of usb/printer adapter, but since
most are no-specs, no-name, no-vendor, no-support, it's difficult to
find out anything. I have one that has a 25-pin connector and claims to
be a full IEEE-1284 parallel port, but gives no further description
of what they mean by that. It's tempting to infer full compliance....nah!
The adapter can only work with the windows API. Older printer drivers
may try to contact the printer directly and won't work.
Some drivers try to access the printer directly for status and won't
work. Older software may try to access the printer directly and won't work.
Since you haven't disclosed the model of the printer of the adapter,
it's a shot in the dark.
Another shot in the dark, it might be interesting to check the bios
settings. Might, maybe, be a confilicting printer-related setting even
tho you have
no real printer port.
Assume you've verified the usb port works? Tested on a different
printer? Divide and conquer.
mike
--
Return address is VALID!
Bunch-O-Stuff Forsale Here:
http://mike.liveline.de/sale.html |
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Salvador Freemanson
Guest
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| Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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mike wrote:
| Quote: | Salvador Freemanson wrote:
My new Toshiba laptop running XP doesn't have a parallel port (one
feature I didn't even think of checking before buying).
Needing to connect my elderly but well-performingm solid and economic
(I have obtained a large supply of toner) laser printer, I purchased a
USB to parallel adapter.
The leaflet that came with the adapter states that I should install
the printer on port USB0. There is no USB0 port. There is a plain USB,
and USB001. I've tried every port. Any ideas what to do anyone?
First place to contact is the vendor of the adapter.
Second place is the vendor of the printer.
There seems to be more than one version of usb/printer adapter, but since
most are no-specs, no-name, no-vendor, no-support, it's difficult to
find out anything. I have one that has a 25-pin connector and claims to
be a full IEEE-1284 parallel port, but gives no further description
of what they mean by that. It's tempting to infer full compliance....nah!
The adapter can only work with the windows API. Older printer drivers
may try to contact the printer directly and won't work.
Some drivers try to access the printer directly for status and won't
work. Older software may try to access the printer directly and won't
work.
Since you haven't disclosed the model of the printer of the adapter,
it's a shot in the dark.
Another shot in the dark, it might be interesting to check the bios
settings. Might, maybe, be a confilicting printer-related setting even
tho you have
no real printer port.
Assume you've verified the usb port works? Tested on a different
printer? Divide and conquer.
mike
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The printer is a Canon LBP 8II
The adapter is, as you rightly say, a no name, no specs, no support. |
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Val
Guest
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| Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Select the USB001 in the Ports tab of the printer properties. If it works,
it works, and away you go.
Val
"Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
news:465bd983$0$2347$426a34cc@news.free.fr...
| Quote: | My new Toshiba laptop running XP doesn't have a parallel port (one feature
I didn't even think of checking before buying).
Needing to connect my elderly but well-performingm solid and economic (I
have obtained a large supply of toner) laser printer, I purchased a USB to
parallel adapter.
The leaflet that came with the adapter states that I should install the
printer on port USB0. There is no USB0 port. There is a plain USB, and
USB001. I've tried every port. Any ideas what to do anyone? |
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Salvador Freemanson
Guest
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| Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 9:19 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Val wrote:
| Quote: | Select the USB001 in the Ports tab of the printer properties. If it works,
it works, and away you go.
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I tried that, thanks. It doesn't work.
In fact I've tried every single port listed in the properties list (even
the LPT1, you never know) just in case. None of them work. |
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mike
Guest
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| Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 10:38 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Salvador Freemanson wrote:
| Quote: | Val wrote:
Select the USB001 in the Ports tab of the printer properties. If it
works, it works, and away you go.
I tried that, thanks. It doesn't work.
In fact I've tried every single port listed in the properties list (even
the LPT1, you never know) just in case. None of them work.
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It might be helpful to know what you mean by "doesn't work"??
Won't let you set the port?
Won't recoginize the printer?
Won't print to a recognized printer?
Someone may have experience with your Canon printer. I don't.
But again, divide and conquer. Borrow an old dot-matrix
printer and get it working with that.
There may be alternative drivers for your canon.
mike
--
Return address is VALID!
Bunch-O-Stuff Forsale Here:
http://mike.liveline.de/sale.html |
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Salvador Freemanson
Guest
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 1:58 am Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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NickM wrote:
| Quote: |
"Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
news:465bd983$0$2347$426a34cc@news.free.fr...
My new Toshiba laptop running XP doesn't have a parallel port (one
feature I didn't even think of checking before buying).
Needing to connect my elderly but well-performingm solid and economic
(I have obtained a large supply of toner) laser printer, I purchased a
USB to parallel adapter.
The leaflet that came with the adapter states that I should install
the printer on port USB0. There is no USB0 port. There is a plain USB,
and USB001. I've tried every port. Any ideas what to do anyone?
I have a USB to parallel bi-directional cable, which to be honest I've
never used until today, but having seen your post, I've just taken it
out of its box an plugged it in to my new Toshiba notebook (running
Vista 32 bit Ultimate). Plugging it in and watching the behaviour of
Device Manager reveals that it is detected as a device shown as 'USB
Printing Support' in the Universal Serial Bus controllers section. I
could also try this on another PC running XP, but suspect the behaviour
will be similar.
You need to verify that your adapter is properly detected by Windows and
install any driver(s) as necessary first. In my case Windows had the
necessary drivers to hand.
My cable comes with a 3.5" floppy containing drivers for older OS's and
no paper leaflet, however the box states that: 'It will allow any
Windows PC with a USB port to print to nearly any parallel printer'.
The operative word there being 'nearly'. You *may* be out of luck with
one of a small percentage of printers that won't work or your adapter
may be faulty.
When adding a new printer in Windows, normally the port used is a
virtual USB port 001. I have just installed an old Epson Stylus Color
640 successfully using my parallel cable and the virtual USB port 001
and printed a test page. No problem whatsoever. Check that your
adapter has been detected by Windows.
HTH
Nick
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Thanks.
I've tried to uninstall the printer and re-install it, but it seems to
make no difference.
I guess the next step will be to take my laptop to a friend's and try it
on their printer. |
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Gordon
Guest
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 2:04 am Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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"Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
news:465bd983$0$2347$426a34cc@news.free.fr...
| Quote: | My new Toshiba laptop running XP doesn't have a parallel port (one feature
I didn't even think of checking before buying).
Needing to connect my elderly but well-performingm solid and economic (I
have obtained a large supply of toner) laser printer, I purchased a USB to
parallel adapter.
The leaflet that came with the adapter states that I should install the
printer on port USB0. There is no USB0 port. There is a plain USB, and
USB001. I've tried every port. Any ideas what to do anyone?
|
A bit of lateral thinking. How do you connect to the internet? If via a
router, add a pocket print server to the printer (D-Link make one - a
DP-301P), ethernet cable from print server to port on router, and then set
up the printer as a tcp/ip printer on the laptop. negates the need for any
direct connection to the printer at all.... |
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Salvador Freemanson
Guest
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 2:49 am Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Gordon wrote:
| Quote: |
A bit of lateral thinking. How do you connect to the internet? If via a
router, add a pocket print server to the printer (D-Link make one - a
DP-301P), ethernet cable from print server to port on router, and then set
up the printer as a tcp/ip printer on the laptop. negates the need for any
direct connection to the printer at all....
|
Neat, if rather costly.
At present I use wifi to the internet and am printing from another PC
and may well end up setting up a network between the two rather than
using USB memories.
But I would like to get to the bottom of what is not working. |
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Gordon
Guest
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:18 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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"Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
news:465dfaf0$0$7644$426a74cc@news.free.fr...
| Quote: | Gordon wrote:
A bit of lateral thinking. How do you connect to the internet? If via a
router, add a pocket print server to the printer (D-Link make one - a
DP-301P), ethernet cable from print server to port on router, and then
set up the printer as a tcp/ip printer on the laptop. negates the need
for any direct connection to the printer at all....
Neat, if rather costly.
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About US$80..... |
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SMS
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:50 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Salvador Freemanson wrote:
| Quote: | Gordon wrote:
A bit of lateral thinking. How do you connect to the internet? If via
a router, add a pocket print server to the printer (D-Link make one -
a DP-301P), ethernet cable from print server to port on router, and
then set up the printer as a tcp/ip printer on the laptop. negates the
need for any direct connection to the printer at all....
Neat, if rather costly.
At present I use wifi to the internet and am printing from another PC
and may well end up setting up a network between the two rather than
using USB memories.
But I would like to get to the bottom of what is not working.
|
I use the D-Link DP-G321 wireless print server (2 USB ports, one
parallel port) with my ancient HP LJIII printer (same EP-S toner
cartridge as your Canon LBP 8II). There are cheaper print server
solutions that are Ethernet, but not wireless, such as the D-Link
DP-301P that someone else pointed out, see "http://tinyurl.com/2ovz7g".
The chance of getting a USB to parallel adapter working is fairly small.
If the notebook has a Cardbus slot (many of the lower cost notebooks
have dropped this slot) then a Cardbus to Parallel adapter will probably
work, but it's more expensive than a print server.
I could have printed to the parallel port printer through another PC,
but it would mean leaving that PC on all the time.
It's nice to have a printer with low consumable costs on the wireless
network, as it was ridiculous to spend so much on ink with those tiny
cartridges. The now-discontinued D-Link DP-G321 was one of two wireless
print server that had both WPA security and a parallel port (Motorola
claimed to have WPA on the WPS870G but in fact there was no WPA
support); ActionTec had a unit similar to the D-Link model, but it's
also discontinued.
Now if you want a parallel port printer on the wireless network you have
to use a parallel port to Ethernet print server, then a wired Ethernet
to wireless Ethernet converter--there are no more all-in-one devices
available.
Also see "http://tinyurl.com/3yzshv" which is a wireless parallel port
printer adapter.
Check craigslist.org and ebay, as these sorts of devices come up often. |
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SMS
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Salvador Freemanson wrote:
| Quote: | Gordon wrote:
"Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
news:465dfaf0$0$7644$426a74cc@news.free.fr...
Gordon wrote:
A bit of lateral thinking. How do you connect to the internet? If
via a router, add a pocket print server to the printer (D-Link make
one - a DP-301P), ethernet cable from print server to port on
router, and then set up the printer as a tcp/ip printer on the
laptop. negates the need for any direct connection to the printer at
all....
Neat, if rather costly.
About US$80.....
That's what I meant, even though it is more expensive over here.
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Yeah, when you mentioned the LBP 8II I wondered where you were. That
printer was very rare in the U.S. because it didn't support HP PCL.
For some reason we had a bunch of them in the lab at a company I worked
at back in the 1990's, as we used them for some sort of development we
were doing.
This is the sort of device that a lot of people probably have laying
around unused, if you could find them. In the U.S we have something
called "Freecycle" where I bet you could get one free, at least in the
Silicon Valley area, and they also come up on craigslist for $10-40. |
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SMS
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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Salvador Freemanson wrote:
| Quote: | SMS wrote:
Yeah, when you mentioned the LBP 8II I wondered where you were. That
printer was very rare in the U.S. because it didn't support HP PCL.
For some reason we had a bunch of them in the lab at a company I
worked at back in the 1990's, as we used them for some sort of
development we were doing.
This is the sort of device that a lot of people probably have laying
around unused, if you could find them. In the U.S we have something
called "Freecycle" where I bet you could get one free, at least in the
Silicon Valley area, and they also come up on craigslist for $10-40.
I'm near Paris (France).
What's PCL?
In fact I managed to pick up a second one a couple of years ago. There
were a few just in the street a few yards from my appartment. I took one
home in case I need parts in the future, but found that it worked fine.
So now it's connected to my wife's PC. Cheap consumables are essential
for her, as she tends to just click on the print button at the drop of a
hat. I found a store selling off its stock of EPS cartridges for 20
euros each. Since capacity is about 4,000 pages per cartridge, this
works out to about half a eurocent per print page. I use old press
releases for most of my printing, so it's really cheap.
Since I got my new laptop, I have to use my wife's computer to print.
I am beginning to suspect that the problem is the print driver. I'll
know as soon as I take my laptop to a friend's to try it on his printer.
|
It's possible that the print driver is doing weird things as it relates
to the parallel port.
Since the newer OS's don't allow print drivers to print directly to the
hardware, this may be the problem. |
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Salvador Freemanson
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject: Re: parallel adapter |
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SMS wrote:
| Quote: |
Yeah, when you mentioned the LBP 8II I wondered where you were. That
printer was very rare in the U.S. because it didn't support HP PCL.
For some reason we had a bunch of them in the lab at a company I worked
at back in the 1990's, as we used them for some sort of development we
were doing.
This is the sort of device that a lot of people probably have laying
around unused, if you could find them. In the U.S we have something
called "Freecycle" where I bet you could get one free, at least in the
Silicon Valley area, and they also come up on craigslist for $10-40.
|
I'm near Paris (France).
What's PCL?
In fact I managed to pick up a second one a couple of years ago. There
were a few just in the street a few yards from my appartment. I took one
home in case I need parts in the future, but found that it worked fine.
So now it's connected to my wife's PC. Cheap consumables are essential
for her, as she tends to just click on the print button at the drop of a
hat. I found a store selling off its stock of EPS cartridges for 20
euros each. Since capacity is about 4,000 pages per cartridge, this
works out to about half a eurocent per print page. I use old press
releases for most of my printing, so it's really cheap.
Since I got my new laptop, I have to use my wife's computer to print.
I am beginning to suspect that the problem is the print driver. I'll
know as soon as I take my laptop to a friend's to try it on his printer. |
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