USB to Parallel Converter

[gustavom]

Hello,

         I want to ask to LittlemanTAMU if he has any luck with the cable you said that is shown as a LPT port. Could you post brand and model of that cable?

[TravisGilbert]

I believe when I checked back in April that I found we had had to buy a parallel port card for the host machine.  I checked over my documentation and I didn't have a USB-to-parallel port cable specified so I'm fairly certain this is the case.  I'll try and double-check this, but I'm on a different project and in a different area since that project was completed so it might take a little while.

Edit: I'll also try to find the cables I tried if I can get ahold of them and test them with the updated VISA version and let you know whether or not they worked and what they are.

Message Edited by LittlemanTAMU on 09-10-2007 01:38 PM

[jon196535]

This is so fustrating isn't it.

 Ages ago I built a test jig and contolled it using the output from the parrallel printer port and the Labview   In Port.vi and Out Port.vi  functions.

Now its possible to buy Bafo BF-1284 usb to parrallel printer converters for a couple of £s on ebay, just what I need if only as there was a driver available, to run my jig from a laptop.

Looks like I am going to have to buy a 99dollar usb to 24 channel digital output module complete with labview drivers from Measurement Computing but it seems so unnecessary

Ahhhhhhhhh.............*******

[TravisGilbert]

The problem with the USB to parallel converters I found was that they didn't actually provide the proper hardware.  The "printer port" that showed up was a software driver emulating an LPT.  The converters I found wouldn't work since they were software emulators which wouldn't show up in Labview as parallel ports since they weren't truly printer ports.  Most of the emulators also mentioned that they were for printing only (i.e. they only replicated the what was needed for printing, not the whole parallel port).  I guess none of the companies thought anyone would need to do anything other than print with a parallel port.  I haven't checked lately, but someone might have come out with a true hardware conversion of USB to parallel.  It shouldn't be to difficult to build one, but I doubt you could do it for less than $99 if you take the labor required into account.

[Ben]

Not all parallel ports were created equal. The cheap ones were NOT bi-dirctional.

Ben

[Greg_K]

Hi,

I know that is old topic, but probably I've found something that will suit you:

USB2LPT

Lab View is on the list of the successfully tested programs.

Regards

[TravisGilbert]

I finally found my notes. We used the MFJ-5428. I found that the Centronics (36 pin) converter cables more generally supported the full parallel port spec. The 25 pin cables were pretty much only for parallel port printers. I didn't find a single 25-pin USB-to-parallel port cable that advertised compatibility with anything more than printers. I had to use the MFJ-5428 converter and then a 36-to-25 pin cable since my system only had a 25-pin input.