I have a HP scanner made around 1999 which uses a parallel
connector. It is a good scanner and i would like to use it with my new
computer which only has USB connectors. Does anyone know if it is
possible to get a parallel to USB cable? - and if so do they work ok?.

Thanks

Sniper wrote:
Hi...

Never ever seen a machine without a "parallel connector" (printer)

Ken

Ken Weitzel wrote:

I dont understand what you mean?. My scanner has the parallel
port and I need to connect it to my new computer which has no parallel
port - only USB. Hence I am looking for a cable which has a Parallel
port at one end and USB at the other.

Sniper wrote:
There are lots of them out there but depending on what driver you have
for you scanner you might have a hard time getting it to work on a
newer operating system.
http://www.usbgear.com/USB-Printer-Adapters.html
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati....asp?CatId=471


Scott

On Wed, 10 May 2006 17:31:56 GMT, Ken Weitzel staggered into the Black
Sun and said:
It'd better be, considering how slow parports are compared to everything
else.

I've seen reports of USB<->parport adapters working properly in
comp.os.linux.hardware. Thing is, the people using those adapters
weren't using 'Doze, and they were driving parport printers, not parport
scanners. This may or may not work, depending on whether the software
you're using needs to talk directly to the parport's I/O ports or can be
fooled by software into talking to an emulation of the parport's I/O
ports. Note that most USB<->parport adapters have a physical switch
that can be placed in 2 positions. Try your scanner with that switch in
both positions.

Macs have never had 25-pin parports, eh?[0] Also, the "Legacy-Free x86
Initiative" was announced a few years ago, and its goal is to get rid of
9-pin serial, parallel, PS/2, and every other port you find on an x86
except for USB, Firewire, VGA/DVI, audio[1], and Ethernet. This is
being done so that motherboard manufacturers can save money, but they're
selling it as a way to reduce new user confusion. Interesting that some
manufacturers have finally started to implement this.

[0] A number of older Macs had 25-pin SCSI ports that had the same DB-25
connector spec as the x86 25-pin parport. Since SCSI pins do different
things and take different voltages, this caused a few people to let the
Magic Smoke out of their peripherals back then.

[1] Unless they want to switch to USB audio, which may be the case.

--
Matt G|There is no Darkness in eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see
We're standing there pounding a dead parrot on the counter, and the
management response is to frantically swap in new counters to see if
that fixes the problem. --Peter Gutmann, ASR 6/18/1998

"Sniper" <snipernest@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1147279477.509897.208190@j33g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
You would be better off putting in a Parallel Port Card in you computer.
If is a desktop computer, PCI cards are easy to get.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...SubCategory=73

If it is a laptop, you can get PC cards.


--
CSM1
http://www.carlmcmillan.com
--

Ken Weitzel wrote:
You've probably never seen a machine without a 3.5" floppy drive either
then.

Sniper,

Unless you're 100% positive that your scanner is parallel, it's not a
bad idea to double-check your manual to confirm that it's not a SCSI
interface.

This issue used to come up a lot with our older scanners which had DB25
interfaces which is the exact same pinout as LPT1 (parallel). Even
though the pinout was identical, and the cable fit perfectly, 2 things
would eventually result- 1. no communication and 2. possible damage to
Control board in scanner or even worse, mother board in pc.

~which HP do you have?

Hope it helps,

Danny

On Wed, 10 May 2006 17:31:56 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca>
wrote:

This is becoming increasingly common. I just installed a couple of
Dell boxes at work that had no legacy ports at all - no serial,
parallel, PS2 keyboard/mouse, etc. Just a bunch of USB ports
(something like 10 of them).

It's actually working out pretty well, so far.


--
Neil Maxwell - I don't speak for my employer

On 10 May 2006 09:44:37 -0700, "Sniper" <snipernest@gmail.com> wrote:


Connectivity may not be the problem. What could kill you is the
absence of an XP driver for your scanner.

I have a neat Logitech scanner. No longer made and XP killed it.Also
LPT, but without drivers it simply cannot work.

MK

mgfv43@dsl.pipex.com wrote:
other a Xerox.
The scanners were old enough that no new drivers were done for them and
that was pretty much the end of them. The Xerox had the best paper
feed for multiple page scanning that I have seen, I really miss that
scanner.

Scott

On 12 May 2006 08:42:27 -0700, "Scott W" <biphoto@hotmail.com> wrote:

Install Virtual PC and then use the old OS.