PC Parallel Port

• Signal Detail
• Modes: SPP Nibble Byte ECP EPP
• The PIC BOB Breaks out Paralle port signals.
• IBM Parallel Port FAQ by Zhahai Stewart 1994

  "... writes various patterns to the data lines without every pulsing the -strobe line. Without a pulse on -strobe, any printer also attached to the port should ignore this data..."
   

• Interfacing the Standard Parallel Port
• Section10 IBM PC Inside/Out
• Null port connector
• State Machine for the Parallel Port output
• IEEE signal transitions reverse modes
  • The real information costs $70 or so for the IEEE 1284 spec from http://www.ieee.org The order form is at http://standards.ieee.org/catalog/orderform.pdf and the price / partnumber list is at http://standards.ieee.org/catalog/bus.html#1284.1-1997
• DDJ June 1992 PROGRAMMING THE I2C INTERFACE by Mitchell Kahn "The I2C bus is a two-wire synchronous serial interface for intelligent IC devices." Code for PC using Parallel Port as I2C port. Source, Article
• http://www.cs.unc.edu/~tracker/tech/epp.html (cached 20011010) Programming the Enchanced Parallel Port
• Microsoft ECP Register Implementation Windows DDK (driver development)@
• C code for ECP mode interface on a Windows 95 PC
• Centronics (not Centronix) History

Also:

• Printers

See also:

• Interfacing to the IBM-PC Parallel Printer Port - The original IBM-PC's Parallel Printer Port had a total of 12 digital outputs and 5 digital inputs accessed via 3 consecutive 8-bit ports in the processor's I/O space. Introduction • Programming Considerations • Registers and Pinouts Reading and Writing Data • How many ports are present and where.
• Parallel Port Complete by Jan Axelson, Janet Louise Axelson. Excellent book
• Interfacing to the IBM-PC Parallel Printer Port Ian Harres Documents & Information (local copy)
• Introduction to the IEEE 1284-1994 Standard
• Various files relating to the IEEE-1284 standard, from Lexmark's FTP site
• http://wave.campus.luth.se/~pb/comp/standards/
• IBM Electronic Pocket Reference Manual - Parallel Port
• http://www.beyondlogic.org/ Craig Peacock's superb guide to all things serial and parallel.
• Parallel Port Interface Box from Boondog Automation
• Stevens Creek Software - Palm Print - Palm Pilot serial to parallel cables and print driver/software
• http://www.coprolite.com/interfacing.html
• GenTech IEEE 1284 Protocol Testing Tools "If you are implementing Nibble, Byte, ECP or EPP communication modes for the IEEE 1284 bi-directional interface you need test solutions. Whether you are building a host or peripheral device or writing ..."
• IMEG/JadTech
  • IEEE 1284 Bidirectional Protocol Analysis and Data Capture Tool "Silent Hawk III gives you IEEE-1284 bi-directional ECP, EPP, Nibble, Byte and Compatibility mode data capture and protocol analysis, plus a 3MHz asynchronous logic analyzer function." $4k <HEART ATTACK>
  • IEEE 1284 Parallel Printer Port and IEEE-1284 Device Driver Resources "Most popular resources for your IEEE 1284 needs."
• Parallel Technologies
  • Parallel Port Development and IEEE 1284 Technology
  • Patents-Pending High-speed Parallel Technology and Parallel Port Developers Kits
  • IEEE 1284 Real Time Parallel Port Test Devices, Nibble Mode, Byte Mode, EPP and ECP Mode Testing
  • Your source for high-speed DirectParallel® Cables for Windows 95/Windows 98 Direct Cable Connection (DCC)
• On Spec "the leading US supplier of high performance parallel port interface technology"

• http://ftp.unina.it/pub/electronics/ftp.armory.com the filenames are: *lpt.faq; ibmlpt.faq, tomlpt.faq, and krislpt.faq. each meets different skill levels and needs.
• PC Magazine,. Oct 27, 1992 pages 367-376
• http://www.codepuppies.com/~ben/sens/pic/mp3 PIC MP3 player with Parallel port EPP interface to PC.
• http://www.mailbag.com/users/jaxelson/parport.htm
• http://www.fapo.com/ieee1284.htm
• http://weber.u.washington.edu/~pfloyd/ee/text/para-port.html
• http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~donmck/pipex.html
• http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~ih/doc/par/
• http://www.lvr.com/parport.htm
• http://www.hut.fi/~iisakkil/stuff.html I2C interfacing via PC parallel port
• http://www.phanderson.com
• http://homepages.together.net/~tking/parport.zip
• http://www.ens-lyon.fr/~jmfriedt/parport.faq
• http://shell.rmi.net/~hisys/parport.html
• http://et.nmsu.edu/~etti/fall96/computer/printer/printer.html Use of a PC Printer Port for Control and Data Acquisition
• A web search for IEEE1284 (using the search engine of your choice, such as Alta Vista) will provide numerous links.

Questions:

• prabhakarhebbar@yahoo.co.in asks:

  I am checking busy pin while sending data to the parellel port in my printer driver.When the printer is switched on for the first time busy pin is high continously. But if I give power cycle to the printer the busy pin released and data is sent. How to come out of this problem. I am using centronix interface.
  
  Thanks in advance.
  
  
  
  

  James Newton replies: Almost anything could cause the problem. A defective printer. A bad or intermittant cable. A damaged parallel port on the PC. Basic troubleshooting is the only way to tell. If you have another printer, swap it in place of this one and see if the problem goes away or remains. Try a new cable. Take the cable and printer to another PC and try them there.

• James C Perkins of York International asks:

  I am looking for a simple c code example for basic input and output functions. I have switches for the inputs and driving leds on the output. Thanks for any help!
  

• paul.krisman@rokc.com asks:

  I am trying to find some software and an interface to grab the parallel printer output from a piece of lab equipment and dump it intoi a file which can then be interpreted in real-time. Does any such software exist?

See:

• /techref/shorts.htm Protecting against short circuits