Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L and LPT breakout cable.

[snowhiker]

I'll be picking up a Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L motherboard for a new build for my big bro and he wants to use his old printer that only has a parallel port. He won't want to buy a new printer when "his old printer works just fine" According to: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products...board&ProductID=2993&ProductName=GA-EP43-UD3L the motherboard has an internal connector for a parallel port. My concern is where the crap can I find the external bracket shown here: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Accessories.aspx?ProductID=2993 A little bit of Googling tells me two things: 1) It's going to be a PITA to find that bracket in the U.S. and 2) Gigabyte has a screwy pin-out for the cable so it probably has to be the exact Gigabyte cable.

Any suggestions?

Beating me to death with a 2x4 is a valid option at this point.

TIA.

 

[P5-133XL]

If the bracket isn't convienant, I'd just go for an inexpensive PCI multi-I/O card to keep him happy.

 

[ddrueding]

Since the issue is the printer, I would keep it to an external solution. I use these all the time.

 

[P5-133XL]

Since the issue is the printer, I would keep it to an external solution. I use these all the time.

Those are also a good solution and I've used them in the past too.

 

[snowhiker]

Since the issue is the printer, I would keep it to an external solution. I use these all the time.

You are right of course. I hate that he'd rather get a $20 cable then just buy a modern $50 printer.

 

[Mercutio]

Since the issue is the printer, I would keep it to an external solution. I use these all the time.

I've run into an awful lot of printers that don't work with those, mainly HP Photo printers.

I just keep a bunch of PCI cards around.

 

[ddrueding]

Ah, I only use laser printers, so I don't know about that.

 

[Mercutio]

Also, who doesn't have hundreds of parallel port breakout cables sitting around from the pre-ATX days?

 

[ddrueding]

Anything from the pre-ATX days has gone to someone else or the dumpster long ago.

 

[Handruin]

Same here. I gave away a big pile of crap a few years ago and I think Clocker ended up taking it. I might have had some in there but no longer needed them. That or they went the way of the dumpster just like ddrueding did with his.

 

[snowhiker]

Also, who doesn't have hundreds of parallel port breakout cables sitting around from the pre-ATX days?

I was thinking the same thing actually. I checked a few old boxes of parts as I was sure I had a bunch of those. Lo and behold.....nada. I must have trashed all the "really old crap" when I moved from CA to AZ.

 

[Mercutio]

I threw away a lot of big parts. I still have lots of little ones like that.

 

[kencol]

Gigabyte LPT port wiring

Hi all,
I have a Gigabyte motherboard with no rear printer port, there is a connector on the motherboard for this, however, Gigabyte motherboards don't have the standard LPT wiring.

Before I upgraded to this board, I was using the LPT port to operate a VFD (just a regular samsung one that comes with an Ahanix case).

My problem is, I can't use USB to parallel adaptor, these only seem to work on printers, I bought a generic adaptor and swapped pin 24 to 26, following someones advice, but this didn't work....I have been told that Gigabytes cable (12CF1-1LP001-01R) is just a cheap generic cable, and to get it you have to contact sales@gbt-tech.co.uk and it costs £6.

I've looked high and low for a USB controller for the VFD, and anything that I have found seems to be for LCD, some state that VFD requires more power and that those adaptors won't work.

Any help or advice would be gratefully recieved.

Kenny.

 

[Mercutio]

For about the same price, you should be able to find a PCI card with one or two parallel ports on it, kencol.

 

[Bozo]

Hopefully the OS supports the printer if it's that old. (I'm presuming you are upgrading the OS as well)

 

[kencol]

Hi Mercutio

I have looked into that, the drawbacks are;

I have a half height case, so it's pretty expensive for a low profile card.

I have only 1 PCI slot free, so if I do use it for this purpose, then I won't have a spare.

Not to mention the compatibility issues I have read about PCI to parallel adaptors....I dunno if that's true, as I don't know how the parallel port connects...from what I've read, I assume it's not via the PCI bus.

Kenny.

 

[Mercutio]

It sounds like the Gigabyte adapter is barely supported in the first place. The PCI cards I buy (here in the US) are low-profile cards made by Syba. They retail for US$14. Generally, I find myself connecting older HP laser printers to them, but other than remembering which driver I need to install, the setup is pretty straightforward.

Besides, what else are you planning to do with that PCI slot?

 

[kencol]

Well as it's a media centre, I will probably be putting a DVB-T card in it when funds allow.

 

[Mercutio]

Well as it's a media centre, I will probably be putting a DVB-T card in it when funds allow.

I suspect you'll have a PCIe x1 option for that.

You could also look around to see if there's an ethernet-to-parallel print server on Ebay or your local equivalent.

The motherboards whose printer ports I'm familiar with (mostly Intel boards but also SOME Gigabyte boards for this purpose) have the old fashioned AT-style pinout. I would like to think you could built the right cable if they're doing something different from that, but basically if you don't want to buy a USB adapter or a PCI card, and a modified I/O cable didn't work, you've probably exhausted all the sane options other than "buy a new printer or scanner" and "buy a different motherboard."

 

[Stereodude]

Uh... He's not trying to connect a printer. Did anyone read his post?

 

[sdbardwick]

Kencol: Did you try all modes (SPP,EPP,ECP) available in the BIOS with the generic cable? The pin-out according to Gigabyte's website appears to be standard.

 

[Mercutio]

Uh... He's not trying to connect a printer. Did anyone read his post?

Yes but that was hours ago.