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Printer / Parallel port

Support recomendations

For both the PC cards and PC podules only IEEE 1284 standard printer cables should be used. Turbo Driver users need to read the Computer Concepts Turbo Driver section

For PC card users we recomend that you select the config option to allow the PC Card to access the parallel port directly. The reasons are quit simple. The RiscOS printer stream is uni-directional and not bi-directional as with the "Allow PC Card to access parallel port directly" option. A real PC would always have a bi-directional parallel port fitted and always uses a standard printer cable. This allows most of the PC printer drivers and other parallel connected device drivers to function correctly with the PC card.

For PC podule card users should use the RiscOS printer stream for LPT2. This then makes the parallel port fitted on the PC podule as LPT1 which is a fully functional bi-directional parallel port.

Configuration

This is the screen shot of the new configuration window for the Printing options of PCPro 3.

All versions of !PCconfig allow you to select one of the three RiscOS printer stream options. Only !PCconfig versions for PC cards have the option to "Allow PC Card to access parallel port directly".

Only PCPro 3 has an option for remapping of the parallel output so that a Computer Concepts Turbo Driver cable can be used with the PC card. Also both the Direct access and TurboDriver options can be temporarily changed with !PC's multitask mode tool bar.

The !PCconfig for PC Podule cards have no option to "Allow PC Card to access parallel port directly" as all PC podules have their own independent printer port fitted to the podule card. Also there is no Computer Concepts Turbo Driver cable option.

Windows95/98

With Windows95 and 98 any time you change the !PCconfig parallel port settings you will have to run the "Add New Hardware" in the Control Panel Directory.

When the option appears for automatic detection of new hardware or "Plug and Play devices" select "Yes".

A screen shot of this option is shown but the wording on your version of Windows may be different.

Procedure
1. Use !PCconfig to change/select method of port use, Save and Quit.
2. Run !PC and go to My Computer and Control Panel.
3. Double select on Add New Hardware
4. Select NEXT button
5. Leave on YES and Select NEXT button. You may be asked to Reset Windows after this process.
6. Load any driver that may be required for the devices connected to the port.

General port information.

Some devices that can also are used by RiscOS drivers may, need to be "Quit" before they will function correctly on the PC card. The main one being Argonets version 1.00 of their Iomega Zip drives.

Parallel port address, IRQ and standard

The PC card parallel port is at address 378h and uses IRQ 7. Note that the soundblaster emulation also uses IRQ7. You may need to nobble it to get some devices that actually use IRQ7 on the parallel port to work. (The easiest way to do this is change the RISCOS soundsystem to 8 bit, which stops the modules being loaded, which then stops the Windows sound driver from loading). At the moment neither of these interrupts can be changed to anything else.

bi-or uni directional data lines in a parallel port is a feature of the hardware. If it is present it cannot be turned off. PC BIOSes on more modern machines will let you select standard, ECP and EPP. All of these are bi-directional. The PC card does not support the last two at present which are basically 'faster'.

uni-directional parallel ports still allow data back in but only via the printer control lines (eg paper out). it is up to the driver software whether it tries to use this method (which will always work on any port, but only allows 4 bits of data back through the port), or uses the data lines, which only works if the data lines can be read (they can on a RiscPC parallel port, and all but the oldest PC parallel ports (286 vintage)). This method allows 8bits of data back at a time.

Printing & printer drivers.

DOS does not need to have a printer driver selected, but Windows and some applications (for example WordPerfect for DOS) do. Just pick the driver for your printer.

Links for updating some printer drivers

Printer Cables

Older cables had the pins 18 through to 25 grounded, and 12 to 17 probably not connected. Pins 12-17 are now used in the IEEE 1284 standard for printer status information. Modern printer drivers make use of this information thus the need to check the cable type.

Printing to RISC OS Printer stream

This is almost the same problem when Network printing.

Computer Concepts Turbo Drive

PC Podule card Users select here.

PC Cards only.

Solution for PC card users.

1. The first solution is the easiest to understand and that is to remove the Turbo driver cable and change to an IEEE 1284 standard printer cable when you want to print from the PC card.
2. The second is if use PCPro3 as there is an option to to correct the Turbo driver cable output. Thus you can leave the PC cable connected continualy for RISC OS and the PC card. Although if you wish to connect any other devices like Zip drives and scanners then you better opt for the last of the solutions.
3. Lastly by using !FastSpool+ by Warm Silence Software you can remove the need for the Turbo cable by RISC OS but still retain the use of the RISC OS Turbo printer driver.

PC Podule cards

With modern printer drivers and devices it would be better to have the RISC OS printer stream as LPT2 and the standard PC popule parallel port as LPT1.

Then you could have a Turbo Cable or an IEEE 1284 standard printer cable connected to the RISC OS printer port and an IEEE 1284 standard printer cable on the PC podule card. This gives you a fully working bi-directional parallel port as LPT1.

Then you can change over the cables at the printer end or use a switcher box and an additional IEEE 1284 standard printer cable to the printer so that all you need to do is flick a switch.

The port on the PC Expansion Card itself is "real PC" hardware and thus is bidirectional, so any parallel port device can be plugged in here, for example dongles, sound cards, Ethernet adaptors. Note that some devices, when plugged in here, can cause the PC Card's self-tests to fail, thus disabling this port. 

If this happens to you then you need to use the SETPRN utility in the Drivers.Printer directory on the release floppy. The Readme_prn file explains how to use it. 

The port on the host computer for some Acorn computers, including A300 and A400 series and A3000, can only send data, so it can generally only be used for printing, not dongles etc. However, using this port can have the advantage that you don't have to move the printer cable from one socket to another allowing to print from both RISCOS and DOS. . However it might be that the printer driver you wish to use may need a bidirectional printer port so you may have to use the PC expansion port.

Configure podules

The Printing option in !PCConfig allows you to control the connection between these logical printer streams & physical printer ports. 

• Ignore RISCOS printer stream connects the LPT1 print stream to the connector on the PC Card and disables LPT2.
• Use RISCOS printer stream for LPT1 connects the LPT1 print stream to the RISCOS printer stream and connects the LPT2 print stream to the connector on the PC Card.
• Use RISCOS printer stream for LPT2 connects the LPT1 print stream to the connector on the PC Card, and connects the LPT2 print stream to the RISCOS printer stream.

For the typical configuration, with one printer which is plugged into the host computer, set Use RISCOS printer Stream to LPT1.

Direct laser printing

Printing to CC Laser Direct from the PC card is not possible, but Rob Freeling sent this by Email.

You can print using a parallel or serial lead, bypassing the LD card. I reconfigure my LBP4 whenever I change environments.
This is done from Acorn to PC by:

• Press and hold Menu key
  Display will - eventually - change to read Mode = Video
• Step through other modes available by pressing either "<" or ">" key (on mine these are blue)
  When display shows Mode = CaPSL press enter (^)
• Strange noises will follow and the printer will now have the Ready and On Line lights illuminated.

!PCconfig set to Ignore RISC OS Printer stream and Allow PC card to access parallel port directly.

Thanks to Rod Freeling for this information.

Network printing

If you obtaning a copy of Network Links from Aleph One Ltd it is possible to print to correctly configured printers on the network. How ever this is not using the printer port but the ethernet card and Local Area Network.

Other devices connected to the parallel port

 Last Updated: 2005.11.07

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