P5E with an old HP4MV parallel port printer

How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
is a parallel port.

Walt

Walter_S wrote:
> How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
> printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
> is a parallel port.
>
> Walt

Does it also have an Ethernet connector (JetDirect) ?

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/su...1/bpl03061.pdf

Some background on parallel ports, mentioning the word "Bi-Tronics".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1284

You can get USB to parallel adapters, which work only with printers.
The operating modes of the adapter are restricted in some way (more
research required).

You might also find PCI cards with parallel ports. These illustrate
the concept, but this source might not have the best pricing.

http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...&WCID=212&c=CA

Paul

Paul <> wrote:

>Walter_S wrote:
>> How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
>> printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
>> is a parallel port.
>>
>> Walt
>
>Does it also have an Ethernet connector (JetDirect) ?
>
>http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/su...1/bpl03061.pdf
>
>Some background on parallel ports, mentioning the word "Bi-Tronics".
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1284
>
>You can get USB to parallel adapters, which work only with printers.
>The operating modes of the adapter are restricted in some way (more
>research required).
>
>You might also find PCI cards with parallel ports. These illustrate
>the concept, but this source might not have the best pricing.
>
>http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...&WCID=212&c=CA
>
> Paul

My printer doens't have ethernet. It does have two other connectors:
a Local Talk for connecting a Mac, and a DB9 serial port. The printer
is so old that the manual's instructions are for Windows 3.1.

A friend pointed me to a site that sells USB to Parallel cables for $9
but I wonder how the drivers would work. Same for a PCI card. Are
there drivers written to deal with this problem and how specific do
they have to be? And most important are they written for Vista? I
will be doing some research.

This was an $1100 printer back when I bought it and it served me real
well. It was wayyyyy cheaper to use (price per page) than the color
ink jets I hate to retire it. But maybe it's time to move on and get
a color laser printer for a few hundred dollars and see how that
works out.

Walter_S wrote:
> Paul <> wrote:
>
>> Walter_S wrote:
>>> How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
>>> printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
>>> is a parallel port.
>>>
>>> Walt
>> Does it also have an Ethernet connector (JetDirect) ?
>>
>> http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/su...1/bpl03061.pdf
>>
>> Some background on parallel ports, mentioning the word "Bi-Tronics".
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1284
>>
>> You can get USB to parallel adapters, which work only with printers.
>> The operating modes of the adapter are restricted in some way (more
>> research required).
>>
>> You might also find PCI cards with parallel ports. These illustrate
>> the concept, but this source might not have the best pricing.
>>
>> http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...&WCID=212&c=CA
>>
>> Paul
>
> My printer doens't have ethernet. It does have two other connectors:
> a Local Talk for connecting a Mac, and a DB9 serial port. The printer
> is so old that the manual's instructions are for Windows 3.1.
>
> A friend pointed me to a site that sells USB to Parallel cables for $9
> but I wonder how the drivers would work. Same for a PCI card. Are
> there drivers written to deal with this problem and how specific do
> they have to be? And most important are they written for Vista? I
> will be doing some research.
>
> This was an $1100 printer back when I bought it and it served me real
> well. It was wayyyyy cheaper to use (price per page) than the color
> ink jets I hate to retire it. But maybe it's time to move on and get
> a color laser printer for a few hundred dollars and see how that
> works out.

I guess it all depends on what your print volume is. Some of those
old printers are like tanks. So there would be an incentive there,
to keep the tank working for you.

If you only printed out a page or two per day, then maybe a new laser
makes sense. But if you're printing out 300 page specs twice a
day, then firing up the tank is the right answer.

Check for drivers first, and maybe you'll be able to get it running.

http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/lase...7/20/3982.html

I see Vista mentioned here. Maybe this is using their jumbo driver.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...SeriesId=25483

The USB to parallel port converter type is mentioned here. They say
the converter chip takes care of handshaking directly, and that is
part of why the converter is not a general purpose replacement for
a 1284 port. It is not intended for bit twiddling as such.

http://groups.google.com/group/comp....28331f2e25fa3/

I would say it would cost a maximum of two experiments, after determining
whether the driver situation is in good shape or not. Either a PCI to
IEEE1284 card would do the job, or the USB to printer cable. Other than
that, some HP printers have room for different adapters (EIO?). Or
perhaps the "thing" with the localtalk port, can be unbolted and
replaced with an Ethernet version ?

Paul

>
>I guess it all depends on what your print volume is. Some of those
>old printers are like tanks. So there would be an incentive there,
>to keep the tank working for you.
>
>If you only printed out a page or two per day, then maybe a new laser
>makes sense. But if you're printing out 300 page specs twice a
>day, then firing up the tank is the right answer.
>
>Check for drivers first, and maybe you'll be able to get it running.
>
>http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/lase...7/20/3982.html

>I see Vista mentioned here. Maybe this is using their jumbo driver.
>
>http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...SeriesId=25483
>
>The USB to parallel port converter type is mentioned here. They say
>the converter chip takes care of handshaking directly, and that is
>part of why the converter is not a general purpose replacement for
>a 1284 port. It is not intended for bit twiddling as such.
>
>http://groups.google.com/group/comp....28331f2e25fa3/

Does that imply that there is some active circuitry in a USB to
Centronics cable? I wouldn't think so if it costs less than $10.

>
>I would say it would cost a maximum of two experiments, after determining
>whether the driver situation is in good shape or not. Either a PCI to
>IEEE1284 card would do the job, or the USB to printer cable. Other than
>that, some HP printers have room for different adapters (EIO?). Or
>perhaps the "thing" with the localtalk port, can be unbolted and
>replaced with an Ethernet version ?
>
> Paul

Besides the costs of the cable and the 40 miles round trip to a store
selling that cable (if I want to get it today) it seems like a
worthwhile experiment.

Truth be told my old trusty work horse wasn't doing that much work.
Maybe it lasted as long as it has because I probably was printing on
average six or seven pages a week for the last 15 years.(maybe 13
years, can't remember when I purchased it.) I think I've really only
bought about three toner cartridges for it in all this time.

To fill in the purchase decision details: My wife (a Mac user) and I
also have an inkjet printer that she connects to with USB. I connect
to it from an A/B switch that switches between the laserjet or
inkjet. This is connected to my old machine running XP with a printer
port. She and I rarely print out stuff on the inkjet - but we do it
enough to keep the ink cartridges from drying up, and of course we
have spent more on the little ink cartridges than we spent on HP's
black toner cartridges over the years. So I wouldn't mind going to
having just one ~$300 color laser printer (I assume those printers
have two USB ports on the back) if the price per page was
significantly cheaper than inkjet printers.

"Walter_S" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
> printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
> is a parallel port.
>
> Walt

Walt:

I have a HP LaserJet 4P that uses the centronics connector. I purchased a
USB to Centronics cable for its continued use from NewEgg for use on my P5W
DH Deluxe. Works great. It required no additional software to run.
Windows recognized it immediately and installed the necessary drivers from
its own list. Although the connector did come with its own driver, it was
not used.

William

"William" <> wrote:

>
>"Walter_S" <> wrote in message
>news:.. .
>>
>> How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
>> printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
>> is a parallel port.
>>
>> Walt
>
>Walt:
>
>I have a HP LaserJet 4P that uses the centronics connector. I purchased a
>USB to Centronics cable for its continued use from NewEgg for use on my P5W
>DH Deluxe. Works great. It required no additional software to run.
>Windows recognized it immediately and installed the necessary drivers from
>its own list. Although the connector did come with its own driver, it was
>not used.
>
>William
>

That's encouraging.

Was it this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812107958

or this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812200142

or something else?

And are you using Vista , or XP?

\Walt

"Walter_S" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "William" <> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Walter_S" <> wrote in message
>>news:. ..
>>>
>>> How can I get my new P5E mobo to talk to my HP 4mv printer? The
>>> printer has a centronics connector on the back, which if memory serves
>>> is a parallel port.
>>>
>>> Walt
>>
>>Walt:
>>
>>I have a HP LaserJet 4P that uses the centronics connector. I purchased a
>>USB to Centronics cable for its continued use from NewEgg for use on my
>>P5W
>>DH Deluxe. Works great. It required no additional software to run.
>>Windows recognized it immediately and installed the necessary drivers from
>>its own list. Although the connector did come with its own driver, it was
>>not used.
>>
>>William
>>
>
> That's encouraging.
>
> Was it this:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812107958
>
> or this:
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812200142
>
> or something else?
>
> And are you using Vista , or XP?
>
> \Walt


NewEgg doesn't even have the model I purchased from them anymore, about two
years ago, a Sabrent Model SBT-UPPC, NewEgg #N82E16812156005. It uses
clear plastic and I can see the aluminum wrapping on the cable and the
connectors. Both of the ones you selected look good. Try either one. They
should both work fine. Get one with a long enough cable.

I'm running XP Pro (SR2b) until Vista out-performs XP. (Maybe a year from
now?) I understand that XP with SR3 is twice as fast as Vista - go figure.

William

>I'm running XP Pro (SR2b) until Vista out-performs XP. (Maybe a year from
>now?) I understand that XP with SR3 is twice as fast as Vista - go figure.
>
>William
>
I've decided to try Vista Home Premium just to see if there are any
cool things about it. My five year old computer with a three year old
XP Pro installation was running pretty slow. So far I don't know
what's much better. I bought the computer with a Q6600 and P5E and a
fast graphics card so I'm prepared for any extra overhead that Vista
creates.

As I type this I am using Vista to partition the hard drive on that
machine. Supposedly the disk management tools are better now and
don't require Partition Magic because they have Shrink and Merge
functions.

But back to the cable. I will give it a try because as mentioned in
this thread it is a cheap experiment before buying a new printer. But
it doesn't sound like anyone has tried it with Vista with it's
different driver requirements.

<snip>
> ... So I wouldn't mind going to
> having just one ~$300 color laser printer (I assume those printers
> have two USB ports on the back) if the price per page was
> significantly cheaper than inkjet printers.

I would recommend an HP colour laser with the N (network) designation.
A cheap hub, if you're
not already networked, makes this accessible to all computers on the
LAN. The 2600N is a
decent choice but I'd spend the extra $100 and get one of the DN
(duplex network) models,
like the 2605DN.
Perhaps I'm biased but I've had my eye on this puppy for a while now
to supercede my HP
Deskjet D4160. Cheaper per page and no worries about keeping the ink
nozzles open by
printing at least a page per week. Just waiting for it to go on
sale...

Sudsy