Interface

[Dingus]

Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson, B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers.

!!! HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2005 TO ALL !!!

 

[Adrian Jansen]

Dingus wrote:

Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson, B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers.

!!! HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2005 TO ALL !!!


Best hardware would be a new machine with a USB port. Alternately an

old printer with a parallel ( Centronics ) port.

You have not a hope of getting the existing hardware to match.

--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen adrianjansen at internode dot on dot net
Design Engineer J & K Micro Systems
Microcomputer solutions for industrial control
Note reply address is invalid, convert address above to machine form.

 

[Ken Taylor]

"Adrian Jansen" <adrian@qq.vv.net> wrote in message
news:41d344e7@duster.adelaide.on.net...

Dingus wrote:
Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a
Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson,
B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers.

!!! HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2005 TO ALL !!!


Best hardware would be a new machine with a USB port. Alternately an
old printer with a parallel ( Centronics ) port.

You have not a hope of getting the existing hardware to match.

--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen adrianjansen at internode dot on dot net

Jaycar have USB-Parallel (and serial) adaptors. May be of use.

Ken

 

[Rod]

"Dingus" <dingus@iniindabababa.co.zu> wrote in message
news:JeDAd.3497$mo2.189350@news.xtra.co.nz...

Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson,
B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers.

!!! HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2005 TO ALL !!!

Does it have a lan or wireless connection?
If so, you could use a print server.
I just purchased a Linksys/Cisco WPS54GU2, with 802.11G wireless and LAN in,
with centronics and USB2 out. Actually it's surplus to requirements now, so
if you are interested leave a message on the ng, and I will respond.

Rod

 

[Fred Ferd]

"Dingus" <dingus@iniindabababa.co.zu> wrote in message
news:JeDAd.3497$mo2.189350@news.xtra.co.nz...

Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson,
B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Ok, a circuit idea.

Parallel ports are TTL based, so easy to interface to any TTL interface.

Take a linux PC with two parallel ports and USB hardware..

One parallel port has 4 available inputs, and 8 data outputs.

So 4 data lines go to one printer port and 4 data lines go to the other.

Then read the two lots of 4 bits and then send an ack back, to get the next
byte of data..
Then translate the printer language and send it to the usb printer.




Option:
Use a PC with one parallel port . Interface between the two machines with
a PAL.

One output from the parallel port tells the PAL which 4 bits to let through
to the inputs.

Option: switch to a 8 bit (or 16bit) data acquisition hardware with
interrupt support.



Option: a PIC/atmel/basic stamp or other microcontroller with two lots of 8
bit interfaces, and a PC.
Basically use the PIC/atmel/basic stamp to interface between the machines.
The data to the PC could flow by parallel port (4 bit wise) or serial port
(which at least is 8 bit).

option: uclinux simm - has 8 bit IO, RJ45 network ... move the PC with the
usb printer off to
some other room. should be easy to get going, hardware wise.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers.

!!! HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2005 TO ALL !!!

 

[Al Borowski]

Jaycar have USB-Parallel (and serial) adaptors. May be of use.

Not likely. These are meant for transforming a USB connection on the PC
side into a serial/parallel port on the peripheral side. They don't work
the other way around.

Al

>

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 17:32:26 +1000, Al Borowski
<al.borowski@EraseThis.gmail.com> put finger to keyboard and composed:

Jaycar have USB-Parallel (and serial) adaptors. May be of use.

Not likely. These are meant for transforming a USB connection on the PC
side into a serial/parallel port on the peripheral side. They don't work
the other way around.

Al

Agreed. The clincher is that Jaycar's converters are powered from the
USB port and the plug is the host-side type.


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.

 

[Ken Taylor]

"Franc Zabkar" <fzabkar@optussnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:h8f7t0hsvij5dvrpc2s3bo1c1mvsaqe55e@4ax.com...

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 17:32:26 +1000, Al Borowski
al.borowski@EraseThis.gmail.com> put finger to keyboard and composed:


Jaycar have USB-Parallel (and serial) adaptors. May be of use.

Not likely. These are meant for transforming a USB connection on the PC
side into a serial/parallel port on the peripheral side. They don't work
the other way around.

Al

Agreed. The clincher is that Jaycar's converters are powered from the
USB port and the plug is the host-side type.


- Franc Zabkar
--

Yup. Saw them in the flyer the other day so it triggered the old memory
cells. Alas, didn't check the spec's.

Ken

 

[Fred Ferd]

Best hardware would be a new machine with a USB port. Alternately an
old printer with a parallel ( Centronics ) port.

You have not a hope of getting the existing hardware to match.

--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen adrianjansen at internode dot on dot net

Jaycar have USB-Parallel (and serial) adaptors. May be of use.

No, they dont go that way.

it would be possible, but the circuit used would need a CPU to drive a USB
controller,
and a 'printto usb printer' algorithm,

and maybe even a printer language convertor..

Leon

 

[Dingus]

Thanks to all for input of this problem. Looks like there's no easy fix.
The 'machine' is a great big piece of industrial machinery and does not
have a hard drive, keyboard or Windows operating system - ie
everything is embedded.

I was hoping for a relatively simple low cost fix to satisfy the many
customers out there with this problem. However after re-examining the
problem, the solution in my mind is quite simple:

Solution....

The customers are requesting that they can use off the shelf cheap
USB printers, when the machines they have purchased range from
US$0.2M to US$0.5M apiece!!

Sometimes I wonder??? The difference in cost between a cheapy
printer and say an industrial HP parallel printer would amount to
a few hundred bucks, if that.

Even if one developed a suitable in-line interface (at great cost),
then the price of the interface + USB printer would more than likely
exceed the price of a decent industrial HP parallel port printer!

Why do customers always want something for nothing - just the nature
of the beasts I suppose!


"Dingus" <dingus@iniindabababa.co.zu> wrote in message
news:JeDAd.3497$mo2.189350@news.xtra.co.nz...

Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson,
B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers.

!!! HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2005 TO ALL !!!

 

[budgie]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 03:17:18 GMT, "Fred Ferd" <fred@ferd.com> wrote:

"Dingus" <dingus@iniindabababa.co.zu> wrote in message
news:JeDAd.3497$mo2.189350@news.xtra.co.nz...
Anyone got ideas on this problem.....

I want to be able to use a USB printer on a machine that has a Centronics
printer output port.
The printer port on the machine is not a 25 pin parallel socket, it is a
Centronics socket.

The machine provides the option to select types of printers, eg: Epson,
B&W,
Color, IBM etc.

If anyone knows of a readily available piece of hardware, that would be
great. Otherwise a circuit or circuit ideas.

Ok, a circuit idea.

(snip)

Most parallel ports have been bidirectional for yonks, providing an 8-bit
pathway and no need to fiddle with nibbles.