You are right, Eric:
That would of course be the EASIEST option as long as your PC
and your printer both still have Centronics connectivity
The PC does, but the printer doesn't. Hm, I found the following.
{USB to Parallel Bi-Directional Cable
USB to Parallel Bi-Directional Cable
USB to Parallel Bi-Directional Cable
CAT.NO:XC4847
Parallel printer ports have disappeared from most modern desk top
computers and virtually all new notebook computers. This is not a problem}
https://www.jaycar.com.au/usb-to-parallel-bi-directional-cable/p/XC4847
That sounds more like a cable for printers which have
Centronics and PC which have none.
A local retired-technician agrees with you.
Probably better to use network or USB
I vaguely recall having read here that if I could find a PS2 keyboard
and mouse, then I might be able to print from USB. Perhaps then I might
ask the above techie to rummage through his containers of old stuff?
Note that if your printer is of the GDI variety, you will
not be able to print from DOS *at all* without adding a
computer with GDI drivers as translator between your DOS
computer and your printer.
{Print Languages GDI (host based)}
file:///tmp/mozilla_bryan0/HL-3150CDN_Brochure.pdf
If the printer understands
a language for which you have a DOS tool which speaks
it, such as HP PCL, ESC/P, PostScript, PDF or plain
text, you CAN print directly from DOS as soon as you
find a way to send data through suitable communication
channels between the two: Network drivers and netcat
or MS CLIENT, USB drivers and TYPE, COPY or similar?
Apparently not!
Does this offer any hope?
{HX DOS Extender
[Update: This program is no longer available.] HX DOS extender is a
32-bit and 16-bit DOS extender that not only provides DPMI services for
DOS programs but also provides a Win32 API layer that enables many Win32
console programs to work under DOS. It even provides limited support for
DirectDraw, GDI and OpenGL graphics. It supports the Windows PE file
format as well as the DOS MZ executable file format. Source code is
provided. At the time this review was written, it is one of the few, if
not the only, DOS extender still being maintained.}
https://www.thefreecountry.com/programming/dosextenders.shtml
--
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