Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Work has allowed another brief entry to this project. I opened the SS3 and removed the small PCB that appears to be a USB to Parallel Port adapter. It's part number is WWAVUSBEPP, an interesting choice. I took some pictures of the unit and I can send them to anyone that is interested. I do not have a means of 'posting' the pictures. It has 4 IC's, U1 through U4. U1 is a CY7C68013-56LFC which appears to be a Cypress EZ-USB FX2 USB Microcontroller High-speed USB Peripheral Controller. The data sheet is here: http://mdfly.com/newmdfly/products/FX56/cy7c68013a.pdf An evaluation board is available. http://www.mdfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_infocPath=4_56products_id =107zenid=at30m3698fqnnoq42ffmgnmrv1 It uses a 24 MHz crystal on the board to drive a 480 MHz oscillator to run the microcontroller and there is a part on the WWAVUSBEPP labeled '24.000 DALE 6K'. U2 appears to be an LT 176333 500 mA Low Noise, LDO Micropower Regulator for converting the 5 VDC power supply, coming from the main board of the SS3, to 3.3 VDC. It's data sheet is here: http://cds.linear.com/docs/Datasheet/1763fg.pdf U3 is a mystery. It appears to be an SOT device with 5 pins with 'SATRIP' labeled on the top. I can not find any information about this chip. U4 appears to be an ST 24C64WP SOIC 8 pin EEPROM. It's data sheet is here: http://www.st.com/internet/com/TECHNICAL_RESOURCES/TECHNICAL_LITERATURE/DATA SHEET/CD00259166.pdf I called BP Micro today and the WWAVUSBEPP is available, in stock, for $101.92. I don't recognize any markings on the unit that might identify who made it for BP Micro. Someone else might be able to from the picture. So, what further advice and/or recommendations are there? Thanks again for all the help. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of gary Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 12:52 PM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? I stayed out as well. I didn't want to get into this, but I suspect if you are using the parallel port, bit banging is how they did it. That hasn't worked well since win98. Every newer version of Windows made the ports harder to own, mostly because once there was multitasking, it became necessary for something to arbitrate what process owned what piece of hardware. Peek and Poke goes way back. You used to be able to read and write to the ports directly using those functions. I hate to be negative, but you wouldn't be the first person to get screwed by interface standards changing. Think of those klunker PCs that were kept alive just not to buy another National GPIB board. Bit banging worked really well under DOS. Many hacks were done using the interrupt lines on the serial ports. On 1/14/2013 10:31 AM, J. L. Trantham wrote: Nate, I, too, am hesitant to post an OT issue, and that is the reason I tried to ask just the bare essentials without clogging up the list with too much stuff. However, when I want to know something, I like to ask the smartest people I know, and this has certainly proven that point. I think you are giving me way too much credit for my abilities to 'dissect', 'peek', 'bitbang', and 'VID/PID'. However, if I am able to accomplish this, it will be a PhD in 'computer', at least from my perspective. You have given me a lot of places to start and I am sure I will have a lot more questions that I can take off list if someone is willing to lend a hand. I'll start with removing and inspecting the USB to Parallel adapter in the SS3 to see if I can get an idea about the chipset used. The BP Micro software is easily downloadable from www.bpmicro.com. You have to register but it is free. I will explore that as well but there is where I will very likely need help. I know the software works with WinXP and later (at least Win7, I don't know about Win8). Perhaps earlier versions as well. Thanks again to all who have responded and apologies for the OT posts. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of Nathaniel Bezanson Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 9:55 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? I always feel guilty replying to off-topic threads, but this one just got interesting! At least most mailers make it easy to mute threads, so... J. L. Trantham wrote: My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB. BP Micro makes the BP-1610 which does just this. It appears to be the same programmer, uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel port. Ahh, well there's the part you didn't tell us previously! Mainly, that the PC-side software already knows how to abstract
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
I always feel guilty replying to off-topic threads, but this one just got interesting! At least most mailers make it easy to mute threads, so... J. L. Trantham wrote: My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB. BP Micro makes the BP-1610 which does just this. It appears to be the same programmer, uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel port. Ahh, well there's the part you didn't tell us previously! Mainly, that the PC-side software already knows how to abstract those calls and send them over USB -- it's not hard-coded to bitbang the physical parallel port. That was the major stumbling block, and it's not a block at all. Odds are that BP Micro wanted to do as little work as possible to update their design, so they probably used standard silicon in front of the old parallel-based programmer circuit, with OEM drivers and just a custom USB VID/PID to make it enumerate properly. If we work on this assumption, the hack might be trivial indeed. Dissect the USB drivers that come with the software -- there should be hints in there about the chipset which it expects to see inside the 1610. Simply right-clicking all the DLLs and stuff should reveal a few signed by a silicon company, likely Cypress or FTDI. There may be hints as to the part number. Get your hands on that chip, preferably by finding a premade USB-to-parallel cable based on it. (These are usually just the datasheet example circuit.) You can find the expected VID/PID by peeking into the INF included with the 1610 software. Use the chipmaker's dev tools to reflash the USB chip with the appropriate VID/PID, and see if BPWin will talk to it. (Alternately, edit the INF with the existing VID/PID of the adapter you're using. This will make every similar USB-to-parallel cable enumerate as a BP1610, which is obviously the dirtiest hack ever, but may work just fine.) If the drivers load but the programmer won't initialize, then the ID parts are right but the connections are wrong. Likely the data lines are connected straight, and it's just the handshaking lines that might do things differently than the datasheet example. Working from the chip datasheet will be your guide as to the possibilities. Rots of ruck! -Nate- I have not had a chance to see the inside of the BP-1610 and would really appreciate some pictures if anyone has one, particularly the corner of the PCB that connects to the USB connection. All I have is an Actel Silicon Sculptor 3, also made by BP Micro, that looks like the BP-1710 (with the 'START' button) but connects via a USB port. On the main PCB of the BP-1600 and the SS3 are two, 2 row, 26 pin, connectors, one toward the back edge of the PCB toward the back panel and the other just inside the first connector. The inside connector directly connects to the parallel port on the back of the BP-1600. On the SS3, there is a small PCB that plugs into the same connector, takes a power input, and also has 6 pin connections to the other 26 pin connector. This small PCB has a USB connector that is connected to the back of the SS3 as the USB connection. These observations lead me to believe that it is possible to do a 'USB to parallel' adapter to make the connection. Of course, I don't have a clue about the onboard firmware that might be different to allow the unit to be recognized as a USB instead of a parallel port connected device. So, some 'experimenting' seems in order, after first trying to closely inspect the small PCB and try to reverse engineer it a bit. In the mean time, I have a collection of laptop's and desktop's with parallel port connectors so keeping the programmers humming is not a problem. Just would like to make the 'jump' to the 'modern era'. A project that has been in the back of my mind. I will probably try one of the adapters referred to. Thanks again for all the info. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of gandal...@aol.com Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 5:38 PM To: time-nuts@febo.com Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Hi Luis No problem, and it's much better anyway to hear from someone who's used it:-) I only took a quick look at the web site before and didn't see the self build instructions at that time, but having seen the SMD chip he's using I think asking for a price might be safer:-) I see from your earlier comments that you've used it ok with old programmers but on the page you've linked do he doesn't recommend that, have you come across any problems with this? Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 20:15:15 GMT Standard Time, ct1...@gmail.com writes: Hi Nigel, I missed your post before my reply to Joe, so I made no mention to your suggestion. I have those
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Nate, I, too, am hesitant to post an OT issue, and that is the reason I tried to ask just the bare essentials without clogging up the list with too much stuff. However, when I want to know something, I like to ask the smartest people I know, and this has certainly proven that point. I think you are giving me way too much credit for my abilities to 'dissect', 'peek', 'bitbang', and 'VID/PID'. However, if I am able to accomplish this, it will be a PhD in 'computer', at least from my perspective. You have given me a lot of places to start and I am sure I will have a lot more questions that I can take off list if someone is willing to lend a hand. I'll start with removing and inspecting the USB to Parallel adapter in the SS3 to see if I can get an idea about the chipset used. The BP Micro software is easily downloadable from www.bpmicro.com. You have to register but it is free. I will explore that as well but there is where I will very likely need help. I know the software works with WinXP and later (at least Win7, I don't know about Win8). Perhaps earlier versions as well. Thanks again to all who have responded and apologies for the OT posts. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of Nathaniel Bezanson Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 9:55 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? I always feel guilty replying to off-topic threads, but this one just got interesting! At least most mailers make it easy to mute threads, so... J. L. Trantham wrote: My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB. BP Micro makes the BP-1610 which does just this. It appears to be the same programmer, uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel port. Ahh, well there's the part you didn't tell us previously! Mainly, that the PC-side software already knows how to abstract those calls and send them over USB -- it's not hard-coded to bitbang the physical parallel port. That was the major stumbling block, and it's not a block at all. Odds are that BP Micro wanted to do as little work as possible to update their design, so they probably used standard silicon in front of the old parallel-based programmer circuit, with OEM drivers and just a custom USB VID/PID to make it enumerate properly. If we work on this assumption, the hack might be trivial indeed. Dissect the USB drivers that come with the software -- there should be hints in there about the chipset which it expects to see inside the 1610. Simply right-clicking all the DLLs and stuff should reveal a few signed by a silicon company, likely Cypress or FTDI. There may be hints as to the part number. Get your hands on that chip, preferably by finding a premade USB-to-parallel cable based on it. (These are usually just the datasheet example circuit.) You can find the expected VID/PID by peeking into the INF included with the 1610 software. Use the chipmaker's dev tools to reflash the USB chip with the appropriate VID/PID, and see if BPWin will talk to it. (Alternately, edit the INF with the existing VID/PID of the adapter you're using. This will make every similar USB-to-parallel cable enumerate as a BP1610, which is obviously the dirtiest hack ever, but may work just fine.) If the drivers load but the programmer won't initialize, then the ID parts are right but the connections are wrong. Likely the data lines are connected straight, and it's just the handshaking lines that might do things differently than the datasheet example. Working from the chip datasheet will be your guide as to the possibilities. Rots of ruck! -Nate- I have not had a chance to see the inside of the BP-1610 and would really appreciate some pictures if anyone has one, particularly the corner of the PCB that connects to the USB connection. All I have is an Actel Silicon Sculptor 3, also made by BP Micro, that looks like the BP-1710 (with the 'START' button) but connects via a USB port. On the main PCB of the BP-1600 and the SS3 are two, 2 row, 26 pin, connectors, one toward the back edge of the PCB toward the back panel and the other just inside the first connector. The inside connector directly connects to the parallel port on the back of the BP-1600. On the SS3, there is a small PCB that plugs into the same connector, takes a power input, and also has 6 pin connections to the other 26 pin connector. This small PCB has a USB connector that is connected to the back of the SS3 as the USB connection. These observations lead me to believe that it is possible to do a 'USB to parallel' adapter to make the connection. Of course, I don't have a clue about the onboard firmware that might be different to allow the unit to be recognized as a USB instead of a parallel port connected device. So, some
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
I stayed out as well. I didn't want to get into this, but I suspect if you are using the parallel port, bit banging is how they did it. That hasn't worked well since win98. Every newer version of Windows made the ports harder to own, mostly because once there was multitasking, it became necessary for something to arbitrate what process owned what piece of hardware. Peek and Poke goes way back. You used to be able to read and write to the ports directly using those functions. I hate to be negative, but you wouldn't be the first person to get screwed by interface standards changing. Think of those klunker PCs that were kept alive just not to buy another National GPIB board. Bit banging worked really well under DOS. Many hacks were done using the interrupt lines on the serial ports. On 1/14/2013 10:31 AM, J. L. Trantham wrote: Nate, I, too, am hesitant to post an OT issue, and that is the reason I tried to ask just the bare essentials without clogging up the list with too much stuff. However, when I want to know something, I like to ask the smartest people I know, and this has certainly proven that point. I think you are giving me way too much credit for my abilities to 'dissect', 'peek', 'bitbang', and 'VID/PID'. However, if I am able to accomplish this, it will be a PhD in 'computer', at least from my perspective. You have given me a lot of places to start and I am sure I will have a lot more questions that I can take off list if someone is willing to lend a hand. I'll start with removing and inspecting the USB to Parallel adapter in the SS3 to see if I can get an idea about the chipset used. The BP Micro software is easily downloadable from www.bpmicro.com. You have to register but it is free. I will explore that as well but there is where I will very likely need help. I know the software works with WinXP and later (at least Win7, I don't know about Win8). Perhaps earlier versions as well. Thanks again to all who have responded and apologies for the OT posts. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of Nathaniel Bezanson Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 9:55 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? I always feel guilty replying to off-topic threads, but this one just got interesting! At least most mailers make it easy to mute threads, so... J. L. Trantham wrote: My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB. BP Micro makes the BP-1610 which does just this. It appears to be the same programmer, uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel port. Ahh, well there's the part you didn't tell us previously! Mainly, that the PC-side software already knows how to abstract those calls and send them over USB -- it's not hard-coded to bitbang the physical parallel port. That was the major stumbling block, and it's not a block at all. Odds are that BP Micro wanted to do as little work as possible to update their design, so they probably used standard silicon in front of the old parallel-based programmer circuit, with OEM drivers and just a custom USB VID/PID to make it enumerate properly. If we work on this assumption, the hack might be trivial indeed. Dissect the USB drivers that come with the software -- there should be hints in there about the chipset which it expects to see inside the 1610. Simply right-clicking all the DLLs and stuff should reveal a few signed by a silicon company, likely Cypress or FTDI. There may be hints as to the part number. Get your hands on that chip, preferably by finding a premade USB-to-parallel cable based on it. (These are usually just the datasheet example circuit.) You can find the expected VID/PID by peeking into the INF included with the 1610 software. Use the chipmaker's dev tools to reflash the USB chip with the appropriate VID/PID, and see if BPWin will talk to it. (Alternately, edit the INF with the existing VID/PID of the adapter you're using. This will make every similar USB-to-parallel cable enumerate as a BP1610, which is obviously the dirtiest hack ever, but may work just fine.) If the drivers load but the programmer won't initialize, then the ID parts are right but the connections are wrong. Likely the data lines are connected straight, and it's just the handshaking lines that might do things differently than the datasheet example. Working from the chip datasheet will be your guide as to the possibilities. Rots of ruck! -Nate- I have not had a chance to see the inside of the BP-1610 and would really appreciate some pictures if anyone has one, particularly the corner of the PCB that connects to the USB connection. All I have is an Actel Silicon Sculptor 3, also made by BP Micro, that looks like the BP-1710 (with the 'START' button) but connects via a USB port. On the main PCB
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Sorry to take so long to reply to the many great contributions to the issue/question. Work is really beginning to interfere with my hobbies. But now, the rest of the story. My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB. BP Micro makes the BP-1610 which does just this. It appears to be the same programmer, uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel port. I have not had a chance to see the inside of the BP-1610 and would really appreciate some pictures if anyone has one, particularly the corner of the PCB that connects to the USB connection. All I have is an Actel Silicon Sculptor 3, also made by BP Micro, that looks like the BP-1710 (with the 'START' button) but connects via a USB port. On the main PCB of the BP-1600 and the SS3 are two, 2 row, 26 pin, connectors, one toward the back edge of the PCB toward the back panel and the other just inside the first connector. The inside connector directly connects to the parallel port on the back of the BP-1600. On the SS3, there is a small PCB that plugs into the same connector, takes a power input, and also has 6 pin connections to the other 26 pin connector. This small PCB has a USB connector that is connected to the back of the SS3 as the USB connection. These observations lead me to believe that it is possible to do a 'USB to parallel' adapter to make the connection. Of course, I don't have a clue about the onboard firmware that might be different to allow the unit to be recognized as a USB instead of a parallel port connected device. So, some 'experimenting' seems in order, after first trying to closely inspect the small PCB and try to reverse engineer it a bit. In the mean time, I have a collection of laptop's and desktop's with parallel port connectors so keeping the programmers humming is not a problem. Just would like to make the 'jump' to the 'modern era'. A project that has been in the back of my mind. I will probably try one of the adapters referred to. Thanks again for all the info. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of gandal...@aol.com Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 5:38 PM To: time-nuts@febo.com Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Hi Luis No problem, and it's much better anyway to hear from someone who's used it:-) I only took a quick look at the web site before and didn't see the self build instructions at that time, but having seen the SMD chip he's using I think asking for a price might be safer:-) I see from your earlier comments that you've used it ok with old programmers but on the page you've linked do he doesn't recommend that, have you come across any problems with this? Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 20:15:15 GMT Standard Time, ct1...@gmail.com writes: Hi Nigel, I missed your post before my reply to Joe, so I made no mention to your suggestion. I have those and they are not a printer thing, they really work low level. The list of programmers and bit oriented stuff that was reported to work well is big and surely there are more stuff that works that is not in the list... Joe, take a look a check if you app is reported good: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT /liste.en.htm Cheers. Luis Cupido ct1dmk. On 1/11/2013 5:03 PM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Joe As per other replies I was going to suggest this won't work because USB adapters are for printing only and my solution would be to buy an old 486 or early pentium laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past few years for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have come across what might be a possible solution _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en_ (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en) I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the drivers are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email for prices, but it might be worth a try. My preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-) Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, jlt...@att.net writes: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Hi Joe, I just did a quick search and found that the BP-1600 uses EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) protocol on the parallel port rather than using the port like a GPIO port. Since this is a higher-level bidirectional protocol, it should be easier to find a USB converter that will work. Look for one that supports EPP and keep your fingers crossed. :-) Ed On 1/13/2013 10:18 PM, J. L. Trantham wrote: Sorry to take so long to reply to the many great contributions to the issue/question. Work is really beginning to interfere with my hobbies. But now, the rest of the story. My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB. BP Micro makes the BP-1610 which does just this. It appears to be the same programmer, uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel port. I have not had a chance to see the inside of the BP-1610 and would really appreciate some pictures if anyone has one, particularly the corner of the PCB that connects to the USB connection. All I have is an Actel Silicon Sculptor 3, also made by BP Micro, that looks like the BP-1710 (with the 'START' button) but connects via a USB port. On the main PCB of the BP-1600 and the SS3 are two, 2 row, 26 pin, connectors, one toward the back edge of the PCB toward the back panel and the other just inside the first connector. The inside connector directly connects to the parallel port on the back of the BP-1600. On the SS3, there is a small PCB that plugs into the same connector, takes a power input, and also has 6 pin connections to the other 26 pin connector. This small PCB has a USB connector that is connected to the back of the SS3 as the USB connection. These observations lead me to believe that it is possible to do a 'USB to parallel' adapter to make the connection. Of course, I don't have a clue about the onboard firmware that might be different to allow the unit to be recognized as a USB instead of a parallel port connected device. So, some 'experimenting' seems in order, after first trying to closely inspect the small PCB and try to reverse engineer it a bit. In the mean time, I have a collection of laptop's and desktop's with parallel port connectors so keeping the programmers humming is not a problem. Just would like to make the 'jump' to the 'modern era'. A project that has been in the back of my mind. I will probably try one of the adapters referred to. Thanks again for all the info. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
rich...@karlquist.com said: I have an HP laptop with docking station and the docking station provides serial and parallel ports. The question is: are these real ports (just like built ins) or do they behave as USB dongle versions? One could easily imagine that the docking station did nothing more sophisticated that emulating a USB dongle, but then again, it does access the docking connector so there is some hope it connects directly to the bus. I'll bet they are real. You could look in the BIOS and/or count pins on the docking connector. I have a Dell laptop with a similar setup. Linux thinks they are real. The serial port is real enough to get good PPS results. -- These are my opinions. I hate spam. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
My impression is that old software that make their own timings and devices depend on those timings may have issues due to the fact that there is a delay from write to LPT to bits really appearing on the DB25, albeit small but not that much predictable as it has Windows plus USB in between. That being the case hardly has any solution whatever USB interface implementation... except with a real LPT. The stuff I've used was kind of asynchronous spi etc. I had zero issues with that. Luis Cupido. ct1dmk. On 1/11/2013 11:38 PM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Luis No problem, and it's much better anyway to hear from someone who's used it:-) I only took a quick look at the web site before and didn't see the self build instructions at that time, but having seen the SMD chip he's using I think asking for a price might be safer:-) I see from your earlier comments that you've used it ok with old programmers but on the page you've linked do he doesn't recommend that, have you come across any problems with this? Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 20:15:15 GMT Standard Time, ct1...@gmail.com writes: Hi Nigel, I missed your post before my reply to Joe, so I made no mention to your suggestion. I have those and they are not a printer thing, they really work low level. The list of programmers and bit oriented stuff that was reported to work well is big and surely there are more stuff that works that is not in the list... Joe, take a look a check if you app is reported good: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT /liste.en.htm Cheers. Luis Cupido ct1dmk. On 1/11/2013 5:03 PM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Joe As per other replies I was going to suggest this won't work because USB adapters are for printing only and my solution would be to buy an old 486 or early pentium laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past few years for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have come across what might be a possible solution _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en_ (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en) I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the drivers are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email for prices, but it might be worth a try. My preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-) Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, jlt...@att.net writes: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
In message 018101cdeffc$d5239b50$7f6ad1f0$@att.net, J. L. Trantham writes: Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Yes, USB to LPT adapters are a comodity item, although I suspect they are getting a bit of old stuff we no longer carry these days. You should be able to find one without too much trouble though. -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 p...@freebsd.org | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Joe, It just so happen I have a never used USB-printer port adapter (with the Centronics connector). There is no driver for it, I believe the driver comes with Windows. You are welcome to it. Didier Sent from my Droid Razr 4G LTE wireless tracker. -Original Message- From: J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement time-nuts@febo.com Sent: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 7:09 AM Subject: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
J. L. Trantham wrote: Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. Nope. Look at how the original PC LPT port works -- it's basically a buffer chip or two, connected to some address decoders, sitting at a particular spot (0x378) on the CPU's I/O bus. There's simply no way to abstract that -- it'd be like asking for USB RAM or a USB BIOS chip. As computers moved away from ISA, that I/O bus has changed somewhat in appearance; these days it exists almost solely within the southbridge chip and then gets squeezed across an LPC link to a super I/O chip, where the legacy peripherals live. It doesn't leave the motherboard. Software that writes to a lineprinter using the BIOS printer calls, can easily be hooked and redirected. The DOS NET program has done this for decades, as a way to use network printers. But your parallel-port programmer isn't acting like a printer, so the software isn't printing to it -- it's treating the LPT port as a generic 8-bit parallel I/O port, and bit-banging arbitrary signals over it. Software written to bitbang the port will have to be rewritten to use some other form of I/O. For the typical cases of bitbang interfacing, the FT245R is a very capable little chip, and can be dropped in place of the parallel port, to talk to legacy hardware. It just needs new software to take those raw IN and OUT instructions and fire them over an abstraction layer, which will pass them through the USB stack and out to the device. There is an exception -- If you're running legacy software under a modern OS that prevents raw hardware I/O anyway, it's possible to hook those IN and OUT instructions, and write a generic driver that passes the traffic over USB. It's slow, unstable, and basically a miracle if it works. But it's worth a try: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en Short of that, your best bet is an old Thinkpad with a hardware parallel port. Good luck! -Nathaniel- ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Didier, Thanks for the offer but what I need is the DB25 connector. Joe -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of shali...@gmail.com Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 8:40 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Joe, It just so happen I have a never used USB-printer port adapter (with the Centronics connector). There is no driver for it, I believe the driver comes with Windows. You are welcome to it. Didier Sent from my Droid Razr 4G LTE wireless tracker. -Original Message- From: J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement time-nuts@febo.com Sent: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 7:09 AM Subject: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Dear Joe, Be aware, the parallel printer ports are not a substitute for the LPT port! My experience is that only two things work: 1. A PCI card in your PC to add a LPT port (cost around 15 Euro) 2. Homebrew LPT ports. If my memory serves me well there was a design in the June or July/August issue of Elektor. For using the LPT for programming one usually needs the port to be bi-directional, something which is not supported on the, so called, USB-to-parallel-printer-port adapters. Good luck, Jeroen On 01/11/2013 02:09 PM, J. L. Trantham wrote: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
On 1/11/13 7:00 AM, Nathaniel Bezanson wrote: J. L. Trantham wrote: Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. Nope. Look at how the original PC LPT port works -- it's basically a buffer chip or two, connected to some address decoders, sitting at a particular spot (0x378) on the CPU's I/O bus. There's simply no way to abstract that -- it'd be like asking for USB RAM or a USB BIOS chip. Actually, though, with modern fast computers, it *is* possible to abstract it (although tricky and difficult), because the printer port is SLOW. You set up that memory area as protected, so an access causes a trap. The kernel fields the trap and does the needed stuff to control your fancy LPT port emulator hardware via USB or Ethernet and send/receive the bits. After all, that printer port was designed/specified to talk to devices at no more often than 1 microsecond (that is, you could change the state of the Strobe line), and practically speaking, with that 4.77MHz ball o'fire, the strobe pulse was typically a bit longer. All those LapLink type cables that did high speed transfers between computers using parallel printer ports back to back ran at transfer rates around 200 kilotransfers/second, sending 4 bits at a crack each way, and that's about as fast as you could bit bang. Ugly? sure Pain in the rear to implement in software? yep Requires a very special hardware interface? Almost certainly. Software written to bitbang the port will have to be rewritten to use some other form of I/O. For the typical cases of bitbang interfacing, the FT245R is a very capable little chip, and can be dropped in place of the parallel port, to talk to legacy hardware. It just needs new software to take those raw IN and OUT instructions and fire them over an abstraction layer, which will pass them through the USB stack and out to the device. That is, trap the I/O instructions in userspace and use a kernel driver to emulate it. There is an exception -- If you're running legacy software under a modern OS that prevents raw hardware I/O anyway, it's possible to hook those IN and OUT instructions, and write a generic driver that passes the traffic over USB. It's slow, unstable, and basically a miracle if it works. But it's worth a try: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en Exactly.. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
As mentioned the real answer is no unfortunately. I used to use raw printer bits for all kinds of stuff. Not anymore. Regards Paul WB8TSL On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 10:43 AM, Jim Lux jim...@earthlink.net wrote: On 1/11/13 7:00 AM, Nathaniel Bezanson wrote: J. L. Trantham wrote: Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. Nope. Look at how the original PC LPT port works -- it's basically a buffer chip or two, connected to some address decoders, sitting at a particular spot (0x378) on the CPU's I/O bus. There's simply no way to abstract that -- it'd be like asking for USB RAM or a USB BIOS chip. Actually, though, with modern fast computers, it *is* possible to abstract it (although tricky and difficult), because the printer port is SLOW. You set up that memory area as protected, so an access causes a trap. The kernel fields the trap and does the needed stuff to control your fancy LPT port emulator hardware via USB or Ethernet and send/receive the bits. After all, that printer port was designed/specified to talk to devices at no more often than 1 microsecond (that is, you could change the state of the Strobe line), and practically speaking, with that 4.77MHz ball o'fire, the strobe pulse was typically a bit longer. All those LapLink type cables that did high speed transfers between computers using parallel printer ports back to back ran at transfer rates around 200 kilotransfers/second, sending 4 bits at a crack each way, and that's about as fast as you could bit bang. Ugly? sure Pain in the rear to implement in software? yep Requires a very special hardware interface? Almost certainly. Software written to bitbang the port will have to be rewritten to use some other form of I/O. For the typical cases of bitbang interfacing, the FT245R is a very capable little chip, and can be dropped in place of the parallel port, to talk to legacy hardware. It just needs new software to take those raw IN and OUT instructions and fire them over an abstraction layer, which will pass them through the USB stack and out to the device. That is, trap the I/O instructions in userspace and use a kernel driver to emulate it. There is an exception -- If you're running legacy software under a modern OS that prevents raw hardware I/O anyway, it's possible to hook those IN and OUT instructions, and write a generic driver that passes the traffic over USB. It's slow, unstable, and basically a miracle if it works. But it's worth a try: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.**de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%** 20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.**enhttp://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en Exactly.. __**_ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/** mailman/listinfo/time-nutshttps://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
I dont have the reference in front of me but it might just be worth checking the article archive for the Elektor magazine.I have a vague feeing I might have seen something there. Many of their past projects have used the LPT as a programmable port. There should be an article index on their web site I think. Alan G3NYK - Original Message - From: J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement time-nuts@febo.com Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 1:09 PM Subject: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 5:09 AM, J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net wrote: My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. I think the best solution is to finally retire that old parallel port chip programmer and replace it with something more modern. You might have paid a lot for it but today $35 will get you something with a USB cnetion and then you don't need the printer port. Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Hi Joe As per other replies I was going to suggest this won't work because USB adapters are for printing only and my solution would be to buy an old 486 or early pentium laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past few years for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have come across what might be a possible solution _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en_ (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en) I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the drivers are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email for prices, but it might be worth a try. My preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-) Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, jlt...@att.net writes: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Joe: I've been down this road and ended up buying two lease return HP desktops for a nominal price that included on board parallel ports to deal with some amateur radio gear required a real parallel port. As others have mentioned there are fairly recent IBM / Lenovo laptops that also featured parallel ports (or at least their docking stations did.) Regards Mark Spencer ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
On 1/11/2013 8:46 AM, Chris Albertson wrote: On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 5:09 AM, J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net wrote: My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. I think the best solution is to finally retire that old parallel port chip programmer and replace it with something more modern. You might have paid a lot for it but today $35 will get you something with a USB cnetion and then you don't need the printer port. Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California Chris, there are programmers out right now that include the parallel port bitbanging feature. Old isn't part of the equation. They are identified with the willem in the title in some cases. The one I have derives the power for the logic to run the board and oversee the programmer from a USB connection. The data to and from the device is sent via the parallel port to a PC with the software. Power for programming comes from a wall wart. The parallel port must be a physical LPT port as mentioned here, on the PC because of timing issues. I don't think the programming timing is done by the board, but by the PC's code banging the port. Many discussions here all have touched on how good you can rely on timing when USB is involved, so I doubt if the USB extenders will work very well. People who have tried may comment here, but I would not go down that path. A higher cost fully standalone USB attached device is the other alternative, but would probably still require its own power as well to get the programming voltages and currents required. What comes down the USB port probably would not be enough. That is a bit off topic, but worth mentioning. I am commenting on full capability prom programmers which will program a wide variety of devices. If you had to make a USB dongle to program a specific device you might get away with it. However to handle large devices which require high speed to get them programmed in a reasonable time period would probably need more power. Jim http://www.ebay.com/itm/261149380462 ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
I have looked into this at length without success. It appears that the parallel port was orphaned in the USB definition and an emulation can only support printers. Scanners, software key dongles and other parallel port devices are not and apparently cannot be supported. An adapter may say that it supports IEEE1284 but they lie. David On 1/11/13 1:40 PM, Jim Stephens wrote: On 1/11/2013 8:46 AM, Chris Albertson wrote: On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 5:09 AM, J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net wrote: My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. I think the best solution is to finally retire that old parallel port chip programmer and replace it with something more modern. You might have paid a lot for it but today $35 will get you something with a USB cnetion and then you don't need the printer port. Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California Chris, there are programmers out right now that include the parallel port bitbanging feature. Old isn't part of the equation. They are identified with the willem in the title in some cases. The one I have derives the power for the logic to run the board and oversee the programmer from a USB connection. The data to and from the device is sent via the parallel port to a PC with the software. Power for programming comes from a wall wart. The parallel port must be a physical LPT port as mentioned here, on the PC because of timing issues. I don't think the programming timing is done by the board, but by the PC's code banging the port. Many discussions here all have touched on how good you can rely on timing when USB is involved, so I doubt if the USB extenders will work very well. People who have tried may comment here, but I would not go down that path. A higher cost fully standalone USB attached device is the other alternative, but would probably still require its own power as well to get the programming voltages and currents required. What comes down the USB port probably would not be enough. That is a bit off topic, but worth mentioning. I am commenting on full capability prom programmers which will program a wide variety of devices. If you had to make a USB dongle to program a specific device you might get away with it. However to handle large devices which require high speed to get them programmed in a reasonable time period would probably need more power. Jim http://www.ebay.com/itm/261149380462 ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Mark Spencer wrote: Joe: I've been down this road and ended up buying two lease return HP desktops for a nominal price that included on board parallel ports to deal with some amateur radio gear required a real parallel port. As others have mentioned there are fairly recent IBM / Lenovo laptops that also featured parallel ports (or at least their docking stations did.) Regards Mark Spencer I have an HP laptop with docking station and the docking station provides serial and parallel ports. The question is: are these real ports (just like built ins) or do they behave as USB dongle versions? One could easily imagine that the docking station did nothing more sophisticated that emulating a USB dongle, but then again, it does access the docking connector so there is some hope it connects directly to the bus. Rick Karlquist N6RK ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Those should be real ports. They probably connect through the PCI buss as a PCMCIA card would. For those looking to PCMCIA/Card Bus, be careful. There ARE cheap cards that connect through USB rather than PCI. The true PCI cards DO work. David On 1/11/13 2:42 PM, Rick Karlquist wrote: Mark Spencer wrote: Joe: I've been down this road and ended up buying two lease return HP desktops for a nominal price that included on board parallel ports to deal with some amateur radio gear required a real parallel port. As others have mentioned there are fairly recent IBM / Lenovo laptops that also featured parallel ports (or at least their docking stations did.) Regards Mark Spencer I have an HP laptop with docking station and the docking station provides serial and parallel ports. The question is: are these real ports (just like built ins) or do they behave as USB dongle versions? One could easily imagine that the docking station did nothing more sophisticated that emulating a USB dongle, but then again, it does access the docking connector so there is some hope it connects directly to the bus. Rick Karlquist N6RK ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 9:55 AM, Mark Spencer mspencer12...@yahoo.cawrote: Joe: I've been down this road and ended up buying two lease return HP desktops for a nominal price that included on board parallel ports to deal with some amateur radio gear required a real parallel port. I bought one of these. The price is under $100 (for the mother board and the soldered down CPU. It has a parallel ports and two serial ports. I needed the serial ports to connt a GPS and a Rubidium oscillator. I still think the solution is to step back and look at what it is you need to program. If it is a PIC or something like that, just buy a USB capable programmer. -- Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
On 1/11/2013 7:09 AM, J. L. Trantham wrote: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Yes, there are standard devices that do this. $10 from Newegg if you are in the US (and it looks like you are.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186125nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwordscm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NAgclid=CPGX2bqK4bQCFemiPAodDXcAzQ -- mailto:o...@ozindfw.net Oz POB 93167 Southlake, TX 76092 (Near DFW Airport) ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Hi There are Atom based motherboards that still have true parallel ports on them. They come out to a DB-25, but are otherwise just like the old ones. Bob -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of David McGaw Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 2:23 PM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? I have looked into this at length without success. It appears that the parallel port was orphaned in the USB definition and an emulation can only support printers. Scanners, software key dongles and other parallel port devices are not and apparently cannot be supported. An adapter may say that it supports IEEE1284 but they lie. David On 1/11/13 1:40 PM, Jim Stephens wrote: On 1/11/2013 8:46 AM, Chris Albertson wrote: On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 5:09 AM, J. L. Trantham jlt...@att.net wrote: My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. I think the best solution is to finally retire that old parallel port chip programmer and replace it with something more modern. You might have paid a lot for it but today $35 will get you something with a USB cnetion and then you don't need the printer port. Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California Chris, there are programmers out right now that include the parallel port bitbanging feature. Old isn't part of the equation. They are identified with the willem in the title in some cases. The one I have derives the power for the logic to run the board and oversee the programmer from a USB connection. The data to and from the device is sent via the parallel port to a PC with the software. Power for programming comes from a wall wart. The parallel port must be a physical LPT port as mentioned here, on the PC because of timing issues. I don't think the programming timing is done by the board, but by the PC's code banging the port. Many discussions here all have touched on how good you can rely on timing when USB is involved, so I doubt if the USB extenders will work very well. People who have tried may comment here, but I would not go down that path. A higher cost fully standalone USB attached device is the other alternative, but would probably still require its own power as well to get the programming voltages and currents required. What comes down the USB port probably would not be enough. That is a bit off topic, but worth mentioning. I am commenting on full capability prom programmers which will program a wide variety of devices. If you had to make a USB dongle to program a specific device you might get away with it. However to handle large devices which require high speed to get them programmed in a reasonable time period would probably need more power. Jim http://www.ebay.com/itm/261149380462 ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Yes it exists, and does exactly what you want: your applications see a 'real' LPT port that you can write/read at low level like it was a real hardware port. It has a DB25 connector on the end. I have two of them, they work great. I tried old prom programmers and lots of small PLL loaders etc all ok. and even works fantastic with the old SDR1000 flexradio, that is something that writes assorted bits all over the pins. on Windows devices you will have see an LPT device. Albeit any printer will obviously work it is not a printer gadget. It is really bit wise transparent. The installer creates four extra pages for “Properties” in Device Manager so you can define whatever port type and behavior you need. It is unbelievably complete. You can order or you can make your own clone, all pcb designs all info and firmware and software is free. You need ver 1.7, cypress based for max compatibility and tolerance to OS's applications etc. http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en Disclaimer: I have zero affiliation with the seller and also no idea if it will work for you or not. I'm just an happy customer. Luis Cupido ct1dmk On 1/11/2013 1:09 PM, J. L. Trantham wrote: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
My solution was similar. I have a few old systems that work fine and have serial and parallel ports. For my more recent workstations, I add a PCI or PCIe serial/parallel port adapter if needed. On Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:03:48 -0500 (EST), gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Joe As per other replies I was going to suggest this won't work because USB adapters are for printing only and my solution would be to buy an old 486 or early pentium laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past few years for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have come across what might be a possible solution _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en_ (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en) I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the drivers are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email for prices, but it might be worth a try. My preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-) Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, jlt...@att.net writes: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Hi Nigel, I missed your post before my reply to Joe, so I made no mention to your suggestion. I have those and they are not a printer thing, they really work low level. The list of programmers and bit oriented stuff that was reported to work well is big and surely there are more stuff that works that is not in the list... Joe, take a look a check if you app is reported good: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/liste.en.htm Cheers. Luis Cupido ct1dmk. On 1/11/2013 5:03 PM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Joe As per other replies I was going to suggest this won't work because USB adapters are for printing only and my solution would be to buy an old 486 or early pentium laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past few years for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have come across what might be a possible solution _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en_ (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en) I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the drivers are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email for prices, but it might be worth a try. My preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-) Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, jlt...@att.net writes: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Yes, there are standard devices that do this. $10 from Newegg if you are in the US (and it looks like you are.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186125nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwordscm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NAgclid=CPGX2bqK4bQCFemiPAodDXcAzQ I've tested a few of the standard devices for that like that one, and all of them seem to be ONLY printer friendly :-( (don't know about that particular one) lc ct1dmk. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist ?
Message: 3 Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:42:42 -0800 From: Rick Karlquist rich...@karlquist.com To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement time-nuts@febo.com Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist? Message-ID: 5649c7226c28740bc3c75703ea5a91d4.squir...@webmail.sonic.net Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 Mark Spencer wrote: Joe: I've been down this road and ended up buying two lease return HP desktops for a nominal price that included on board parallel ports to deal with some amateur radio gear required a real parallel port. As others have mentioned there are fairly recent IBM / Lenovo laptops that also featured parallel ports (or at least their docking stations did.) Regards Mark Spencer I have an HP laptop with docking station and the docking station provides serial and parallel ports. The question is: are these real ports (just like built ins) or do they behave as USB dongle versions? One could easily imagine that the docking station did nothing more sophisticated that emulating a USB dongle, but then again, it does access the docking connector so there is some hope it connects directly to the bus. Rick Karlquist N6RK In my experience with my older Toshiba Portege Laptop the parallel port provided by the OEM dongle is equivalent to the parallel port provided by a typical PC. At work (I work in corporate IT) we lend out older laptops from time to time to individuals who want a machine with a real parallel or serial port for a specific task. I recall us providing IBM / Lenovo laptops and docking stations for this task and don't recall ever having a un happy customer. Your mileage may vary (: Regards Mark Spencer ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Hi Luis No problem, and it's much better anyway to hear from someone who's used it:-) I only took a quick look at the web site before and didn't see the self build instructions at that time, but having seen the SMD chip he's using I think asking for a price might be safer:-) I see from your earlier comments that you've used it ok with old programmers but on the page you've linked do he doesn't recommend that, have you come across any problems with this? Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 20:15:15 GMT Standard Time, ct1...@gmail.com writes: Hi Nigel, I missed your post before my reply to Joe, so I made no mention to your suggestion. I have those and they are not a printer thing, they really work low level. The list of programmers and bit oriented stuff that was reported to work well is big and surely there are more stuff that works that is not in the list... Joe, take a look a check if you app is reported good: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT /liste.en.htm Cheers. Luis Cupido ct1dmk. On 1/11/2013 5:03 PM, gandal...@aol.com wrote: Hi Joe As per other replies I was going to suggest this won't work because USB adapters are for printing only and my solution would be to buy an old 486 or early pentium laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past few years for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have come across what might be a possible solution _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LP T/index.html.en_ (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en) I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the drivers are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email for prices, but it might be worth a try. My preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-) Regards Nigel GM8PZR In a message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, jlt...@att.net writes: Not sure where to ask this question but thought I would start here. Is there a way to connect a parallel port to a computer via USB? Not a device that shows up as 'USB Print Support' but, instead, shows up in Device Manager as an LPT port? I have been able to do it via PCMCIA to Parallel Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would do this. My goal is to connect a parallel port chip programmer via USB but the software only looks for LPT ports. It works with PCMCIA to parallel port adapters but I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB connected device. Thanks in advance. Joe ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
A couple of years ago I bought an Intel Atom Dual Core board. It's equipped with 2 com ports and 1 LPT port. A quick check at Newegg.com shows that most, but not all, Atom boards (regardless of brand) still include one or two COM ports and 1 LPT port. So, for somewhere around $100 or less you can get a dual core processor, gigabit ethernet, onboard video, and real serial and parallel ports. I use my system as my GPIB and serial port controller to collect data from test equipment or devices like Tbolt, Z3801A, PICTIC, etc. I reserve the onboard serial ports for critical timing applications. Other serial devices are served through a terminal server. Works for me. Ed ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
Hi I think the answer to the Atom puzzle is that the standard Southbridge chip has an LPT port in it. More or less they get it for the price of the connector or board header plus maybe a few protection devices. Bob On Jan 11, 2013, at 9:18 PM, Ed Palmer ed_pal...@sasktel.net wrote: A couple of years ago I bought an Intel Atom Dual Core board. It's equipped with 2 com ports and 1 LPT port. A quick check at Newegg.com shows that most, but not all, Atom boards (regardless of brand) still include one or two COM ports and 1 LPT port. So, for somewhere around $100 or less you can get a dual core processor, gigabit ethernet, onboard video, and real serial and parallel ports. I use my system as my GPIB and serial port controller to collect data from test equipment or devices like Tbolt, Z3801A, PICTIC, etc. I reserve the onboard serial ports for critical timing applications. Other serial devices are served through a terminal server. Works for me. Ed ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
