Parallel ports disappeared first. Serial later. Real PC parallel ports were repurposed for all kinds of hacks. Those might not work with USB dongles. But just using them for printers (and things that look like them to the interface) should work fine with USB dongles.
How fast do you need your serial port? I imagine that USB dongles should work. DOS on bare hardware is getting slightly tricky. New computers have UEFI firmware instead of BIOS. Many, but not all, can boot as if they use BIOS, using a module in the firmware called CSM. Enabling the CSM and MBR booting are usually settings in the firmware setup page. With some skill and knowledge, you might be able to run DOS in a virtual machine, even with USB devices. I'm not sure because I've never done it. Annecdote: a friend has an old printer (HP LaserJet 4mp) that he connects via a parallel port USB dongle. This worked fine in Windows 10. Windows 11 does not support printers connected by parallel ports. But Linux supports his printer. He want to run Ubuntu under Window 11's Windows Subsystem for Linux, and in that Linux virtual machine, run the printer and make a print server available to Windows. I don't know if he has succeeded. Best guess on what you can use: - if USB dongles work for your applications, most computers can likely be made to work. Not the thinnest and lightest and latest laptops. - good solid off-lease workhorses might be a better choice because the improvements since then are probably not useful to you. - this advice probably applies for both notebooks and desktops. Note: my guesses about your needs have been hit and miss. --- Post to this mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
