attaching a Parallel Printer ?

dplace

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looking for a simple way to connect an Epson 9500 which has a Parallel Printer Port
to a Mac running Tiger & which only offers USB or ethernet ports . . .

tried a Parallel to USB cable but that gives a "communication error" . . . either Mac doesn't seem to recognize the printer or there's something wrong with the cable. . .

also looked into the D-Link DP-300U Print Server but the necessary ethernet configuration is way beyond me & D-Link support mentions a 50/50 chance of the DP300U working with any given printer . . .

any suggestions ?
 
Any "ethernet to parallel" print server should do the trick. To make it easier on yourself, have a friend with a PC laptop come set it up for you. That kind of thing is always easier on a PC because the utils are PC based. Then you can connect to it with your Mac via IP address very simply.
 
I had to do the same to keep using my old Laserjet 6MP which has lasted for years and does all I need it to do.

I bought a generic USB > Parallel Printer Port cable and it worked... kinda. What would happen is that print jobs were delayed (waiting for device). It seems like it couldn't tell when the printer was idle and it just had to time out by itself. The first print job would run immediately but any that followed fairly quickly had to wait (for maybe 30 seconds to a minute).

It's kind of a no name device which a lot of people sell. Clear coating over silver sheath, blue clear connectors. I bought it because it claims Mac compatibility.

Then I remembered that I had bought one of these on eBay:

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Product_Id=20651

a couple years ago to try and speed up printing on an old Wallstreet. I never got around to using it though. It's so old it came with a couple floppy disks for PC installs.

I swapped out the new one and plugged the Belkin one in and it works perfectly even though it makes no claim to be Mac compatible.
 
I reccomend the Belkin usb/parallel adapter too. It works perfectly. Make sure you get the older one with a separate cable though. There is a belkin adapter that looks the same, but has an integrated cable, and does not work on macs. It is way cheaper and simpler than a ethernet/parallel adapter.
 
epooch said:
There is a belkin adapter that looks the same, but has an integrated cable, and does not work on macs. It is way cheaper and simpler than a ethernet/parallel adapter.

The one I linked to shows the one with a detachable cable, like I have. Good tip, I didn't know they had two versions.
 
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