Note to self - EBay's a good source of inconsequential components - flashy USB hubs, standard cables and such - but when you buy something you'll need to work RIGHT, don't go for a lowball price.
I bought a USB-Parallel adapter, since the new system board I've got is sans external parallel connections. (Ah, another bit of history bites the dust, along with 5 1/4 inch floppies - floppies of any type, for that matter - monochrome-parallel adapters and pre-VGA video boards, the AST 6-Pack Plus and so on...) It arrived today, and tearing open the package I noticed...
It was an Opened Item from the Big Yellow Tag Store. I saw that, and realized I'd wasted my money.
It didn't work - not that I expected it to. I'll see about returning it.
In the mean time, I finally dusted off the near-obsolete JetDirect card I've had stashed away for a while and stuck it into the printer. (An HP Laserjet 4000, if you want to know.) I direct-connected it via a 6' cable (I'll need to get a longer one), activated the on-board network port (I had it turned off since I've got a wireless adapter) set IPs and subnets - and the two items hit it off like old friends who'd forgotten about that $20 that was borrowed a decade ago. I'll get a longer cable - but I think I'll be able to get along fine without a parallel port in the new machine.
Progress is being made. Now to get a new case, get the DRM problem taken care of, and everything buttoned back up.
J.
Comments (1)
All USB items must be complete... then there are the 'knockoffs': the Korean-made low-ball price stuff that actually has a supported chip, but not for *your* operating system. Getting a flashcard reader on the cheap put me through that little phenomena. Supports windows 2K! Uh-huh. Riiiight... but for $5 I was willing to scrounge the message boards, troubleshooting folks and such and finally found the driver which was, naturally, behind 'must register' site. Oooo! That's special! Register, get in, get the driver and it works!
Next time I will spend the $20 for a name-brand, certified device with proper drivers and support. The sub-$10 Korean stuff is cute, but... *grumble,grumble*...
What was interesting is going through that *again* (hey, they *were* 50% off!) for a USB to, of all things, IDE connector. That actually proved not only valuable but able to get a 'dead' drive to go one last time so I could get its contents off of it. I know it was the last time the second I tried to wipe it... nothing. No sound at all. Dead for good, that is what screwdrivers are for.
On any USB device: name brand, ensure the driver is up to date and compatible *first*. No rejects, re-box, un-box... buy S. Korean at your peril if it is the cheap 'generic' stuff. I am way more patient on driver searches than most folks...
For parallel I remember, somewhere way back in my head someplace, that Linksys or D-Link made an ethernet-to-parallel device. Never bought it so don't know if it worked. That is the only other route I can recommend, other than a trashed computer at your local thrift shop that has an ethernet hookup and parallel. For under $100 you get backwards compatibility to ancient devices!!
Now don't get me started on EISA and the SCSI Card of Doom.
Posted by ajacksonian | October 27, 2007 2:33 PM
Posted on October 27, 2007 14:33