HP Laserjet 5 Parallel Cable Printer to USB

[bajinwu]

I have HP Laserjet 5 Parallel cable printer. I bought a USB cable connect to Parallel cable printer recently due to my PC doesn't support parallel cable anymore.

I am having problem to setup in order to let this printer work. Do I need to do something special when I am setting up ?

[Bob_Headrick]

What operating system are you using?

Before you connect the printer you will need to install the cable drivers - the cable should have included drivers suitable for your operating system.  This driver will typically provide a "virtual" LPT port which the Laserjet 5 driver will eventaully connect to.

Regards,

Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

[mastrology]

Unfortunately, the parallel to usb does not work very well on ANY printer.  I would suggest purchasing a converter that fits on the parallel port of the printer the changes the printer from parallel to network.

[WHLesher]

I am having a similar problem.  The HP Laserjet 5 is properly seen by the system, and the drivers load correctly, but when the system is powered off, or the printer is powered off, the system reloads the printer, onto a new virtual printer port, despite the fact that the physical root hub that the printer is plugged into has not changed.  Is there a way to avoid this floating virtual port problem?

[DexterM]

You could purchase an IEEE 1284 Parallel card and fix it into your computer. This way, you can plug the parallel cable directly into the parallel port provided by the card and bypass any USB converter. The card is fairly cheap IIRC, so it shouldn't burn a hole in your pocket. If you're using a laptop, then you're just out of luck, as this card i usually available only for desktop PC's.

[WHLesher]

The problem is that this is one of the new MATX ASUS mainboards that supports no parallel port, and only one PCI slot, but has three PCIe Type 1 slots, and one PCIe Type 16 slot for a video card.  The system has a 500 GB Level 1 RAID subsystem, and the Promise RAID controller occupies the only PCI slot that is available.  This is going to be the wave of the future.  As a system builder, I am seeing a lot more motherboards, especially the MATX form factor boards, that are moving forward, and doing away with what are antiquated standards.  The problem is, as always, peripherals that are still functional, and are based upon the standards that are being discontinued.  I am waiting for standard serial ports to go away.  Most modern mainboards only support one serial port anymore, and I am not even sure why.  External modems are about the only thing that I can think of that would require a serial connection now.  When was the last time anyone saw a mouse, for instance, that was anything other than PS/2 or USB?  Virtually everything is going USB, and that is reflected in the new mainboards, like these new ASUS boards, that support three root hubs out the back of the machine, and 2 or 3 root hubs on the mainboard for connection to an ever increasing number of supported front panel USB case slots. 

Bottom line is that we have to be able to support the Laserjet on USB, and it would be nice if we could fix the port so that it does not float every time power is cycled to the machine or printer.

[WHLesher]

They do make a PCIe Type 1 Parallel Port card.  I have one on order from Cables Unlimited.  That should solve the problem on this machine since I have three Type 1 PCIe slots to work with.  However, I would like to see if we can come up with a solution to the floating USB virtual port problem anyway.  This fix may or may not be viable on some future machine, and there are advantages to being able to convvert existing parallel port technology to the USB plug and play standard.. 

[lpenczak]

I am having the same problem.  I am using Windows XP.

I don't recall getting any drivers with the converter cable.  I tried removing the printer and re-adding it, selecting USB under the PORT tab. No luck.

Any recommendation on how to find the right drivers?

[lpenczak]

Forgot to mention that I'm trying to use this printer on a laptop.

[Bob_Headrick]

---

@lpenczak wrote:

I am having the same problem.  I am using Windows XP.

I don't recall getting any drivers with the converter cable.  I tried removing the printer and re-adding it, selecting USB under the PORT tab. No luck.

Any recommendation on how to find the right drivers?

---

For the Laserjet 5 I would suggest the best bet would be installing a JetDirect card and connecting the printer to your router.  You could then print from your laptop or any other printer on the network.  A JetDirect card can be found for <$20.

As you have seen USB-parallel converters can be problematic.