Others, like Windows 9x, do not. Adding a new driver is also required when a new port is added. Manually selecting the device from a list may result in an incorrect configuration. Most modern computers should support ECP mode. Configuring a Bidirectional Parallel Port on a Linux Host For the bidirectional parallel port to work properly in a guest, it must first be configured properly on the host.
Most issues involving parallel port functionality are a result of the host configuration.
The following modules provide bidirectional parallel port functionality, depending upon which Linux kernel is running on your host. The vmppuser module is supplied by Workstation to give virtual machines user-level access to the parallel port. To see if these modules are installed and running on your system run the lsmod command as the root user. These three modules should be included in the listing of running modules. If you continue to see problems, it is possible that the lp module is running.