Parallel port from docking station - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2024, 10:37:44 pm
content: In my quest to get a working parallel port for using my older eprom programmer, I tried a docking station on a Dell laptop we have at work. Windows sees the port as a parallel printer port, but I can't get it to communicate with the tester.Am I right then in assuming that via a docking station, it isn't mounting as a full IEE1284 port?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2024, 10:53:36 pm
content: It's highly likely that it's a winport. The docking station will connect to the laptop over some form of USB and a full IEE1284 port needs proper access directly onto the system bus.WinPorts are useless for anything but printing. They're basically a port with a driver that hooks into the windows printer system.If you can find a PCMCIA/CardBus printer port adaptor, and laptop that takes it, those should be a full IEE1284 port.You can also buy PCI / PCie cards that provide a full IEE1284 port, but you also come across some that don't, so it's a bit of a crap shoot.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2024, 02:00:14 pm
content: Yes I guess it appears to be the case, it was worth a go I suppose, ruled that one out.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2024, 07:05:24 pm
content: If there's no parallel port socket on the laptop itself, it is pretty unlikely that there will be an ISA/PCI bus interface to the docking station. I'm only really familiar with Thinkpads (apart from really old Win9x ones), and they do carry the full built-in parallel port signals through the (very wide) underside docking connector.I suspect the S/W is looking for an original LPT1/2 port (I/O address 0x3BC / 0x378), possibly even bit bashing it.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 17, 2024, 07:08:24 pm
content: Some of the older Dell laptops have real parallel ports on the docking station. For example, I use a Dell Precision M4400 with the docking station to control a GALEP-4 parallel programmer. Not sure how far retro you're willing to go, but they are still widely available.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2024, 07:11:09 pm
content: That's useful to know. On Thinkpads, T43 and earlier have 'proper' parallel ports.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 12:54:29 am
content: In fact, I've got a Gallep 4 somewhere.So, this laptop is a Dell Latitude E7270, windows sees the port and lists i/o addresses which can be changed, but alas won't work.Hopefully I'll have my other laptop working soon.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 06:59:38 am
content: Also consider that windows blocked direct hardware access to ports from, I think, winXP and on.So if your eprom programmer app is trying to talk directly to the hardware port addresses itself (rather than going through windows API) it won't work on a modern OS even if you have a proper printer port.Win2000 and before were ok and I think there was an easy hack to get direct hardware access working in 32bit winXP but not 64bitSo consider that you may need to install the right windows version as well as getting a compatible printer port.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 12:11:17 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on November 18, 2024, 06:59:38 amDo you mean that an older version of Windows still won't work with this docked port?I know on another laptop I have, with a parallel port on the back, with XP, it does work, but that laptop is terribly slow.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 12:45:34 pm
content: I did some checking and i believe even win XP 32bit used to block direct hardware access.So that suggest your app doesn't need that, so you probably don't have to worry about the direct hardware access issue and which OS to use.

author: TERRA Operative
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 01:33:46 pm
content: Quote from: MarkL on November 17, 2024, 07:08:24 pmMy later model Dell Precision 7520 laptop still retains the same docking port as the M-series (I previously had an M4800) and the Parallel/Serial ports on my E-Port Plus II dock appear to be real, and have always worked as such as far as I have used them.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 02:17:22 pm
content: Quote from: TERRA Operative on November 18, 2024, 01:33:46 pmThat's interesting, as your 7520 is a similar generation to my Dell 7270 laptop and I think that's the same dock as what I'm trying to use. So I wonder if there's something else I need to do?Or do you mean your parellel port on the dock worked with the M4800, or have you tried it with the 7520 also with test equipment?

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 03:08:06 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on November 18, 2024, 06:59:38 amTrue. In order not to use a special driver, you can run the program "Sandra" and do what you need without closing it. Perhaps this effect will be from other computer check programs.Quote from: Squarewave on November 18, 2024, 12:11:17 pmThe thing is that it is impossible to organize a port with ISA numbers via PCI. If a program accesses the port directly, bypassing the LPT table, you will be forced to use drivers that perform "patch on the fly", or the chipset must have special tools for this. "Patch on the fly" is dangerous for various reasons, programs will try to block it, causing it to freeze, and antivirus will delete it.You can look at the LPT driver properties for the resources occupied and try (for a PCI connection) changing the port number to 0x378. I may be wrong, but it is quite possible that switching may depend on the virtualization type supported by the processor.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 08:26:13 pm
content: This is bringing back distant memories. I remember there used to be a DLL that could be used for direct port access on XP, a quick search brings up Inpout32.dll (which matches my recollection). I can't remember whether it works natively without changing apps, but it's worth reading up on.Edit: Nope, it was just for self-written code port access.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 10:10:31 pm
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 18, 2024, 08:26:13 pmThese drivers had a configurator that specified which ports to open. Computer testing programs usually opened everything for everyone.Once upon a time, I was scolded for using a driver to access LPT, when direct access was fashionable. And it was hard for me to explain to people that this approach was wrong. I just took the driver and used it (attached file). But years passed, systems were updated, and the driver was no longer suitable. They started telling me to make a driver, but I had no desire to study WinDDK for this. Then an experienced student (probably not a student now) developed a universal driver for any system, which also had a digital signature.https://github.com/dmitrystu/LptDrvQuote from: Gyro on November 18, 2024, 08:26:13 pmMy program for the LPT port can be used right now under Windows 10x64. But if I had used direct access, this opportunity would not have existed.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 11:41:02 pm
content: So what are we saying, there's a way? Or should I give up and just use my older laptop?

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2024, 11:46:34 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on November 18, 2024, 11:41:02 pmNot "give up", but just use the old laptop as well. This is normal for a smart person. I have 9 computers for different purposes, and an endless number of SSDs with installed systems that I can instantly start. I do not understand some people with their desire to cram everything into one device.Some devices have flaws that you can't overcome. You just need to adjust the scenario of using such devices. For example, I have a laptop that wakes up from hibernation with 3 cores instead of 4. I can spend a lot of time trying to fix this, create a million threads on different forums and distract people from more important things with my nonsense. Will it be productive?

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 05:34:45 am
content: I pulled up the schematic for your laptop and the dock connector has LPC going to it, so depending on what's on the other side in the dock (probably a super I/O?) you should be able to get a real parallel port out of it.The easiest way to confirm whether it's a real port is to boot into DOS, stick an LED and a resistor on one of the data pins on the port, and use the DEBUG utility to blink it.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 08:12:28 am
content: Quote from: Postal2 on November 18, 2024, 11:46:34 pmWell that's completely ruled me out.......

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 08:13:44 am
content: Quote from: amyk on November 19, 2024, 05:34:45 amAh, that sounds interesting.As I'm not a smart person, which pins should I go into and what are the DOS commands? Thanks.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 09:11:07 am
content: Silly question, but have you checked the BIOS settings for the parallel port? There is a BIOS setting for output only, EPP, ECP on laptops with built-in port that overrides everything in Windows - you wouldn't be able to select ECP if the BIOS was set to EPP. Maybe try booting to BIOS with the laptop already docked in case the setting is normally hidden. I assume you used Device Manager to determine that it wouldn't mount as a full IEE1284 (ECP) port.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 09:19:12 am
content: Yes, the only options are PS2, AT and ECP. It should work under ECP. The port options are still there when not fitted to the dock.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 09:25:40 am
content: If the port options are there in BIOS, that's strong confirmation that it is a true parallel port. Try all three settings.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 09:30:34 am
content: I tried all three, none worked. I'll need to run some other tests on the port in that case.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 09:35:23 am
content: Damn, you sound so close! There used to be parallel port loopback tests (just the first hit)...https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/79774/how-to-do-a-loopback-test-of-a-parallel-portP.S. It makes sense that it would be a full port, a Dell would have been able to work with parallel port dongles for CAD packages etc.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 10:09:39 am
content: What version of windows are you trying on this laptop with docking station?If you know the app worked in XP on that other older laptop maybe you should try a win XP install on this new one.If it works at least it proves that the app can work on this laptop. Then you can continue trying to get it working with a newer OS but you will have the knowledge that it is at least possible.It's always good to isolate and rule out problems when there are multiple possible problems.Right now you have1) Does the app only work in some OS versions.2) Is the LPT port on this laptop even ok, maybe the port has been blown up. Can you test it with a printer or something? LPT ports can fry sometimes due to ESD and voltage potential between the grounds of each device when plugged together with the power on.3) Bios sections4) Is the docking station itself ok.5) Drivers, maybe there is some special driver that was installed on that old laptop that made it work but not installed on this new laptop with docking station. How did you get the app onto the newer laptop, did you install it or just copy across the exe files and/or folder?6) Are you using exactly the same external equipment when you got it working on the older laptop, was it the same LPT cable?

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 01:10:10 pm
content: On this laptop it has W10.Would trying XP on a virtual machine work?The docking station so far as I know is new old stock.I'm using the same version of WinLV for the Micromaster, installing it the same way, the test equipment and cable are the same.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2024, 09:13:20 pm
content: The WinLV S/W lists Win 9x / NT4 (SP1 upwards) in the OS requirements. It's very unlikely that such old S/W would work correctly with the Parallel port under W10. It might work on XP, but as mentioned previously mentioned in the thread, there were significant differences in direct parallel port access between W98 and XP so it's not certain. Can you maybe try installing XP to a USB stick and booting it (ok, slowly) from there?EDIT: It looks as we are re-covering the same ground as was covered in your thread back in August/September, which is a rather frustrating!https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/micromaster-lv48/

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 08:09:05 am
content: It does work on XP, as mentioned earlier, the laptop I have at home it works with and that's XP.I don't think we're covering old ground, as now I'm looking at an alternative with a more modern laptop and a docking station. That other thread, there's probably an issue with the parallel port in the Boardmaster, but since I soon knew the Micromaster was working, I stopped trying with the Boardmaster as I don't want to have to use the Boardmaster for it.The reason I'm doing so, is the other laptop at work which I can have as they are scrapping loads of old laptops, it's a lot faster and more modern. My old laptop is quite slow, hence the IDE/SATA adaptor question in another thread.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 09:05:52 am
content: Ah ok. It wasn't clear to me that this thread was about getting the Micromaster working on the LPT rather than the (faulty looking) Boardmaster in the previous thread.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 09:21:51 am
content: Ok, well I don't remember the boardmaster being mentioned here until now, so no idea how that ever caused confusion. The thread is titled and starts off talking about a Dell laptop and a docking station.Anyway, it was just an idea since a load of docking stations were found in a cupboard at work, all new and boxed, along with the pile of Dell Latitudes due for being scrapped. All's not lost though if I can't get it to work, as I can keep hold of the laptop at work for personal projects.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 09:49:46 am
content: You could try giving a XP32 VM a go. but I think the likelihood that the LPT communication will pass through the VM correctly is low.Using a VM will at least allow the app to run in a windows environment it expects. And it is possible that the app does use proper windows API calls for LPT access. If that's the case you might have a chance that the data will pass through the VM correctly.Assuming the app is not using the win API and instead writing direct to hardware registers. There's probably some hackery that could be done running win98 inside dosbox emulator all running under win10 and re-routing the hardware LPT port register data somewhere else.But that is pretty advanced.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 10:09:06 am
content: I could certainly give it a go. I'll remove the SSD and put it to one side and put another one in which I have, where I can put XP on it and give it a go, something well worth trying. That way we can rule out the OS entirely.Shame I left the Dell at work and I'm not going in until Friday, otherwise I could have had a go at home in the evenings.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 10:13:08 am
content: Its definitely better to try installing XP naively if you can.Use 32bit XP, it's more likely to work for this than 64bit XP. (A lot of older windows features broke or changed when they went to XP64)Might be work looking to see if dell offer any XP drivers for that laptop.Even if they don't it may still install, but wont be very fast without the chipset drivers, and maybe stuck at 640x480You may run into an issue where you need to put the motherboard IDE/SATA driver DLL/.inf onto a usb stick and press i think F6 during the installer setup to get the XP installer to detect that you have a HDD. but hopefully it will just work fine without that.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 02:50:10 pm
content: The Dell M4400 with docking station that I mentioned is running Linux. The GALEP-4 programmer software is windows based, and runs fine under wine with a minor configuration change in the registry to allow it to access the native parallel port at 0x378.FYI, in case you want to try Linux instead of windows.Or even just run a Live-DVD version to see if it finds a real parallel port. The results of the parallel port probe at boot time is viewable with the "dmesg" command. If you don't have a real parallel port, it won't be there.# dmesg...pnp 00:09: Plug and Play ACPI device, IDs PNP0501 (active)pnp 00:0a: [dma 1]pnp 00:0a: [irq 7]pnp 00:0a: [io 0x0378-0x037f]pnp 00:0a: [io 0x0778-0x077b]...parport_pc 00:09: reported by Plug and Play ACPIparport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7 [PCSPP,TRISTATE]...ppdev: user-space parallel port driver...

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 08:59:24 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on November 20, 2024, 10:13:08 amWhat would you recommend if the program freezes under winXP32 (when trying to connect to the device)? At the same time, it works perfectly under Windows 98 (screenshots). Access to ports is open under wxp, the computer is the same (choice when loading). Photo of the device below.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2024, 02:45:10 am
content: Quote from: Postal2 on November 20, 2024, 08:59:24 pmHave you also tried both the following- Run the app in administrator mode, I think that's a tickbox in the properties of the exe in XP, you might have to google ive forgotten.and- Run the app in Win98 compatibility mode, again in properties of the exe somewhere.If that doesn't work, I would then wonder if maybe access to hardware ports isn't actually open. I know you say you've enabled that but have you confirmed it's actually working?Which way did you open hardware port access up?, there were a few ways people did it. some more hacky than others.It always used to be a bit flaky to get working, and who knows if it even still works on the latest version of XP with all security updates and service packs appliedMaybe write a simple C or QBasic app to send 0 and 255 to 0x378 and check if the LPT data pins all change state with a DMM.ChatGPT should be able to help with that if you're not a coder.Qbasic is probably easier since you dont have to compile anything, just run qbasic.exe, enter code and select run/start.I think for Qbasic the only command you need to write out a hardware address for LPT1 data port would beOUT &H378, 255If you can't get that to toggle LPT pins you cant expect the app to work.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2024, 10:44:50 am
content: Quote from: Psi on November 22, 2024, 02:45:10 amI heard that he gives good advice to dumb people who can't do anything.I tried the port tester (attached), but it was no success.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2024, 11:26:38 am
content: Quote from: Postal2 on November 22, 2024, 10:44:50 amIt's fine for really simple stuff.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2024, 08:05:55 pm
content: I'll have a go at some command prompt commands and maybe some software over the weekend. I can create a bootable USB stick and try something in Linux to try also.

author: Dave Wise
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2024, 09:24:44 pm
content: Old-time BIOS engineer here.For what it's worth, the T61 Thinkpad has PCI and I think LPC on the docking connector.More generally, any dock that requires an "eject" negotiation with the OS is almost certainly PCI/LPC, and it may give you a real parallel port. Newer docks are USB and so on: protocols that tolerate surprise disconnect.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2024, 05:17:35 am
content: Well even USB has an 'eject' which we're supposed to do before removing a device.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2024, 11:18:34 am
content: So, the parallel port as we know isn't working as it should under W10.I've been trying to install XP, but I cannot get it to boot from the USB with an XP ISO, something to do with UEFI and even in legacy mode it just won't boot.I can get Linux Mint to boot up from the USB, so I need to be sure Mint supports parallel ports, then I could try a virtual machine and XP in that if it'll let me.Though, I know that a little while ago, parallel port support has been removed from VMware.

author: mqsaharan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2024, 12:29:50 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on November 26, 2024, 11:18:34 amYou can try Windows XP Integral Edition. It boots from USB/thumb drive and works great.https://zone94.com/downloads/software/operating-systems/123-windows-xp-professional-sp3-x86-integral-edition

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2024, 06:49:44 pm
content: Will that work on a UEFI computer?

author: mqsaharan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 04:43:56 am
content: Quote from: Squarewave on November 26, 2024, 06:49:44 pmI just tested it on my Thinkpad W530. I adjusted the bios for Legacy Only. And it worked like a charm which you can see in the attached pictures. I cannot install it on my computer because of the way I have set it up. But I know it is a supported OS on my system and Lenovo has provided all the necessary drivers for it.I made a USB key using Rufus in windows.That iso is a clean Windows XP with added service pack and updates and some software removed from it. I am already using it in my Thinkpad X61s. The downloadable file from the website is a zip file containing both the windows xp iso and an additional goodies iso. Only WinXP iso is bootable.I am also pasting here the Readme.txt file from this iso. It has the details of updates installed and software removed by the people who prepared it. The additional applications listed there are not preinstalled. It gives you a choice, instead, during installation or you can install them later.All these details are also present on the website I linked in my previous message.

author: elektryk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 06:36:37 am
content: I can confirm that LPT works ok with PR02X docking station and Latitude E6540.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 07:59:20 am
content: Quote from: elektryk on November 27, 2024, 06:36:37 amWhich OS?

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 08:00:41 am
content: Quote from: mqsaharan on November 27, 2024, 04:43:56 amI'll try it later on today if I get time. If it's legacy boot, then it may not work for me as for some reason when my laptop is set for legacy, it just doesn't work. I suspect I'll give up soon, but I'll give this a try first.

author: elektryk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 10:48:19 am
content: Quote from: Squarewave on November 27, 2024, 07:59:20 amW7 on host and XP in VM.

author: mqsaharan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 11:15:52 am
content: Quote from: Squarewave on November 27, 2024, 08:00:41 amAs far as I know, Windows XP 32bit is a legacy OS and it is not UEFI aware. If your computer's firmware support legacy os then it should not have any problem running any legacy os including DOS.If you suspect that legacy os option is not working as intended, you can try to reset the firmware. And the simplest way is by uploading setup defaults, then save and exit. Your computer will reboot and in case of UEFI it might reboot twice before it'll try to load the os from any attached drive.If it still doesn't work, then I am out of tricks.If you would like to try some other legacy os that boots via USB and works on modern computers with Legacy OS option, just to make sure your computer's firmware is not broken, you can try FreeDOS (https://www.freedos.org/download/).

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 12:50:42 pm
content: I tried the regular XP, not the integral and even that ISO wouldn't boot. There may be an issue with the laptop in that area in that case, in which case it's unlikely I'll go any further as it won't be a sustainable system if I have to go through too many hoops to get it working.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2024, 05:11:38 pm
content: I managed to change a few settings when making a bootable USB from the ISO for W7 and can now get the Dell to boot from the W7 installation ISO.So what I'll do is swap over the SSD and install 7 and see how I go. All of this now is out of curiosity as it's not 100% necessary as my old laptop is now working on a new SSD. I may have driver issues trying anything earlier such as XP or anything at all earlier.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2024, 08:13:21 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on November 30, 2024, 05:11:38 pmVideo driver, just in case:http://www.win3x.org/win3board/viewtopic.php?t=2462

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 04:30:25 am
content: Ok, couldn't install XP, the Dell will not see the installation USB at all.Couldn't install 7, as it comes up with a strange message asking for CD/DVD drivers.I guess the answer from this is no, no parallel port from docking station.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 05:52:43 am
content: A USB drive consists of a chip that creates a bridge between the USB and the flash chip, and the flash chip itself. Sometimes I managed to buy one with an eMMC chip as a flash - these drives work well and do not have setup utilities. However, most USB drives contain a NAND flash as a carrier for reasons of cheapness. Accordingly, the USB bridge chips of such drives have setup utilities. I installed such a utility once, it contains viruses and irreparably damages the USB subsystem (requires a rollback in the form of a system image).However, in the utility settings, in addition to various parameters for NAND, there is a window for choosing what this flash drive will be. You can choose a USB floppy, USB cdrom.And so I constantly hear that everyone creates "bootable" disks with some program. Therefore, I decided to write this text to improve understanding of the issue.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 01:34:12 pm
content: It works on other computers, just not this Dell, so the bootable USB isn't the issue.....

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 01:50:55 pm
content: So, instead of using another USB flash drive, you suggest manually rewriting the BIOS from this Dell?

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 02:22:18 pm
content: No I've never made that suggestion.The flash drive isn't the issue, it's been used to put W10 and Linux on this laptop. Just this laptop doesn't want to see WXP or 7. No big deal, I have the other laptop with a parallel port.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 02:42:35 pm
content: These are different systems, and they understand the hardware differently. You might as well try to install Windows XP on a computer with AHCI enabled. If I couldn't install Windows XP with CSM enabled and AHCI disabled, I would personally try to change the flash drive.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 02:54:17 pm
content: What I might try, is taking the ssd out, cleaning it, then partitioning it and putting the installation bootable onto a small partition and try that.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 03:04:09 pm
content: I heard about another method. Install Windows XP on this SSD using another computer with the most similar chipset (disabling AHCI of course). Immediately after installation, in the device manager, delete all hard disk controllers, turn off, and put this disk in the desired computer (which should have AHCI disabled).

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 09:43:56 pm
content: I've tried an external CD/DVD drive, I get the same error message with W7.With XP it bluescreens as the system isn't ACPI compliant, regardless of whether AHCI is disabled or not.I can't install using another computer with similar chipset, as I don't have another one of these and the same thing would likely happenI'll try a boot partition next with the installation files.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 10:30:41 pm
content: It looks like you really won't be able to install Windows XP on your laptop. This is very sad, because not only will you not be able to use your programmer normally, but many useful things won't run on this laptop. I can offer a good game for your laptop.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 10:42:35 pm
content: I can use the programmer on my Pentium 4 Laptop, but I really wanted to try and get it working on this Dell.I've just put the W7 ISO onto the SSD using rufus, then shrank the volume, booted from the installation volume and installed it onto the bigger partition. All was looking good, but none of the USB ports work on this installationI did read that the same happened to other people, I've no bloody idea what's going on, I've never had this issue when installing Windows on any computer ever

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 10:53:52 pm
content: There's still the Linux option, if you are willing...

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 10:59:01 pm
content: Quote from: MarkL on December 03, 2024, 10:53:52 pmI tried Kubuntu and installed Ice WinLV on wine. Whilst it opened as it should, it didn't open the parallel port, so perhaps late versions of Linux are much like later windows with no real parallel port support.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 11:04:54 pm
content: I had problems installing Windows 10 on a laptop that already had Windows 10 installed. And although I had already read how to do it and downloaded the necessary files (some strange drivers for the disk that need to be slipped in during installation, like Windows XP), I put it off. Should I give you a game for w10x64?

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 11:32:29 pm
content: A game?

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 11:38:08 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 03, 2024, 10:59:01 pmMmmm... I'll download Kubuntu and try a Live-USB on the Dell M4400 I know has the parallel port. It's currently running an ancient version of CentOS 6.8. All it does is EPROM programming, so there was never a reason to hassle with upgrades.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 11:39:57 pm
content: Very good game, I guarantee. But you will have to download 10 GB from me. And your laptop will give you pleasure at least in this.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 11:58:44 pm
content: Quote from: MarkL on December 03, 2024, 11:38:08 pmThat's interesting, maybe I could try CentOS 6.8 if I can still get it? That way I can at least test if my docking station parellel port will run full IEE284....

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 12:09:06 am
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 03, 2024, 11:58:44 pmThat's certainly option to see if the parallel port is there. But I don't think you'd want to run it as a final solution. It's really, REALLY old.In the meantime, I have kubuntu 24.04.1 (LTS) downloading. Looks like it's going to take several hours so I'll let it run overnight.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 12:12:15 am
content: Quote from: MarkL on December 04, 2024, 12:09:06 amIt will be interesting to see what happens when you try it, one way or another I could at least try and rule out this port. Are you using Wine for your programmers software?

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 02:56:47 am
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 04, 2024, 12:12:15 amYes, wine, but I've actually been using the commercially supported version of wine from codeweavers.com. Here is the link to the "tip" to get the GALEP-4 parallel programmer to work under the codeweavers version, but it will work under vanilla wine also (yes, I tried it and it does work):https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/crossover/tips/galep-4-device-programmer/601The trick is adding an entry to the registry to map ppdev to the physical parallel port device on Linux. You'll also need to change the permissions on the Linux device to allow access by a user other than root.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 03:08:28 am
content: I tried to get CentOS to install but kept running into errors, perhaps hardware compatibility errors.So hopefully it'll work under Kubutnu then? I'll have a read of your link, I have a Galep 4 also I could try.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 09:33:12 am
content: To check the laptop when buying, you need:1. USB floppy drive with ms-dos 6.20 diskette.2. Covox.3.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2024, 05:14:44 pm
content: Sorry for the delay. I had a chance this morning to try kubuntu on the Dell M4400. It finds the parallel port by itself; no coercing or special configuration needed.One catch is that the laptop has to be plugged into the docking station at boot time. If the laptop is booted and then put in the docking station, it does not automatically add the parallel port.Below is the relevant lines from dmesg wrt the parallel port. I can post the whole dmesg if there's other stuff in there you want to see.I did not go so far as to try wine and the GALEP32 programmer software, but I don't have any reason to believe it wouldn't work with the parallel port recognized and drivers loaded as shown in dmesg....[ 0.835187] pnp: PnP ACPI init[ 0.835487] system 00:03: [io 0x0c80-0x0caf] has been reserved[ 0.835492] system 00:03: [io 0x0cc0-0x0cff] could not be reserved[ 0.835608] system 00:04: [mem 0xfed00000-0xfed003ff] has been reserved[ 0.869525] pnp 00:06: [dma 1][ 0.878880] system 00:07: [io 0x0cb0-0x0cbb] has been reserved[ 0.878885] system 00:07: [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed44fff] has been reserved[ 0.881711] system 00:08: [io 0x0900-0x092f] has been reserved[ 0.881715] system 00:08: [io 0x0931-0x0933] has been reserved...[ 11.037481] lp: driver loaded but no devices found[ 11.049478] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver[ 11.056683] parport_pc 00:06: reported by Plug and Play ACPI[ 11.056794] parport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7, dma 1 [PCSPP,TRISTATE,COMPAT,EPP,ECP,DMA][ 11.063141] systemd-journald: Received client request to flush runtime journal.[ 11.153598] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven)....

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2024, 05:31:48 pm
content: Thanks, but if you get a chance can you try wine and gallep? As I found it just didn't work for me on my laptop, it wouldn't communicate.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2024, 06:47:58 pm
content: I will give it a try over the next day or two.I'm noticing that kubuntu has loaded the lp driver, which is claiming parport0. Under CentOS 6.8, the lp driver is not loaded. Perhaps the lp driver is interfering with wine/GALEP32.If you've gotten this far and see the parallel port in dmesg, AND the message about lp0 using parport0, you might try unloading the lp driver. As root:# rmmod lp

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 06, 2024, 09:52:19 pm
content: I owe you an apology. After going through many upgrades of CentOS, Codeweavers wine, real wine, and the Galep32 programmer software without a hitch over the years, I assumed it would continue to work fine. Apparently, the latest of everything was too large a jump.I tried a lot of combinations of wine and the Codeweavers wine, but I can't get any of them to work on kubuntu 24.0. The galep32.exe application will run but it will not find the parallel port.Using the "strace" utility, which can trap file opens, it does not appear that wine is trying to open /dev/parport0, even when using the working wine run-time configuration from Centos 6.8. So, my suspicion is that something happened to wine itself over the years. Maybe they removed support for the parallel port? Or now it needs to be explicitly configured somewhere? I'm learning how to work the wine trace utility for more insight.So, specifically, here's what is currently working:CentOS 6.8Codeweavers wine (their product is called "Crossover") 16.2.0-1Conitec GALEP32 programmer software 1.20.07 (this is the latest)I need to solve this problem of ongoing support for myself too. Unfortunately, CentOS is a disaster because RedHat acquired CentOS several years ago and essentially eradicated it. So it's not a good place to start.According to this:https://www.codeweavers.com/about/news/press/20170323Crossover 16.2 is actually wine 2.0 under the covers. So, what I'm going to try next is a Ubuntu from that era, probably Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS, to see if a I can get wine 2.0 and galep32 running under it. After I find a starting point, then it can be a matter of incrementing versions until it breaks.I also came across another "how to" regarding galep32 and wine, this time from the manufacturer of the programmer:http://www.conitec.net/xpages/galep_wine.htmThey have an additional step of enabling native support for msvcrt.dll, msvcrt60.dll, and msvcrt80.dll. I needed to enable msvcrt.dll to get galep32 to run in some of the combinations I tried.If you are interested, I will continue to post findings in this thread. If this is too involved, that's fine and we can just leave it here as a dead end.There's always the option of a new programmer that uses USB. I have the XGecu Pro. It doesn't have the broad set of old devices that the GALEP-4 has, but it does work fine on a modern system. Conitec offers the GALEP-5 with USB and native Linux support, but it's quite expensive.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2024, 11:47:32 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 03, 2024, 11:32:29 pmAbsolutely right.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 12:46:24 am
content: I made and interesting discovery after looking at the wine source code. Support for the parallel port was deleted with little fanfare starting in version 5.5, along with a slew of other DOS-level compatibility. No provision was made that I can find to report an error if someone tried to use it. Thanks a bunch.So, now the trick is to find a Ubuntu release that includes wine 5.4 or earlier.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 10:11:09 am
content: Thanks for the update, that's interesting that the parallel port was removed from wine.So I wonder if we used an older Ubuntu, if it would download an earlier wine?

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 10:22:52 am
content: Squarewave, if you noticed, MarkL is testing on a laptop that can run Windows XP natively. And if you're worried about not being able to connect a joystick, the game doesn't require a joystick.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 11:10:52 am
content: If it's an analogy, I'm not sure I'm understanding.But it's given me an idea......put Ubuntu back on, then put a 32bit XP in a VM and try.....

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 11:36:34 am
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 07, 2024, 11:10:52 amYour idea obviously won't work. It's a different matter if you enjoy doing these useless actions.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 02:18:25 pm
content: Quote from: Postal2 on December 07, 2024, 11:36:34 amWhy not? If the OS will allow access to the port but only Wine blocks it, then if I use an older VM with parallel port, why wouldn't it work?

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 02:51:36 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 07, 2024, 02:18:25 pmTheoretically, this is possible, but let me remind you that Creative Labs bought Ensoniq in order to have access to such drivers.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 02:52:41 pm
content: Quote from: Postal2 on December 07, 2024, 02:51:36 pmWhy does that stop anyone else from having access?

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 03:06:35 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 07, 2024, 02:52:41 pmIt doesn't stop anyone, but you have to be very smart and have a lot of time. It's much easier to run a good game on your laptop.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 03:12:19 pm
content: I'm not really much of a gamer these days, but if I can, I'd love to set up an old computer for playing the games I used to as a kid, such as command and conquer.At work we still have some Pentium 1 PCs which haven't been used for years, I may take one home and set it up for some C&Q.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2024, 03:17:30 pm
content: I'll give you the path in a private message now, and you'll see the name of the game (please don't announce it publicly). It requires w10x64 and your laptop will run it just fine.Now you have a link to the game, you can use it at any time, after you get tired of doing what you are doing.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 09, 2024, 09:32:19 pm
content: Ok, here's a step-by-step that works on the Dell M4400, starting from a blank system. The version of Ubuntu below is LTS (long term support), so patches are still being provided and the repositories are still there. However, it's going to be unsupported soon in April 2025, unless you subscribe to Ubuntu support (free for personal use they say, but I've never used it). If I'm reading the support policy right, the repositories should still be around for another 5 years after that until end of life.This is the last LTS version that has wine with the parallel port support. It doesn't mean there aren't more possible combinations out there, including rebuilding wine-5.0 on a later version of Linux, but it can lead to a deep rabbit hole of package dependencies. Sticking with a Ubuntu version that has the wine that's needed, and in the default repositories, is the easiest way.At any rate, here ya go:Install Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS (Focal Fossa)Once installed, check that you have a /dev/parport0. If you don't, Ubuntu is not detecting one on your system, so don't bother with the rest of this. At least for me, the laptop needs to be in the docking station at boot time for the parallel port to appear./dev/parport0 requires specific access permissions for read and write. You can change the permission on this file, which is not persistent from boot to boot, or you can put yourself into the group "lp" which has the correct permissions:sudo adduser YOURUSERNAME lpNote! You will need to reboot for the new group membership to be effective. The final steps below will fail if you haven't done this. You can use the command "groups" to make sure "lp" appears as one of your groups after rebooting.Install package: wine 5.0-3ubuntu1Install package: playonlinux 4.3.4-1ubuntu1PlayOnLinux is a graphical front-end for configuration of wine and management of wine applications. It makes dealing with wine painless.Launch PlayOnLinux. It has a long default list of applications it knows about, but galep32 is unfortunately not one of them.Select: Install a non-listed programSelect: Install a program in a new virtual drivePick a name like galep32 or whatever you want for the virtual drive.Check the box: Configure WineSelect: 32 bits windows installationA "Wine configuration" window should come up.Select windows version (at the bottom): Windows 98Select the "Libraries" tab.From the "New override for library" pull-down, select "msvcrt" from the very long list and press "Add". Close the window with "OK".The manual installation window should come up next. Select "Browse" and choose the Conitec Galep installer "G32setup_12007.exe". That is the latest version and is available here if you don't have it:https://www.conitec.com/en/community-products/downloads.htmlWine should now launch the installer. Take all the installer defaults. It will take about 5 minutes to install. When done, UNCHECK "Launch GALEP32", and select "Finish".The next window will be shortcut configuration. Choose "Galep32.exe" and then "Next", take the default name "galep32" then "Next". When prompted for another shortcut, select "I don't want to make another shortcut", and then "Next".The PlayOnLinux window should still be open and "Galep32" should now appear as a choice. Click once on "Galep32" and select "Configure". From the configuration window select "Wine" at the top, and then click on "Registry Editor".In the registry editor, create a new key:HKEY_CURRENT_USER --> Software --> Wine --> VDMAnd then create another new key under the newly created "VDM" key:HKEY_CURRENT_USER --> Software --> Wine --> VDM --> ppdevUnder the "ppdev" key, create a new string value "378". Then give that string a data value of "/dev/parport0" by right clicking in the "Data" column and selecting "Modify". If this procedure is not clear, here is an example screen shot of the registry entries you're aiming for:http://www.conitec.net/xpages/galep_wine.htmClose the registry editor and the wine configuration window.Plug the GALEP-4 programmer into the parallel port and power it on.Go to the PlayOnLinux window (should still be open) and run "Galep32" by double clicking on it or by clicking once and select "Run".Galep32 should launch and ask what language you prefer. After you choose, it should find the GALEP-4 programmer plugged into the parallel port and turn the status LED on the programmer from red to green. The galep32 application should say the GALEP-4 was detected and some additional info about reading calibration tables, etc.That should be it!EDIT: Changed group membership command to "adduser" (safer). Plus membership alterations need a reboot (not just log out then log in). Maybe there's a workaround for that, but I haven't seen it.EDIT#2: Minor typo: doubled "sudo" - fixed.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2024, 04:03:34 pm
content: Mark, thanks so much for the detailed write up. Will have a go at that soon

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 10, 2024, 06:46:21 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 10, 2024, 04:03:34 pmGreat - let us know how it goes!A couple of important modifications to the previous how-to posting:- The previous incantation to add yourself to the "lp" group with the usermod command was missing the "-a" option. "-a" says to append a new group. Without it, it just *replaces* all the groups, which leaves the user without administration capabilities. This is probably not what you want.Use the safer command instead: "sudo adduser YOURUSERNAME lp".- There is a bug in Ubuntu (reported in at least 20.x and 24.x) that after modifying group membership, a reboot is required. It used to be only a logout was needed.I've edited the original post to include these changes.EDIT: Minor typo.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 11, 2024, 09:45:54 pm
content: Here is another option for you. I was able to (eventually) get this to work on Kubuntu 24.04.1 (LTS).Built into PlayOnLinux is the ability to choose what version of Wine you want for an application. It sounds like a great feature and just what was needed here since it could be used on any flavor and version of Linux. But when I tried to configure it, I kept getting "Wine packages repository is unavailable", so I looked for other solutions.There appears to be a bug in PlayOnLinux, at least in the versions I tried. When invoked from the main window "Tools --> Manage Wine versions", it always results in the above error the first time. However, if you close the configuration window and try again quickly after getting the error, it will work much of the time. But not always. Just be persistent. Eventually it should work.After you get the list in the "Available Wine versions" window on the left, you can choose "Wine 5.4" and click the arrow to move it into the "Installed Wine versions" on the right. Confirm that's what you want in the popup window. It will be downloaded and installed, and "Wine 5.4" should appear on the right. Don't waste any time selecting "Wine 5.4" and getting the download started, or the download will fail. If it does, you have to close the window and start again from "Manage Wine versions".It's a very irritating bug. Maybe it's a network issue from my location, but everything else seems to be ok.You would do the above right after loading PlayOnLinux. Once you have this version of Wine that supports the parallel port, you can pick up with the previous instructions. (You will still need to fix access to /dev/parport0 as described.)In the previous instructions, where it says:Check the box: Configure WineAlso do:Check the box: Use another version of WineThe next window that comes up will ask "Which version of Wine would you like to use?" Select 5.4.And then proceed with the rest of the how-to... "Select: 32 bits windows installation", etc.If you absolutely cannot get the "Tools --> Manage Wine versions" to work, you can proceed with the how-to as written, which will use the system default version of Wine. Then, you can try to load Wine 5.4 using a different menu. To use this other menu, from the main PlayOnLinux window, click once on "Galep32" and then "Configure". There will be a field called "Wine version" which will be set to "System". If you click on the "+" sign to the right, it should bring up the "PlayOnLinux Wine versions manager", which is the same window as "Tools --> Manage Wine versions".However, for some reason, when invoked this way it fails much less often, although you still might have to give it a couple of tries. Just keep closing the versions manager window and clicking the "+" until you get it.Once you have the list, select "Wine 5.4" and it should download and install it as above. Then close the versions window and select 5.4 in the previous window, and then close that too. It might do some re-configuring of your virtual drive to adapt it from the system default to version 5.4.At this point you can try to launch Galep32 and it should find the parallel port.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 12:46:07 am
content: Mark, amazing work.Squarewave, you can save your game progress or use hibernation to change your SSD.

author: garrettm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 08:29:16 am
content: Bottles is probably the better Wine manager (different Wine versions are called "runners"). But maybe I'm biased as I've never used PlayOnLinux.https://usebottles.com/Also old versions of Wine can always be downloaded from WineHQ directly:https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/Finally, there is also Distrobox (and containers in general). You can install a stripped down legacy Ubuntu in Distrobox to get an old version of Wine that way:https://distrobox.it/Each method has its own issues though.As for legacy gaming: DOSBox-X has worked great as a hypervisor for my Windows 98SE guest and has good DDraw acceleration for Diablo I and a few other DDraw games I played as a kid. For some reason old 2D DDraw games load modern CPU cores to 100% (Windows or Linux via Wine) and don't like Wine at all (regardless of what DDraw to OpenGL/Vulkan wrapper combo I use). Diablo I's main menu is a broken mess with Wine and on my 11th Gen intel i9 11900T pegs at 4.9GHz. Playing via DOSBox-X puts the CPU load at 20% (for that core/thread) and the menus work perfectly.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 03:37:35 pm
content: Quote from: garrettm on December 12, 2024, 08:29:16 amThanks for the additional pointers.I haven't tried bottles. This is the first time I tried the Wine version management on PlayOnLinux and I can't say I'm impressed. Maybe I'll give bottles a try at some point.Interesting build archive on WineHQ; I didn't see that before. It's not the same list as PlayOnLinux. On WineHQ there is no Wine 5.4 or less for the latest Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (Noble Numbat), which we need for parallel port support. It is however, available on PlayOnLinux (if you can get it to cooperate).

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 05:38:07 pm
content: Thanks for the additional information Mark and garrettm, shall give it a go perhaps over the weekend and see what happens!

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 06:22:33 pm
content: Create a partition for Ubuntu of the smallest possible size, and when you succeed, make a disk image. Later, you will be able to write the image to a USB flash drive, boot from it and use the programmer. You will also be able to share this image with the unfortunate owners of such laptops.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 08:26:47 pm
content: Why would that owner be unfortunate?

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 09:05:00 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 12, 2024, 08:26:47 pmYou are right, it depends on the point of view and requires a tolerant approach. After all, someone bought wittingly faulty processors as a souvenir.Moreover, I have my own program for LPT, which if successful you will be able to use, or someone else will be able to.But you can, of course, say that you don’t know anything about my program and therefore you are happy.The less you know about different things, the less your needs, and as a result, the higher the level of happiness.

author: Squarewave
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 10:34:22 pm
content: Not really sure I understand that.They're great laptops, it's just us techy people are trying to do something which regular IT people don't do or couldn't even begin to understand why.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2024, 11:20:20 pm
content: Quote from: Squarewave on December 12, 2024, 10:34:22 pmPossibly. I have 3 computers running at the same time now, and I bought a laptop to work lying down. And I can share my experience, it is absolutely impossible to work lying down. Although again this is subjective, and you like to work lying down, so you don’t understand me.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 13, 2024, 12:37:18 am
content: I think that we need to tell about the tool environment so that "regular IT people" have a choice and an understanding that they need to organize their work exactly the way that suits them.Your topic about connecting LPT is exactly about this.