I wish to use a Parallel Port printer (ALPS MD1000) with a laptop with only USB ports. Have purchased a BAFO BF1284 cable to do this with, somes with software. Drivers used have been detected by XP 'New Hardware Detected' and installed automatically. CAble software installed as per the manual and setup is as per the manual. The printer however will not work. Printer is in 'ready' state. Is there an updated print driv er for XPhome forthe MD1000 to make this work. I have tried Google and some discussion lists with no success.
Several things about these printers.......
1. Do NOT use the MS XP driver for these - it has limited functionality. Download the Alps driver, which you can find in the files section at the Alps YahooGroup (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Alps/files/)
2. The printer requires bi-directional comms in order to feed back the printer status to the computer. While this is not an absolute requirement, it means that without bi-dir comms, the error light will flash, and you won't know what the problem is.
3. The driver is hardcoded to only communicate bi-directionaly with Alps virtual LPT ports - run this with a non-Alps cable (And all of the cables on FleaBay are non-Alps), and you will not be able to monitor the printer status.
Now, how to install.....
1. Plug in the USB cable to the computer (But not the printer), and let it install. Reboot if required (Unlikely)
2. Install the Alps driver you downloaded fron the Alps YahooGroup. Reboot if required. If you now look at Printers in Control Panel, you will see a nice Alps printer there, waiting to be used. Make a note of what it named.
3. Plug in the printer and turn it on. XP will now tell you it has found new hardware, and install the MS driver. Reboot if required
4. Go back to Printers in Control Panel. You will now see you have TWO Alps printers! The MS driver will be called something like "Alps MD-1000 (MS)". Rename (DON'T delete!) this driver to something like "Alps MD-1000 (DO NOT USE)". If you delete it, it will come back to haunt you every time you switch on the printer, and screw up your settings.
5. Open the properties page of the driver you made a note of in step 2 (Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes -> right click on printer, and select "Properties"), and click on the "Ports" tab.
6. Check the checkbox next to the port created for your USB-// cable, and uncheck the other box that will be checked.
7. Uncheck "Enable bidirectional support"
8. Click on the "Advanced" tab
9. Select the "Print directly to the printer" radio button
10. Click on the "Print Processor" button
11. Select ALMD224S as the Print processor and select RAW(FF AUTO) as the Default data type
12. Click Apply.
I HAVE THE SAME CASE.
The Printer in question use a sort of redirected port (MD-LPT1) and the driver bind to the fisical LPT1: PORT.
The USB cable driver probably create new virtual ports. And the default driver install cant bind to this virtual ports.
I think you can find a compatibl cable / driver on eBay. Just do a search MD-1000 cable or similar.
Marco.
I think that this printer operates using the parallel port in bi-directional mode. The standard parallel port printer cables are only one way - to the printer. That is my understanding from research I have done (limited, so I may be wrong).
Hello,
I have seen your message stating that "Initialization failed - Unable to acquire TWAIN-compliant device" error is received when trying to connect USB-Parallel type to your Laptop.
Well, Printer Panasonic UF4100, recommends to use only " Printer/Scanner Interface as Bi-directional Parallel (IEEE1284) " means you need to use Parallel cable to connect Printer to the Computer/Notebook. You may receive some communication error messages if you are using a "PORT REPLICATOR CABLE"( USB TO PARALLEL connector). The error message that you have received is related to the communication error. Futher, if you use same USB- Parallel cable for long time the Printer Hardware functionality might go bad, since Printer memory gets confused and will not read or detect the Cable , since it is not a cable to use mentioned by Panasonic Manufacturer.
Let me tell you, general functionality of Printer like Printing would work even if you use USB-Parallel cable. But it is not a case with Scanner and Fax functionality.
Hence, I recommend you to use only Parallel cable to connect your Printer to the Laptops.
I hope that this will resolve the issue for you.
You can email me at [email protected] if you need further assistance.
Bye.
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