Printers & Cable Conversion
*Update: 09/20/05*
This was a poor idea. After finally getting the cable I thought would do the job, I discovered this doesn’t work. There is no way to get the parallel print server to ’speak USB’
I recently have had to buy a new inkjet printer. My old printer was connected via an HP print server. The old printer was an HP as well. The problem I had was that the new printer is USB, and the print server has a parallel connection. Print servers can start in the price range of $250+. So I went looking for a solution to coble the 2 together.
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While looking for some converting cables, I made the mistake of buying the wrong ones several times. The connection world can become overwelming in connection types and names. I ran across this page at msprojectstart.org, that made things so much easier. This page includes pictures, drawings, and the technical names for all different types of connections. It definatly sped up the research process!
The closest cable I could find was a DB25-male (Parallel connection to the print server) to a USB A. However, most larger periphials require a USB B connection. I was able to find a USB A female to USB B male adapter. So for roughly $30 plus freight, I was able to save a few hundred bucks by not having to buy a new print server.
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One would think that somebody out there would have a backward-compatable cable out there in which all you need to do is plug it in without monkeying around- without buying adapters and such!