Can not communicate with Parallel Port

[LAKZ]

I have been experiencing a number of problems, all of which have been solved except that I can not get my printer / parallel port to operate.
I have an AMD K6-2 460mhz, 128mb ram, pchips M598 motherboard with sis 530 super 7 chipset with onboard sound and video. I am running windows 98 and have an ethernet card and cable modem.

I had lots of OE errors and hardware conflicts which I believe have all been resolved. Most problems were attributed to an overheated CPU and a faulty fan. (replaced the fan - no more problems).

At one point I lost all my cmos settings. I believe I have them restored to the right settings, but I'm not sure.

For sometime before I fixed the other problems, I could not print. I uninstalled, installed, downloaded new drivers, tried new cables, etc. I know it's not the printer itself because it works on my laptop. I have a fairly new HP deskjet 832 C. When I test, it comes up and tells me that I only have one way communication. Just for fun, I tried to install a parallel port camera tonight. I get the same type of message.. "can not communicate with device". So that leads me to believe that it's hardware.

Any suggestions? Do the parallel ports actually go bad? What parts do you think I might want to replace?

Lori
LAKZ@home.com

 

[edfair]

Should be a cmos setting somewhere that controls the operation of the parallel port.
Three choices normally on newer boards. Standard , epp , & epc I believe they are. And this is usually about the same place where you allow the port to be active.
Yes , parallel ports do go bad. And in your case it would require you to cripple the on board port and add an expansion card parallel port. But your parallel port appears to be good, just not set up correctly for what you have.

 

[Kerrikk]

Have you verified that the parallel connection cable is properly seated and that it is plugged in with the red stripe to pin 1 on the motherboard. Also, if you've not already, you might try a different parallel connector.