[comp.sys.amiga] Printer Cables

ejkst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Eric J. Kennedy) (01/24/90)

Can someone give me the specs on a printer cable for an A1000 to a
parallel printer?  I know that a stock printer cable (for an IBM) won't
work, but I don't know what needs to be changed.  So perhaps a better
question is, how do I hack a stock IBM parallel (DB25<-->Centronix)
printer cable to work on the A1000?

Thanks,

-- 
Eric Kennedy
ejkst@cis.unix.pitt.edu

valentin@cbmvax.commodore.com (Valentin Pepelea) (01/24/90)

In article <21826@unix.cis.pitt.edu> ejkst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Eric J. Kennedy) writes:
>
>Can someone give me the specs on a printer cable for an A1000 to a
>parallel printer?  I know that a stock printer cable (for an IBM) won't
>work, but I don't know what needs to be changed.  So perhaps a better
>question is, how do I hack a stock IBM parallel (DB25<-->Centronix)
>printer cable to work on the A1000?

The pinouts are essentially the same, except that the Amiga ports also provide
+5V on some pins, in case you want to hang a self-powered device to your
port. So before you connect your Amiga to a printer, CUT the pin providing the
+5V source. Here are the pinouts:

PIN#      Amiga 500/2000	     Amiga 1000           Meaning
---------------------------------------------------------------------
  1		*DRDY			*DRDY		Data strobe
  2		D0			D0		Data pin 0
...		...			...		...
  9		D9			D9		Data pin 9
 10		*ACK			*ACK		Acknowledge
 11		BUSY			BUSY		Busy
 12		POUT			POUT		Paper out
 13		SEL			SEL		Device selected
 14		+5V			GND		Trouble
 15		NC			GND		Not connected
 16		*RESET			GND		Reset
 17		GND			GND		Ground
...		...			...		...
 22		GND			GND		Ground
 23		GND			+5V		Trouble
 24		GND			NC
 25		GND			*RESET

So, in order to remain alive, cut out pin 14 on the 500/2000, or pin 23 and
25 on the 1000. If you wish your printer to get reset when you reboot on the
A1000, connect pin 25 to pin 16 on the printer side. If you easely get
confused, just cut pins 14, 23 and 25 no matter what computer you have.  :-)

Note that the parallel port is male on the Amiga 1000 and female on the other
models.

Valentin
-- 
The Goddess of democracy? "The tyrants     Name:    Valentin Pepelea
may distroy a statue,  but they cannot     Phone:   (215) 431-9327
kill a god."                               UseNet:  cbmvax!valentin@uunet.uu.net
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teece@uvicctr.UVic.CA.UUCP (teece) (02/01/90)

> ejkst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Eric J. Kennedy) writes:
> 
> 
> >Can someone give me the specs on a printer cable for an A1000 to a
> >parallel printer?  
> 
> I have an A1000 and I am using a stock IBM parallel cable with my printer.
> The only thing I did was to chop out the pins on the cable that would 
> connect to the pins on the Amiga's port that have the weird voltages on them
> (just to be safe). The A1000 has 5v and 12v pins on it's paralled port, these
> are the ones I cut from the cable.
> 
> Works fine.
> 
> -- 
> John Sparks  | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps. Accessable via Starlink (Louisville KY)

In previous postings, Eric Kennedy and John Sparks discuss the modification
of a standard IBM printer cable for use on an Amiga 1000. John suggested
merely cutting away the wires that would carry the supply voltages (5 & 12).
Seems to me, you would have to chop off the connector and replace it with a
female type. The A1000 parallel port uses a male connector and so does a 
standard IBM printer cable. So besides chopping out the wires with undesireable
voltages, you will also need a female end on the cable to mate with the A1000.
 

sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) (02/07/90)

teece@uvicctr.UVic.CA.UUCP (teece) writes:

>> ejkst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Eric J. Kennedy) writes:

 >Seems to me, you would have to chop off the connector and replace it with a
 >female type. The A1000 parallel port uses a male connector and so does a 
 >standard IBM printer cable. So besides chopping out the wires with undesirable
 >voltages, you will also need a female end on the cable to mate with the A1000.


Ooops! sorry. Yep, I just use a gender changer, no rewiring necessary.



-- 
John Sparks  | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps. Accessable via Starlink (Louisville KY)
sparks@corpane.UUCP <><><><><><><><><><><> D.I.S.K. ph:502/968-5401 thru -5406 
Help fight continental drift.