repurpose the thing into a parallel to ethernet bridge

Assuming the specific hardware is even theoretically capable, that would require rewriting it's firmware, which would require a significant effort and lots of time from someone highly skilled in developing for embedded platforms . In other words, it is unlikely to happen .

If you need a parallel to Ethernet bridge, ready-made one did exist . An example that springs to mind is the Xircom PE3 . There were most likely others . Unfortunately, if the PE3 is any indication, they are likely to be quite expensive .

Gosh, I didn't meant to start a parallel thread at the same time of an almost identical nature. Parallel port (LPT) to ethernet converter . I honestly did not see this post of SammyFox's, which seems to have occurred at or just prior to the thread I started.

You might be able to do one-way communication with it, but you would have to write a special print driver to send the files and then a special program to listen for and receive the data on the other end.

You would effectively be printing the file from the sending computer to the receiving computer.

All of the small print servers I have seen do not allow for bi-directional data. You generally set up the printer as a line-printer so the computer you are sending from really has no clue as to whether the printer is really even there or not.

You could use a serial over ethernet extender and set up a connection between computers that way.

Why not just use some old 10Mb or 10/100Mb Ethernet cards? ISA cards and PCMCIA/Cardbus ethernet cards are pretty easy to come by and should cost almost nothing if you have to purchase them.

You could also use cheap USB to parallel adapters if you only have a parallel port available on the older hardware.

The problem is that the parallel port was only designed as a one way interface, and over the years there are at least four different ways that it has been converted into a bidirectional port. Which one would the print server support? How would you change it? What if it's a newer one that the retro PC doesn't support? Like darry says, it'd need custom firmware at the least, and that's assuming you have a server that can talk to it, like Laplink and the other old programs that let you connect two computers together via the parallel port.

If what you meant was that you want to use it as a way of adding network support to an old computer, that would be even more challenging as on top of the custom firmware you'd also need a custom packet driver to run on the old PC in order for it to actually use the parallel port for sending and receiving network data.

Even if you wanted to use the print server for one-way communication with a PC, you'd need to wire up a custom parallel port cable (in one of the aforementioned four different ways) because the print server is designed to be connected to a device that listens for data (a printer), not a device that transmits data (a computer). You'd need to cross the output lines so they are connected to the PC's input lines.

In other words, print servers are really only useful for connecting up actual printers - so $4 is probably overpriced for something like this 😀

feipoa wrote:

Gosh, I didn't meant to start a parallel thread at the same time of an almost identical nature. Parallel port (LPT) to ethernet converter . I honestly did not see this post of SammyFox's, which seems to have occurred at or just prior to the thread I started.

Can merge the threads, if you want.

I think they are just different enough. This thread seems to be more along the lines of a hack or new firmware/driver endeavor to alter LPT-ethernet print servers to make them into a LPT-to-ethernet NIC, whereas the thread I started is more about discovering existing products which do this already.