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Printer port devices don't work too well with WS printer port.
Printer port devices

New MessagePrinter port devices don't work too well with WS printer port. (modified 0 times) Bolex
I was having some problems with my external CD-ROM drive(a sun-moon-star 8X CD-ROM drive), which plugs into a EPP printer port. I was trying to play MP3's straight from the CD, but was having little success. The MP3's would skip, and it really sounded like crap. I decided to disable the printer port on the WS, and enable the printer port on my ISA super I/O card to see if I would get better performance.

One thing that I noticed about my I/O card, is that it assigns a DMA to the printer port, while on the WS, there is no DMA given to the printer port.

The results are amazing. I can transfer files from the CD to hard disk at least 4 times faster, and MP3 CD's will now play straight from the CD-ROM without skipping.

Has anyone else seen anything like this with a parallel zip drive, or other device that uses the EPP printer port?

If anyone is planning on using a printer port device, I would highly recomend not using the printer port on the WS.

Bolex

05-03-2000 21:25:17

New MessageRE:Printer port devices don't work too well with WS printer port. (modified 0 times) Rick
Did you try changing the printer port type in the BIOS. You can set it to EPP+ECP with a DMA.
05-03-2000 23:38:08

New MessageRE:Printer port devices don't work too well with WS printer port. (modified 0 times) Setes
I had no problems at all with a Backpack parport cdrom.
05-04-2000 07:37:58

New MessageRE:Printer port devices don't work too well with WS printer port. (modified 0 times) Bolex
I'm getting some benchmarking software today. I'll post benchmarks that compare the two different printer ports.


Bolex

05-04-2000 12:03:38

New MessageRE:Printer port devices don't work too well with WS printer port. (modified 0 times) Bolex
Here are the benchmarks. I used Adaptec SCSI bench to test the Printer Port CD-ROM. My ISA Super I/O card is a generic card with a PRIME3B chipset. From the Super I/O card this is what it looks like:

LPT1 DMA0 709Kbytes/Sec
LPT1 DMA1 709Kbytes/Sec
LPT1 DMA3 709Kbytes/Sec

Now the Websurfer Printer Port:

LPT1 ECP+EPP DMA3 122Kbyte/Sec
LPT1 EPP 1.7 709Kbyte/Sec
LPT1 EPP 1.9 712Kbyte/Sec

As you can see, it was the ECP+EPP Printer mode that was causing the slow-down. The EPP modes are just as fast as the printer port on the I/O card. Stay away from this ECP+EPP printer port mode if you are using a printer port device.


Bolex

05-04-2000 21:24:38

New MessageRE:Printer port devices don't work too well with WS printer port. (modified 0 times) Rick
Nice work, thanx.
05-04-2000 22:46:46

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