IR doesn't see parport

ehart · Post by **ehart** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:27 pm

Hi,

This works on other machines, but not my laptpop/docking station combo.

I've confirmed parport exists in BIOS, and in Windows system manager. Shows up everywhere as working. I switched parport from the default "bidirectional" to "EPP", and still no joy.

Any thoughts?

Eric

ehart · Post by **ehart** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:26 pm

I went ahead and ordered a USB cable from DIYGADGET. Any thoughts still appreciated, but for now, I will work from a desktop with a parallel port that's recognized by IR, and then hopefully work with the USB on my laptop going forward.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:50 pm

Is a "parport" some special kind of parallel port? And if so, how is it different from a regular parallel port?

What sort of cable are you using? If you're using a "Simple" cable that was purchased from one of the JP1 vendors, it should work with a laptop, but even so you should mention which vendor you got it from so we can confirm that 1k resistors and a Schottky diode were used. If you made the cable yourself, can you confirm that you used 1k resistors and a Schottky diode.

jetskier · Post by **jetskier** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:00 pm

What version of IR are you using? What error are you getting in IR?

IR6 had a bug that requires the "gwiopm.sys" to both reside in the windows/system folder and in the folder were the IR.exe executable resides. The bug was fixed in the IR7 beta versions so that it only had to be in the folder that IR.exe exists. You might try putting a copy in both locations if you are using IR6.

whompus · Post by **whompus** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:39 pm

Also if the port is on the docking station and not the laptop. Ir is likely not going to work with the port in that situation. That is kinda like using an adapter.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:10 pm

whompus wrote:Also if the port is on the docking station and not the laptop. Ir is likely not going to work with the port in that situation. That is kinda like using an adapter.

Do you think? I would have thought that that was more of a "straight through" sort of thing. The parallel cable definitely won't work with USB-to-parallel or serial-to-parallel adapters though.

whompus · Post by **whompus** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:40 pm

That depends on the docking station in question. If it is a port replicator type then there should be no problem. Most of those are for specific model laptops and not interchangeable. Many are going to the newer type docking stations which are basically usb devices with many type connections on them.

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:12 am

I was assuming that they were all model specific.

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:28 am

whompus wrote:docking stations which are basically usb devices

ehart, if your laptop has its own parallel port you should try the cable connected directly to it. If the docking station is one of the type connected via USB, it's possible that the printer port doesn't work proprerly for JP1 use. We know that the simple JP1 cable doesn't work through a USB-parallel converter and that might be what your docking station essentially is.

ehart · Post by **ehart** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:05 am

Thanks for all the good suggestions!

1. By "parport" I meant "parallel port". Sorry for the confusion.

2. I made the cable myself a few years ago. I went to Radio Shack to get the required parts, and I 'm pretty sure I followed the instructions exactly. It does work on several other computers. I could open it up to confirm th eparts.

3. Yes the port is on a docking station. It's machine-specific, not USB-attached.

4. IR is Beta 7 (3).

ehart · Post by **ehart** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:12 am

p.s.

The symptom is that the "Parallel" choice on the "Interface" pulldown is greyed out. For that matter, so are all the choices except JP1.x.

Cordially,

Eric

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:10 am

Are you sure you have admin rights on your Windows user account?

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:12 am

Does your laptop have it's own parallel port? If so, have you tried connecting the cable to that to see if it works? If it doesn't, maybe the one on the docking station falls into the "adapter" category discussed earlier and therefore shouldn't be expected to work.

Which version of Windows are you using, and if it's XP or W2k, are you logged on as the administrator?

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:25 am

ehart wrote:p.s.

The symptom is that the "Parallel" choice on the "Interface" pulldown is greyed out. For that matter, so are all the choices except JP1.x.

Cordially,

Eric

AHHH! Thats the symptom I get when I try to use IR in a non-admin rights account. Ás others have suggested above, log in as an administrator and try again.

ehart · Post by **ehart** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:42 pm

Well, I think I got it figured out. I was running IR from another machine on my home network. That is, the files were stored on a shared drive, not on my local machine. I thought that's how I was running it before with my old laptop. In any case, I downloaded IR again and installed it on the local C: drive. IR now shows a parallel port option that's not greyed out. I expect it will work, though I haven't tried programming a remote yet.

So the "docking station" issue seems to have been a Red Herring.

And the lesson seems to be, run IR off your local hard drive.

Thanks for the thought and the help!

- Eric