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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem System
In Mac OS X 10.3.2, a bug in the USB driver causes the connection between the printer and the system to stall after a print job is completed. In order for the next print job to be sent, the stalled print job must be deleted from the print queue, and the connection between the printer and then Mac manually reset by un-plugging the adapter from the USB port. This has to be done again and again for each print job.

Out of curiosity, I switched on printer sharing in the "Print & Fax" section of System Preferences and discovered a partial workaround. Though jobs will still get stuck and must be deleted manually from the print queue once they are complete, having printer sharing on apparently allows the system to reset the connection when attempting to start the next print job. Although it does not solve the problem completely, it does eliminate the extra wear and tear on USB connectors from resetting the connection manually.

The only serious draw back of course is that it opens the printer sharing port in the built-in software firewall, which System Preferences does not allow you to close.

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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem | 8 comments | Create New Account
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Fix for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem
Authored by: marianco on Feb 27, '04 11:10:43AM

I started having this bug occur after using Mac OS X 10.3.2 for weeks. Printing worked fine for weeks with my USB-to-Parallel adapter to Lexmark Optra 1855 laserprinter. But somehow, one day, this bug struck. Since printing worked fine before, I thought it must be a software bug. With the printer queue cleared, I used the application "Printer Setup Repair" to remove temporary spool files and temporary items. It found over 500 files. Perhaps the bug causes a buildup of spool files (which perhaps are corrupted in some way) until a limit is reached then printing hangs after the first job. Whatever the cause, once the spool files and temporary files were deleted, printing returned to normal. So far, in the past week, it has worked fine again. I expect the problem to crop up again. When Apple releases 10.3.3, apparently this bug is fixed. Until then, this time, I'll be ready with the fix. Using "Printer Setup Repair" to fix the problem allows you to avoid having to expose your computer to the network by allowing printer sharing.



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Whic USB-to-Parallel adapter ?
Authored by: alexmathew on Feb 27, '04 04:04:12PM

To which hardware does this refer to? Though this hint is for OS X, it would be good to know what hardware you all are using.
AM



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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem
Authored by: P.R.Deltoid on Feb 28, '04 03:23:36AM

Sorry folks,
I submitted this article a week ago and it has just now been posted. Since then I have found out that the workaround often fails upon waking the computer from sleep. Let's hope that Apple fixed this bug in 10.3.3 and that the updater gets released soon.

---
To PC Users: "What gets into you all...? Is it some devil that crawls inside [your machine]?" -P.R. Deltoid

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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem
Authored by: onnimikki on Feb 29, '04 10:03:18AM

Does anyone know if these usb-parallel adapters can be accessed via the console? In other words, could I hook up a device (not a printer) to the parallel port end and control individual pins or stream data to it like is possible in Linux with regular parallel ports?



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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem
Authored by: viscaria on Feb 29, '04 11:34:52AM

The open printer sharing ports can easily be closed with ipfw:

type 'sudo ipfw list'

find ind the two lines that coorespond to printer sharing ports (631,515):

02090 allow tcp from any to any 631 in
02100 allow tcp from any to any 515 in

Type these two lines using the id numbers from 'ipfw list'
'sudo ipfw delete 02090'
'sudo ipfw delete 02100'



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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem
Authored by: svenbox on Mar 17, '04 06:20:00PM

The basic problem, that the print job dont disappear from the que, has been solved in Mac OS X Update 10.3.3. So, update, and see the print jobs come...and go!



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Partial workaround for USB-to-Parallel adapter problem
Authored by: jnbacon on Mar 28, '04 11:17:37PM

I have updated to 10.3.3, and the problem is still with me. I am using a 20" iMac, Curtis parallel-to-USB adapter, HP LaserJet 6MP. I have two workarounds: 1) Send my print job twice, unplug the cable, plug it back in; the first print job goes away and the second one prints, and then the first one prints when restart the computer. 2) Log out, log back in, and I can print for awhile normally. Then I am stuck until I log out or restart the computer.



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It works in 10.3.5 again...
Authored by: robg on Aug 23, '04 10:36:08AM
Sent in as an anonymous hint, but it belongs here as a comment:
I was dismayed to discover that 10.3.whatever it was broke printing with a USB-parallel adaptor - after each print job, the print queue would stall, and jobs would have to be removed manually before printing could continue. I had a perfectly good LaserJet 5l which was rendered useless by this.

I was very pleased to discover that with 10.3.5 it now works again properly.


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