Latitude E5520 Parallel Port

Question

Greetings. I just received a brand new Latitude E5520 for software development use.  The problem is that I have a device which requires a parallel port, so I purchased the 'legacy dock', which provides me with that port.  The problem is that my tool requires that the port be configured as ECP.  I have done this in the BIOS, but it is still unable to communicate with the device on the parallel port.   I booted the system with a linux boot disk to determine what was going on, and lo and behold, linux says the port is configured in EPP mode.  I double-checked the BIOS settings and it is definitely marked as ECP (not disabled, PC AT or PS2). Does anyone have any thoughts on how to get the parallel port to be configured as ECP, or to verify what mode it is current set to in Windows? BTW, I am running Windows 7 Professional 32 bit. Bud

speedstep · Accepted Answer

ECP Requires DMA modes. The Dock is like a Big USB port replicator so there is no DMA.

I would try an express card parallel port.

StarTech.com SPP/EPP/ECP Laptop Parallel Adapter Card - EC1PECPS

StarTech.com 1-Port Parallel Express Card Adapter - 1 IEEE 1284 ...

Locked Topics – Laptops General

StarTech.com SPP/EPP/ECP Laptop Parallel Adapter Card - EC1PECPS

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