Printer Cable for old network laser printer???

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Loobed

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I got an old HP network color laser printer. It has 3 types of connectors on the back side: An Ethernet type connector; a 15 pin (video?) type connector; and what looks like a micro Centronics connector.

I tried to plug an Ethernet cable directly from my computer into the printer, but the computer would not see the printer. I think I need a network hub interface.

I looked online for a description for a cable that would fit the micro Centronics type connector, but I couldn't find anything.

Does anyone know how to hook up a network printer to my computer with either an Ethernet cable or a micro Centronics cable (if that is what it is called)? Think cheap!

I downloaded everything I could find on the HP website, but I couldn't find any useful info.
 
I expect you'd need the network drivers for that printer in order to make a network installation work. You didn't say what OS you're using but unless it's XP I doubt you'll find one. If it is XP look for the driver at your printer manufacturers website.

Otherwise I believe your best bet is an lpt to usb adapter.

That will get you from the parallel port on the printer to a usb port on your pc.

Here are a couple of examples;

A Cables to Go at Newegg

A Startech at Wally World

Larry
 
The connectors sound like parallel port connectors. Those are tricky to find anymore these days but some were standardised enough that it shouldn't be impossible.

If your computer even has a parallel port, which is another thing.

As for the ethernet, to directly connect like that you need a crossover ethernet cable. Also, you'll likely have to set IP addresses to access the printer. The manual will be required to figure that one out because it won't work just by "hooking up".

Hoking it to a network hub, switch or router would let it get addresses, but you'd still have to figure out how to install the network printing drivers.
 
the ethernet jack is part of the JetDirect system.
You can program the jetdirect ethernet network card via the setup in the menu. It's really easy to do if you have working knowledge of your home network.
Otherwise, to make it easy on yourself, like was mentioned, just get a parallel port cable and plug it in. If you don't have a parallel port on your computer, then a parallel to usb cable. You can get them for $3 off ebay. They work.
 
Micro centronics? Huh? I would expect a square USB jack.

Printers usually demand (present?) semi-static IPs. Plug it into your router then come back in ten minutes and look at your router's IP tables. Some clever printer drivers even ping everything in your home subnet automatically to find your printer.
 
probably serial, parallel and ethernet.

you need a crossover cable or a {hub,switch or router}

router would be ideal if the printer supports dhcp it can pull an ip from the router. if not it will need to be manually configured.
 
If you want to use the ethernet without a hub or switch, and you have 2 ethernet port2 on your computer, you should setup the internet connection sharing, and use a cross over cable.

Basically, the cable pin out on the cross over is "swapped" so the TX and RX on both sides are reversed. Hub / Switch usually have opposite TX/RX as computer, printer, etc, and unless your equipment have auto detect feature that switch TX/RX, you need cross over cable to connect these devices to computer directly.

The internet connection sharing setup one of your port as the gateway of a subnet. Most importantly it setup a DHCP server on that port so your printer can be assigned an IP address, so your computer knows which address to talk to. Unless your printer can let you manually enter a static IP address, you'll probably need a DHCP on the network (usually from a router, but with internet connection sharing it will be from your computer), just a hub / switch will not assign IP address to devices it connect to.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: tommygunn
If your computer even has a parallel port, which is another thing.


Yep. Builders look at me cockeyed when I request a system with a parallel port. At least I haven't asked for one to be equipped with an RS232 for a long time.
wink.gif
 
I'm the one who wants RS-232
smile.gif


Serial ports are useful when gaining console access to install or maintain certain servers.
 
This is what the ports look like. Notice the small size of the Parallel port compared to the 15 pin port that is next to it.

403360470.jpg


403360471.jpg


403360462.jpg


this is the 15 pin that looks like a VGA port, but it says C-Link
403360461.jpg



The micro Centronics type parallel port.
403360460.jpg


This is the Ethernet patch cable I used. I couldn't get it to work.
403360463.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Loobed

This is the Ethernet patch cable I used. I couldn't get it to work.
403360463.jpg



This is a crossover cable. The 1,2,3,6 on one end is cross into 3,6,1,2. Have you tried setting internet connection sharing on your computer so your computer becomes a DHCP server? Your JetDirect will need an IP address and your PC will need to assign it if you are connecting them directly.

If you want to use a hub/switch, you'll need a different ethernet cable, one that has the color coding identical from left to right on all 8 wires instead of one that cross over like yours.
 
Originally Posted By: PandaBear


This is a crossover cable. The 1,2,3,6 on one end is cross into 3,6,1,2. Have you tried setting internet connection sharing on your computer so your computer becomes a DHCP server? Your JetDirect will need an IP address and your PC will need to assign it if you are connecting them directly.

If you want to use a hub/switch, you'll need a different ethernet cable, one that has the color coding identical from left to right on all 8 wires instead of one that cross over like yours.



I don't have an internet connection on my home computer. I use my laptop to access the internet, and I don't do it at home.

This picture shows the mini Centronics next to the standard Centronics connector.


adapter_miniCen36_Cen36.jpg


from here: http://www.partsdata.de/Adapter_cable_C36_female_to_HPC36_male_IEEE1284C__gb_K-145-K.html
 
If you have a router, plug the printer into the router if it has a free port. Then you would use a straight-through cable. If you have a combination router/mode with only one ethernet port, add a cheap "switch" (the more modern version of a hub).

I don't know if your printer will do DHCP. You may need to set the IP address on the printer. That can be done with the buttons on the printer. Make sure that it is in the right subnet range for your router settings. You will probably be OK with picking an address maybe 20 higher than the IP address of your computer. So if your computer is at 192.168.1.2, use 192.168.1.22. This presumes a home setup.
 
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I have no router. I have almost nothing. I have a Compaq computer with XP that I got around 2002. I also have a laptop I got last year with windows somethingorother (home, vista,???). My Compaq has serial 9 pin, parallel 25 pin, USB 2.0, and Ethernet support. My Laptop has USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth, wifi, and some type of optical port.

I don't want to spend a lot of money on cables until I know the printer works. I might have to bring it to my friends house that has a router.
 
Originally Posted By: Carbon
If you have a router, plug the printer into the router if it has a free port. Then you would use a straight-through cable. If you have a combination router/mode with only one ethernet port, add a cheap "switch" (the more modern version of a hub).

I don't know if your printer will do DHCP. You may need to set the IP address on the printer. That can be done with the buttons on the printer. Make sure that it is in the right subnet range for your router settings. You will probably be OK with picking an address maybe 20 higher than the IP address of your computer. So if your computer is at 192.168.1.2, use 192.168.1.22. This presumes a home setup.





JetDirect 610N support DHCP according to HP website. Hard coding an address 20 above an auto assigned address is still sort of dangerous unless you check your router to make sure it is out of the auto assigned range first.

In the worst case there's always a free DHCP server you can run on the windows:

http://www.dhcpserver.de/dhcpsrv.htm
 
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