I found cheap Parallel port card that works

I took a gamble and ordered up this card for 9.99 from Newegg

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166005

Rosewill Single Parallel (SPP/PS2/EPP/ECP)
Universal Low-Profile PCI card Model RC-302

I installed it today and tried it out, it seemed to work well in my setup.

Just passing this info along for others that may be looking for one.

Hi

It is a MOSCHIP MCS9805CV chipset.

Have you got it configured as input or just output?

It is quite an old chipset and it is the 9805 - 9815 chips, that people seem to have a lot of problems configuring as input.

regards

I have it set as output, and it seemed to function properly.

I actually looked for that chipset because in the Manual,
(or wiki) it talked about that one so I figured it would work.

I have a small Sherline Lathe and a Mill so for ease I setup
one LPT port for the lathe and the other one for the mill,

I am still in the tweaking process and getting it all setup
for my needs, but figured for 9.99 it was worth trying it.

Is there a better chip set I should be looking for?

Thank you

Is there a better chip set I should be looking for?

The best chipset is the one that works on your computer! It really can be that variable.

The 9815 and presumably the 9805 before it, had a firmware error which prevented them getting into proper EPP mode from what I remember, but that is only relevant if running Mesa IO cards etc.

I got a 9815 working as input a very long time ago after much effort and more recently have used 9845 and 9865 chipset cards which worked first time in input mode.

You only need a certain number of output pins, so most people fit a PCI parport board to give extra inputs for limits, encoders etc. etc. which is why the ability to use it that way becomes important.

A scan through the posts will show you how many people have had problems getting various boards to work as input.

regards

Thank you

The more I delve into this is the more I realize I have to learn,
so I appreciate all the help and guidance everyone is giving me.

I can only hope to help others someday.

Here is a two port card for 13.99 that looks like it uses the Moschip MCS9865 chipset

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124066