Parallel port issues

Hi folks,
I am hesitant to post, as I'm sure my question is quite remedial, but I am at a loss.

Background:
I am "renovating" an old Precix CNC to run off of LinuxCNC. I intend to use the original DG2S-08020 Servo Drives (cncdrive.com). After some fussing and a bit of tuning, I've managed to run all three axes from a Teensy 3.6 running the TeensyStep library just to make sure the encoders and drives all work. I'm on something of a schedule, so I'd like to start by keeping things dirt simple, and add complexity later if I find I need it. I have a dual boot Windows 10 / Debian system. I have tested the output signal from Windows and am getting a 0VDC and +5VDC signal when I toggle pins using a parallel port tester program.

Problem:
I am now attempting to get LinuxCNC to work as the motion controller. I have a C83-Optoisolator Board on the way from CNC4PC, but for now, my intent is to just get LinuxCNC outputting a measurable step/direction signal through the StepConf "Axis Test" feature. I set pin 3 to be the x-axis DIR signal. My first test is showing +5VDC (more like +4, really) coming off the output pins no matter what I am doing (measuring with a multimeter: negative to pin 24, positive to pin 3). I also tried the Parallel Port Tester (ptest.hal), and got the same result. It never seems to go "low".

I fear my question may be very naive, so please forgive my ignorance. I've included as much additional information as possible, so I can at least claim to be a good question-asker. Any help will be much appreciated.

Additional Information:
Parallel Port Card: PCI-e x1 Card: SY-PEX10008 (others have apparently used this successfuly with LinuxCNC):
-http://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=143&search=SY-PEX10008

lspci -v:
02:00.2 Parallel controller: MosChip Semiconductor Technology Ltd. PCIe 9912 Multi-I/O Controller (prog-if 03 [IEEE1284])
Subsystem: Device a000:2000
Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 16
I/O ports at e010 [disabled]
I/O ports at e000 [disabled]
[virtual] Memory at f7d01000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
[virtual] Memory at f7d00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: parport_serial
Kernel modules: parport_serial

Linux Kernel:
uname -r: 4.9.0.8-rt-amd64
uname -a: Linux Debian 4.9.0.8-rt-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT RT Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u5 (x86_64 GNU/Linux)

StepConf settings:
ParPort Base Address: e010 (I also tried 0xe010)

As careful as I was to search the forums for a solution to this problem before I posted. I did not even notice the line from lspci that said "[disabled]" after I/O ports at e010 and e000.

Checking back to see if anyone had solved my problem for me, I re-read my own post, and noticed this. The solution to my problem, and I don't quite understand it. Is to run the following command:

echo 1 | sudo dd of=enable

The Parallel Port Tester is now generating a signal when I toggle the pins.

I found this at the following link: emc-users.narkive.com/5K2fpCJR/netmos-98...m-i-o-ports-disabled

Now that I have solved my own problem, I invite any of the senior boarders here to explain what I have just done in plain English.

Yeah, 11 years definitely qualifies as ancient. I did check the BIOS, actually. Nothing there. Just ways to enable/disable regular Serial ports.