[time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?

Mon Jan 14 18:31:33 UTC 2013

Nate,

I, too, am hesitant to post an OT issue, and that is the reason I tried to
ask just the bare essentials without clogging up the list with too much
stuff.  However, when I want to know something, I like to ask the smartest
people I know, and this has certainly proven that point.

I think you are giving me way too much credit for my abilities to 'dissect',
'peek', 'bitbang', and 'VID/PID'.  However, if I am able to accomplish this,
it will be a PhD in 'computer', at least from my perspective.

You have given me a lot of places to start and I am sure I will have a lot
more questions that I can take off list if someone is willing to lend a
hand.  I'll start with removing and inspecting the USB to Parallel adapter
in the SS3 to see if I can get an idea about the chipset used.  The BP Micro
software is easily downloadable from www.bpmicro.com.  You have to register
but it is free.  I will explore that as well but there is where I will very
likely need help.  I know the software works with WinXP and later (at least
Win7, I don't know about Win8).  Perhaps earlier versions as well.

Thanks again to all who have responded and apologies for the OT posts.

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Nathaniel Bezanson
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 9:55 AM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?

I always feel guilty replying to off-topic threads, but this one just got
interesting! At least most mailers make it easy to mute threads, so...

J. L. Trantham  wrote:
> My goal is to connect a BP Micro BP-1600, parallel port connected 
> Universal Programmer, to a computer using USB.  BP Micro makes the 
> BP-1610 which does just this.  It appears to be the same programmer, 
> uses the same software, but connects via a USB port instead of a parallel
port.

Ahh, well there's the part you didn't tell us previously! Mainly, that the
PC-side software already knows how to abstract those calls and send them
over USB -- it's not hard-coded to bitbang the physical parallel port. That
was the major stumbling block, and it's not a block at all.

Odds are that BP Micro wanted to do as little work as possible to update
their design, so they probably used standard silicon in front of the old
parallel-based programmer circuit, with OEM drivers and just a custom USB
VID/PID to make it enumerate properly. If we work on this assumption, the
hack might be trivial indeed.

Dissect the USB drivers that come with the software -- there should be hints
in there about the chipset which it expects to see inside the 1610. Simply
right-clicking all the DLLs and stuff should reveal a few signed by a
silicon company, likely Cypress or FTDI. There may be hints as to the part
number. Get your hands on that chip, preferably by finding a premade
USB-to-parallel cable based on it. (These are usually just the datasheet
example circuit.)

You can find the expected VID/PID by peeking into the INF included with the
1610 software.  Use the chipmaker's dev tools to reflash the USB chip with
the appropriate VID/PID, and see if BPWin will talk to it. (Alternately,
edit the INF with the existing VID/PID of the adapter you're using. This
will make every similar USB-to-parallel cable enumerate as a BP1610, which
is obviously the dirtiest hack ever, but may work just fine.)

If the drivers load but the programmer won't initialize, then the ID parts
are right but the connections are wrong. Likely the data lines are connected
straight, and it's just the handshaking lines that might do things
differently than the datasheet example. Working from the chip datasheet will
be your guide as to the possibilities.

Rots of ruck!
-Nate-

  I have not had a
> chance to see the inside of the BP-1610 and would really appreciate 
> some pictures if anyone has one, particularly the corner of the PCB 
> that connects to the USB connection.
> 
> All I have is an Actel Silicon Sculptor 3, also made by BP Micro, that 
> looks like the BP-1710 (with the 'START' button) but connects via a 
> USB port.  On the main PCB of the BP-1600 and the SS3 are two, 2 row, 
> 26 pin, connectors, one toward the back edge of the PCB toward the 
> back panel and the other just inside the first connector.  The inside 
> connector directly connects to the parallel port on the back of the 
> BP-1600.  On the SS3, there is a small PCB that plugs into the same 
> connector, takes a power input, and also has 6 pin connections to the 
> other 26 pin connector.  This small PCB has a USB connector that is
connected to the back of the SS3 as the USB connection.
> 
> These observations lead me to believe that it is possible to do a 'USB 
> to parallel' adapter to make the connection.  Of course, I don't have 
> a clue about the onboard firmware that might be different to allow the 
> unit to be recognized as a USB instead of a parallel port connected
device.
> 
> So, some 'experimenting' seems in order, after first trying to closely 
> inspect the small PCB and try to reverse engineer it a bit.
> 
> In the mean time, I have a collection of laptop's and desktop's with 
> parallel port connectors so keeping the programmers humming is not a 
> problem.  Just would like to make the 'jump' to the 'modern era'.  A 
> project that has been in the back of my mind.  I will probably try one 
> of the adapters referred to.
> 
> Thanks again for all the info.
> 
> Joe
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On 
> Behalf Of GandalfG8 at aol.com
> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 5:38 PM
> To: time-nuts at febo.com
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist?
> 
> 
> Hi Luis
>  
> No problem, and it's much better anyway to hear from someone  who's 
> used
> it:-)
>  
> I only took a quick look at the web site before and didn't see the 
> self build instructions at that time, but having seen the SMD chip 
> he's using I think asking for a price might be safer:-)
>  
> I see from your earlier comments that you've used it ok with old 
> programmers but on the page you've linked do he doesn't recommend 
> that, have you come across any problems with this?
>  
> Regards
>  
> Nigel
> GM8PZR
>  
>  
> In a message dated 11/01/2013 20:15:15 GMT Standard Time, 
> ct1dmk at gmail.com
> writes:
> 
> Hi  Nigel,
> 
> I missed your post before my reply to Joe, so I made no mention  to 
> your suggestion.
> I have those and they are not a printer thing, they  really work low
level.
> The list of programmers and bit oriented  stuff that was reported to 
> work well is big and surely there are  more stuff that works that is 
> not in the list...
> 
> Joe,  take a  look a check if you app is reported  good:
> 
> http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/U
> SB2LPT
> /liste.en.htm
> 
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> Luis  Cupido
> ct1dmk.
> 
> 
> 
> On 1/11/2013 5:03 PM, GandalfG8 at aol.com  wrote:
> > Hi Joe
> >
> > As per other replies I was going to  suggest this won't work because 
> > USB adapters are for printing  only and my solution would be to buy 
> > an old
> 486 or
> > early pentium  laptop and use that, I've bought several over the past
few
> > years   for really silly money on Ebay for this very reason, but I have 
> come
> >  across what  might be a possible solution....
> >
> >  
> _http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/
> USB2LP
> >  T/index.html.en_
> >  
> (http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/
> USB2LP
> T/index.html.en)
> >
> >  I can't vouch for this, just found it via Google, and although the   
> drivers
> > are downloadable you need to buy the adapter and have to email  for
> prices,
> > but it might be worth a try.
> >
> > My  preferrred solution would still be the old laptop:-)
> >
> >  Regards
> >
> > Nigel
> > GM8PZR
> >
> >
> > In a  message dated 11/01/2013 13:09:45 GMT Standard Time, 
> > jltran at att.net
> >  writes:
> >
> > Not sure  where to ask this question but thought  I would start here.
> >
> > Is  there a way to connect a parallel  port to a computer via USB?  
> > Not  a device that shows up as  'USB Print Support' but, instead, 
> > shows up in Device Manager  as an LPT port?  I have been able to do 
> > it via PCMCIA  to
> Parallel
> > Port adapters but I have never found a USB device that would  do 
> > this.
> >
> > My goal is to connect a parallel port chip  programmer via USB but 
> > the software only looks for LPT  ports.  It works with PCMCIA to 
> > parallel
> port
> > adapters but  I haven't solved the puzzle yet with a USB  connected
> device.
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> > Joe
> >
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