[Richard]

Addendum, though there is a port marked ‘printer’, there is still a small chance that the could have been some special form of serial printer, so a manual is really a key need to confirm the exact requirements.

[Richard]

I did find this item, but it is a bit more than ‘just a cable’: https://www.lpt2usb.net/ but the cost of this item at $69 in the USA makes it an unattractive option and would they even supply to the UK? There appear to be some ‘clever’ (necessary) electronics in this box, but beware the printer that was used for your friend’s device may be a special, dedicated item. Can you not find a reference to the device in question on the web where others might discuss how they have achieved the result your friend desires?

Also be aware that some USB devices should not be back to backed with a computer if you do not want to blow the ports or more on one or other devices. Special cables were produced at one time for the purpose. Again some form of manual for the device could save future heartache.

An old, or possibly new printer with LPT Centronics type port or both types of port  might be an easier arrangement. Second had items do turn up from time to time. However, if the device lacks support for the printer in question the output could be gibberish.

 

[Richard]

Really pleased for you Bob, that is great news, long may the progress continue.

[Richard]

Bob, that was one of the better, if not the best book reviews I have read. It would almost make an epitaph for the author, you certainly brought them to life with your words.

[Richard]

Bob, my only point was originally only to support the view that such a cable does exist. However, it has shown that in the past such ports were a total pain with no two ever the same.

I was surprised to see that a new looking parallel port printer (with an idle USB port) was in use in the hospital today, nothing exotic either, I am not sure what drove the beast. I have to use an exotic arrangement if I want to use my parallel port portable printer, the PCs no longer support the port style.

[Richard]

Those Rapides were still in service through the 1960s and possibly into the 70s as well. They used to fly out of Exeter and they did what the should, sit on the ground, climb under pilot control into the air and still under control back to the ground once more.

There is a lot of dispute about some of the modern fly-by-wire style craft deskilling the pilot’s job. The argument goes, if the software gets into a tangle the pilots do not always have the response awareness to take over at microsecond level timings if when the software dumps on them. I have seen past comments from Boeing pilots criticising Airbus implementations of fly-by-wire and computerised systems, though I lack any skill set to evaluate their accuracy.

[Richard]

Bob, the 24 pin reference is the one that pointed me to either Centronics, a ‘different’ serial port (if I remember some very old ones were 24 pin rather than the more regular 9) or a SCSI ports which appeared in a number of different size presentations on equipment I last saw in the 1990s.

However the full quote said: contraption had the old style parallel pc connection for a printer 24 pin jobby so he asked if I had a cable that went from 24 pin to the square usb plug that goes into the back of newer usb printers does such a cable exist? That rules out the SCSI and probably the serial port. Cables with 24 pin Centronic to USB and USB A to b adapters certainly exist. Some OP feedback would settle the issue.

Neither USB A or B  have 24 pins, some USB have 4 and some later versions I understand have 8, not all the same length. However, a picture of both ends would have been useful.

[Richard]

Yes Bob, I did see that suggestion they were ‘seeking to mitigate the problem that does not exist‘. I cannot help but be surprised that the issue, whatever it is has only been encountered after the plan has been in service and a number have been delivered. Modern craft should be more extensively tested than perhaps back in the days of the DH Comet. That the software is coming in for critical assessment may be a red herring, there are a number of differences between the model in question and those that went before. I wonder what else will emerge for versions 9 and 10? Not an excess of over confidence that all is well, I trust.

[Richard]

Happily they do not appear to have been a mainstay of any UK active operator as they are now being banned from UK airspace until given a proper clearance. I cannot say I am sad about the ban, though the risk may not have been a major one but we are not too far from an airport flight path.

[Richard]

Sorry, that might have been the wrong item, I asked for one thing but might have been given another.

I retried with brain more in gear, was this what he really wanted, it looks like the right gender and end:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/parallel-port-to-usb/bn_7024812227

Good luck with old kit for which time has moved on. That link showed both styles of connection to me, but I cannot vouch for their reliability!

 

 

[Richard]

I think this is what is needed;

I had one that I used in the past though I am not sure where it is now, it might have been a victim of my from time to time clear outs. I also had a serial to parallel but that was a real pain in the behind to set up with its speed and parity bits all needing to be setup. USB is was a lot simpler before a thousand and one variations came along.

[Richard]

I was in ‘sit on the fence mode’ when I wrote. Now all the comments I have seen question the plane; not the pilots or the ground operations. The fiendishly complex nature of investigations means that they take time, which is unfortunate in these circumstances. Planes should either sit on the ground, be controlled into the sky and be returned under control to the ground. The 737 max 8 appears to possibly break new ground and not in a good way. Somehow sloppy forgetting to update the flight manuals does not appear to be the only issue.

Agree your ‘avoid’ idea.

[Richard]

Another quite new 737 run by an airline with a good name in Africa has fallen foul of gravity and the ground. I guess that many will start to wonder what is really up with the plane. I see that several airlines have decided to ground their fleets. The black (orange) box has been found so some answers may follow in the nearish future.

[Richard]

I can only wish you good luck, a fragment of sorrow for what has passed and hope for the way things go. I am certainly not in the business of giving advice, it is far too personal a matter.

[Richard]

VFM, that is only the second time that I have heard of someone with ‘Auto-Immune Connective Tissue Disorder’, though in my wife’s case it has been called ‘Mixed Connective Tissue Disease’ but again it is an autoimmune issue with blood results that are far from normal. At the latest meeting with her rheumatologist the initial diagnosis was being questioned and the issue of whether it was Lupus SLE is now being explored via further blood tests. This is interesting as our daughter had a different form of Lupus, not the SLE but drug induced by a treatment, (minocycline) that wreaked her blood results mystifying the GP and disrupting her life until it was ceased. It took our daughter a long time to recover from that episode as by the time of her diagnosis she could not climb the stairs and was increasingly helpless. Happily that improved over time, though for several years she could only walk very slowly.

My wife is now concerned that her painful hips and shoulder are connected to her cancer rather than the other issue. For once a diagnosis of Lupus or a confirmation of ‘Mixed Connective Tissue Disease’ would be a considerably relief, not a curse. The results of today’s kidney function blood test and tomorrow’s scan are awaited with baited breath.

Bob, yours was a socking tale of inept treatments but all should have been clear with an MRI. I had much the same run around from 2002 until 2012 when an MRI finally showed that the lumbar spine was almost completely cut off from the base up to L5. It was more like a string of sausages where it was compressed at every junction. The relief from a ‘simple’ operation to decompress the spine was instant; I could stand up straight and walk once more. I had the same issue with the cervical spine but the relief was less complete, as the damage was more advanced. I put the recent increase in skin irritation down to the nerves on the left side of my neck and shoulder coming under compression once more. However the discovery of a lump on the left of my neck has been a less encouraging step. If not before I shall see someone early next month as part of my routine follow up for skin cancer and enquire if the lump could be related to what they removed. Unlike the ‘normal’ popular skin cancers this one has a habit of doing that sort of thing; hence I have scheduled 4 monthly checks, (though they are not always strictly at four month intervals).

[Richard]

I agree that the SSD is not the issue. They fail hard. While I agree with ED that power cycling the wrong way could affect the OS, I have also had a problem when other parts of the PC, e.g. the memory start to go off. That caused one machine a number of issues and in the end that took the SSD down, it became a ‘no drive’ machine as Dave said. Is there any option to force a buffer flush before shut down and thus avoid the issue that ED spoke about?

[Richard]

Yes, our last holiday in 2009 was a cruise, a gentle drive to Southampton and the holiday started as soon as we got out of the car. No awful airport to fight through, but the travel insurance issue can still be a major problem.

[Richard]

VFM, do you have any issues with travel insurance? My wife copped a higher premium when we last travelled 10 years ago following her melanoma from 16 years earlier. Since then the list of issues has markedly increased, waiting room conversations suggested that other patients with even with fewer overlapping issues had considerable difficulty even getting quotes. My own list has been doing some growing as well though with less intense activity. Neither of us is wheelchair bound but my wife now moves quite slowly and only over shorter distances, while I can walk fairly briskly, standing is painful and walking slowly is a painful, unstable issue – supermarket trolleys are a real boon in such circumstances. This problem has just been diagnosed as a ‘sports injury’!

[Richard]

Hi Dave.

Thank you for your time effort and time, I am sorry it could not pan out as planned.

[Richard]

I don’t usually use Chrome, but I do have it available so I checked and it has been fully updated, I assume automatically. My wife does use Chrome and the auto update appears to have worked on her machine as well. Theses results are just as well since a forced, manual update option appears well hidden!

[Author]

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