This is the right place to discuss on how to implement hardware vsync, adding a VIA or AY chipset, puting multiple roms, or how to design a new flash expansion card.
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Symoon
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by Symoon » Sat Jun 22, 2019 9:32 pm
Hi,
Does anyone know if it is possible ton find anywhere a printer cable, that could plug from Oric's parallel port to a PC old-style printer with the big DB36 port?
I guess not, but who knows

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Dbug
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by Dbug » Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:50 am
Find one in a shop, I doubt it, but you can regularly find some bundled with some of the orics you find online, good only oric to centronics

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iss
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by iss » Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:03 am
From the French forum I understand you already found what you need and all works, so congrats!
This is what I have - DB36 to IDC26 (2 variants):
About DB36 it's clear - it goes to printer, but for IDC26 I have no idea for what kind of computer it's intended to be?
Anyway, I don't need these cables, so if anyone wants them - PM me. Keep in mind they are old and
they literally have smell of old.
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Symoon
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by Symoon » Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:05 am
I enventually found one, hidden in a box of... Audio cables!
Just tested the Star STX 80 printer and it's impressive in text mode. 1st time I printed on a real Oric
Didn't try anything graphic yet. I was about to sell the printer, now I want to keep it

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Symoon
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by Symoon » Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:49 am
iss wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:03 am
About DB36 it's clear - it goes to printer, but for IDC26 I have no idea for what kind of computer it's intended to be?
By googling a bit, they seem to plug directly on a motherboard?
https://www.startech.com/fr/Cables/Seri ... ATE25F16LP
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Equinoxe
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by Equinoxe » Tue Jun 25, 2019 6:44 pm
I wonder if anyone has tried something like this with an Oric - looks like it has a good chance of working assuming the printer is fairly basic
http://lpt2usb.com/
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Steve M
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by Steve M » Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:51 pm
I used to use a Star printer back in the day. LC24-10 I think was my model. Wrote a few OUM articles on that!
I think I still have some of that fan-fold paper with the holes on the sides.
It's pretty nice to use with a word processor like Easytext, which gives the 80 column output.
I remember printing out some HIRES screens but I'm not sure how I did it It was slow - but a lot quicker than the MCP40 plotter.
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Dbug
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by Dbug » Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:29 am
Steve M wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:51 pm
I remember printing out some HIRES screens but I'm not sure how I did it It was slow - but a lot quicker than the MCP40 plotter.
And probably a lot cheaper, the MCP40 is emptying the small pens faster than by car emptying the petrol tank

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Steve M
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by Steve M » Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:25 pm
I think re-inking may be the way to go.
Printer ink is getting harder to find though.
I didn't know the old Centronics was a DB36 - the things you learn on here !!!
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mikeb
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by mikeb » Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:16 pm
I'm not sure if DB36 is the right description -- I think of DB as being the DB-9/15/25 "D-sub" range (like for mice, joystick, serial ports)
A proper Centronics was usually an Amphenol 36-way (2 row) connector. Like the IEEE488/GPIB/HPIB (24 pin?) but obviously bigger.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_ribbon_connector
DB-25 was for the IBM-PC style parallel port
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tingo
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by tingo » Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:20 pm
And the correct name for the 9-pin connector often used for serial ports is DE-9, not DB-9.
Torfinn