Hey everyone, i just bought a HD44780 20x4 LCD and in my speediness didnt realise that my mobo has no parallel port would it be possbile to use a USB to Parallel Cable to fix this issue? If you want to see exactly what i bought visit here: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HD44780-20x4-LCD-for-Computer-Case-Drive-Bay-PC-Modding_W0QQitemZ260210360679QQihZ016QQcategoryZ75520QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks for any help you can give me: By the way im running Vista 32 Bit and my mobo is an ASUS PK5-E Wifi
Most of the USB-parallel cables I have seen have a 36 pin centronics <?sp> connector to plug directly into the printer. Did you check to see if there is a header on the mobo for a parallel port? Or I guess you could get a pci card with a parallel port on it.
hmmm yes, i did check and there is no parallel header or anything of the like yer im thingking the card but i dont like the sound of having a wire coming out the back of my pc and back in again.... sounds pretty messy. So what your saying is that id have to make sure that the parallel port on the LCD can connect to the one on the USB? Caus ei just bought a USB to parallel cable with the same amount of pins and everything.
Many of the PCI serial and parallel cards I've seen actually have the parallel socket on a separate PCI bracket attached by a short ribbon cable to a pin header on the card. If you bought one of these you would have two options, either you could unscrew the parallel socket from the bracket and keep it inside the case using a standard cable or if you're handy with a soldering iron you could make up a custom cable to go from the pinheader to the lcd. Either way you no longer need an external cable at all. Best of luck and welcome to the forums. Moriquendi
yes i understand what your saying my usb card is like that aswell. I must investigate some PCI cards now thx for the help
easiest solution? Get a HD44780 to serial backpack. It'll run you a little bit more than the onboard PCI parallel card, but it makes for a much cleaner setup. Just search for HD44780 serial backpack and you'll find a lot of stuff to your liking.
If this is the one I am finding it is a bit cheaper than the pci cards I have seen! THANK YOU KNYGHTRYDA!! You may have just accidentally solved a problem I had as well!
