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@febo.com [time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On
> Behalf Of GandalfG8@aol.com
> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 5:38 PM
> To: time-nuts@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@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/USB2LPT
> /liste.en.htm
> 
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> Luis  Cupido
> ct1dmk.
> 
> 
> 
> On 1/11/2013 5:03 PM, GandalfG8@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@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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