Question : Problem: how do you connect two laptops with a parallel printer port and usb port (type A) to a multifunctional printer with USB Type B connection without getting a LPT1 error?

Hello,

I have two older laptops (W98) with one USB (type A) port.  Both have parallel printer ports and are configured to use them for printing LPT1.  I purchased a multifunctional printer (Canon MX780) for my inlaws that has a USB (Type B) port.  The laptops would not be printing at the same time.

I thought if I connected the laptops via USB port to a USB hub and the hub to the printer it would work.  I get the LPT1 port busy error message.  I tried directly connecting a laptop's USB to the printer and got the same message.  I suspect I may need to reconfigure the ports via the system control panel or something.  Playing with ports and coms are not in my skill set!

What should I do at this point???

Steve

Answer : Problem: how do you connect two laptops with a parallel printer port and usb port (type A) to a multifunctional printer with USB Type B connection without getting a LPT1 error?

PCs cannot normally share a USB because they both want to control the bus. You need something like a USB Switch to make this work.

Have a look at  http://www.usbgear.com/US-24.html