Roger Mills writes:

On 14/01/2016 10:30, Micky wrote:
I've been printing so many test sheets, I'm going to run out of black
ink, but I have an old monocolor laser printer that only has a
parallel port. (and it's not as black as it used to be which the
manual says is a serious problem.)

I also recently bought a USB to Parallel(CN36 Male / IEEE1284)
Converter Cable - 6ft
http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_i...seq=1&format=2

I know that having the right cable doesn't mean something will work.
I once tried plugging the toaster into the kitchen faucet and that
didn't work at all.

Any chance I can under XP or Vista or 7 print to my parallel port
printer with this cable?

I have a similar cable which enables a printer with a parallel
(Centronics) port to be connected to a computer's USB port. Mine works
perfectly well on Windows 7 with an old HP Deskjet printer.

The one you cite should work ok with your laser printer provided you
have the appropriate printer driver installed. Any lack of "blackness"
is likely to be an issue with the printer itself, and nothing to do
with the cable.

Some printers, particularly complex ones like the ALPS range, require
bi-directional communication for monitoring and error handling.
Depending on the type of cable, bi-di might not work, and may well have
to be turned off in the BIOS.
Testing will tell.
--
NNTP on Emacs 24.3 from Windows 7