-----Original Message-----
From: ghelm <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Date: July 5, 1998 11:08
Subject: [PCBUILD] Printer port settings


>In the BIOS setup of my TX motherboard I have three (3) printer port
>options.  Can someone please explain the differences between "ECP",
>"EPP", "SPP" port settings.
>
>I do know that using "ECP" causes me print problems with an older dot
>matrix printer.

    SPP - Standard parallel port - the normal kind every PC in the world has
    EPP - Enhanced parallel port - faster than SPP, usually bidirectional,
and works pretty well on almost  every system and printer without problems
    ECP - Enhanced Capabilities port - this is the setting that causes the
most problems, it is a little faster than EPP and takes quite a bit of load
off of the CPU, however many older printers do not like it, and it can be
hard to set up.

    I recommend you go with what works, try EPP, if it works well and ECP
doesn't than stick with it. There are some devices that demand ECP to work,
some printers use it for reporting ink levels and stuff like that, but they
often work without it, albeit without the extra indicators. Search on the
net for this stuff and you should find a TON of info. TTYL