Mercury question

[Chuck Stone]

I have a dying computer and I bought a replacement. To my surprise, the
new one is missing many things like serial or parallel ports, CD drive or
expansion slots. From what I've read, the GCC Mercury only works on LPT1.

I have a converter cable, USB to Parallel and this has worked well with
other printers, but does anyone know if it would work with the Mercury?
I understand the Mercury II can use USB, but I haven't had any luck with
this unit. I know it might involve using a special driver, but I'm stuck.

Does anyone know if this is possible? I have a USB driver from GCC but
it might not be the right one. Or is there a specific way I need to configure
it?

[Viktor Voroncov]

50/50 :( some converters work, but some do not work - only tests

[Chuck Stone]

Ah .. perfect. :p

Any experience with which ones definitely work so far? I know the
Radio Shack one isn't working with the laser, although it does work
with an old Alps printer..

I'd like to avoid having to buy another new computer. This one won't
even take a parallel card. (when I opened the box, I thought it was a
modem.. tiny litle bugger! )

[Gary Hair]

I'd like to avoid having to buy another new computer. This one won't even take a parallel card.

Your computer doesn't have any expansion slots? that would be very unusual. What brand/model computer is it?

[John Noell]

The parallel-USB (as well as the RS-232 to USB) cables use a "bridge" chip to convert the signals. The driver on the CD that comes with the cable should have the name of the chip buried in the inf file. The trick is to find out which chip(s) work and which devices use that type. Many "brand names" like Radio Shack have switched bridge chips from time to time so a brand that used to work might not work with a newer model. Yeah, it a PITA. (For USB-serial, the ones that have been most reliable for the installations we have done are the Prolific 2303 and the Texas Instruments chipsets.) Advice to use a specific brand like Radio Shack or Dick Smith Electronics may not work out well.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Why not take the computer back and get one with the proper ports? You're going to end up spending $100+ on converters. Might as well return the computer, take a hit on restocking(if it applies) and get something that works right

[James Terry]

Use a wifi or ethernet print server and avoid having to physically connect at all.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=137135

[James Terry]

Why not take the computer back and get one with the proper ports?

I dont think anything made these days has parallel or serial ports anymore. Typically a usb converter cable will do the trick for those few who need them. You can always find port replicators second hand on Craigs or Ebay, get usb cables, or just do what you need through the network. Print or serial servers work great. Why not use the wifi?

[Ross Moshinsky]

I dont think anything made these days has parallel or serial ports anymore. Typically a usb converter cable will do the trick for those few who need them. You can always find port replicators second hand on Craigs or Ebay, get usb cables, or just do what you need through the network. Print or serial servers work great. Why not use the wifi?

Nonsense.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5999025&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5999026&csid=_23&body=MAIN#detailspecs

I have a couple of these units in my store. They are not the exact specs these are as we bought ours roughly a year ago, but they are similar. XP Pro, all the ports I needed, overall decent build quality. It's a 5 year computer IMO, but for $500, I don't expect a computer that it would last a life time unless you wanted it to.

[Chuck Stone]

Well, James is correct that most equipment coming out now doesn't have
all those old 'legacy' ports that they used to. Some do, but the a lot
don't. I should have checked closer when I ordered it from tigerdirect.
I saw desktop, plenty of RAM, plenty of disk space, no monitor .. ok, I'm
good to go.

I just read the specs, didn't even pay attention to the photo. And somehow
what hit my eyes didn't quite register on the brain. I knew it had no optical
drive, but that's OK .. I've got tons of those hanging around.. I can install
one, right? Wrong! I think this thing is meant to hang off the back of your
HD TV or something.

But I spent the first half day scrapping all the junk they threw on the
computer, and never did make a backup because there's no drives. It won't
back up to a removable drive, either.. at least not with the included
software. So I think returning it is probably out.

I've got enough computers and parts around that I can probably come up
with something, but I hate the idea of losing my home computer, which has
a good sound card and I can run two contiguous monitors. Photoshop on
a single monitor and without a graphics tablet is like doing hard time.

I'll dig into it deeper. Didn't find any info I recognized in the converter
cable software, but I have it at home now, working fine on another printer.
I just need one computer to handle the laser and maybe email. And since
this is a woodworking shop, I'm afraid to spend much on peripherals that
might choke on sawdust..

[James Terry]

. And since this is a woodworking shop, I'm afraid to spend much on peripherals that might choke on sawdust..
If you end up assembling a pc, you might look for a second hand rackmount case (http://webglider.com/link/?id=h) or complete machine with a special task case. A good 4U rackmount case will have some sort of intake air filter on it.

I use this exact one and the entire front door is an air filter and it works. Just put it on your monthly cleaning list and you are good. For just a workstation, you can also turn off some of the fans to slow the airflow.


http://site.circotech.com/images/4170O-CIR.jpg


But alas, if you put your production equipment on the network, you might as well be using a laptop or your normal computer. The pc you bought will work just fine if your stuff is networked.

[Steven Resnick]

Chuck,
This is how I have mine hook-up.
Give Sign Warehouse a call and they should be able to help you out.
If I can rember this cable isn't cheap. I think I paid about $50.00.

Good Luck,
Steven