lpt0 always busy

[Dan Ponte]

On Sat, Sep 24, 2005 at 06:09:09PM +0200, stanley jobson <stanley.jobson at gmx.ch> was witnessed plotting the following conspiracy:
> hi,
> i am now trying for weeks to get my lpt0 working without any success :(
> 
> i always get "device busy" (running lptcontrol, lptest,
> open(/dev/lpt0)).  i found a lot of questions about this via google and
> some hints too (e.g. excluding device ppi from kernel) but all this
> didnt help :(
> 
> i should mention that my printer connected to lpt0 is a funny gdi
> printer which only works under win98. so my idea was to use qemu to run
> a emulated win98 to get my printer working - but therefore qemu needs to
> be able to open /dev/lpt0 ...
> 
> finally i wrote a simple c prog which just calls open(/dev/lpt0) but it
> also always fails with device busy :(
> 
> what are the requirements to successfully open lpt0 port (apart from
> having connected a printer to it) ?
> 
> does fbsd expects a response from the printer (e.g. ready status)? maybe
> my printer is not able to do this ... if so: what are possible
> workarounds? could i convice the kernel that lpt0 is ready?
> 
> thx
> regards,
> stan
> 
> ps: i am running fbsd 5.4
> 
Usually, if you get "device busy," it means that the printer is simply
not on or connected properly. Check your parallel cable.
-Dan
-- 
Dan Ponte
http://www.theamigan.net/
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely
rearranging their prejudices.
		-- William James