lpt0 always busy

[stanley jobson]

> > 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.

unfort. my printer is connected properly and it is on while simply
trying to open it with open(/dev/lpt0) - lptest > /dev/lpt0 fails too
...

so it seems that fbsd expects some kind of status reply from the printer
- correct?
if so: how could i by-pass this? (cause my ugly gdi printer is probably
not able to answer correctly) i just wonna have access to my parallel
port ...

thx
regards,
stan