Need adapter for older HP printer

[pmcneff]

I have an older HP Laserjet 1100 printer. My school district now uses Dell hard drive and my printer cord no longer fits. I’d like to find an adapter to attach to my current printer cable with a USB port on the other end. Does one exist?

 

[mwryder55]

You can purchase usb to parallel port cables to connect the printer and computer.

 

[pmcneff]

You can purchase usb to parallel port cables to connect the printer and computer.

I purchased one from Amazon but the end that goes into the printer is too big.

 

[mwryder55]

Does your printer have a parallel port or a USB port. If it has a parallel port (36 pin) and the cable you bought has a parallel port end then it should fit. Some HP printers used a USB type B (square) connector but I don't know if that was available on that model.

 

[BFG-9000]

You should have bought a parallel to ethernet print server instead to put it on a network, seeing as Windows 10 does not officially support parallel ports. That way you could have also used your old cable.

The problem is the regular parallel connector is the big 36 pin Centronics IEEE 1284 type B connector, while your printer uses the rarer mini-Centronics connector called IEEE 1284 type C

 

[pmcneff]

Does your printer have a parallel port or a USB port. If it has a parallel port (36 pin) and the cable you bought has a parallel port end then it should fit. Some HP printers used a USB type B (square) connector but I don't know if that was available on that model.

Thank you. My printer has a 36 pin parallel port, so that’s what I ordered from Amazon. Unfortunately, the one I ordered is too long so it doesn’t fit.

 

[The Paladin]

since the HP1100 uses as a connector a Connections 1 x parallel - 36 pin mini-Centronics
a standard parallel connector will not fit. so your choices are....

1/ you need to combine your USB-parallel adaptor to a parallel to mini centronics cable in this fashion and get it to fit into the plug of the printer.

2/ do the same thing with a male-female adaptor as shown below

3/ get a usb to mini Centronics

4/ lastly you could splurge a little and get a parallel to WIFi adaptor and use a parallel to mini Centronics adaptor and make your HP 1100 a wifi printer

ref: https://www.google.com/shopping/product/5625895716982301794/specs?q=HP+Laserjet+1100+printer&biw=1920&bih=931&dpr=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjl2LTd5bfdAhUNMawKHa3DChsQuC8I3QE

 

[BFG-9000]

My printer has a 36 pin parallel port, so that’s what I ordered from Amazon. Unfortunately, the one I ordered is too long so it doesn’t fit.

Both Centronics and Mini-Centronics are 36-pin. They need to be in order to be electrically compatible--they just aren't mechanically compatible. As I said, the ethernet print server is the best solution--unlike the Wifi version mentioned by The Paladin, it uses a standard DB25 connector which is the other, PC end of the printer cable that is the same no matter what the printer end is, so you can use your old cable. And it effectively makes the parallel port invisible to Windows because the OS on the print server (generally some flavor of Linux) is the only one that communicates with it.

While parallel ports are not supported in Windows 10 and generally do work using drivers built for older versions of Windows, there have been multiple updates such as build 1709 that temporarily broke printing over parallel ports for millions of people because unsupported means not tested for. Throw in another driver layer for the USB-to-parallel adapter and things can get even worse yet.

If you don't care about reliability, then this is the correct USB-to-Parallel cable on Amazon. You will note it actually mentions the LaserJet 1100 because that is one of the very few printers that actually came with a mini-Centronics port. Or use an adapter as mentioned--no electronics are inside as it's just a simple pin-converter