Parallel Port Settings Panel

Choose: VM > Settings > Hardware > Parallel Port

Currently, Workstation provides only partial emulation of PS/2 hardware. Specifically, interrupts requested by a device connected to the physical port are not passed to the virtual machine. Also, the guest operating system cannot use DMA (direct memory access) to move data to or from the port. For this reason, not all devices that attach to the parallel port are guaranteed to work correctly.

You can attach up to three parallel ports (LPT) to a virtual machine. The virtual parallel port can connect to a parallel port or a file on the host operating system. Make sure the virtual machine is powered off before you add or remove a parallel port.

 

Note The Workstation User’s Manual contains important information about using Iomega Zip drives in Windows 95 or Windows 98 guests. It also contains details about how to configure parallel ports to work properly on various Linux host kernels. See the section about parallel ports in the chapter on connecting devices.

You can set the following options in the Device status section:

•	Connected — Use this check box to connect or disconnect the port while the virtual machine is running.

•	Connect at power on — Select this check box if you want the port to be connected automatically whenever you power on the virtual machine. You can change this setting when the virtual machine is powered on or powered off.

If the parallel port device might be inaccessible to the guest operating system when the virtual machine is powered on, deselect this check box. For example, an Iomega Zip drive might not be connected when the virtual machine powers on. In this case, you can enable access to the parallel port after startup by using the VM > Removable Devices menu.

You can make changes to the following options in the Connection section when the virtual machine is powered on or powered off:

•	Use a physical parallel port — If you want the virtual machine to use a physical parallel port on the host computer, use the drop-down list to specify which available parallel port to use.

•	Use output file — Select this option if you want to send output from the virtual parallel port to a file on the host computer. Click Browse, and then either locate an existing output file or navigate to the desired directory and type a filename for the file you want to create.

 

Note When you power on the virtual machine, you might see an error message stating the parallel port on the host does not have an ECR (Extended Control Register). If so, it is possible the hardware supports ECR but it has been disabled in the BIOS. In this case, reboot the host, enter the host computer’s BIOS configuration editor (typically by holding down the Delete key early in the boot process), find the parallel port field, and enable ECP mode (or a combination of modes that includes ECP). Most modern computers support ECP mode.