Member Avatar for paul2594

I recently updated my system to XP-2 with a pentium III. I have a number of qbasic programs I developed to use in my hobbies and lo and behold, I can't print to my usb port. The programs run okay. I should think this is a problem that has been solved many times but I haven't run acrossed the answer. Perhaps print-to-file then open and print the file with notepad or something. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul

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A simple way to keep your old QB code printing on XP is to let Windows capture an LPT port and keep using QB’s normal output. Share your USB printer in Printers and Faxes (give it a short share name like QBUSB). Then map that share to an LPT port and print to it from QBasic:

' Run once per user (or at app start)
SHELL "NET USE LPT1 \\YourPC\QBUSB /PERSISTENT:YES"

' Then print as usual
OPEN "LPT1:" FOR OUTPUT AS #1
PRINT #1, "Hello from QBasic"
CLOSE #1

If the machine has a real LPT1, map to LPT2 or LPT3 and change the OPEN line. This approach plays well with ’s driver reminder and avoids the LPRINT pitfalls noted. See Microsoft’s NET USE command reference and older KB guidance showing LPTx redirection for DOS apps. (learn.microsoft.com)

If you prefer the “print-to-file” route mentioned, skip WordPad and send the text file straight to the Windows spooler with the built‑in PRINT command:

' After creating C:\QB\OUT.TXT in QB:
SHELL "PRINT /D:\\YourPC\QBUSB C:\QB\OUT.TXT"

PRINT supports both LPTn and \server\share targets and is available on XP. If your QB program emits ESC/P or PCL control codes (bold, condensed, etc.), results depend on the driver; using a Generic/Text Only queue or removing control codes usually yields clean text on modern USB printers. (learn.microsoft.com)

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Member Avatar for vegaseat

You might take a look at
USB Central

USBs like to use drivers.

Member Avatar for paul2594

Thanks! i check it out but i think i found a solution and it was as i suspected with a little wrinkle thrown in that makes it easier. 1st - create a text file the with the SHELL command you can open wordpad with a /p and the file name and wordpad will open the file and send it to the default windows printer. i haven't developed the code yet so wish me luck.

Thanks for you help. paul

Member Avatar for linux

You can use LPRINT , can't you?

Member Avatar for printfil

You can use LPRINT , can't you?

LPRINT is hardcoded to LPT1: (only) and doesn't offer a way to close the LPT port at the print job end, causing long delays in newer Windows systems. Changing "LPRINT" with "PRINT #" as explained in the article above is easy with a good text editor and solves both those problems.
Regards,
Davide

Member Avatar for RWGBob

Thanks! i check it out but i think i found a solution and it was as i suspected with a little wrinkle thrown in that makes it easier. 1st - create a text file the with the SHELL command you can open wordpad with a /p and the file name and wordpad will open the file and send it to the default windows printer. i haven't developed the code yet so wish me luck.

Thanks for you help. paul

OPEN "O",1,"PRINT.TMP"
PRINT #1, "Just testing the code."
CLOSE 1
SHELL "C:\PATH\WORDPAD.EXE"

That's all there is to it.

Member Avatar for RWGBob

OPEN "O",1,"PRINT.TMP"
PRINT #1, "Just testing the code."
CLOSE 1
SHELL "C:\PATH\WORDPAD.EXE"

That's all there is to it.

Oops!

SHELL "C:\PATH\WORDPAD.EXE PRINT.TMP"

Member Avatar for printfil

SHELL "C:\PATH\WORDPAD.EXE"

That's all there is to it.

That's not enough. This way all the printer control codes embedded in the text would end up on paper.
You should create an RTF file for Wordpad instead of a TXT, and translate all the Bold, Condensed and other control codes sent by the Basic program into the corresponding RTF commands.
Regards,
Davide

Member Avatar for Jackgrt

I recently updated my system to XP-2 with a pentium III. I have a number of qbasic programs I developed to use in my hobbies and lo and behold, I can't print to my usb port. The programs run okay. I should think this is a problem that has been solved many times but I haven't run acrossed the answer. Perhaps print-to-file then open and print the file with notepad or something. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul

reply: Try http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/dosprint.html

I had the same problem, & this works for me. Good luck. Jack

Member Avatar for Jackgrt

I recently updated my system to XP-2 with a pentium III. I have a number of qbasic programs I developed to use in my hobbies and lo and behold, I can't print to my usb port. The programs run okay. I should think this is a problem that has been solved many times but I haven't run acrossed the answer. Perhaps print-to-file then open and print the file with notepad or something. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul

Try http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/dosprint.html
It works for me! Jackgrt

Member Avatar for verban

I recently updated my system to XP-2 with a pentium III. I have a number of qbasic programs I developed to use in my hobbies and lo and behold, I can't print to my usb port. The programs run okay. I should think this is a problem that has been solved many times but I haven't run acrossed the answer. Perhaps print-to-file then open and print the file with notepad or something. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul

One way is to do a 'Print Screen' which copies the screen to clipboard, then paste into Paint or other graphic editor. You can print from there. For a formatted output, you'll need a line printer on a parallel port. There are converters on the market from parallel to USB, also. I'm hoping someone will respond with a way to get QBasic to drive the USB port, as I have the same problem.

Member Avatar for Jackgrt

or, try "printfil" (shareware), even better, for me. good luck, Jack

Member Avatar for nokki

Read this, userport.zip worked for us to allow qbasic to work in windows xp to control the arrick robotics through the parallel port.

Download userport.zip from here: http://www.embeddedtronics.com/design&ideas.html

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