Black Box IC126C User manual

MARCH 2003
IC126C
High-Speed Parallel PCI
PC Plus Adapter
CUSTOMER SUPPORT INFORMATION
Order toll-free in the U.S.: Call 877-877-BBOX (outside U.S. call 724-746-5500)
FREE technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: Call 724-746-5500 or fax [phone]
Mailing address: Black Box Corporation, 1000 Park Drive, Lawrence, PA 15055-1018
Web site: www.blackbox.com • E-mail: [email protected]

1
FCC/IC RFI STATEMENTS
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND
CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS
RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATEMENTS
Class B Digital Device. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with
the limits for a Class B computing device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation. This equipment generates,
uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and, if not installed and used in
accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
telephone reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off
and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one of the
following measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to
which the receiver is connected.
• Consult an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Caution:
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for
compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
To meet FCC requirements, shielded cables are required to connect this device
to other Class B certified devices.
This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emission from
digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulation of the Canadian Department
of Communications.
Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélectriques dépassant les limites
applicables aux appareils numériques de classe B prescrites dans le Règlement sur le
brouillage radioélectrique publié par le ministère des Communications du Canada.

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HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
NORMAS OFICIALES MEXICANAS (NOM)
ELECTRICAL SAFETY STATEMENT
INSTRUCCIONES DE SEGURIDAD
1. Todas las instrucciones de seguridad y operación deberán ser leídas antes
de que el aparato eléctrico sea operado.
2. Las instrucciones de seguridad y operación deberán ser guardadas para
referencia futura.
3. Todas las advertencias en el aparato eléctrico y en sus instrucciones de
operación deben ser respetadas.
4. Todas las instrucciones de operación y uso deben ser seguidas.
5. El aparato eléctrico no deberá ser usado cerca del agua—por ejemplo,
cerca de la tina de baño, lavabo, sótano mojado o cerca de una alberca,
etc..
6. El aparato eléctrico debe ser usado únicamente con carritos o pedestales
que sean recomendados por el fabricante.
7. El aparato eléctrico debe ser montado a la pared o al techo sólo como sea
recomendado por el fabricante.
8. Servicio—El usuario no debe intentar dar servicio al equipo eléctrico más
allá a lo descrito en las instrucciones de operación. Todo otro servicio
deberá ser referido a personal de servicio calificado.
9. El aparato eléctrico debe ser situado de tal manera que su posición no
interfiera su uso. La colocación del aparato eléctrico sobre una cama,
sofá, alfombra o superficie similar puede bloquea la ventilación, no se
debe colocar en libreros o gabinetes que impidan el flujo de aire por los
orificios de ventilación.

3
NOM STATEMENT
10. El equipo eléctrico deber ser situado fuera del alcance de fuentes de calor
como radiadores, registros de calor, estufas u otros aparatos (incluyendo
amplificadores) que producen calor.
11. El aparato eléctrico deberá ser connectado a una fuente de poder sólo del
tipo descrito en el instructivo de operación, o como se indique en el
aparato.
12. Precaución debe ser tomada de tal manera que la tierra fisica y la
polarización del equipo no sea eliminada.
13. Los cables de la fuente de poder deben ser guiados de tal manera que no
sean pisados ni pellizcados por objetos colocados sobre o contra ellos,
poniendo particular atención a los contactos y receptáculos donde salen
del aparato.
14. El equipo eléctrico debe ser limpiado únicamente de acuerdo a las
recomendaciones del fabricante.
15. En caso de existir, una antena externa deberá ser localizada lejos de las
lineas de energia.
16. El cable de corriente deberá ser desconectado del cuando el equipo no
sea usado por un largo periodo de tiempo.
17. Cuidado debe ser tomado de tal manera que objectos liquidos no sean
derramados sobre la cubierta u orificios de ventilación.
18. Servicio por personal calificado deberá ser provisto cuando:
A: El cable de poder o el contacto ha sido dañado; u
B: Objectos han caído o líquido ha sido derramado dentro del
aparato; o
C: El aparato ha sido expuesto a la lluvia; o
D: El aparato parece no operar normalmente o muestra un cambio en
su desempeño; o
E: El aparato ha sido tirado o su cubierta ha sido dañada.

4
HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
Contents
Chapter Page
1. Specifications ................................................................ 5
2. Introduction ............................................................... 8
3. Hardware Installation .............................................. 10
4. Software Installation
4.1 Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, or XP) .................. 12
4.2 Windows NT .........................................................14
5. Reconfiguration for Use with Non-Printer
Devices (Windows 95/98/Me only)..................... 16
6. Optimization for Use with Iomega Zip Drives ....... 20
7. Troubleshooting ...................................................... 22
7.1 Common Difficulties ........................................ 22
7.2 Calling Black Box ............................................. 23
7.3 Shipping and Packaging .................................. 24

5
CHAPTER 1: Specifications
1. Specifications
System Hardware
Required — IBM PC compatible computer with at
least one available PCI slot
Operating System
Required — DOS, Microsoft Windows 3.x,
Windows NT, Windows 95, 98, Me,
2000, or XP
NOTE
For instructions for using DOS and Windows 3.x, refer to
the installation diskette.
Bus Used — PCI
Port Used — Single LPT port
Other Hardware
Used — Plug-and-Play compatible;
automatically self-configures
interrupt, I/O address, BIOS
address, etc.
Compliance —
CE; FCC Part 15, Subpart J, Class B;
DOC Class/MDC classe B
Standard — PCI 2.1

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HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
Interface — IEEE-1284 EPP (Enhanced Parallel
Port)
Data Rate — Up to 7.2 Mbps (~900 Kcps)
Clock Skew — ±2 ns
Maximum
Distance — 20 ft. (6.1 m) from Adapter to device
User Controls — Software drivers (included)
Connector — (1) DB25 female
Power — From the PC’s PCI bus:
Input: +5 ±0.25 VDC at 15 mA max.;
Consumption: 75 mW maximum
Temperature
Tolerance — Operating: 32 to 158˚ F (0 to 70˚ C);
Storage: –85 to 302˚ F (–65 to 150˚ C)
NOTE
The electronic circuitry in the High-
Speed Parallel PCI PC Plus Adapter
is capable of withstanding these
temperatures, but many of your
PC’s other components will probably
fail if you try to operate or store the
host PC at temperatures at the
extremes of the Adapter’s tolerance
range.

7
CHAPTER 1: Specifications
Humidity
Tolerance — Up to 90% noncondensing at standard
temperature and pressure
Size — Three-quarter-card;
Height (at tallest points):
Seated (not including goldfingers or
bracket): 2.6" (6.6 cm);
Unseated (including goldfingers but
not bracket): 2.9" (7.4 cm);
Total (including bracket):
4.7" (12 cm);
Width: 0.8" (2 cm);
Depth:
Not incl. bracket: 4.7" (12 cm);
Including bracket: 5" (12.6 cm)
Weight — Net: 2.1 oz. (60 g);
Shipping: 3.9 oz. (112 g)

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HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
2. Introduction
Thank you for purchasing a High-Speed Parallel PCI
PC Plus Adapter. We hope you find that it adds speed
and power to your parallel data communication.
Here are some of the useful features of the Adapter:
•IEEE-1284 compliant. Adds a PCI-bus DB25 female
Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) to your system,
occupying a single LPT port.
•Plug-and-Play compatible. Automatically selects
one available IRQ and one available PCI I/O
address—just plug it into the motherboard and
go!
•PCI compliant. Fully compliant with the PCI 2.1
specification.
•Compatible with all standard parallel peripherals.
100% compatible with any standard parallel-port
device, including laser, inkjet, bubble-jet, and dot-
matrix printers, parallel removable-storage
devices, and parallel scanners.

9
CHAPTER 2: Introduction
•Can be set to ISA parallel addresses. Configurable
to the standard ISA parallel-port addresses (0278
and 0378 hex) for compatibility with legacy
peripherals such as Iomega®Zip™ drives.
•Blistering speed. Up to three times faster than
standard ISA parallel ports and motherboard-
mounted EPP ports.
•Lifetime warranty. If the Adapter ever goes bad
due to a defect or a spontaneous component
failure, we’ll fix or replace it. Call Black Box
Technical Support for more details.
The remaining chapters of this manual describe how to
install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot the
Adapter.

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HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
3. Hardware Installation
Take these steps to install a High-Speed Parallel PCI
PC Plus Adapter in your computer:
1. Making sure that your PC is turned OFF and
unplugged, open its cover. (If you are unsure how
to do this, consult the PC’s manual.)
2. Locate an unused 32-bit PCI slot on the PC’s
motherboard. (PCI slots are usually white and are
shorter than ISA or EISA slots. If you are unsure
which of your PC’s slots are PCI type, consult the
PC’s manual.) Insert the Adapter in the slot,
making sure it is well seated, as shown in
Figure 3-1 below.
Figure 3-1. The Adapter seated in a PCI slot.
Screw for attaching Adapter’s bracket to PC’s housing
PCI Slot
Parallel
Port

11
CHAPTER 3: Hardware Installation
3. Screw the metal backplane of the Adapter to your
PC’s housing and replace the machine's cover.
4. Run a parallel cable from the Adapter’s DB25
female parallel port to your printer or other
parallel device.
Now install the Adapter’s driver software; refer to the
diskette if you are running DOS or Windows 3.x, or to
Chapter 4 if you are running Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000,
or XP, or Windows NT 4.0.
NOTES
Because the Parallel PCI PC Plus Adapter uses PCI (not
ISA) I/O address ranges, it will never be seen by your BIOS
at boot-up as a standard parallel port (occupying 0278h or
0378h), even if the address has been changed in Windows.
This is normal, and does not indicate a fault in your Parallel
PCI Adapter.
The Parallel PCI PC Plus Adapter will not work at address
0278h or 0378h if it is installed in a PCI slot that is behind a
PCI-to-PCI bridge. If you have trouble installing the adapter,
try seating it in a different slot.
In standard installations of Windows 2000/XP, the I/O
address cannot be changed to a legacy address.
Some devices (like external CD writers) default to “word
mode” (that is, 16-bit data transfer) for fastest performance.
Such devices need to operate in “byte mode” (8-bit data
transfer) to work with the adapter. Look in your device
software for a “byte mode” setting, and enable it.

12
HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
4. Software Installation
4.1 Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP
Take these steps to install the driver for the High-Speed
Parallel PCI PC Plus Adapter if your computer is
running Microsoft Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, or XP:
1. Turn the PC on. When Windows starts, it will find
the Adapter, which it will identify as a “Parallel PCI
Controller.” It will ask you for a driver for this
device; when it does, insert the included driver
diskette into your floppy drive. After copying the
necessary files from the diskette, Windows will
restart your PC in order to complete the
installation of the Adapter. If you’ve attached a
Plug-and-Play printer to the Adapter, the printer
will now be detected and “installed” also.
2. Double-click on this sequence of elements: “My
Computer,” “Control Panels,” “System,” “Device
Manager,” “Ports.” The Adapter will appear in the
Ports list as an entry similar to the one shown in
Figure 4-1 on the next page. If you need to
customize the Adapter’s settings, you can do so by
clicking on its Ports-list entry and then clicking on
Properties. (You won’t normally have to do this if

13
CHAPTER 4: Software Installation
you’ve connected the Adapter to a printer—the
Adapter’s factory-default settings should work—
but you probably will have to customize the
Adapter if you’ve connected it to a non-printer
peripheral; see the next chapter.)
Figure 4-1. How the Adapter might appear in the Ports list.

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HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
Your High-Speed Parallel PCI PC Plus Adapter should
now be ready for continuous operation.
4.2 Windows NT 4.0
Follow these steps:
1. Shut down the system and place the High-Speed
Parallel PCI Plus Adapter in a free (unused) PCI
slot, as described in Chapter 3.
2. Boot into Windows NT 4.0, log on as
Adminstrator, and place the Installation
and Utilities diskette into the floppy drive.
3. Run setup.exe in the NT 4.0 directory
on the floppy.
4. Assign the address. If you are connecting a printer
to the Adapter, choose the PCI bus assigned
address. If you are installing a non-printer
peripheral such as a scanner or external drive,
choose either 0278 – 027F or 0378 – 037F. Make
sure that you do not assign the Adapter to an
address used by your on-board parallel port. To
find the address of your on-board parallel port,
look in Start→Programs→Administrative
Tools→Windows NT diagnostics. Go to the

15
CHAPTER 4: Software Installation
Resources tab, then click the Devices button.
Double-click Parport. This will list the parallel
port address assignment. You can also verify
the successful installation of the Adapter here.
5. Reboot Windows NT 4.0.
CAUTION
The following devices are NOT compatible with Windows
NT 4.0:
IOMega ZIP drive
SyQuest SPARQ

16
HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
5. Reconfiguration for Use with
Non-Printer Devices
(Windows 95/98/Me only)
If you’ve run cable from the High-Speed Parallel PCI
PC Plus Adapter to a non-printer device such as an
external drive or parallel scanner, you might need to
reconfigure the Adapter, because some parallel devices
require parallel ports that use the standard (legacy) ISA
LPT addresses 0278 to 027F hex or 0378 to 037F hex.
(Because the Adapter is a fully compliant PCI device, its
default I/O-address range is beyond the standard range
for ISA I/O addresses.)
In order to connect a peripheral device with ISA
address requirements to the Adapter, you’ll have to
change the Adapter’s I/O address range manually. Take
these steps:
1. Double-click on this sequence of elements: “My
Computer,” “Control Panels,” “System,” “Device
Manager,” “Ports.” Find the Adapter’s entry in the
Ports list. Click on “Properties,” then on the
“Resources” tab. A screen like the one shown in
Figure 5-1 on the next page will appear. (Your
Adapter’s Input/Output Range and Interrupt

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CHAPTER 5: Reconfiguration for Use with Non-Printer Devices
Request might differ from those shown.)
Figure 5-1. How the Adapter’s Resources-list entry might appear.
2. Click on the “Use Automatic Settings” box to turn
it OFF (to make the check mark disappear).
3. Double-click on the words “Input/Output Range.”
A screen like the one shown in Figure 5-2 on the
next page will appear.

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HIGH-SPEED PARALLEL PCI PC PLUS ADAPTER
Figure 5-2. Editing the Adapter’s I/O-address range.
4. Use the up/down arrows to scroll to one of the
two ISA-standard parallel I/O-address settings—
“0278-027F” or “0378-037F”—or type one of these
address ranges in manually.
5. Click on “OK.” Windows will ask you if you want to
force this particular configuratlon rather than the
automatic one that it had previously chosen. Click
on “Yes.”

19
CHAPTER 5: Reconfiguration for Use with Non-Printer Devices
6. Make sure that choosing the new address hasn’t
created any conflicts with any other parallel ports
or other devices in your system. (Conflicts will be
indicated by yellow balloons with exclamation
points that appear in the “Device” list next to the
icons of the affected devices.) If no conflicts are
apparent, restart Windows.