note BrowserUk <blockquote><i>Those are data communication ports and not general input/output pins </i></blockquote> <p>I beg to differ. From the perspective of the code, a parallel port is just a set of 3 registers -- 1x8-bit (data), 1x5-bit(status), 1x4bit(control) -- that can be read and written using the appropriate (INx/OUTx) instructions. <p>On modern OSs these are privileged instructions, so you do need a device driver that exposes them to application code, but given that access, when the data port is read, any of the data pins (2-9 on a db25 plug) held high will be 1; with those held low as 0. <p>With an appropriate device driver, this is easily programmed under windows (I've done it). And I read on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port|wikipedia] that <i>"On Linux, inb() and outb() can be used when a process is run as root and an ioperm() command is used to allow access to its base address; alternatively, ppdev allows shared access and can be used from userspace if the appropriate permissions are set."</i>. <div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-171588"> <hr /> <font size=1 > <div>With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'</div> <div>Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.</div> <div>"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". </div> <div>In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. </div> </font> </div></div> 1011907 1011918