CompuServe Messages

Bruce, Here is my understanding of why the printer has to be turned on for the dongle to work correctly. Unless the dongle is battery powered, it requires a small amount of voltage (amperage? wattage?) in order to operate. It must draw this power from the parallel port of the computer. If a printer is connected to the dongle and and is off, circuitry of the printer supplies enough resistance to drop the voltage below the minimum level for the dongle to operate. If the printer is on (or if no printer is connected), there is no resistance. I believe this problem is inherent in all dongles except for those that are battery powered. I use an A/B printer buffer between the dongle and the printer which I keep on all the time, allowing me to turn the printer off at any time. I know next to nothing about electricity, but this is how our dongle supplier explained it to me. Hope this helps. Dennis Bragg