Thread: output software program for the game or LPT port???

for a start you wont get 12V out from either the game/serial/printer port without some form of hardware interface...

http://kitsrus.com/kits.html#k74

I just bought one of these (havent recieved it yet)

There is software and hardware documentation available there

PC relay board

I am writing some VB software to control it. I will put the source code up as well as an executable when I have tested it properly.

you can get the same instructions I got for writing VB LPT i/o software from Aaron's website

Both Aaron and me have a bit about this on our web sites, (hardware and software) also this has been posted a few month back see this thread for a load of info.

2k can be a bit of a pain as I'm discovering, however if your logged on as an administrator it should be OK.

I say should be as I've been writting to the ports on my 2k machine (well works machine) for a couple of months now with no problems, but it stopped working a few days ago and I can't work out why.

Rob

DUDE- let me know as soon as your done writing the software- im not to good with tha stuff- now that link you posted- can i buy that unit like that??? or do i have to build it??? how much is it??? will it work under win 2000??? thanx man-

http://www.mpja.com/product.asp?product=6074+KT

I got it in today

This is in KIT form, which means you get all the parts (including a PCB), but have to solder the components to the board. It took me about a half an hour to do it, but I got my first soldering gun when I was 10--your results may vary.

The software I wrote will *NOT* work with any NT based system (according to Aaron's website). I have not tested it on my XP machine because of this.

since it is getting near 4am, I probably won't put my "testing" program up until tomorrow.

cant i use it under the command promt in 2k though???

Ah, I think you misunderstood me.

You can't use *MY* software in NT. the DOS-based stuff that you can download from the site I mentioned earlier may run, though. I dont know

Originally posted by Rob
2k can be a bit of a pain as I'm discovering, however if your logged on as an administrator it should be OK.

Are you sure that is what makes the difference, from what I have read and from my experence I needed to use a third party .OCX to get the ability to play with the parallel port.....

the one I am using is NTPORT, and the advantage is it works with all windows variants from 95--->XP which is nice for the end user.

and eaiser solution for VB that doesnt require a third party util would be nice tho.... so if you know how.... pass it on..

I uploaded my testing software (attached below)

There are 8 relay command buttons with "indicator lights"
red = off
green = on

there is a picture box at the bottom where the actual 8 bit number is shown (in binary)

NOTES:
the program does not automatically detect which outputs are on or off. But, everytime you click a command button it refreshes the picture box (but not the "indicator lights" yet)

When the computer boots into windows, output (relay) 3 is turned on. since the program does not automatically detect output status when it is loaded, if you click on relay 1 you will see:
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

This software will only work with LPT1 right now

TO BE UPDATED LATER:
I want to be able to allow the user to select the port used (LPT1 or LPT2) and change the captions on the command buttons. I think descriptive captions will be more useful than trying to remember what pushing "Relay 7" will do.

I also want the user to be able to select a time length for the relay to be on user the timer object. I plan on using this for door locks, windows, etc.