Dongles and laptops

[Aramas]

I recently bought a new laptop that doesn't have a parallel port, so of course I can't use it for Autoyacht. I contacted them and they're unwilling to supply a usb dongle unless I upgrade to the current version, which as far as I can tell differs only in the version number and usb dongle. It's not going to happen. Ever.

Most of the extremely brief email response concerned paying them $200 an hour to talk to me. At least I know that I'll be giving my money to a different company when I upgrade.

Has anyone had any luck with using parallel dongles on usb ports via usb->parallel cables or port replicators? The only other alternative would be a software dongle crack, and since I've paid for the license I wouldn't even have to feel guilty about it. I may even make it available on emule

It doesn't pay to piss off paying customers.

[Martijn_vE]

To the best of my knowledge there are adapters available that allow you to plug serial devices into USB ports. From what I have seen however this doesn't work for dongles. The adapters are a lot cheaper than 200$ though, so it's at least worth a try

[duluthboats]

The CAM software I have is old and unsupported it uses a parallel port dongle. I also bought a new laptop without a parallel port; I tried a parallel to USB adapter it was a waste of money. The dongle works with a software driver which won’t look in the USB port. The cheapest fix for me was an old laptop with a parallel port used just for CAM work. $25 on an online auction.
Gary

[schrambo]

I know for sure that you can get a USB to RS232 - (9pin serial cable adaptor). Perhaps if you then use one of these with a RS232 to paralell port converter too. Messy I know but that may work.

[Aramas]

Problem solved. I downloaded a free crack on p2p, and it works perfectly on my new laptop. Now I can use my core 2 duo with 2GB of ram, wide screen and Radeon x1700 with 256MB of onboard ram. Huge improvement, especially rendering. I can throw away my crappy old Dell now.

I also appreciate the irony that a paying customer had to turn to criminals to provide the service that the company declined to do. And it was free