Last modified on 11 February 2010, at 05:48

Connector:Printer port

Revision as of 05:48, 11 February 2010 by Nocash (Talk | contribs) (Aleste Printer Port)

Classic CPC Pinout

Amstrad CPC Printer port

Pin No. CPC PC / Centronics
1 /Strobe /Strobe
2 Data 0 Data 0
3 Data 1 Data 1
4 Data 2 Data 2
5 Data 3 Data 3
6 Data 4 Data 4
7 Data 5 Data 5
8 Data 6 Data 6
9 GND Data 7
10 NC /Ack
11 Busy Busy
12 NC PaperEnd
13 NC SLCT
14 GND /AutoLF
15 NC
16 GND
17 NC
(18) NC
19..26 GND GND
27 NC GND
28 GND GND
29..30 NC GND
31 NC /Init
32 NC /Error
33 GND
34 NC
35 NC
(36) NC /Select
  • Note: Despite of using a 34pin edge connector, Amstrad used a 36pin Centronics-style pin numbering. Pin 18 and Pin 36 do not exist on the 34pin edge connector.
  • As shown above Pin9 is wired to GND (instead of Data 7), for upgrading, see 8bit Printer Ports.

CPC Plus and KC Compact Pinout

Amstrad CPC Printer port

Pin No. CPC+ KC Compact PC
1 /Strobe /Strobe /Strobe
2 Data 0 Data 0 Data 0
3 Data 1 Data 1 Data 1
4 Data 2 Data 2 Data 2
5 Data 3 Data 3 Data 3
6 Data 4 Data 4 Data 4
7 Data 5 Data 5 Data 5
8 Data 6 Data 6 Data 6
9 Data 7 (CRTC) Data 7 (PIO) Data 7
10 NC NC /Ack
11 Busy Busy Busy
12 NC NC PaperEnd
13 NC NC SLCT
14 NC NC /AutoLF
15 NC NC /Error
16 +5V NC /Init
17 GND NC /Select
18-25 GND GND GND

CPC+ and KC Compact printer ports differ on Pin 16,17. Also, Pin 9 is controlled differently on software side (see 8bit Printer Ports). And, Pin 1-8 are bi-directional on the KC Compact.

Aleste Printer Port

The Aleste 520EX uses two 7pin DIN female connectors:

 Pin    X5.B     X5.A         X5.B       X5.A
 1      D4       D0           __ __      __ __
 2      COMMON   GND         /  -  \    /  -  \
 3      D7       D3         |(7) (6)|  |7     6|
 4      D5       D1         |3     1|  |3     1|
 5      D6       D2          \5_2_4/    \5_2_4/
 6      ?        STROBE
 7      ?        BUSY
 Shield GND      GND
  • According to the schematics, X5.B is only 5pin. But according to component map and all existing photos, both connectors are 7pin. The two extra pins are possibly unused.
  • COMMON is /Joystick1 select, there is no purpose specified for it being on the printer port. It could be possibly used as /AutoLF, /Select, or /Init (though the latter one would reset the printer on every keyboard scanning).