Re: New to group and need some info

<snip>I was curious if I can use a parallel port ground pin for the
+5Vdc
on the drives, instead of getting +5Vdc from a molex from the Power
supply on the PC?</>


If I understand the question correctly to answer is no. There are a
bunch of ground pins on the parallel port but no +5. They are all
tied together at the PC end. Technically you could modify a cable and
peal out one of the wires that would normally go to ground at the
computer end and re-route it to +5 from either an external supply or
from a port on the computer (game) that has +5. On your breakout
board (if you have one and it is at the Gecko end of the cable) you
need to make sure the wire/pin you decide to use is not connected to
the other ground pins and you can redefine it as +5. The PC and the
+5 supply MUST share the same ground.