SUMMARY

The MODE command cannot change the parallel port identified by PRN. At boot time, PRN is internally configured by MS-DOS to direct any communication with the PRN device to LPT1. In other words, PRN cannot be configured to communicate with any parallel port other than LPT1 using MS-DOS commands. For instance, the following command is sometimes mistaken as being able to associate a given parallel port with PRN:

   MODE LPTn

The letter "n" specifies the parallel device number of 1, 2, or 3. The above command merely cancels redirection from a parallel port to a COM port.

There are various public domain utilities that switch the address specifications for LPT1 and LPT2, giving the impression that PRN is communicating with another parallel device.