Connector:Printer port

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Pinouts for the CPC's 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 (or logic LOW in late cost-down models) Data 7
10 NC /Ack
11 Busy Busy
12 NC PaperEnd
13 NC SLCT
14 GND /AutoLF
15 NC (or, CPC664: Connects to Pin16)
16 GND (or, CPC664: Connects to Pin15)
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      UCC      STROBE
 7      UCC      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. According to the Russian User Manual, the two extra pins are UCC (+5V).
  • 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).
  • Caution: The Aleste uses different I/O Ports than CPCs to access the Printer.