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I am trying to find a data cable for a Kyocera KM 2530 copier/printer. It has a couple of ports on the back that look kind of like SATA ports. I haven't seen this before. Does anyone know what kind of cable I need?

Larger port:

mystery data port

Smaller port below the bigger one:

Smaller mystery port

Kamil Maciorowski
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JBiggs
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    That is absolutely not a SATA port. According to the operator manual for the printer, the printer has a (network port, serial port, and parallel port). The quality of your screenshots make it difficult to confirm that’s the case. – Ramhound Apr 30 '20 at 00:57
  • Thanks. I didn't say I thought it was a SATA port. I said it kind of looks like one. I would assume it is some kind of parallel port, but I have never seen one that looks like this. – JBiggs Apr 30 '20 at 03:42
  • The manual indicates a serial port and a parallel port exist on the printer. Are these ports located in the location of those ports? This requires you to look at the manual, it was easily found, specifically the operator's manual not the service manual. – Ramhound Apr 30 '20 at 03:54
  • The screenshots looks gigantic, can we please have a more zoomed out image? btw I tried reverse searching this image in google expecting no results, and all it suggested me were gas stoves :| But, as @Ramhound suggests, you should go with the user manual. –  Apr 30 '20 at 04:17
  • @Ramhound I started with the manual, which indicated that it had a parallel and an ethernet port, but the parallel port shown is a conventional parallel port which used to be common, not the funny shaped square one on my unit. Mine also has no ethernet port. I figured that the 2530 model has been supported for a long time and there have been multiple variations over the years. I will get some better pics if it will help. – JBiggs Apr 30 '20 at 04:48
  • @Ramhound I found the manuals online. The owners manual doesn't mention the pictured ports at all, only the service manual does. – Moshe Katz Apr 30 '20 at 05:05

2 Answers2

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The pictures you have taken are of proprietary ports that are used for accessories that can be attached to the main body of the machine, in this case referring to folding, stapling, and sorting "finisher" units. Here is what the service manual shows for those plugs: accessory plugs

You are looking at the ports in the center on the back of the machine, but that is the wrong place to look. You need to look at the right hand side, just at the back corner. There you will likely find the three ports for attaching to a computer - a parallel port, a serial port, and a network jack. If you don't see any ports there, congratulations! You've discovered the world of "enterprise printers," in which printer companies charge separately for every feature ... and you do not have the "printing system" optional add-on! If you do have ports there, read on...

Since most modern computers don't have serial or parallel ports anymore but almost everyone has network connectivity, I suggest you try connecting it to your network. However, this machine might need a "network enablement" device (see above about enterprise printers) to allow network printing, which yours may or may not have.

If you can't do that, the other answer here is correct that the next-best option is parallel, but I've had bad experiences with Kyocera "enterprise" printers and USB-parallel converters. Specifically, trying to connect to a similar machine it would randomly stop printing in the middle of long documents and the only way to fix it would be to reboot both the computer and the printer.

Moshe Katz
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  • Thanks! That really clears things up! Now back to the IT puzzle... LOL – JBiggs Apr 30 '20 at 13:34
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    @JBiggs you should definitely download the service manual if you plan to continue working with this machine. – Moshe Katz Apr 30 '20 at 13:42
  • Do you know if it is possible to add a network enablement module to one of these aftermarket? I don't have a parallel port or Ethernet port on this thing. – JBiggs Apr 30 '20 at 13:51
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    @JBiggs I'm sure it's possible, but you'd have to find one for sale. Finding parts for this 20-year-old machine is going to be very difficult. – Moshe Katz Apr 30 '20 at 14:10
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I'm not sure, but the bottom one looks like it might be an IBM High Speed Serial port. It might also be some sort of proprietary port.

The connector you want to look for is a Centronics parallel connector. You need to get a USB adapter. Here is an image credit Wikipedia: enter image description here

Robert Wm Ruedisueli
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