Missing parallel port

[Charles Radding]

Print spoolers (I have tried CUPS and now lprng) cannot find my parallel 
port. It's there; Windows knows about it; the kernel detects it, whether the 
parallel port is built in or a module, whether the kernel is 2.2.18 or 2.4.2; 
e.g. from dmesg

        parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [SPP]

But no luck on actually communicating through it with the printer. In linux, 
that is; Windows has no trouble.

Any suggestions?

        Charles Radding