plipconfig Command in Linux

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The plipconfig is a legacy command in Linux that fine-tunes the PLIP (Parallel Line Internet Protocol) devices. It adjusts PLIP timing settings to improve performance, depending on the parallel port, cable, and CPU speed of both connected machines.

Table of Contents

Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the plipconfig command −

• Installation of plipconfig Command in Linux
• Syntax of plipconfig Command
• plipconfig Command Options
• Examples of plipconfig Command in Linux

Installation of plipconfig Command in Linux

The plipconfig command is a part of the net-tools package. To use it, install the net-tools package on Ubuntu, Kali Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Debian, and other Debian-based distributions using the following command −

sudo apt install net-tools

To install it on Arch Linux, use the command given below −

sudo pacman -S net-tools

To install plipconfig on Fedora, use the following command −

sudo dnf install net-tools

To verify the installation of the plipconfig command, check its version using the -V or --version option −

plipconfig -V

Syntax of plipconfig Command

The syntax of the plipconfig command in Linux is as follows −

plipconfig [interface] [options]

In the above syntax, the [interface] field is used to specify the PLIP network interface name, such as plip0; and the [options] field is used to specify the options to change the command's output.

Options of plipconfig Command

The options of the plipconfig command are listed below −

Examples of plipconfig Command in Linux

This section explores how to use the plipconfig command in Linux with examples −

• Checking PLIP Interface Configuration
• Adjusting Timing Parameters for Better Performance
• Displaying the Usage Help

Checking PLIP Interface Configuration

To check the PLIP interface configuration, use the plipconfig command with the PLIP interface name. Typical PLIP interface names are plip0, plip1, plip2, and so on.

plipconfig plip0

To list PLIP network interfaces, use the following command −

ip link show | grep plip

Adjusting Timing Parameters for Better Performance

To adjust timing parameters for better performance, use the nibble and trigger options with the plipconfig command −

plipconfig plip0 nibble 450 trigger 2000

In the above command, nibble 450 sets the nibble wait time to 450 microseconds (controls how long data transfer waits), and trigger 2000 sets the trigger wait time to 2000 microseconds (controls delay before sending data).

Note that reducing these values can speed up PLIP communication, and setting them too low may cause high CPU usage or data loss.

Displaying the Usage Help

To display the usage help, use the -h or --help option with the plipconfig command −

plipconfig -h

Conclusion

The plipconfig command is a legacy tool in Linux for adjusting PLIP (Parallel Line Internet Protocol) device timing settings to optimize performance. It is part of the net-tools package.

The plipconfig command allows checking PLIP interface configurations and modifying timing parameters using options like nibble and trigger. Proper adjustments can improve data transfer speed but may impact CPU usage. Although rarely used today, plipconfig remains useful for configuring PLIP connections on compatible systems.