Are you writing a single byte to the port, or a longer string? If
you specify anything longer than a single byte, then "strobing" becomes
an issue. Strobing provides a way to pass non-static information
out the parallel port, such as you would do when sending data to a
printer, but this also requires the device to respond in a particular
way. Make sure that you are writing a single byte (a string of
length 1, where each bit of that character corresponds to a data line
on the port), and tell us if you still have the same problem.
-tuba