I have a POS printer connect to LPT1 port in Win 98, VFP 5

Under spool settings,

[x] Print directly to the printer is selected

Before allowing user to enter a card transaction, I need
to know if the printer is online and ready.
However, under vfp printstatus() will not work.

How to check printer ready status ( some bits in
lpt printer status port) from VFP ?