speedlite 300tl and 20d

according to the instruction manual I think I should be able to use my 300TL speedlite with my 20D on manual mode but I can not get it to fire - any advice appriciated

What's in manual mode, the flash or the camera, or both? They both should be if, in fact, the flash does work on the 20D.

Thanks PaCace, both are in manual and the 300tl works ok on my t90

Here's something you can try. Place two pieces of tape on the camera hot shoe so that the two pin contacts on each side of the hot shoe are covered (4 pin contacts all together) leaving only the center bigger contact exposed. Mount the flash again and see if that works. If it does, then the 300tl may not really be compatible with the digital EOS cameras, even in manual mode, unless the appropriate pins are covered up.