HD44780 LCD problem in cf 1.5

**AngryMan** · 01-21-2006, 02:57 PM

first of all, I would have posted this in the LCD technical forum, but the problem only occurs in CF so here I am.

Okay, so the oither day i buy a 16x2 blue/white lcd panel, and I butcher a parralel cable to hook it up. I had one of these a long time ago, and fried it, so this time I was taking extra care in not screwing it up. I meticulously mapped the wiring for the cable, then soldered one by one, looking at my work under a magnifying glass. all seemed well, until I tried to plug it in and got nothing. I had a handful of different lcd testing applications that came with the display, and none of them seemed to do any good.

so I checked, rechecked and tripled checked my work, then I started over with a new cable and simplified my design a little. (skipping the pullup resistors and connecting the contrast pin right to ground)

still nothing in CF, but I downloaded another app called LCD center 2.0 and was able to get it to initialise, print text to the screen, including some motherboard monitor stuff, and lo and behold, when I fired up winamp, I was able to get the id3 info, track times etc to display as I wanted them too.

so why wont it work in Centrafuse? I mean, I was so psyched to see that CF had built in lcd/vfd support, thats why i ran out to buy one in the first place.

here is what it does.
when the LCD is powered up, I get the entire top row of the LCD is "lit" - as in, all blocks accross the lcd. the bottom is blank.
this is what the LCD looks like when it is ready to receive data, so its ready to go. when I tell CF to use the vfd, with the proper settings for the panel, the screen flickers a bit, and the top half of the bottom row of the screen flickers as well. solid blocks, but only the top half of the row. - or basically the top three quarters of the entire display lights up.

so Im wondering, has anyone else had this problem?

remember, it works under winamp, but not under CF.

I edited the vfd.xml file in cf and doubled all of the timing values in hopes that would fix it.
no go.. anyway, any help would be totally appreciated.

thanks in advance.

**AngryMan** · 01-23-2006, 08:11 PM

bump for some guidance here? im really stumped. I have it working in windows with "lcdcenter" with track names and stuff from winamp, but when I try to use centrafuse it freaks out. - does CF try to manage the backlighting? I noticed that the CF setup calls the LCD a "vfd" instead of a LCD now. the HD44780 isnt a VFD like the matrix orbital screens are.. might that be a part of the problem??

**veetid** · 01-24-2006, 11:21 AM

I will check in to it... Does anyway have it working in the current version? I haven't actually tested that code in a while... My LCD broke.... I plan to get another one and test it out, work out any bugs...

david

**AngryMan** · 01-25-2006, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by veetid

I will check in to it... Does anyway have it working in the current version? I haven't actually tested that code in a while... My LCD broke.... I plan to get another one and test it out, work out any bugs...
david

Id be willing to try it on another computer with an older version of CF, - if I remember right, people were saying ti was working fine with 1.3 is that right?

if you could send me a copy of that version, I could back clock the laptop to the older data and try installing it there. I also have another LCD panel, a 20x4 that I was going to hook up to another lpt cable and see if that one worked.

if that has the same symptoms, I might be willing to mail you one of them all hooked up, as a loaner. - they are Very cheap now tho, only about 10$ on ebay.
I got mine from this guy, http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZdche168yahooQQhtZ-1

6.99 plus 4.99 shipping for the 16x2 blue and white with a cdrom full of instructions schematics, pdf files, and programs etc etc.

anyway, thank for your help! and keep up the good work

looking forward to 1.6

**veetid** · 01-25-2006, 03:20 PM

I will order one and get it fixed... I wasn't aware that it was broken until your post... The code was ported from 1.3 to 1.4 and I assumed it worked, but since I did not have a working LCD to test with, I was not positive...

david

**AngryMan** · 01-25-2006, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by veetid

I will order one and get it fixed... I wasn't aware that it was broken until your post... The code was ported from 1.3 to 1.4 and I assumed it worked, but since I did not have a working LCD to test with, I was not positive...

david

oh man, you RULE.
I spent a couple hours wiring up a new 20x4 lcd this afternoon, but I had to go to work before I could test it. Ill test it tonight when I get home and see if it behaves the same way as the 16x2.

one thing of note: whatever CF is doing to the display is jamming it up pretty good. it makes it so when I switch to the "lcdcenter" program, even that wont work right until I have quit and restarted it two or three times.
(this is when using the 16x2, not sure what happens when I try the 20x4)

hope that helps.

**AngryMan** · 01-27-2006, 06:39 PM

bump (forgetme not) lol

**AngryMan** · 02-01-2006, 07:11 PM

any luck with this? I now have two lcds wired up and ready to go. just waiting for the "it works" before I install it.
I have my dash all apart waiting for the mod too.

**AngryMan** · 02-08-2006, 11:52 PM

Hey David, whats the good word? any progress on getting a lcd screen?
my offer still stands on mailing you one of mine. its all wired up and ready to go. works perfectly through another program.
just give me an address to send it to

**AngryMan** · 03-14-2006, 12:30 AM

still no luck with my two character lcds in cf..

thats a big bummer for me

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