Problems with char lcd

VidarXT · 06-15-2002, 01:45 PM

I had my Seiko 2014 running perfectly on my kitchen counter but when I put it in the car, the winamp plugin stopped working. LCDprint runs fine! But the winamp output is all scrambled like I'm missing a connection somewhere.

The only thing that changed was the added length of 3 wires that were a little too short to go to the back of the car.

Is there a problem with the connection or did the plugin somehow change from house to car?

Thanks.

VidarXT · 06-16-2002, 08:03 AM

Well. I don't think it matters anymore. While I was in back checking wire connections, dad was up front check some others and evidently the ground wire fell and hit the power inverter. The computer shut down and when it came back up, the LCD no longer displays anything. Not even lines 1 and 3 of solid blocks. The backlight still comes on.

I'm assuming the screen is dead. What do you guys think? Guess I'll have to buy another one. All our time spent won't be wasted though because all we'd have to do is resolder the original 14 pins to the board.

Rob · 06-17-2002, 11:15 AM

Sounds dead, I've killed a couple like this, and the PC has shut down like you described. I thought I'd killed my PC the first time as the built in circuit breaker takes about 5 min to reset.

cenwesi · 06-17-2002, 11:29 AM

lol....i recommend u get TFT and call it a day
i mean there are so dirt cheap these days

VidarXT · 06-17-2002, 11:40 AM

Whoa...you can get TFT screens for $15 that don't require the purchase and further setup of a graphics card and additional tweaking to my car now?!!?

Thanks for your input Charles...

I'll just buy a new screen but does anyone know what was going on with the original problem? LCDPrint.exe worked fine. Perfect. But the winamp plugin sent garbled characters. If it's a wiring issue I'll handle that but if it's something in software, then I don't know what else to mess with.

jol · 06-17-2002, 12:32 PM

hey, $15 is cheap! ebay or what?

MP3DUB · 06-17-2002, 03:06 PM

to wager a guess, lcd print only sends a small bit of static data at a slow rate, where as the lcd plugin probably sends the data "too fast" for the length of cable, causing crosstalk, or picking up on emi from the car. When you rebuild it, try sheilding the cable further, or try a new cable the proper length.

Rob · 06-17-2002, 04:04 PM

I'd have to disagree with MP3DUB here, sorry. But the only time data is sent to the LCD is when what's on the screen changes, and then it's a case of writting a whole load of ASCII symbols to the screen. What software you use shouldn't effect the rate the data is transmitted.

Does LCD print work in the car with the extra wiring?

Also what plugin are you using? some of the plugings use pin16 nInitalise to control register select on the LCD with others use pin17 nSelect Printer to control register select on the LCD.

MP3DUB · 06-17-2002, 07:17 PM

Heh, big surprise that im wrong

(as ive never played with a parralell lcd, only my serial vfd

). But what I was trying to get across (probably still wrong) but lcd print (to my understanding) simply prints a txt file to the lcd staticly. one burst of ascii down the lines. the winamp plugin is constantly sending data, scrolling song titles, updating the time, displaying a vis, might create a higher constant noise along the lines, causing the data corruption?

THEMP3KID · 06-17-2002, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MP3DUB
Heh, big surprise that im wrong (as ive never played with a parralell lcd, only my serial vfd ). But what I was trying to get across (probably still wrong) but lcd print (to my understanding) simply prints a txt file to the lcd staticly. one burst of ascii down the lines. the winamp plugin is constantly sending data, scrolling song titles, updating the time, displaying a vis, might create a higher constant noise along the lines, causing the data corruption?

Yeah, I see what you are saying, and see no reason why this couldn't be the case... With my character LCD, I couldn't get it to work with both LCDprint and a winamp plugin as they used a different pin (as suggested above) but when the wire was connected to the wrong place, I got nothing on the screen, not garbage... anyway.. good luck..

VidarXT · 06-17-2002, 09:33 PM

Yeah, LCD print worked in the car even with the 2 feet of extra wiring.

The winamp plugin I'm using is LCDisplayer 1.01 by Mike Lynch. After deciding the old .58 version from 1998 just wasn't cutting it I realized that there probably was a newer version. After I tried it, all my problems were fixed.

It worked perfectly in the house and I couldn't wait to get it in the car. Realized that 3 of the wires weren't gonna make it all the way to the back and spliced some more to catch up with the other 9 or so.

LCDprint worked fine but the plugin was acting like it was missing a connection somewhere. I had that problem before I put it in the car. A single connection wasn't good and it was giving me complete garbage but in the current state it displays some information but it doubles over onitself and scrolls in all directions and overlaps on other lines. Other characters flash between two.

I thought it could be a timing problem but I didn't see how adding the same length to just 3 wires would completely mess that up especially when lcdprint worked fine.

Rob · 06-18-2002, 11:23 AM

Interesting, as I said before I don't think it's a data rate problem (based on having written various software for these things) also Mike's plugin does refresh, (about a year ago I got in touch with him regarding refresh info, beside the point).

From memory I recon your best bet is likely to be the .ini file, check and double check that every thing in this file is 100% correct, as this plugin will do weird things if there's a slight error with the ini. file.

That's all I can think of for now.

Rob

jol · 06-18-2002, 02:27 PM

I also got crap with the plugin, but lcdprint were ok. i used some floppy cables, dont do that.

i think mp3dub is right in some parts, i dont know about the rate and stuff, but one car = one giant source of emi

http://sproggy.mp3car.com/display/buffer.pdf

i'd go with that one if i hadn't gotten the parts to build rob's parallell extension design..

VidarXT · 07-15-2002, 10:20 PM

I'm sorry. I don't understand that diagram. I just got my new screen up and running and it's doing the same thing. Sometimes even LCDprint messes up but as of lately it's fine.

I really wish the screen would display correctly because my system could be considered complete (at least for this car).

If anyone could explain the schematic a little, it would be very much appreciated. I hope it's simple to construct especially for 9 feet of wiring.

Thanks guys.

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