LIS MCE HD44780 Serial to USB VFD....Help

[buckjohnsonus@yahoo.com]

I bought a case that came with an the above mentioned VFD display, but Smartie only supports the parallel HD44780 interface. Does anyone know how to make this display work with LCD smartie? If there's no solution how could I make a driver for the program?

Hooking to an internal USB header beats running a parallel cable out the back of the case. Why is no one picking up on this?

Mark

[limbo]

Why is no one picking up on this?
Mark

Hey Mark...
Be patient. If is there any known solution the LCD Smartie supporters will help you..
Meanwhile you can provide some additional information on the module, this will help more to find the display type.(manuals, photos or any other available extra info).

note: Please don't double post about this

[buckjohnsonus@yahoo.com]

What more information do you want? It's a HD44780 compatible display that connects via USB cable. It uses a usb -> serial driver. I've seen quite a few posts on this unit and no one has really come up with any solution. LCD Smartie supports HD44780 parallel connections and supports other displays using a serial connection...so why no support for serial HD44780's?

The LIS MCE can be seen here. http://www.vlsys.co.kr/

Does anyone have any information on how to interface with a serial HD44780 display. I would try writing a driver for it myself, but have no idea where to begin, or what signals need to be sent to the com port to activate the display. Anyone have any solid info on how this is done?

This is the company that makes the usb to serial interface. http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

Mark

[/img]

[limbo]

Your post seems to be aggressive... Why?
I just asked for extra info (inside the parenthesis) in order to give the forum members the ability to help you .

Anyway you can use the test driver...


Please be polite

[Groobies]

Hi buck, I can understand your anxiousness in wanting to get the L.I.S VFD to work with LCD Smartie. At a quick glance however your reply does appear to be a demand than a request for an otherwise free program. Please note that nobody is obligated to help you and if they do help, it is from their own free will and time.

Anyway, back on topic.

Limbo, I just got this recently and could not figure how to get LCD Smartie to work with it too. Got this VFD to add on to my current Silverstone unit as the Silverstone's display still gets corrupted when using the winamp spectrum analyzer with LCD Smartie as mentioned in previous posts. Would appreciate if someone could somehow code a DLL plugin or sorts for Smartie to make it work with the L.I.S MCE =D
I have the USB to Serial Drivers for dissecting if it helps. Thanks.

Non programmer/electrical background
Forumer.

[mattcro]

The USB-Serial interface isn't a problem - the display appears as if it were a regular serial port (that's the FTDI bit)and any software (like Smartie) treats it as a serial port, not directly as a HD44780 display.

It's the commands that must be sent to it that are the problem. The manufacturer might have used an existing command set (like Matrix Orbital or whatever) that is easy to use or compatible with other displays, or made up their own commands (more likely). These commands get translated by the module microcontroller into series of HD44780 commands.

VLSystem don't seem to have any info on programming the display. They obviously expect people to use their own software...

A bit of reverse engineering effort will be required to figure out the commands to drive the display.

NB I don't have a VLSystem display or FTDI serial interface, I'm just attempting to explain some of the background.

[buckjohnsonus@yahoo.com]

I wasn't being aggressive just asking.

How do you use the test driver and will it work with the USB/Serial interface?

Where is the driver in the installation? I read the little bit of information available for the test driver, but I don't understand the various hex info that people are using...what do all those numbers mean? How do I get smartie to use the test driver?

Shouldn't all HD44780 devices use the same commands?

I found a program that lets me spy on the information passed to the com port, but don't know where to start to figure out what all this means. Where do I start? Can anyone help?

Here is the information given when the port is identified and some information is written to the vfd....The lm2 codes are output when the core program searches for the correct COM port. Can anyone tell me what is going on here? This displays the clock so much of the information is probably just a redisplay with updated seconds.

Code: Select all

?}??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
??
LM2
 ?<NUL>?                    <NUL>?<NUL>?                    <NUL><NUL><NUL><NUL>?<NUL><NUL><SO><DC1><DC1><DC1><DC1><DC1><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><NUL><NUL><NUL><SO><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><NUL><NUL><SOH><DC1><DC1><DC1><DC1><SI><NUL><NUL><SO><DLE><DLE><DLE><DLE><DLE><NUL><NUL><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SO><DLE><DLE><DLE><DLE><DLE><SO><NUL><SO><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SOH><SO><NUL>?<NUL>?     Windows XP     <NUL>?<NUL>?Media Center Edition<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<ETX><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL>U<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL>U<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><EOT>.<EOT><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK>O.<BEL><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.UU<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.UU<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.UO<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.UO<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.UO<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.UO<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<BS><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.U<BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH>U<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH>U<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH>O<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<ENQ><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<SOH><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK>U<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><BS><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK>U<NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><ENQ><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><ACK><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><STX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><ETX><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><SOH><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK><BEL><NUL>?<NUL>?MediaCenter <ENQ><STX>.<STX><STX>.<STX><EOT><NUL>?<NUL>?Home     PM <SOH><ACK>.<ACK><SOH>.<ACK>O<NUL>

[limbo]

This page contains info about the test driver:
http://lcdsmartie.sourceforge.net/testdriver.html
And some examples how to use the settings.

The infomation you have posted can't help (at least me)

I attach a screenshot and an ini example.
This is just a strat you have to set your own com port (you can find it under the system properties) and you have to trigger the driver values.

Notice:
The test driver is available only until the version 5.3 final.

[buckjohnsonus@yahoo.com]

Ok...so baudrate should be equal to 9600? That's what my com port uses.
Comport should equal 3 since that's my com port right?
LCDType=5 enables the test driver.
Parallelport=888...does that disable parallel settings?
Test Driver...here's where I'm really confused. What do the numbers next to Init and GotoLineX mean? And what do the numbers next to CharMap mean? I'm not a VFD guru and the documentation didn't help me out very much. Any help from anyone would be appreciated.
Is there anything else that should be set?

Mark

[Groobies]

hmmm...Is there a way to drive the VLSys display just like the USB Matrix Orbital ones? Or perhaps the display uses some different or proprietor controller board which locks other software from accessing it or something?
Would love to see LCD Smartie work with the LIS MCE. Any form of advise to point me in a general direction to get it working with Smarts appreciated. Cheers

[Fast351]

Hopefully you guys are still watching. Check this thread:

http://forums.lcdsmartie.org/viewtopic.php?t=1266

[Fast351]

Did you guys get a chance to try this yet? Specifically I'm looking for feedback on whether the custom characters work and the brightness control works.

-Mike