Help smarties cant talk to lcd :(

[pete1886]

Ok so im new to all this and got myself a lcd screen. in particular this one>
HD44780 Backlit 2004 LCD Display Blue Backlight 20x4 Arduino Raspberry Pi AVR
Character count: 4 lines x 20 characters
Operating voltage: 5V DC
Module dimension: 98mm x 60mm x 13mm
Viewing area size: 77mm x 26mm
Backlight: BLUE
Controller IC: SPLC780D or similar (HD44780 compatible)

im pretty handy wit a soldering iron so i got to work

i have got a brand new printer cable (25pin ) and i have cut both of the plugs off it and purchased 1 new d25 case plug that is dismantable.
i cant post any pictures as this website tells me my post looks too spamy with url links to my pics. can admin help me with this ?


i have plugged it in and give it power and this is what i get on he lcd screen >picturere moved<
picture not that good but its 2 white lines/ squares .apparently this is a good sign that indicates itc connected correctly as i read online


now my problem is trying to get smarties to send information to the screen to display it.just white squares

i am running on windows 7 64bit
my motherboard is M5A78L-MLX v2 (latest bios)
bios setting
epp
3f8/irq4
378
irq7

i read online as im using 64bit OS there i no drivers, thought i did follow instructions that said to download InpOutBinaries_1500 (1)

in device manager under ports it says printer port (LPT1)

im hope its just a setting that needs changing to get it to work as iv spent all day searching online trying to do it and im at the point of giving up if no one here can help me

id be soo happy if i can get it going. any help or more info let me no thanks
i have pictures of the build and screen shots of smarties program if it would help ?just need to find a way t post them on here

[dperrow]

Hi,
This is almost certainly either the wiring or the way the driver has been installed. The display proves you have power and the backlight is connected (It might just be the contrast setting though so try adjusting this) but does not mean the Enable,R/W, data lines etc. are connected coorrectly.

Can you supply details of the wiring and how the driver has been installed? If you cant upload pictures then send me a private message with them and I'll see if I can help.

[hydrolisk1792]

You also need to go into the BIOS and set your port for eitehr EEP or ECP, this makes it to where you are able to "bit bang" the LPT port as this is basically what Smartie does (with code strings of corse). Then as Dperrow said above, MAKE SURE your wiring is correct, doubble check everything..