Need help testing combined Parallel/Serial HD44780 driver

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 2nd, 2007, 11:50 am

Sent you a PM with my shipping address...

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 2nd, 2007, 12:03 pm

I will give it to my brother tomorrow and let you know when it ships,Thanks ,Mike

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 5th, 2007, 7:39 pm

Try the new driver.

Note the extra startup parameter regarding brightness control.

Set it to 1 (alt mode) if you want it to work with the POP display, 2 ifyou want it disabled and run at full brightness all the time.

-Mike

http://home.fast351.com:4141/lisvfd.dll

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 6th, 2007, 3:53 am

Hello Mike,
Did you get the display from my brother?I tried the new driver and the #2 for the brightness works as with the first driver it was a lot dimmer.Didnt try 1 or 0.Still have to set at 19200 baud,don't know if this is normal for this display.Still when I change anything on thr screens it gets all these weird numbers and symbols,than I closed Smartie and reopened,would not reset display.So I shutdown the PC and it was back to normal.Dennis

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 6th, 2007, 11:53 am

I got the display and the display works great here. Are you sure you have the correct version loaded? (Check in the setup, it should say v1.1).

-Mike

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 6th, 2007, 1:13 pm

Mike,
I am a bit confused,where is this version v1.1 in the setup.I chose the ls driver and selected the correct screen size.What baud are you running it at.And I gather it doesn't go all screwy when you change something in one of the screens.Say as long as you have it,what is the possibility of writing a demo.dll that would look good on it ,sense it is 20x2 and what comes with Smartie is for a 20x4 ,I think.Not a bad little display.Oh that adapter board they use to make it a serial connection,how hard would it to fabricate one to use on a LCD where the 16 pins are in a row on top of the display.Well I am glad it works and will wait till you instruct me on this v1.1 diddy.Thanks,Dennis PS My brother and I talk nightly using Skype,we could get a conference going if you useit

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 6th, 2007, 1:20 pm

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dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 6th, 2007, 1:33 pm

Mike,
I don't know as I have the Smartie that I hooked my display to,on another PC,which is not hooked right now.I did download the lastest dll you put two posts above this.I will check and let you know tomorrow.I never noticed that.Thanks,DennisPS I did go into device manager and change the com1 baud to 19200 today,as it is set at 9600 by default,that I did not do the first time i hooked it up

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 6th, 2007, 2:04 pm

Baud rate doesn't matter in the control panel. The driver re-inits that anyway.

-Mike

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 6th, 2007, 8:48 pm

Mike,
I have the correct version v1.1.As to the control panel ,does that mean I don't have to set anything in?I will hookup the display later and see what it does and let you know,Dennis

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 6th, 2007, 8:54 pm

dwombat wrote:Mike,
I have the correct version v1.1.As to the control panel ,does that mean I don't have to set anything in?I will hookup the display later and see what it does and let you know,Dennis

You should be using COM1,19200,1 or COM1,19200,2 for this POP display. Reason being is the brightness control structure is different. Adjust COM port as appropriate...

(In case you're curious, the display you sent me uses the 4 bit interface internally, whereas the newer units use the 8 bit data interface).

The display you sent me works just great here. I haven't tested a ton of screen content though. If you find something doesn't work, e-mail me your INI file and steps to replicate the problem.

BTW, I am leaving work for the weekend (which is where I have the display) so I won't be able to get to anything else till monday.

-Mike

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 7th, 2007, 12:54 am

Mike'
Just got the display hooked up and using Com2,19200,2.I did some screen changes and everything stayed normal.This 4bit and 8bit how does it affect the display?I have two serial ports on this computer Com1,Com2,Ihad it hooked to Com2,so left it there sinse it is working.I will try over the weekend to see how it does.Don't forget about that adapter board,somebody must sell one of those.I see ones on the forums people have built,a pain to get all the parts and circuit board.Have a nice weekend,Dennis PS Try a annimation and a picture on the display

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 7th, 2007, 1:24 am

dwombat wrote:Mike'
Just got the display hooked up and using Com2,19200,2.I did some screen changes and everything stayed normal.This 4bit and 8bit how does it affect the display?I have two serial ports on this computer Com1,Com2,Ihad it hooked to Com2,so left it there sinse it is working.I will try over the weekend to see how it does.Don't forget about that adapter board,somebody must sell one of those.I see ones on the forums people have built,a pain to get all the parts and circuit board.Have a nice weekend,Dennis PS Try a annimation and a picture on the display

I can design the board for you if you want. I won't do it for free. (I do this for a living). If you're interested contact me offline.

ETA: Check out Matrix Orbital and and Seetron. They both have serial/USB displays and adapters.

http://www.seetron.com/bpk000_1.htm

-Mike

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 7th, 2007, 2:45 am

Mike,
The link to Seetron was perfect,they are only $29.And no I would not expect anything for free.That is a neat job you got,if you know what I mean,personel things at the work place.Now is it a lot of trouble to do a demo.dll for that display and the 4bit and 8bit thing is it important.Also will that display do animations and pictures.You should have left for the weekend by now.Also you never said if you know of or use Skype,Dennis

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 7th, 2007, 3:09 am

4/8 bit doesn't make any diff since 4 bit parallel is plenty fast to keep up for 19200

demo is some trouble. A simple INI file for Smartie will do the same

This is a char display, not graphic. You can do some minor image stuff using the CGRAM custom chars, but animations are pretty much out.

No Skype here...

-Mike

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 7th, 2007, 3:55 am

Mike,
That sounds good on a .ini file,with weather,speedfan,an American news feed,sports,stock exchange.Well my dislpay is working perfect,have made quite a few screen changes and no problems.You should look into Skype,it is a inexpensive way to talk,both pc to pc and pc to phone.Thanks for all you work,Dennis

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 7th, 2007, 12:53 pm

Mike,
My brother said to tell you to keep the display for your trouble or if you can't use it what else could he do for you,Dennis

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 10th, 2007, 6:03 am

Mike,
How do I make the pertelian.dll work with the Pertelian 4x20 display.I chose it and the the screens are all off center.I left it as com14,9600.I uninstalled their program before using Smartie.They load a driver for the Com to usb port,should I take that out too.The software that comes with is terrible,Also when you plug it in to the usb port ,without their software running you can hardly see the test bars.I got this for my daughter,but if this thing won't work any better I can return it.I guess you decided to keep the VLsystem.I helped my brother set up one of the ones he has and he went google over the color.Anyway let me know about this Pertelian and also figured out how to get a real good .ini file setup and copy it into a new Smartie setup,Dennis

Fast351 · Post by **Fast351** » April 10th, 2007, 10:53 pm

You need the COM to USB drivers still installed. Smartie can only talk to it as a COM port. Look in Ports in the device manager to get the correct COM port number.

Do a search for pertellian on this web site for people that have set them up before. Also, the HD44780S driver earlier in this thread should work, and allow intercharacter delays which might cure some of the bad behavior this display has.

-Mike

dwombat · Post by **dwombat** » April 11th, 2007, 12:10 am

Mike,
After I posted,I thought I would try the HD44780S.dll and renstalled the drivers from the company that Pertelian gets them from.Then I uninstalled their software.And it worked,no messed characters,everything where it should be.Even the gif and image work.I have a parelle(sp) display and the pertelian usb hooked to the same pc and am runing two LCDsmartie's.So I copied the first conf file and replaced some stuff in it with stuff from the usb display.and it worked.I did notice when I start up the usb display that the backlight is off,so I went to command and click on backlight off and than clicked on backlight on and the display backlight comes on.And also I tried the bright and contrast and they don't seem to do anything.That was funny about my brother and the VLsystem display.I told him are you sure you don't want send him a check and you keep the display,he is really into that aqua blue it has,he is really getting gunho about these displays since I showed him how Smartie works with them.Wait to see what you think about the backlight and contrast,Dennis

mfcman · Post by **mfcman** » April 17th, 2007, 6:21 am

Hi Mike,
I have a Pertelian and I just tried your HD44780S DLL and it works great!! All the characters and backlight worked! One big warning is to not run LCD Smartie and the pertelian software at the same time because I had to reinstall the drivers.
I also tried the pertelian.dll LCD Smartie comes with and it didnt work right. So is the S version going to be in a release perhaps replacing/updating pertelian.dll?

Thanks!

freonx · Post by **freonx** » September 2nd, 2008, 11:37 pm

Hi, does anyone know where i can download the
HD44780S dll file. Since i cant find it, and i need it for my pertelian.

Thanks

Post by **caesar** » September 3rd, 2008, 8:18 am

I have added a mirror to the first post, hope to help everyone locate them.

Legion · Post by **Legion** » February 22nd, 2009, 11:58 am

dwombat wrote:Mike,
I did notice when I start up the usb display that the backlight is off,so I went to command and click on backlight off and than clicked on backlight on and the display backlight comes on.

I have this happen too. However, it's a real easy problem to solve.

All I did was add an action:
$UpTime > 0 then Backlight(1)

Since $UpTime > 0 will always be true, it flicks the backlight on as soon as the software launches.

Peps911 · Post by **Peps911** » April 25th, 2012, 10:19 am

Fast351 wrote:I just created a new set of display drivers, both based off the same code base (after I realized the pertelian and the HD44780 parallel displays used the same codes).

So now we have HD44780P (parallel) and HD44780S (serial) for HD44780 controlled displays.

If someone could test these on their displays I'd be grateful. The Parallel version should just fly as it wasn't modified much. The Pertelian display should now function better with the intercharacter delays....

http://home.fast351.com:4141/HD44780P.dll

http://home.fast351.com:4141/HD44780S.dll

-Mike

----Edit by Caesar----
Added mirror of the latest version here:

http://czi.uni.cc/LCDSmartie/HD44780P.dll

http://czi.uni.cc/LCDSmartie/HD44780S.dll

The files is removed. Please load once again.

Need help testing combined Parallel/Serial HD44780 driver

Re: Need help testing combined Parallel/Serial HD44780 drive