lcd4linux-users — lcd4linux users

Re: [lcd4linux] serial HD44780

[Ognjen B. <og...@ma...>]

But will serial connections be supported in future?

What exactly is I2C, I know it is a serial bus, but where is it? Is
there a I2C connector on my motherboard? or does it work using the
serial/parallel ports. Where can I find more information regarding how
to connect LCD displays
to the I2C bus.

Thanks

paul kamphuis wrote:

> Hi Ognjen,
>
> Serial port connection is not currently support. The only alternative
> connection method for the HD44780 display is an i2c interface. I know
> there is kernel support for i2c over parallel port, but I am not sure
> if it is available over serial port. I think it should be possible
> since you need to control only 3 wires. Nevertheless you need
> additional hardware to make it work,  a single pcf8574 is required.
>
> kind regards,
>
> Paul
>
> Ognjen Bezanov wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I want to use a HD44780 2x24 LCD display with a linux box, but without
>> using up the parallel port (still use it for the
>> printer). I was wondering what other methods are there of connecting the
>> displays to the computer.
>>
>> I know of the USB method, but was wondering of there are any other
>> methods. I googled about and came across
>> a project knows as LCD serialiser (project page:
>> http://www.mindspring.com/~tcoonan/lcd.html).
>>
>> This seemed to fit my needs except that:
>>
>> a) I do not have the required components - So does anyone know where I
>> can buy pre-assembled versions of these boards? I can build it, its just
>> that I would need to purchase quite a bit of kit (e.g. PIC programmer)
>> in order to do it.
>>
>> b) There is no mention on the lcd4linux wiki about supporting this
>> project in particular (although there are references to serial-based
>> lcd's such as the lcd terminal emulator). Is there support for this
>> project in lcd4linux and if not, is it planned at all? looking at the
>> project it seems that the commands sent are the same (raw) command you
>> send to a hd44780 on a parallel port, except that its sent down a serial
>> link.
>>
>> So is their any support for this? and if not, can anyone recommend an
>> alternative method of connecting lcd's to the computer.
>>
>> Cheers.
>>
>>
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------
>> This SF.Net email is sponsored by the 'Do More With Dual!' webinar
>> happening
>> July 14 at 8am PDT/11am EDT. We invite you to explore the latest in dual
>> core and dual graphics technology at this free one hour event hosted
>> by HP,
>> AMD, and NVIDIA.  To register visit http://www.hp.com/go/dualwebinar
>> _______________________________________________
>> Lcd4linux-users mailing list
>> Lcd...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/lcd4linux-users
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>
>

Re: [lcd4linux] serial HD44780

[paul k. <pau...@xs...>]

Hi Ognjen,

Serial port connection is not currently support. The only alternative 
connection method for the HD44780 display is an i2c interface. I know 
there is kernel support for i2c over parallel port, but I am not sure if 
it is available over serial port. I think it should be possible since 
you need to control only 3 wires. Nevertheless you need additional 
hardware to make it work,  a single pcf8574 is required.

kind regards,

Paul

Ognjen Bezanov wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I want to use a HD44780 2x24 LCD display with a linux box, but without
>using up the parallel port (still use it for the
>printer). I was wondering what other methods are there of connecting the
>displays to the computer.
>
>I know of the USB method, but was wondering of there are any other
>methods. I googled about and came across
>a project knows as LCD serialiser (project page:
>http://www.mindspring.com/~tcoonan/lcd.html).
>
>This seemed to fit my needs except that:
>
>a) I do not have the required components - So does anyone know where I
>can buy pre-assembled versions of these boards? I can build it, its just
>that I would need to purchase quite a bit of kit (e.g. PIC programmer)
>in order to do it.
>
>b) There is no mention on the lcd4linux wiki about supporting this
>project in particular (although there are references to serial-based
>lcd's such as the lcd terminal emulator). Is there support for this
>project in lcd4linux and if not, is it planned at all? looking at the
>project it seems that the commands sent are the same (raw) command you
>send to a hd44780 on a parallel port, except that its sent down a serial
>link.
>
>So is their any support for this? and if not, can anyone recommend an
>alternative method of connecting lcd's to the computer.
>
>Cheers.
>
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>This SF.Net email is sponsored by the 'Do More With Dual!' webinar happening
>July 14 at 8am PDT/11am EDT. We invite you to explore the latest in dual
>core and dual graphics technology at this free one hour event hosted by HP,
>AMD, and NVIDIA.  To register visit http://www.hp.com/go/dualwebinar
>_______________________________________________
>Lcd4linux-users mailing list
>Lcd...@li...
>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/lcd4linux-users
>
>
>  
>

[lcd4linux] serial HD44780

[Ognjen B. <og...@ma...>]

Hi all,

I want to use a HD44780 2x24 LCD display with a linux box, but without
using up the parallel port (still use it for the
printer). I was wondering what other methods are there of connecting the
displays to the computer.

I know of the USB method, but was wondering of there are any other
methods. I googled about and came across
a project knows as LCD serialiser (project page:
http://www.mindspring.com/~tcoonan/lcd.html).

This seemed to fit my needs except that:

a) I do not have the required components - So does anyone know where I
can buy pre-assembled versions of these boards? I can build it, its just
that I would need to purchase quite a bit of kit (e.g. PIC programmer)
in order to do it.

b) There is no mention on the lcd4linux wiki about supporting this
project in particular (although there are references to serial-based
lcd's such as the lcd terminal emulator). Is there support for this
project in lcd4linux and if not, is it planned at all? looking at the
project it seems that the commands sent are the same (raw) command you
send to a hd44780 on a parallel port, except that its sent down a serial
link.

So is their any support for this? and if not, can anyone recommend an
alternative method of connecting lcd's to the computer.

Cheers.

Re: [lcd4linux] LCD Keypad and python

[Dan F. <tem...@ya...>]

Hi Ognajen

I'm the one who wrote the simple python plugin.
Let me begin with telling you a bit about my motivation
before we get down to the details.

I needed a way to display the network statistics on 
a per calendar month basis. i.e. the total RX and TX bytes 
of eth0. And i needed the data to be 4Gb-overflow-aware,  
persistent and crash/unexpected-reboot resistant. 

I've written the python code for this and i will soon release the code
in the lcd4linux contrib section. I've just been so darn bizzy 
with other projects this last few months...
  
> I have noticed the addition of a python plugin to the documentation wiki
> (under plugins). What exactly is this plugin and what does it do? 

As of version 0.10.0 the python plugin is only a very rudimentary
embedded python interpreter. With it your widgets can execute 
a limited set of python functions (functions that takes one argument 
and returns a string) 

In the near future i will spend some time to make the plugin more
generic. e.g. support for the all of the datatypes supported by 
the lcd4linux evaluator, arbitary number of arguments to the function,
and more...


> I presume it provides python bindings to lcd4linux, if this is the case
> how would I go about using it (the wiki still has a blank page for it).

I've experienced some problems compiling 0.10.0 version of lcd4linux
with python support. This is what i had to do to make it work: 

export python_path="just about anything"
export PYTHON_LDFLAGS=-lpython2.3
export PYTHON_CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/include/python2.3
./configure --prefix=/usr --with-python

-----

Here is an example widget using the python plugin:

Widget PythonTest {
    class 'Text'
    expression python::exec('atest','test','ignored')
    length 8
    direction 'E'
    update 10
}

-----
And here is the contents of the example python file, named atest.py. 
(put the file in your site-packages or point to it with $PYTHON_PATH:

def test(ignored=0):
   return "test"

---


> Also for a project I am doing (in python no less) I need keypad support,
> and till now i used lcdproc. Unfortunatly lcdproc doesnt seem up to the
> job, so I was wondering if lcd4linux will have any keypad support soon.
That's something for Michael :) 

> I am willing to test the python (and keypad aspects) if you need any help.

Great! I've done some basic testing on the python-c-memory allocations
with valgrind. But i really don't know what the 'normal' python memory 
footprint looks like. Maybe you knows how to test that? 

regards
/Dan 

[lcd4linux] LCD Keypad and python

[Ognjen B. <og...@ma...>]

Hi all,

I have noticed the addition of a python plugin to the documentation wiki
(under plugins). What exactly is this plugin and what does it do? I
presume it provides python bindings to lcd4linux, if this is the case
how would I go about using it (the wiki still has a blank page for it).

Also for a project I am doing (in python no less) I need keypad support,
and till now i used lcdproc. Unfortunatly lcdproc doesnt seem up to the
job, so I was wondering if lcd4linux will have any keypad support soon.
I  am willing to test the python (and keypad aspects) if you need any help.

Cheers, and thanks for the really good program! :)

[lcd4linux] LCD Keypad and python

[Ognjen B. <og...@ma...>]

Hi all,

I have noticed the addition of a python plugin to the documentation wiki
(under plugins). What exactly is this plugin and what does it do? I
presume it provides python bindings to lcd4linux, if this is the case
how would I go about using it (the wiki still has a blank page for it).

Also for a project I am doing (in python no less) I need keypad support,
and till now i used lcdproc. Unfortunatly lcdproc doesnt seem up to the
job, so I was wondering if lcd4linux will have any keypad support soon.
I  am willing to test the python (and keypad aspects) if you need any help.

Cheers, and thanks for the really good program! :)

RE: [lcd4linux] Simple question

[Joel H. <jh...@ad...>]

Thanks Michael, that's great news!!, I must have missed the XMMS plug-in on
your website :) 

Keep up the good work

Joel

-----Original Message-----
From: lcd...@li...
[mailto:lcd...@li...] On Behalf Of Michael
Reinelt
Sent: Saturday, 18 June 2005 4:37 PM
To: lcd...@li...
Subject: Re: [lcd4linux] Simple question

Hi Joel,

> Is it possible for LCD4Linux to scroll through different screens? I.e.
> display CPU/OS information for 15 sec then display network information
> and so on..?

Not yet. But as we finally managed to get out 0.10.0, this is on top of
my ToDo-List.

> Also is there a multimedia plug-in available to display mp3 track
> listing, etc.?   
There's a xmms-plugin.

What exactly are you looking for?


bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781


-------------------------------------------------------
SF.Net email is sponsored by: Discover Easy Linux Migration Strategies
from IBM. Find simple to follow Roadmaps, straightforward articles,
informative Webcasts and more! Get everything you need to get up to
speed, fast. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=7477&alloc_id=16492&op=click
_______________________________________________
Lcd4linux-users mailing list
Lcd...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/lcd4linux-users


-- 

Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.7.7/20 - Release Date: 16/06/2005
 

Re: [lcd4linux] Simple question

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Joel,

> Is it possible for LCD4Linux to scroll through different screens? I.e.
> display CPU/OS information for 15 sec then display network information
> and so on..?

Not yet. But as we finally managed to get out 0.10.0, this is on top of
my ToDo-List.

> Also is there a multimedia plug-in available to display mp3 track
> listing, etc.?   
There's a xmms-plugin.

What exactly are you looking for?


bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

[lcd4linux] Simple question

[Joel H. <jh...@ad...>]

Hi

 

Is it possible for LCD4Linux to scroll through different screens? I.e.
display CPU/OS information for 15 sec then display network information and
so on..?

 

Also is there a multimedia plug-in available to display mp3 track listing,
etc.?   

 

Regards

 

[lcd4linux] subscribe

[Joel H. <jh...@ad...>]

Re: [lcd4linux] Problems using Crystalfontz 634 USB

[Michael M. <im...@im...>]

> I'd appreciate any help or hints.

Ok, I think I can answer myself this time :-)
It seems that Contrasts > 50 make the background darker.  Setting it to 
50 works perfectly fine.
Thanks for the great tool.

best regards,
Michael

[lcd4linux] Problems using Crystalfontz 634 USB

[Michael M. <im...@im...>]

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to use my new Crystalfontz 634 USB with LCD4Linux and 
am experiencing an odd behavior.
On system boot the default logo of CF appears correctly. When the system 
has booted up, I'm manually loading the ftdi_sio module to get a ttyUSB0.
When I start up LCD4Linux now, I only see 4 dark bars when viewed from 
the front (everything seems to be set to black).
But when I move my head a far to one side of the display (about 30 
degree to the display) I can see the correct info being written on the LCD.

Does anyone have an idea why this is happening?
Here are the relevant parts of my configuration:

Display CF634 {
    Driver 'Crystalfontz'
    Model '634'
    Port '/dev/tts/USB0'
    Speed 19200
    Contrast 95
    Backlight 100
    Icons 0
}

Layout myDefault {
    Row1 {
        Col2 'CPU'
    }
}

Display 'CF634'
Layout 'myDefault'

I'd appreciate any help or hints.

best regards,
Michael

Re: [lcd4linux] Problem with png format

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Casar,

> Hi friends. I have a bit problem with lcd4linux. I've installed and
> configured lcd4linux 0.10.1 cvs, but lcd4linux doesn't give me the png
> image and i don't know why. CAn you help me?

- Is there an error message?

- does PPM work?

- does configure detect the libgd headers?

- have you got libgd-devel (or was it gdlib) installed?


bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

[lcd4linux] Problem with png format

[Cesar S. <ces...@gm...>]

Hi friends. I have a bit problem with lcd4linux. I've installed and
configured lcd4linux 0.10.1 cvs, but lcd4linux doesn't give me the png
image and i don't know why. CAn you help me?

Thanks

CAESAR

[lcd4linux] Re: 3 displays on 1 bus

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Spuds,

could you please answer to the list? I hope you're subscribed....

>>>i try to use 3 displays (2* 4*16 + 2*16) on one bus but i don't know
>>>where should i connect the third ENABLE wire (on this image
>>>https://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/attachment/wiki/HD44780/multiple
>>>.png?format=raw the second ENABLE is on the 13th pin)! pls help!
>>
>>Just choose one of the free control lines from the parallel port.
>>
>>geronet? Any preferences?

> what is 'geronet'?

Sorry, geronet is the guy who wrote the 'multiple displays patch'.

> is there an rss parser plugin in the near future?
If somebody wants to write one, yes. I don't know nothing about rss...
but this may be a cool feature (some newsticker offer their info over
rss, am I right?)

bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

[lcd4linux] Re: 3 displays on 1 bus

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Spuds,

> i try to use 3 displays (2* 4*16 + 2*16) on one bus but i don't know where 
> should i connect the third ENABLE wire (on this image 
> https://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/attachment/wiki/HD44780/multiple.png?format=raw 
> the second ENABLE is on the 13th pin)! pls help!

Just choose one of the free control lines from the parallel port.

geronet? Any preferences?


bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

[lcd4linux] LCD4Linux 0.10.0 released!

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Finally....

note that we will release new versions on a much more regular basis in
the future!

http://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/wiki/News
http://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/wiki/Download

changes between 0.9.* and 0.10.0:
* nearly everything!

changes between 0.10.0-RC1 and 0.10.0:

* new driver 'LCDTerm'
* new driver 'LCD-Linux'
* new driver 'SimpleLCD'
* new driver 'Trefon'
* new driver 'serdisplib'
* new plugin 'statfs'
* new plugin 'python'
* new functions 'min()' and 'max()'
* HD44780 supports multiple displays
* HD44780 software-controlled backlight
* M50530 supports displays with different internal layout
* plugins initialize on first-use (no more i2c and mysql warnings on
startup)
* Evaluator speedup


Have fun!

Michael

--
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

Re: [lcd4linux] LCD with icon support

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Michael,

> Very good. I just attempted to use Icons with the ncurses display driver
> and got the message that the icon class is not supported by the widget
> which seemed to be caused by the display driver. Are you planning on
> improving the ncurses driver to support icons as well? With the image
> display driver it working fine.
It's impossible to use icons with the curses driver, because there's no
way the change the bitmap of a character in curses (at least not to my
knowledge).

The X11 driver does support icons.

> I wrote a mail to usblcd some days ago but got no answer so I think you're
> right. BWCT and Crystalfontz (634) both offer nice usb lcds (no case but
> if everything else fails, I'll try to build one myself).

I did build one. It's a standard HD44780 4x20, with blue backlight, I
used the USBLCD (I got one years ago), and I used a plastics case from
Conrad. It's quite easy, the only issue is the clearance for the display.


bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

Re: [lcd4linux] LCD with icon support

[Michael M. <im...@im...>]

Hi Michael,

thanks for your fast reply.

>> - Which LCDs support the logos announced in the news? (animated gifs)
>>
> All Displays that support user-defined chars (there are only very few
> that don't, and these do not support bars, too.

Very good. I just attempted to use Icons with the ncurses display driver
and got the message that the icon class is not supported by the widget
which seemed to be caused by the display driver. Are you planning on
improving the ncurses driver to support icons as well? With the image
display driver it working fine.

>> - Can anyone point me to a LCD that is working great with lcd4linux
>> with an external case? (I like the CF 634XE, but I didnt manage to fin=
d
>> a shop in Germany offering that one).
> This device looks cool! (but it's a bit expensive)

yeah, unfortunately :( And nowhere near available. Taxes and shipping
costs from the US would probably exceed the lcd's worth.

> There are some USB-to-HD44780 adapters, one is the USBLCD
> (http://www.usblcd.de) but this company seems to be out of business.
> Another one is BWCT (http://www.bwct.de/lcd.html) and Trefon
> (http://www.trefon.de/)

I wrote a mail to usblcd some days ago but got no answer so I think you'r=
e
right. BWCT and Crystalfontz (634) both offer nice usb lcds (no case but
if everything else fails, I'll try to build one myself).

> HTH, Michael

Yes it did indeed. Thanks a lot.

Michael

Re: [lcd4linux] LCD with icon support

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Sorry, I hit 'send' too early :-(


> - Are crystal fontz graphic lcds supported? (I assume no?)
I'm afraid not at the moment. I don't have such a thing. But if anybody
out there owns one, I could write a driver 'blindly', but I need a tester...

> - Which LCDs support the logos announced in the news? (animated gifs)
All Displays that support user-defined chars (there are only very few
that don't, and these do not support bars, too.

> - Can anyone point me to a LCD that is working great with lcd4linux with
> an external case? (I like the CF 634XE, but I didnt manage to find a shop
> in Germany offering that one).
This device looks cool! (but it's a bit expensive)

If you wanna have an external display, USB is the best choice (because
the power supply is taken from USB, too).

There are some USB-to-HD44780 adapters, one is the USBLCD
(http://www.usblcd.de) but this company seems to be out of business.
Another one is BWCT (http://www.bwct.de/lcd.html) and Trefon
(http://www.trefon.de/)

I hope I did not forget one...


HTH, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

Re: [lcd4linux] LCD with icon support

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Michael,

> - Are crystal fontz graphic lcds supported? (I assume no?)
I'm afraid not at the moment. I don't have such a thing. But if anybody
out there owns one, I could write a driver 'blindly', but I need a tester...

> - Which LCDs support the logos announced in the news? (animated gifs)
All Displays that support user-defined chars (there are only very few
that don't, and these do not support bars, too.

> - Can anyone point me to a LCD that is working great with lcd4linux with
> an external case? (I like the CF 634XE, but I didnt manage to find a shop
> in Germany offering that one).
This device looks cool! (but it's a bit expensive)

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

[lcd4linux] LCD with icon support

[Michael M. <im...@im...>]

Hi everyone,

I'm about to buy a new LCD for my linux box for different kind of monitor=
ing.
I've got some questions I hope you can answer:

- Are crystal fontz graphic lcds supported? (I assume no?)
- Which LCDs support the logos announced in the news? (animated gifs)
- Can anyone point me to a LCD that is working great with lcd4linux with
an external case? (I like the CF 634XE, but I didnt manage to find a shop
in Germany offering that one).

Thanks in advance!

best regards,
Michael

Re: [lcd4linux] Re: Newbie - confusing .conf file...

[Michael R. <re...@eu...>]

Hi Kenneth,

> For future development I would wish for a multiple layout-function,
> enabling lcd4linux to scroll through different layouts based on a timer etc.

This will be one of the first things addressed after lcd4linux-0.10.0 is
released (which should have happened this weekend, but there were some
issues with the mysql plugin (which should be solved now), and I had a
fight with my solering iron and a SMD connector :-)

bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt <re...@eu...>
http://home.pages.at/reinelt
GPG-Key 0xDF13BA50
ICQ #288386781

[lcd4linux] Re: Newbie - confusing .conf file...

[Kenneth S. <ke...@gm...>]

I would just like to thank everyone who spends time developing this project=
,=20
especially Paul who helped me a lot trying to configure my lcd4linux. Using=
=20
his help I got it to work. Great.
 For future development I would wish for a multiple layout-function,=20
enabling lcd4linux to scroll through different layouts based on a timer etc=
.
 Ken

Re: [lcd4linux] AC_PYTHON_DEVEL

[Paul K. <pau...@xs...>]

Michael Reinelt wrote:

>Hi Paul,
>
>  
>
>>Ok, did some further checking and searching. Turns out that I swig
>>(www.swig.org) installed on my system as part of a dependency to another
>>package. I assume that swig installed a file swig.m4 in the
>>/usr/share/aclocal/
>>This file contains a macro PYTHON_DEVEL which in turn requires
>>AM_PATH_PYTHON
>>    
>>
>
>Good investigations, paul!
>
>I can confirm the problem here. As soon as I install the swig.m4 file to
>/usr/share/aclocal, I get the same error.
>
>"I've seen all the things in Heaven and Earth"
>"I've seen many things in Hell"
>
>The problem is that swig uses a macro called PYTHON_DEVEL, while
>lcd4linux uses one called AC_PYTHON_DEVEL (or MY_PYTHON_DEVEL). Somehow
>aclocal ignores the AM_ or MY_ prefix, and executes the swig.m4, where I
>found a reference to AM_PATH_PYTHON.
>
>I renamed the AC_PYTH_PYTHON to AC_PATH__PYTHON (note the double
>underscore), now it works here.
>
>please test!
>
>
>bye, Michael
>
>  
>
Michael in which file did you make that change? I assumed you did it in 
python.m4, but it is not in CVS. And when I try it myself, it doesn't 
work. :-(

cheers,

Paul