Re: [lcd4linux] Futaba VFD with phone jack connector

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

Hi Andrew,

> Has anyone managed to use a Futaba VFD, M202MD10AA?  It is from an IBM
> SureOne POS machine and has a 8 pin phone-type jack connector.  The cable
> and connector seem to be a one-off for this machine as far as I can tell.  I
> can't find any documentation for the connector other than that it is serial,
> 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 2 stop bits.  Without knowing which pins
> are which, it is a bit difficult to try it out.  The display has no power
> connector so must also be powered through the serial connector too.
> 
> Any suggestions for how to connect this or test the pinouts?

Hmm, dis will be difficult. Can you see which chips are on the device? 
As it's a serial device, the beast must consist of two logical parts: 
the LCD controller itself (which has for shure a microcontroller 
interface, and not a serial one), and a microcontroller, which handles 
the serial protocol.

Is there a backlight? If so, it would be easy to find out at least these 
pins. Maybe this is the power for the rest of the display, too.

Do you have access to such a POS machine? Maybe you could find out 
something about the connctors...

If you have to go for the "trial and error" way, a power supply with 
good current limiting is a must. Otherwise you have this special "smell" 
quite soon :-)

bye, Michael

-- 
Michael Reinelt                                   Tel: +43 676 3079941
Geisslergasse 4                                   Fax: +43 316  692343
A-8045 Graz, Austria                          e-mail: re...@eu...