Driver added to LCDProc package for Nexcom devices [$100]

netmethods

I have a Nexcom 1088N8 and I'm trying to get the LCD (and buttons) to work with pfSense. I spent (read: wasted) a lot of time trying to get this to work and I'm afraid it's just over my head. I know networking very well, but I'm very much a BSD n00bie. I've had a few friends check it out that use Linux/Unix much more often then I, but still no luck.

For $100, I would like to be able to select the driver and configuration settings directly in the pfSense GUI and not have to SSH into the device to get it to work. I also would like the driver (and any other changes) to be added to the pfSense LCDproc package so that others can use it as well. I would also like this to be completed as soon as possible, preferably by 5/8/09. If the work is completed on or before 5/1, I will add another $25 to the bounty.

The LCD is a 2x16 LPT SDEC LMC-SSC2D16. I can provide the documentation and drivers that were provided from Nexcom as well as anything else you may need. Shipping the device to someone to resolve this isn't really feasible, but I am willing to give SSH and HTTPS access to the device to work on it. The unit is not yet in production and I'm more than willing to work with the person to verify things are working correctly.

Payment terms and method are flexible, contact me privately to discuss.

I hope this strikes someones interest! It would be awesome to see this working!

eri--

Is this just needing the picolcd driver.
I had forgotten i have the driver in a package somewhere and had to check it in on pfSense repo.

Anyway, i will send you a package and you tell me if it works or not.

netmethods

Are you talking about the picolcd driver already included in the package? If so, I'm pretty sure I tried that one. Assuming you're talking about a different one, send it my way!!

To add to my original post, I tried every driver that is included in the LCDproc package. I'm pretty sure it doesn't make a difference, but I've tried it on 1.2.2, 1.2.3 and 2.0.

netmethods

ermal, I never saw that package come through! Can you help me with it? I'll gladly award you the bounty if you can help me get this working!

Since no one else has responded, is the bounty too low? If so, how much is something like this worth?

I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem too complicated to do if the person was familiar with FreeBSD and LCDproc… right? I wish I had the time to learn how to do it, but work is pulling me in all directions and I'd love to get the LCD's to work for my client!

Thanks to anyone that can help!

eri--

I sent a private message explaining things please your feedback!

netmethods

Sorry for the delay getting back to you, a work emergency required me to fly out of state for a few days.

I'm working on this tonight and should have an update for you tomorrow. Thanks again for you help!

netmethods

From what I can tell, everything went smooth… except that the service will not start.

When I use the picolcd driver, I get these errors in the log:

php: lcdproc: The chosen lcdproc driver is not a valid choice
php: lcdproc: Starting service lcdproc
php: lcdproc: Stopping service: no com port selected

When I change it to hd44780 I get these errors:

php: lcdproc: Starting service lcdproc
LCDd: LCDd version 0.5.2 starting
LCDd: Using Configuration File: /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
LCDd: Listening for queries on 127.0.0.1:13666
php: : [DEBUG] Lock recursion detected.
LCDd: Server shutting down on SIGTERM
php: lcdproc: Stopping service: no com port selected

What am I missing? It seems like I'm probably missing something simple and just not getting due to my lack of experience with BSD. Who would've thought it would've been easier to setup failover than to setup the stupid LCD!?!

Again, keep in mind that I'm a newbie to BSD and have a friend helping me that is proficient in several types of Linux, mostly RedHat.

Thanks again for all your help!

eri--

You need to tell it the device it has to read/write.
Usually you do with teh lcdproc package of pfsense and you have to modify the package, if you have an usb device, to list the usbdevices.

netmethods

I've been working with Nexcom to get this working and they provided me with a modified version of LCDProc. I was able to get LCDProc to run in 1.2.2 Dev, but it will only display the LCDProc server info and I don't know how to connect it to pfSense to manage it or display any stats.

Below are links to the version of LCDProc Nexcom sent me as well as a picture of the LCD after we got the LCDProc server running.

http://www.net-methods.com/download$/nexcom-lcdproc.zip
http://www.net-methods.com/download$/nexcom1.zip

Here is the additional notes they sent:

./configure –enable-drivers=nexcom
make
Then open the LCDd.conf and change
Driver=nexcom
driverpath =/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/ (<- the folder stored lcd driver)
make install
reboot

run server = LCDd
run client (dispaly) =lcdproc + parameter.

Then they also asked that we make sure we have this settings:

Can you make sure that the LPT port resource with command “dmesg | grep ppc0?
with Nexcom default LPT IO =378, you have to check it before install.

For our test condition = FreeBSD 7.0 with BIOS 007, and attached the .conf file which mode from this test to you.

What will it take (time/money) to get this version of LCDProc working in pfSense? I would like to be able to configure the LCD/LCM within pfSense so that I do not need to use the Dev versions of pfSense.

Thanks,

Jason

Any idea if they're going to submit their changes to the LCDProc software maintainers? Otherwise the usefulness of this will be somewhat limited as new versions of LCDProc won't have any support for this device.

Kudos to you for taking all this effort! I hope it works out.

netmethods

Is this something I can submit? They probably don't care about it, but I am more than willing to do so. They are more than willing to help as much as they can. I had to pull some teeth at nexcom, but they have been very helpful overall.

If you can point me in the right direction, I'll do what I can!

I could contact the maintainer for the actual LCDproc software and give them any patches they have or find out what their submission process is. If you can get the code incorporated from there, then everyone wins, not just pfSense.

netmethods

I emailed Nexcom and asked them for any coding they did for this. As soon as I hear back, I'll post a link to it for you to download!

In the mean time, the data in this zip file is not enough?
http://www.net-methods.com/download$/nexcom-lcdproc.zip

Thanks!

netmethods

To add to my last post, I do have the FreeBSD drivers for the LCD. Not sure if it will help or not at this point…

netmethods

I spoke with Nexcom and this is what they told me:

We only have had modified the driver for Nexcom LCD, you may found the source in
\lcdproc-nexcom0.5.3.tar\lcdproc-nexcom0.5.3\lcdproc-0.5.3\server\drivers\nexcom_lcm.

lcdproc-nexcom0.5.3.tar can be found in this zip file:
http://www.net-methods.com/download$/nexcom-lcdproc.zip

Please let me know if this is enough or if you need anything else.

Thanks!

netmethods

anyone now how I can move forward on this?

thanks!

netmethods

This issue has been resolved, Commercial support got the driver to work correctly.