LCDProc 0.5.4-dev

tester_02

I've only recently stumbled upon this thread and it caught my interest.
I'd just like to see throughput on a panel.

This thread is huge, but I still can't find a recommended panel that I can easily order (say ebay).
I found mention of U204FB-A1. but all I can find is the A2 model of it, and that one does not mention lcdproc (where the a1 specifically says lcdproc).
Can someone recommend a cheap, easy to order panel that just works?

The idea is interesting to say the least.

mdima

Hi Tester,
well… I cannot recommend my panels because I had a bit to complain with the supplier (they are not precise, when I bought them, the main picture on ebay was the panel with the frame, frame that they didn't ship. When I bought a case it was not precise for my panels. When I complained with them they just said a kind of "that's it", and so on), but at least their stuff worked for me. Also, consider that this forum is not a marketplace, and I think it's better to avoid to turn it into one.

So, after this introduction, I was buying two of this ones:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/20-4-LCD-Smartie-Display-Board-UART-USB-PC-Edition-III-/350546524199?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519e337827

made by this company: http://www.sureelectronics.net/

Consider that I was buying them last year, so was a different hardware version, but I think the "sureelect" driver should work also with this new release of the panel.

A little disclaimer:

I am not swearing this will work;
I am not taking any reward from that company;
I am not related to that company (and responsible for any issues you could have with them: billing, payment, shipping, damaged items and so on);
I am just saying "in my case it worked".

but if you want to try to spend about $30 to try them (about 20 Euro) it might work. I don't think there is nothing cheaper on the market (at least last year I was searching and searching).

Ciao,
Michele

tester_02

I was looking for something that mounted in a drive bay slot.
for example.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/U204FB-A2-8-USB-HD44780-204-Blue-LCD-Smartie-Computer-Case-Bay-Drive-PC-Modding-/220978640726?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item33735a7756

otherwise I'd jump on your suggestion and give it a try.
I'd just like to have something clean looking in the slot…

Any thoughts on the item above, or another item that mounts in a drive slot? No commitments, it's cheap and it seems like a nice toy to play with :)

mdima

Hi,
yes, it looks nice, even better than mines! On the paper it should work (to tell you for sure I should try one, but for that price it worth a try).

The only positive consideration to have it external, is that I am using HP servers to run pfSense and I have an active care pack. If something happens to the server, it's better the HP tech won't find anything "not HP" inside the case. Also, if some short or whatever happens to the panel, it does not compromise the server.

Ciao,
Michele

Brak

THis might be related to the LCM-162 talk above, but I have no idea…

Been working on getting the Lanner LCMs working. I got some official code from Lanner, but it's for lcdproc-0.5.2. Of course it's outdated, but I figured I'd at least get it working before I try to move to the latest. I assume this code is for the lanner "standard" LCM, but maybe it's not...

Using lcdproc-0.5.2, I used the attached Lanner patch files (remove .png, etc). Patch works great, "compile" works great.

When I start LCDd with the driver, I get:

Could not open driver module server/drivers/hd44780.so: server/drivers/hd44780.so: Undefined symbol "hd_init_lanner"

Obviously, something is wrong with the patch code, but I can't figure it out (hd_init_lanner seems defined) or understand why Lanner would release broken code.

I'd appreciate any help possible, I'd be willing to toss some bucks someone's way if they get my Lanner LCMs working.

edit: since my code is broken, see fmertz's post for the driver

fmertz

@Brak:

When I start LCDd with the driver, I get:

Could not open driver module server/drivers/hd44780.so: server/drivers/hd44780.so: Undefined symbol "hd_init_lanner"

Seems like the code in the new source file is not getting linked in the library (.so). Try:

make distclean

This should scrub the existing build files, then recompile again.

Brak

@fmertz:

@Brak:

When I start LCDd with the driver, I get:

Could not open driver module server/drivers/hd44780.so: server/drivers/hd44780.so: Undefined symbol "hd_init_lanner"

Seems like the code in the new source file is not getting linked in the library (.so). Try:
make distclean
This should scrub the existing build files, then recompile again.

Hmm, just tried it now, I did:

make distclean
./configure –enable-drivers=all
make all
make install
LCDd -c ./LCDd.conf

Gets the same error. :(

fmertz

Try https://github.com/downloads/fmertz/sdeclcd/hd44780.so

Brak

@fmertz:

Try https://github.com/downloads/fmertz/sdeclcd/hd44780.so

Well, it works in that it doesn't crash - but there is no change to anything with the LCM.

How should I go about making sure the driver is even compatible? Check the wiring diagram with the h44780-lanner.c file?

The connector is very similar to the Firebox connector. It's like a small parallel port.

Brak

I'm not even sure what device this thing works as… /dev/parport0, /dev/lpt0 or /dev/ttyS0? They all don't work... Ugh...

I can't even get the FreeBSD LCD sample that shipped with my unit to work... :-\

stephenw10

Looks like it should be on lpt0 from the patch code. Assuming it's on 0x378 on your box.

Steve

Brak

Hmm… I checked the BIOS, looks like the LCM port might have been disabled. I set the parallel port to 0x378.

This is the output of "cd /dev/":

acpi       ata        cuau0.init fd         md0        pf         stdin      ttyu1.lock ugen3.1
ad0        bpf        cuau0.lock fido       md1        ppi0       stdout     ufs        urandom
ad0s1      bpf0       cuau1      geom.ctl   mdctl      ptmx       ttyu0      ufsid      usb
ad0s1a     console    cuau1.init io         mem        pts        ttyu0.init ugen0.1    usbctl
ad0s2      crypto     cuau1.lock klog       nfslock    random     ttyu0.lock ugen0.2    xpt0
ad0s2a     ctty       devctl     kmem       null       speaker    ttyu1      ugen1.1    zero
ad0s3      cuau0      devstat    led        pci        stderr     ttyu1.init ugen2.1

Not sure what "led" is, but I don't see anything in here interesting…

...breaking news: The backlight shuts off now when LCDd is started... Not sure why everything else doesn't work.

Brak

Holy #$&$ it works.

I love you guys. :D

I guess if we can move this to 0.5.4, it can be put into lcdproc-dev

fmertz

Good to hear. Try the sdeclcd driver again now that the parallel port is enabled in the BIOS.

Brak

@fmertz:

Good to hear. Try the sdeclcd driver again now that the parallel port is enabled in the BIOS.

Doesn't look like the sdeclcd works. I think the Lanner version specifying "connectiontype=lanner" means there is something funky with the implementation.

Only issue I see about the lanner driver is that the backlight doesn't timeout (maybe I'm stupid and that's an LCDProc config) and enabling the heartbeat on LCDProc limits the screen updates and actually closes the window the key presses can be detected (I think.)

Macom2007

Years ago i had lcdproc working with pfsense on my IPC2U/Lanner FW 7550. DSH made a path to support the special hd44780 wiring on this box. But in the actual lcdproc package this patch seem to be missing. You can find the path here : http://cvs.pfsense.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/tools/pfPorts/lcdproc/files/

Can someone include this into the current lcdproc package ?

mdima

Hi Marcom,
if you can let me have the .so driver compiled for version 0.5.4 (x86 and/or x64) I'll be glad to add it to the package!

If you need any other configuration for that driver (heartbeat, blacklight, and so on) please tell me so I can include them in the driver's configuration.

Ciao,
Michele

Macom2007

Hm, i dont know how to do that. I have the .so driver compiled for lcdproc version 0.5.1. See :

http://www.mfc-nordhorn.de/hd44780.so

Does this help ?

Can you compile the .so with the information given at : http://cvs.pfsense.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/tools/pfPorts/lcdproc/files/ ?

mdima

mmhhh… if you already have the .so file, instead of publishing a new version of the package without knowing if it works or not, we could manage a 20 minutes skype + remote assistance session to test the driver on your box, and if it works I can include it in the package...

what do you think about it?

Ciao,
Michele

Macom2007

Great idea. I am currently unavailable, but be on later this evening. I already tried to use my .so file. Than i get the error message that this file is missing :

libusb-0.1.so.8