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LCD PC info display software.

Basically I have a couple HD44780 compatible LCD modules that are hard wired for 4 bit mode (the lower 4 bits aren't available on the connector)so 8 bit mode is not an option).

I want to use one for a PC info display (CPU/System/RAM/Network/Winamp Temp/Fan/usage/titles).

I need software to directly use the LPT port, or code for an AT902313 micro for standard serial protocol, which software like CrystalFontz uses.

Reply to
Gary J. Tait
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The LPT has plenty of pins to output data directly to an LCD. If you are planning on writing a PC application to collect all that info and spit it out the LPT port, the skill in doing that dwarfs the micro's complexity by probably an order of magnitude.

A resource I've been perusing lately is

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- masm32 is a "high-level" macro assembler which works a lot more like a HLL than is immediately thought. Depending on parallel/serial access routines (I have no idea yet of their use in MASM32) you might consider MASM32 with a GUI front-end like
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- which can help to make a really nice-looking and full-featured Win32 app.

Back to hardware: if you can already write the application to send the data to the LPT port, then all you need is a good datasheet for connecting your LCD directly and sending the right order of bits. Six leads are required: D0-4, E, R/S (and R/W if you ever plan on reading data back from the LCD buffer, otherwise just pull it low.) I'm sure we could find some generic info if you need it, the HD44780 spec is pretty well-known.

It should be possible to have your AVR poll serial data over COM1 and output this to LCD, but from other's experience timing/interrupts is pretty tricky. You could try

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as someone most likely has already made such a beast. I know several have done such with PICs; if you can use a PIC instead, the JAL language includes serial and LCD libraries. sourceforge.net/projects/jal/ and
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-- "If necessity is the mother of invention, then is experimentation the father?" MCJ 20041116

Reply to
Mark Jones

The hardware is somewhat eay (except for only have the 4 data bits availble to the LCD.)

I don't want to go that far, I'd sooner use a premade application, if someone has one.

I can do that.... In Q-Basic, which I can only run for testing, not acual useage on an XP box.

AVRFreaks requires registation, so I won't go there. I can only use AVR, as that is what I have on hand, and have no place to just pick up some pics. I would sooner have complet code or bin to make the LCD with AVR a "Standard" serial LCD.

Reply to
Gary J. Tait

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