Matrix Orbital Corp

I'm using an X-Board to control (hopefully) a non Matrix Orbital display.

The X-Board has PCB version R2.1

The LCD is a 20x4 that I picked up from sparkfun.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... cts_id=256

The data sheet is here
http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/LCD/16433aoe.pdf

The model seems to be a ＤＭＣ１６４３３Ｎ from Optrex

According to the datasheet, the LCD uses the Hitachi HD44780 parallel interface.


The problem is this. When powered on with the configuration jumper in place, I simply get two rows of blocks on the 1st and 3rd lines of the LCD.
If I power it on without the config jumper, I get the word "Invalid" starting at the home position.

I know the LCD must be good and the X-Board can communicate with it in some form or another or else I wouldn't be seeing "invalid", however I am unsure of what else to try.

I have tried running through the config steps as if the blocks were not displayed, but I still get "invalid" when powering up without the config jumper.

Any info would be useful. Thanks!

Hello Bushman,

Thank you for your post.
I looked at the datasheet for your display and it is fine; the X-Board should be able to control it. Please refer to page 8 of this manual:
http://www.matrixorbital.ca/manuals/xbo ... rev_20.pdf

Let me know which part of the process is failing for you.
Thanks,

Ok here goes.

To reset the setup process I power the board with the config jumper OFF

At that point I can see "Invalid" with perfect contrast etc displayed at the top left of the screen.

I then power the board off.

I put the config jumper ON

I power the board on.
Displayed here are the two solid lines of blocks on the first and 3rd rows. The 4th character of the 1st row appears to blink faintly as if the block curson is on.
I power the board off. (This is the end of step 2 in the manual)

I power the board back on again as step 3 says, but instead of seeing

Ok,

I figured it out. I was under the impression that the config jumper needed to stay ON during this entire process. I removed it at some point and things started popping into place.

Please make your manuals more clear. If a super smarty like me can't get it right, there must be thousands of others having problems too!

Hello,

Glad that you have figured things out. Sorry for the inconvenience about the manual not being clear, I will make note of that.

Thanks,