I am new to the forums, and new to the flavors of programs I have seen on the forums. I have been looking over the lists for the past 15 hours, off and on, making sure I had all my basis covered. I got my new LCD (MX412) up and running under the O/s and showing the information I desire to this point. A few of the other issues I have seen are being seen as carbon based, I.E, I screwed something up on the hardware level (keypad doesn't seem to respond, need to look into that later).
The application I am using the LCD for is a Linux based LAMPP server. One of the things I would like to know is if/how there is a way to control the back light on the display? It seems to go through a timeout period, and I can't get it back on without a reboot. This doesn't seem normal, and all the windows tools that do this look like they would help me out with this. What I am interested in with this is control on the command line, or a gui that I can use on this platform that will allow me to get this working, without having to reboot, spend many hours finding something that works for a 10 second fix, or having to create something from scratch (and crash coursing in a language I don't know, like C, or Perl) and hoping it works.
I know *nix isn't really supported by MO, but I see a SDK, and a few other good ones out there, but hard to find reference points for all the documentation, which makes it hard for a noob to find all they are after.
Sorry if this is a repeat topic/post, but I didn't see one relevant to this for me. Any/all help is greatly appreciated
Request for a consolidated resource for software itself, by
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nombrandue
- LCD?
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 pm
- Location: Omaha, Ne
- Contact:
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Jon
- Matrix Orbital
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:38 am
- Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
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Hi Nombrandue,
Welcome to our forums! Thanks for posting. I would like to first inform you of LCDproc which is a linux based display driver. LCDproc can be configured for our displays by using the 'MtxOrb' driver, which you can find more information about here.
please let me know if this helps.
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Jon
Welcome to our forums! Thanks for posting. I would like to first inform you of LCDproc which is a linux based display driver. LCDproc can be configured for our displays by using the 'MtxOrb' driver, which you can find more information about here.
You may simply change the timeout period to 0, which will cause the display backlight to stay on indefenetly. This can be done using the "Display On" command which is found in section 7.1.5 of the display manual here. This command wrote to the display by sending the bytes 254 66 0 to the display. However, possibly the simplest way of doing this would be to download uproject from our software section and then install it on a windows pc, then open up uproject, select the com port and go to the main tab, there you will be able to click a checkmark that says "backlight on for" leave the value at 0, and click the check box on and off.One of the things I would like to know is if/how there is a way to control the back light on the display? It seems to go through a timeout period.
please let me know if this helps.
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Jon
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nombrandue
- LCD?
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 pm
- Location: Omaha, Ne
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Thanks for the Welcome, and it looks like the LCD's from MO are pretty nice.
I have LCDproc up and running now. It works pretty well, just some odd things with the display's back light coming on and off when I run the client software. Haven't found where to change that in there yet.
The LCD (MX-411) is installed on a web server, with the desire to be able to check system health, load, users, and so forth from the LCD. LCDproc takes care of some of that, but I haven't been able to dig up many useful examples of a non-windows program code, or files, that works on the build I have. I am a bit too used to Alertd on Big IP's stuff with the configs on this, so doing it all home brew is a bit of a curve. the SDK is something I have been looking at, and has some things I can use, but since I don't use .net or Mono, it is a bit harder to get going with it.
I am not used to working with I/O devices, so I am very new at programming for an LCD, to get and pull information from it. Keypad support seems a bit supported in Linux, but I have yet to figure out if I have it working or not. Just haven't brewed the programs for it up. I have got the back light to keep on for awhile, and not kick on/off during LCDproc's information cycle (like it would turn the back light off for one cycle, then turn it back on, when the splash screen would come up).
I wonder if anyone out on the Forums has a good program for pulling information from the LM Sensors "sensor' command, and getting the info onto the LCD, cleanly. And one other thing I am looking at, is if someone has a navigation program base that works under *nix for the 20x4 displays.
Thanks for the help
I have LCDproc up and running now. It works pretty well, just some odd things with the display's back light coming on and off when I run the client software. Haven't found where to change that in there yet.
The LCD (MX-411) is installed on a web server, with the desire to be able to check system health, load, users, and so forth from the LCD. LCDproc takes care of some of that, but I haven't been able to dig up many useful examples of a non-windows program code, or files, that works on the build I have. I am a bit too used to Alertd on Big IP's stuff with the configs on this, so doing it all home brew is a bit of a curve. the SDK is something I have been looking at, and has some things I can use, but since I don't use .net or Mono, it is a bit harder to get going with it.
I am not used to working with I/O devices, so I am very new at programming for an LCD, to get and pull information from it. Keypad support seems a bit supported in Linux, but I have yet to figure out if I have it working or not. Just haven't brewed the programs for it up. I have got the back light to keep on for awhile, and not kick on/off during LCDproc's information cycle (like it would turn the back light off for one cycle, then turn it back on, when the splash screen would come up).
I wonder if anyone out on the Forums has a good program for pulling information from the LM Sensors "sensor' command, and getting the info onto the LCD, cleanly. And one other thing I am looking at, is if someone has a navigation program base that works under *nix for the 20x4 displays.
Thanks for the help
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nombrandue
- LCD?
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 pm
- Location: Omaha, Ne
- Contact:
Ok, so I figured out what is/was up with LCDproc and the back light. It wasn't listed as a feature in the 0.4.4 version, but listed in the 0.5.1 version. It looks like, no shock, I am sure, a carbon based problem on my end.
I am wondering, I am using a LK204-24 series USB LCD, and the 0.5.5 version seems to flake out a bit (garbled characters on the top and bottom lines, where the "animations" occur (bar graphs, and heart beat) to look like it is getting the data too fast. it gets REALLY bad if I drop the baud down. The ports this is connected to is a USB 2.0 controller, but I don't know if that has an issue with it or not.
The last thing I am still having issues with is the keypad. when I run the mapper programs, I don't seem to catch anything from the LCD. is there anything that will allow me to see the keypresses on the LCD instead of in the O/s? Otherwise it looks like I may have to pull it from the system and plug it into a windows box to verify hardware, which I don't want to do right now.
I am using a 15 key pad that was bundled with the LCD (MX411 series). Any help is always appreciated.
I am wondering, I am using a LK204-24 series USB LCD, and the 0.5.5 version seems to flake out a bit (garbled characters on the top and bottom lines, where the "animations" occur (bar graphs, and heart beat) to look like it is getting the data too fast. it gets REALLY bad if I drop the baud down. The ports this is connected to is a USB 2.0 controller, but I don't know if that has an issue with it or not.
The last thing I am still having issues with is the keypad. when I run the mapper programs, I don't seem to catch anything from the LCD. is there anything that will allow me to see the keypresses on the LCD instead of in the O/s? Otherwise it looks like I may have to pull it from the system and plug it into a windows box to verify hardware, which I don't want to do right now.
I am using a 15 key pad that was bundled with the LCD (MX411 series). Any help is always appreciated.
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nombrandue
- LCD?
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 pm
- Location: Omaha, Ne
- Contact:
Ok, so I got some of the stuff working, but still couldn't get the keypad to work. I broke down and pulled the LCD, and hooked it up to my x64 XP Pro box, and started working with the LCD using the windows based tools.
The Keypad still isn't working, and, the guesswork with it is getting a bit tiring. I figure it is partially my fault, since, I removed it from the unit when I first got it, to check how it was set up, since I am planning a future case mod to install it into the chassis instead of a 5.25 bay.
Lost in my Noob conundrum, I would like to know, for the MX411, is there any diagrams that shows the keypad to LCD mod connection.
Outside of this minor annoyance, I am quite happy with the LCD.
Thanks for listening, and dealign with this...
The Keypad still isn't working, and, the guesswork with it is getting a bit tiring. I figure it is partially my fault, since, I removed it from the unit when I first got it, to check how it was set up, since I am planning a future case mod to install it into the chassis instead of a 5.25 bay.
Lost in my Noob conundrum, I would like to know, for the MX411, is there any diagrams that shows the keypad to LCD mod connection.
Outside of this minor annoyance, I am quite happy with the LCD.
Thanks for listening, and dealign with this...
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Jon
- Matrix Orbital
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:38 am
- Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
- Contact:
Hi Nombrandue,
Sorry for not replying sooner! I'm sorry to here that your keypad is still giving you problems.
Here's what I'd like you to do
1. Connect your display to a windows pc
2. open up hyper terminal and connect to the MO com port (ie com6)
3. select 19200 baud 8 bits no parity 1 stop bit
4. Make sure your keypad is connected to your display so that, from the back the left 2 pins are not used (or the pins that have the marking C1 above them)
5. press some buttons in the keypad, these keys should be echoed right to the hyper terminal console.
The keypad works by sending a key code down the serial line when a row and a column pin are shorted (or connected) together.
If this does not seem to happen, try using our uProject software that is downloadable from here. Once you have downloded it, open up the program and go to the main panel, when you are on the main panel, you should be able to see any keypresses show up in the lower right hand corner. If they do not try checking, the "auto transmit key presses" check box.
Please let me know if you have any progress with this.
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Jon
Sorry for not replying sooner! I'm sorry to here that your keypad is still giving you problems.
Here's what I'd like you to do
1. Connect your display to a windows pc
2. open up hyper terminal and connect to the MO com port (ie com6)
3. select 19200 baud 8 bits no parity 1 stop bit
4. Make sure your keypad is connected to your display so that, from the back the left 2 pins are not used (or the pins that have the marking C1 above them)
5. press some buttons in the keypad, these keys should be echoed right to the hyper terminal console.
The keypad works by sending a key code down the serial line when a row and a column pin are shorted (or connected) together.
If this does not seem to happen, try using our uProject software that is downloadable from here. Once you have downloded it, open up the program and go to the main panel, when you are on the main panel, you should be able to see any keypresses show up in the lower right hand corner. If they do not try checking, the "auto transmit key presses" check box.
Please let me know if you have any progress with this.
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Jon
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nombrandue
- LCD?
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 pm
- Location: Omaha, Ne
- Contact:
Thanks for the reply Jon!
Ok, lots of playing since my last post. learned some fun things too.
1.) Keypad works, but not in Linux
2.) WINE doesn't like some of the MO apps (though that was just playing to see what I could get to work before hooking it up to my beast of a gaming machine)
3.) that yes my keypad is attached right, and that it is all properly grounded
4.) what the difference between LCD and LKD is in the MtxOrb driver for LCDproc is
in response to 4, seems that the timings are different between the modes of the drivers. none of this was documented that I saw, but hell, was fun to learn.
When I hooked up the LCD to my XP box, I ran the uproject and didn't see anything from the keypad. doing a sanity check, I pulled off the keypad, and hooked an old power switch up to R1 and C6, and bridged them, and saw in hyperterm charactors display. I reconnected the keypad, and got results with that as well. reconnected everything in booted the webserver again, and tried it, and nothing. Now I am working on clients for LCDproc, all in perl, heh, and seeing what I can do with it. I just wish there was something as robust as LCDC for the *nix side, but LCDproc works well, just limited by my lack of skill with programming in perl.
As a side topic, I do really like Matrix Orbital's display products, and have two more projects I would like to incorporate an LCD into. One is a 2U firewall (output to the LCD recent alerts and alarms, without logging into the syslog) and a security system in anohter 4U chassis (my current LCD is in a 4U server chassis) so if anyone has one to suggest, let me know.
Thanks!
Ok, lots of playing since my last post. learned some fun things too.
1.) Keypad works, but not in Linux
2.) WINE doesn't like some of the MO apps (though that was just playing to see what I could get to work before hooking it up to my beast of a gaming machine)
3.) that yes my keypad is attached right, and that it is all properly grounded
4.) what the difference between LCD and LKD is in the MtxOrb driver for LCDproc is
in response to 4, seems that the timings are different between the modes of the drivers. none of this was documented that I saw, but hell, was fun to learn.
When I hooked up the LCD to my XP box, I ran the uproject and didn't see anything from the keypad. doing a sanity check, I pulled off the keypad, and hooked an old power switch up to R1 and C6, and bridged them, and saw in hyperterm charactors display. I reconnected the keypad, and got results with that as well. reconnected everything in booted the webserver again, and tried it, and nothing. Now I am working on clients for LCDproc, all in perl, heh, and seeing what I can do with it. I just wish there was something as robust as LCDC for the *nix side, but LCDproc works well, just limited by my lack of skill with programming in perl.
As a side topic, I do really like Matrix Orbital's display products, and have two more projects I would like to incorporate an LCD into. One is a 2U firewall (output to the LCD recent alerts and alarms, without logging into the syslog) and a security system in anohter 4U chassis (my current LCD is in a 4U server chassis) so if anyone has one to suggest, let me know.
Thanks!
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Jon
- Matrix Orbital
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:38 am
- Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
- Contact:
Hi nombrandue,
Ray (our friendly neighborhood software dude) informed me of another *nix program that you could play with. Apernetly it also doesn't suppor the keypad, but it has GPO/fan support.
Here's the link:
http://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/
As for the LCD to encorporate to the firewall or 4U chassis, you could go with a bay insert like the MX units, or if you wanted to just have the display u can go with a (LK/VK)(202/204)-24-USB varient. If I had to recommend one product line it would be the VFD units, because they are rock solid and last forever.
--
Jon
Ray (our friendly neighborhood software dude) informed me of another *nix program that you could play with. Apernetly it also doesn't suppor the keypad, but it has GPO/fan support.
Here's the link:
http://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/
As for the LCD to encorporate to the firewall or 4U chassis, you could go with a bay insert like the MX units, or if you wanted to just have the display u can go with a (LK/VK)(202/204)-24-USB varient. If I had to recommend one product line it would be the VFD units, because they are rock solid and last forever.
--
Jon
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nombrandue
- LCD?
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 pm
- Location: Omaha, Ne
- Contact:
Hardware Problem
Sorry this is so belated, but I think I have found most of my problems with the keypad.
the rest of the set up works perfectly, now that I know a lot more about it. I am missing chunks I want, but since they appear to be either closed sourced or home brewed I am not too heartbroken about this.
I manually jump the pins for the keypad and I get responses, I don't get anything when hitting the Matrix Orbital keypad/bezel, so I think that may be DOA. a bit too late for me to much about it. I just bought a 20x2 board, and am working with that right now on getting it up in a new project. I am also looking into an I2c LCD that is small enough to fit an area of 3.5 inches or smaller, that would work well with an lintel system. So Matrix Orbital LCD's are my first option, since I like the LCD's features a lot.
My only wonderings are on the lk202-25 that I got's layout, and the 1 wire set-up since I didn't get it with the extended temp sensor, I was wondering if this were just a pinout that was missing or the Dallas chipset wasn't on the board either.
Thanks for all the help with the LCD's. I also found out F5 uses LCDproc for its LCD's on the from of, at least, the Big IP LTM's.
Once again, thanks for the help!
the rest of the set up works perfectly, now that I know a lot more about it. I am missing chunks I want, but since they appear to be either closed sourced or home brewed I am not too heartbroken about this.
I manually jump the pins for the keypad and I get responses, I don't get anything when hitting the Matrix Orbital keypad/bezel, so I think that may be DOA. a bit too late for me to much about it. I just bought a 20x2 board, and am working with that right now on getting it up in a new project. I am also looking into an I2c LCD that is small enough to fit an area of 3.5 inches or smaller, that would work well with an lintel system. So Matrix Orbital LCD's are my first option, since I like the LCD's features a lot.
My only wonderings are on the lk202-25 that I got's layout, and the 1 wire set-up since I didn't get it with the extended temp sensor, I was wondering if this were just a pinout that was missing or the Dallas chipset wasn't on the board either.
Thanks for all the help with the LCD's. I also found out F5 uses LCDproc for its LCD's on the from of, at least, the Big IP LTM's.
Once again, thanks for the help!