this Howto Describes how to install MX2xx usb series lcd display.
Since I don't have a working Java environment I cant test the lcdtester yet. So there is no support to my knowledge for the "on-board" fan and temperature sensors.
Many many regards to wayn3 for his patch!!
Step 1: Patching your kernel.
Unfortunately for Linux users, there is no support for the MX2 USB in the default linux kernels. All you get is the default Matrix Orbital screen.
You don't get an entry in /dev/usb/ ... or at least I don't.
You need to be familiar with recompiling your kernel before you proceed here.
You can find many howtos depending on your distribution out there on the net.
I found this patch to work with kernels 2.4.22-ac4 2.6.0-test6 & test7 until bk3
Browse to http://www.webbastards.com/projects/LK2 ... 4-USB.html
and copy and paste the code on that page into a file called for example "lcdpatch.diff"
Now as a superuser patch your kernel with the appropriate command ie:
Code: Select all
cd /usr/src/linux
patch -p1 < /path to patch/lcdpatch.diffCode: Select all
Hunk #1 succeeded at 87 with fuzz 2 (offset 70 lines).Code: Select all
USB Support----->
USB Serial Converter Support------>
< > USB Serial Converter Verbose Debug (DONT Select this!)
<x> USB Serial Converter Support
<x> USB Generic Serial Driver
<x> USB FTDI Single Port Serial DriverNow Reboot, and if everything goes well you should see output like this on boot:
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drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Generic
drivers/usb/core/usb.c: registered new driver usbserial
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial Driver core v2.0
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for FTDI SIO
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for FTDI 8U232AM Compati
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for FTDI FT232BM Compati
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for USB-UIRT Infrared Re drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Home-Electronics TIR
drivers/usb/core/usb.c: registered new driver ftdi_sio
drivers/usb/serial/ftdi_sio.c: v1.4.0:USB FTDI Serial Converters Driver
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usbserial 1-3:1.0: FTDI FT232BM Compatible converter detected
usb 1-3: FTDI FT232BM Compatible converter now attached to ttyUSB0 (or usb/tts/0 for devfs)
Step 2: Installing LCDd (server part of lcdproc)
I've had trouble with different versions of lcdproc but apparently this one works with our display
lcdproc-CVS-stable-0-4-4-20031003
Get this from sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lcdproc/
extract the file to a directory, type do "make" and "make install".
You should now have a file called LCDd.conf usually installe in /etc/
You need to change this file to fit your configuration. ie:
make sure the "device=" fits to where your device is installed.
These are the key settings on my device, I suppose they could differ on yours.
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#Driver=none
Driver=MtxOrb
[MtxOrb]
# Matrix Orbital driver
# Select the output device to use [/dev/lcd]
device=/dev/usb/tts/0
# Set the display size [20x4]
size=20x2
# Switch on the backlight? [yes]
# NOTE: The driver will ignore this if the display
# is a vfd or vfd as they crash if the backlight
# is turned off
enablebacklight=yes
# Set the initial contrast [140]
# NOTE: The driver will ignore this if the display
# is a vfd or vfd as they don't have this feature
contrast=800
# Set the communication speed [19200]
speed=19200
# Set the display type [lcd]
# Possible settings: lcd, lkd, vfd, vkd
type=lcd
# See [input] section for an explanation of the key mappings
PauseKey=L
BackKey=R
ForwardKey=F
MainMenuKey=J
# You can find out which key of your display sends which
# character by setting keypad_test_mode to yes and running
# LCDd. LCDd will output all characters it receives.
# Afterwards you can modify the settings above and set
# keypad_set_mode to no again.
keypad_test_mode=no
./LCDd
Yay you should see some stuff on your display!
ctrl-z to kill it and it should say "Thank You for using lcdproc and linux"
Here is a startup on boot script for the daemon. this depends on your distribution. i'm using Gentoo.
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#/etc/init.d/LCDd
# -i is for silent mode
depend() {
need net
}
start() {
ebegin "Starting LCDd"
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet -m --pidfile /var/run/LCDd.pid \
--background --exec /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -- -i -s -f -c /etc/LCDd.conf
sleep 1
eend $?
}
stop() {
ebegin "Stopping LCDd"
start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --pidfile /var/run/LCDd.pid
eend $?
}
Adapt the above script to have it start on boot.
Not all screens work, these are the ones i have found to work:
[C]pu [G]raph [T]ime [M]emory [X]load proc_izes ptime [A]bout
With the keys you can cycle forward and backwards the screens, and enter the LCDd options menu (contrast and such ... brightness doesn't work!)
Step 3: Installing other clients for LCDd I currently am able to work an xmms plugin, a network bandwidth monitor and a cpu sensors screens (from motherboard i2c).
The xmms plugin i found to work immediately is here:
http://linux.bydg.org/~witwili/Programy ... /index.php
its pretty simple and you can probably find a more advanced one on sourceforge.
I'm playing around with lcdnet, a network bandwidth monitor, which was designed for 20*4 displays. I have it working in 20*2 mode, but i still have to clean up some code.
I'm working on my own sensors client (for cpu and fans) because the one i found to work is buggy and written in perl
Well I hope this helps other linux users out there!
Cheers.
