Matrix Orbital Corp

I was all giddy when my LCD arrived in one day instead of 3, but when I plugged it in it never fully worked. The text displayed correctly the first time I turned it on so I figured everything was good. Then I ran a test program, sent text to the unit and it over wrote the text that was currently on the display. The matrix orbital test program wouldn't run correctly. Then all of a sudden the text stopped appearing white and I can't see anything on the display now. So I downloaded LCDC and it was unable to detect the unit, I even followed the modthebox review and put my settings identical to the reviewers settings and it was still no go.
Every once in awhile the unit will flash white and text will show for a fraction of a second. Even with the serial unplugged when powered up the unit will not display anything any more.
Does it seem like I have a bad unit and need to replace it? I'll try any suggestions to get this working, for $112 +shipping I kinda expected a working unit

Hello...

Did you apply power with the modified floppy cable that was provided? Can you check for heat on the PCB when power is applied to the unit. If the PCB doesn't heat-up try a manual override:

1. Download the "Display Tuner" application from www.matrixorbital.com/downloads.
2. Turn off the display
3. Put a jumper on pins 5 and 6 of the keypad connector (C5 and R1).
4. Power up the display. The baud rate is now set to 19,200.
5. Remove the jumper and change the RS-232 port settings to the desired baud rate. Use the display tuner to set the desired Baudrate by choosing the speed from the dropdown menu and clicking the "Set" button. The Display Tuner can also change brightness and/or contrast and test the display by sending text.
6. Turn off the display.
7. Power up the display.

yes I used the supplied power adapter because of the modded plug. I also tried resetting it with a jumper and that didn't work either. Also no heat is produced by the PCB.
The Display Tuner software says it is connected even when the LCD isn't connected to the serial port, could that mean there is a problem with my serial ports too?
Obviously there is a problem with the LCD itself because it doesn't light up when simply powered on by the power cord.

Do you have access to a multimeter?

nope I don't

Did you perform this exaclty!?

1. Download the "Display Tuner" application from www.matrixorbital.com/downloads.
2. Turn off the display
3. Put a jumper on pins 5 and 6 of the keypad connector (C5 and R1).
4. Power up the display.
5. Remove the jumper
6. Run Display Tuner and set it to 19.2K and the right comport, connect.
7. Turn the backlight on/off, or the contrast, or send text. Does anythign happen?


When you power the display up, is there anything on the LCD? blocks? text? anything?

yes I followed it exactly, and when I power on the LCD it is all blue, and if I look at a very sharp angle I can hardly see the default text of the model name. When changing settings in Display Tuner nothing happens at all, and when I click to send text I can faintly see what looks like asian text appearing, not what I'm telling it to send.

OK, well, the computer is trying to talk to the LCD, if you can see symbols and letters apear on the LCD, that does mean the computer is sending stuff to the LCD and the LCD is getting them, but not at the right speed. Performing the manual override should have solved this problem, but I honestly don't know why it doesn't. E-mail me at support@matrixorbital.com and we will get you a new LCD to you tomorrow. (I'll get you the new USB version if you want for your troubles)

I will need your shipping information and phone number in the e-mail.

after reading things over and not rushing, I tried the jumper again and it is working correctly now. Thanks for your help, and thanks for the offer on the usb version, but I'll try not to waste any more of your time

OK, glad it's all working, what software were you trying with this the first time around?

The Trial of LCDC. So far its interesting. Sometimes it sends everything correctly, sometimes the text shows up like asian characters. I'm just testing it on my sisters PC until I can put my main rig back together. I'm not going to touch it any more until its in my main rig, in its permanent position. If its still buggy at that point I'll trouble shoot again.

make sure in LCDC when you are using large digits or custom characters you have them set in the screen config...