Mac LCD

iMon Helper utility available

2012-01-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

I just completed a new helper utility that will allow a standard LCDproc install to communicate with your iMon display. No more compiling special Mac OS X iMon drivers for LCDproc!

iMon_Helper is intended as a go-between to allow your Mac OS X installation of LCDProc to communicate with your iMon display. Because it is installed a separate binary, you will not need special Mac OS X specific compilations of LCDproc or the iMon driver to take advantage of the features of your iMon display. This will allow you to keep updated with the latest features of the iMon LCDproc driver.

Download the latest version now!

Unfortunately, I have not tested it on the newest Mac OS X or in 64 bit. Leave a comment if you have any problems.

Cox web hosting also recently ended their service, so the previous downloads I have posted are no longer available. I will try to get a version of GrowLCDproc up ASAP.

Receiving HID remote codes!

2011-03-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

So I tried taking another look at getting remote codes from my iMon Soundgraph (0x0038) LCD. I am receiving the remote codes finally! I need to do some more work cleaning up the code and I think I can get something released!

RetroChallenge: Oh no!

2010-07-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

So my UPS delivery date of the router was just updated to August 3rd. I am out before I really even began. Oh well, I have some good projects in mind for next Challenge!

RetroChallenge cables

2010-07-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

I am going to need 3 different types of cables to hook up to my future router:

DB9 RS422 (old classic Macs)
mini-DIN8 RS422 (newer classic Macs)
DB9 RS232 (new usb to serial converter)

The 3com documentation for a similar router has all of the pin-outs. The router uses an connector RJ-45 for the AUX serial and console ports, and a DB50(!) connector for the Serial port and the expansion card I bought.

So I went scavenging through the thrift store today to find some old serial cables. I found an old serial port adapter for a Parallel HP printer. It does not look like a real serial to parallel adapter (rather some printer-specific implementation), so I will be cutting off the nice mini-Din8 end of it to make a serial cable for my Mac SE or SE/30.

I bought some male DB9 to RJ45 modular adapters at the surplus electronics store earlier this month. I want to make sure that the pin-outs are correct on the router before I insert the pins in the adapters, because they are really hard to remove. This will connect to the 512K and 128K Macintoshes. I can just use a standard ethernet cable to connect to the router's AUX and console ports. Even though these Macs do not have TCP/IP, I hope the router has a telnet client built in. That will allow a normal serial terminal to connect to the router, then out to other machines.

The USB-serial adapter is easy, and only needs a straight through DB9 cable to connect to the AUX port adapter cable.

As for the DB50 connector, that is another story. I hope that it comes with an adapter cable!

RetroChallenge Part 2

2010-07-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here is my router shipping info:

Status: In Transit - On Time  Scheduled Delivery Date: 07/30/2010

That gives me a full day to complete my experiment! With a list price of only $1,420.80, $25.00 is a pretty good deal. I paid $18.00 for the additional serial interface so I can hopefully have 6 ethernet-less Macs connected to the internet at once.

RetroChallenge

2010-07-24T21:27:00.001-07:00

With only one week to go, I decided to enter the RetroChallenge. The plan is to get all of my Ethernet-less Macs online without having to buy expensive hardware, and without using another computer. here is how I used to do it: Getting a Classic Mac online using a Mac OS X server. And here is what I want to try: 3com 5009 router. This is an high-end router that is readily available online for about $25 including shipping. It has 2 serial ports. The plan is to hook the Mac serial ports up to it and make the connection through PPP.

iMon LCDproc Compiler Script Update

2009-12-21T03:22:00.000-08:00

See the original iMon LCDproc Compiler Script post for installation details.

Many new features have been added:

Auto Discovery

The driver will now auto-discover your iMon device with no need to edit the LCD.conf file. You can still specify specific product and vendor ids if you wish.

Remotes

The new driver works with newer iMon HID devices (with "HID" printed on the back), to allow Mac OS X to open the device and let you use your remote control as a mouse. Several Mac OS X drivers are available to extend the use HID devices and will now work with the remote buttons. If you had an older version of the iMon installer script that installed the LCDprocUSBShield.kext, you will need to reboot after you run the install script to gain full control of your remote.

Older iMon devices that use the iMon Pad remote, but do not use HID, such as the 0xffdc VFD, can also use the remote with the help of a few programs:

GrowLCDproc 1.4.1, 1.3.11 or newer must be running and connected to lcdproc.
Remote Buddy must be running with the "Script Remote" enabled in the "Hardware" area.

The imon lcdproc driver will send remote control button presses to GrowLCDproc, which in turn, sends commands to Remote Buddy via AppleScript. Remote Buddy is not a free product, but it is so professionally written with so many excellent features that it is worth the money. Remote Buddy has many options to control all of your essential Mac OS X programs. There is also a free 30 day download available.

Improved features with 0x0038 SoundGraph LCD

New features have been added that improve the stability of the SoundGraph LCD and allow users to control what the LCD will display after LCDproc shuts down.

Good Luck!

GrowLCdproc 1.4.1 Available

2009-12-11T01:30:00.000-08:00

GrowLCDproc 1.4.1 is now available for download.

GrowLCDproc 1.4.1 is compiled for 64-bit Leopard. It also includes a feature to display the current date and time when no other notifications are visible. It is largely untested and may have some minor bugs in the configuration screen. It appears to work otherwise.

See it in action.

Take a look at the documentation.

Download the latest version now.

Update:

GrowLCDproc 1.3.11 is now available for GrowLCDproc users using Pre-Leopard Operating Systems. It has all of the features of 1.4.1, but works with Mac OS X 10.4.

Update:

GrowLCDproc 1.4.1 fixes an error in GrowLCDproc 1.4.0 that would cause the display to not load on some systems.

iMon based VFD and remote on ebay

2009-10-26T23:32:00.000-07:00

This seems like a good deal:

Cooler Master RC-260-OSB1 Multimedia Value Pack w/VFD M. Less than $15 shipped.

I just bought my next project!

Update 4-NOV-2009

This device lists as: Product ID: 0xffdc Vendor ID: 0x15c2 and works with the iMon LCDproc Compiler Script. Just change the /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf file to include the proper USB Product id.

I was also able to get the remote working with some additional code, applescript and the very impressive Remote Buddy

iMon LCDproc Compiler Script

2009-10-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

I uploaded the iMon LCDproc Compiler script / installer for Mac OS X. You need to have the Apple developer tools installed to use it. The script will download the latest LCDproc, compile it and install it with the iMon LCD driver. ~~You may need to edit the LCDd.conf file to suit your particular LCD. This will likely block the mouse from working on your remote.~~

To use it, just:

Download the latest version now.
Open the iMon_LCDproc_Installer archive
Double-click the "install.command" script
Enter your password to allow installation
~~Edit the /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf file to include the product id of your iMon display~~

Download the latest version now.

Update!

The iMon LCDproc driver for Mac OS X now supports many more iMon displays including product IDs 0xffdc, and 0x0037.

Update 2009-12-21

See the new features: iMon LCDproc Compiler Script Update

GrowLCDproc 1.3.9 Available

2009-10-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

GrowLCDproc 1.3.9 is now available for download.

GrowLCDproc 1.3.9 improves priority handling of Growl notifications, causing normal priority notifications to be displayed immediately on your LCD.

See it in action.

Take a look at the documentation.

Download the latest version now.

Universal Belkin F5U103 kext/Driver

2009-10-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a Universal Binary driver for the Belkin F5U103 usb serial adapter. It works on Intel and PPC on Mac OS X 10.4 and should work on 10.5 also. Compiled from source available at: ubsa-osx project.

Download

The ownership of the kext file will likely need to be changed to root:wheel

2009-03-14T15:57:00.001-07:00

I wrote some code to get LCDproc working on Mac OS X with the iMon LCD 0x0038. I am currently trying to get the remote to work with it as well.

I should have a compiled binary to release soon.

LCDproc Compiler script

2009-03-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

I have had a lot of requests for an Intel compile of LCDproc. Here is a compile script you can use to compile it yourself. You will need to have the Apple Developer Tools installed. Then run the install.command script and it will:

download LCDproc
download libusb, if not installed already
set up any necessary environment variables
configure, compile and install LCDproc
run LCDproc with the default LCDd configuration
open the LCDd.conf file so you can edit the configuration if you want
open the LCDd StartupItem installer to allow you to run LCDd at start up

You may need to enter your password when prompted.

In the end you will have a fully-featured LCDproc compiled with all of the USB drivers enabled. You will need to edit the LCDd.conf file to suit your display. If you have to specify a device in the LCDd.conf file,be sure to use the cu.usbserial device, not the tty.usbserial device.

Unfortunately, because this is a default install, some drivers such as imon will not work properly without other Mac OS X specific patches.

Many USB displays will work with minor configuration file changes, including the Mac OS X USB LCD Kit.

Download the latest version now.

LCDproc iMon driver

2009-03-02T22:57:00.000-08:00

Working with a user on InsanelyMac, I was able to get LCDproc working with an iMon VFD product id 0x0036. I am working with another user to get it working with an iMon LCD product id 0x0038, and I will hopefully have a download available soon.

iTunes LCDproc AppleScript

2008-10-12T16:06:00.001-07:00

Here is an AppleScript designed to display your current iTunes song on an LCDproc server. It uses expect to control a telnet session to the LCDproc server. You do not need Growl.

You must open it in Script Editor, save it as an application and select "Stay Open" in the save dialog. Then you can put it in your iTunes Scripts folder so it is accessible in iTunes.

Download the iTunes LCDproc AppleScript.

Update!

I updated the script so it uses very few processes now.

LCDproc installer Mac OS X

2008-10-11T18:40:00.001-07:00

I have created an LCDproc installer for Mac OS X. It is built for G3, G4 or G5 PowerPC Macs, but I should have an Intel build available soon. Intel Macs will not be able to use it. LCDproc gets installed into /usr/local/. A start-up script is included in /Library/StartUpItems/LCDproc. It is pre-configured for the Mac OS X USB LCD Kit. Once you install, just restart as instructed and LCDproc should be running on your Mac OS X USB LCD Kit. If you don't have the Mac OS X USB LCD Kit, you can edit the configuration file in /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf

Download the Mac OS X PowerPC LCDproc installer.

GrowLCDproc 1.3.8 Available

2008-10-08T20:25:00.001-07:00

GrowLCDproc 1.3.8 is now available for download.

GrowLCDproc 1.3.8 adds true coalescing support, iTunes ratings support and improved display format. This means you will no longer get multiple screens for different songs if you skipped a song once it started. Also, the number of stars you have given a song will be translated by GrowLCDproc into asterisks. A marquee scroll is now used to improve readability for longer single-line messages. Finally, vertical scrolls have had the speed reduced and horizontal scrolls have been sped up slightly.

See it in action.

Take a look at the documentation.

Download the latest version now.

Mac OS X USB LCD Kit LCDproc code

2008-10-05T20:28:00.001-07:00

The source will hopefully be incorporated into LCDproc and I should have a compiled download available shortly.

THe default set up is for winamp wiring, but the MAC OS X USB LCD Kit is wired a bit differently. Make sure to uncomment:
//#define USS720_MAC_USB_LCD_KIT_WIRING 1
to enable the proper wiring for the kit.

Update: 8/10/2008

The hd44780-USS720 driver code has been incorporated into LCDproc. I hope to have a compiled version available for download as soon as possible.

Mac OS X USB LCD Kit working with LCDproc

2008-10-05T18:53:00.001-07:00

I have just finished an LCDproc driver for the Mac OS X USB LCD Kit. Sorry for the long delay on this, it had always been something I wanted to do. It should be incorporated into an LCDproc release soon.

The driver uses libusb, so it can be used on any OS supported by LCDproc. If anybody who purchased a kit is interested in testing it out, please email me.

GrowLCDproc for Growl 1.1.1 Available!

2007-12-17T19:45:00.001-08:00

GrowLCDproc now works with Growl 1.1.x!

Take a look at the documentation.

Download the latest version now.

Look at some previous posts for more details.

GrowLCDproc Now Available!

2007-08-13T19:21:00.001-07:00

After some final feature improvements and bug fixes, GrowLCDproc is now available for public use!

Forward Growl notifications from your favorite Mac OS X applications to any number of LCDproc servers running locally or on remote networks. Then see your Growl notifications appear on any of the displays supported by LCDproc on a Mac OS X, Linux or BSD server.

Check out a screen-shot.

Take a look at the documentation.

Download the latest version now.

Update!

GrowLCDproc 1.3.1 is now a Universal Binary.

GrowLCDproc Pre-Release updated!

2007-08-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

New GrowLCDproc available with improved sleep behavior. Fixes a bug where sleep would cause a bad stream to remain open and prevent screens from being sent to LCDproc until a "reconnect".

Download the latest version now.

AEDEX POS on LCDproc

2007-08-06T18:56:00.001-07:00

I just submitted some code to get a serial Point of Sale display working with LCDproc. My display uses the AEDEX protocol and seems to work great. I will post the code here shortly.

When used in conjunction with GrowLCDproc, you can show your current iTunes songs or any Growl notifications on the display.

Update!

The LCDproc distribution now contains this driver with the name serialPOS. I have also added a feature to allow input from an RS232 keyboard or terminal through a serial pass-through port.

Old Mac 68k as an LCDproc display

2007-03-03T18:43:00.001-08:00

I am easily amused I suppose. Trying to find a use for the old compact Macs I have around (Macintosh 128K, 512k, SE, SE/30), I set up a connection (see below) to my G3 and ran the LCDproc daemon from the old Mac using curses as a display. Using my GrowLCDprocDisplay program, you can even display your currently playing iTunes songs!

Basic steps for a serial connection:

Get a USB serial adapter and the appropriate driver for Mac OS X
Use a null modem cable to connect the old Mac and your new Mac
Run an old terminal emulation (Zterm, MacTerminal, MicroPhone) program on the old Mac
Set up the /etc/ttys file to allow you to login over the serial connection. for instance:
tty.usbserial "/usr/libexec/getty local.9600" vt100 on
Restart launchd: sudo killall -HUP launchd
Login from the old Mac and run LCDd with curses as the display

TUAW link

2007-02-04T18:55:00.001-08:00

Thanks to TUAW, The Unofficial Apple Weblog for the recent link to my blog for information relating to LCDproc.

LCDproc compile update

2007-02-03T19:04:00.001-08:00

Since upgrading to Xcode 2.4.1, I have noticed some problems compiling LCDproc. However, they are not difficult to overcome.

cd into the folder of the latest LCDproc source. and run the following commands:

./configure
make
At some point this will return an error about nested functions.
make CFLAGS=-fnested-functions
This will finish compiling past the previous error.

If you just run make CFLAGS=-fnested-functions, without running a standard make first, you will get an error trying to dynamically link bayrad.so. Hopefully there will be a fix for this soon.

In other news, LCDproc included some new source I wrote to get the top processes and the internet interface statistics. This means that all of the lcdproc client features are now supported in Mac OS X!

Update!

There are no longer any nested functions in LCDproc. As a result, you can now just run:

./configure
make

to compile LCDproc.

Mac OS X USB LCD Info

2006-12-05T18:50:00.001-08:00

Since I haven't had any LCD Kits available for a while, I thought I would clear up some details about the kit for people who want to try it on their own.

The LCD is a HD44780 compatible character LCD. It is connected to the Mac USB port using a Belkin F5U002 USB Parallel adapter. Make sure to get the correct version that uses a separate USB cable.

The pinout I used for the kit and the Mac OS X USB LCD Command Line Tool is available here: Beyond Logic Interfacing Example. With some minor changes to get power from the parallel port, the final pinout is:

Centronics
Parallel    LCD
30             1
13,14          2
30             3
36             4
29             5
1              6
2              7
3              8
4              9
5             10
6             11 
7             12
8             13
9             14

Following this pinout should allow you to use the Mac OS X USB LCD Command Line Tool on your own cable and LCD.

GrowLCDproc Pre-release now available!!

2006-11-26T19:27:00.001-08:00

Here is the new Growl Display plugin that will send Growl notifications to an LCDproc server. This will allow you to view Growl notifications on any character LCD supported by LCDproc, or on any UNIX or linux terminal using the curses or text drivers. Because it uses LCDproc's TCP/IP connection protocol, you can send your notifications almost anywhere!

Using this plugin, I was able to forward my notifications to my wireless Zaurus PDA running in another room.

Download the latest version now.

Check out a screenshot.

GrowLCDisplay 1.1 now available!!

2006-11-26T19:10:00.001-08:00

Major Update to the GrowLCDisplay plugin just posted. Due to insufficient testing, some bugs had slipped through the previous release. I finally had some time to rewrite parts of the plugin. As a result it is much more stable and reliable with some added new features.

Download the latest version now.

Check out a screenshot.

GrowLCDproc Display

2006-11-22T19:20:00.001-08:00

I just finished working on a Growl Display plugin that will send Growl notifications to an LCDproc server. It works very well! I will hopefully have a download available soon. This will allow you to view Growl notifications on any character LCD supported by LCDproc, or on any linux machine if you run the curses or text drivers. Because it uses LCDproc's TCP/IP connection protocol, you can send your notifications almost anywhere!

Check out the screenshot. Notice the LCDproc server running a text based curses display in the terminal.

POS Display with iTunes Movie

2006-08-03T18:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a Quicktime Movie of the POS Display with iTunes. It shows some of the features of the script. It also reveals some of the limitations of the Display:

no extended characters
40 character limit on scrolling text
24 hour clock only

Even with these limitations, it serves its purpose well, and it was cheap compared to a normal serial VFD.

POS Display with iTunes

2006-08-01T18:39:00.001-07:00

I recently managed to get my EMAX POS pole to display my current iTunes Tracks. I will post a video soon. It uses a simple AEDEX command set.

Here is a link to the code: AEDEX iTunes Code

Make sure to save it as an application and select "Keep running." Then put it in your iTunes Scripts folder.

Requires a working serial port (edit the script to specify which) and: SerialPort X 1.0 OSAX

Zaurus as an LCDproc display

2006-07-26T18:32:00.001-07:00

Here is something I tried out today after I finally received my Zaurus CF wifi card. I installed SSH on my Zaurus, then logged into my Powerbook. I ran the LCDproc daemon on my Mac from the Zaurus using curses as a display, and lo and behold, my Zaurus was a wireless LCDproc display!

It is hard to see, but the Z is displaying the status of the hard drives on my Mac. It rotates through about 8 screens, displaying the time, system load, etc.

Group Buy is Closed...

2006-03-06T19:32:00.001-08:00

Thanks!

New VFD Arrived

2006-02-27T15:14:00.001-08:00

My EMAX POS pole displayed arrived the other day and the VFD is huge! The spec sheet says it is 15 x 4 cm - much larger than I imagined. It is a parallel Samsung VFD, which connects to a board that translates the RS232 and AEDEX protocol used in some cash registers. There is not serial interface on the VFD unfortunately.

The protocol was very simple to figure out, and after some cable modifications, I got it running using Zterm. Now I am going to start trying to get the LCD Kit to work directly on the VFD, without the other board. I'll keep everyone posted.

Just Bought a VFD from ebay

2006-02-16T18:46:00.001-08:00

I just bought a VFD from ebay. It is a 20x2 model, though I have seen some nice 40x2 models pop up at a decent price. It is from a point of sale display, so I don't really know exactly what I'm am getting. It was cheap though, so if you want a good price on a VFD, look for surplus POS displays. Mine was 99¢ plus shipping.

Since it is from a POS machine, it probably uses serial input, but like many of the Noritake VFDs, it might have parallel too. If so, I will try it with the parallel adapter and let everyone know my results.

Ultimately, I would like to get this working with LCDproc, and write a Growl plugin to connect with LCDproc. That way, I would not have to write any more code for formatting data for the LCD/VFD. This should open a lot of doors for people wanting to use LCDs on Mac OS X.

GrowLCDisplay plugin now available!!

2006-02-13T19:13:00.001-08:00

Try the GrowLCDisplay plugin for Growl that allows you to send Growl notifications to your Mac OS X USB LCD Kit!!!

Update!

All known bugs have been fixed!

Download the latest version now.

Check out a screenshot.

Post a writeback if you try it or have any problems.

Latest LCDproc Working

2006-02-05T19:05:00.001-08:00

I managed to get the latest LCDproc compilied and running on Mac OS X. After creating a darwin specific file for getting machine statistics, nearly all of the features work correctly. You can test out the features using the built in text and curses drivers.

Update!

LCDproc has integrated my changes into their source tree. You can find it in the latest LCDproc download.

using the terminal, cd into the extracted source directory
type the command: ./configure
type the command: make
edit the LCDd.conf file to use the curses or text driver.
type the command: server/LCDd -c ./LCDd.conf to start the server
open a new terminal window, cd into the same directory and type the command: clients/lcdproc/lcdproc C T M X D B K U P &
When you are done, exit the programs by entering the command: killall LCDd; killall lcdproc

The lcdproc client has many options but that should show you quite a few of the screens. Hopefully I will find some time to write a driver for the USB LCD Kit if there is some interest.

Command Line Tool Updated

2006-01-29T15:12:00.001-08:00

I recompiled the tool to run on earlier versions of Mac OS X. I tested it on 10.2.8 with no problems.

Mac_OS_X_USB_LCD.tgz

Update!

I have posted the updated source for most of the command line tool. It does not include commands specific to the USS720 chip, as I am working on a library for that functionality in the future.

stdinToUSBLCD.c

LCD Housing

2006-01-05T15:17:00.001-08:00

Currently, the USB LCD Kits do not come with any sort of housing or case. However, I have been doing some experimenting and have found a very neat way to house the LCDs:

(Note: this procedure can be adapted to work with most character LCDs that you want to mount externally, regardless of the source.)

Parts:

Mac OS X USB LCD Kit
1593TBK or 1593QBK (slightly deeper) Hammond project box
Small machine screws as long as the project box is deep.
a Decora style light switch plate
short piece of double stick tape
some wire (single strand wire like in cat 5 cable is easiest)

Procedure:

USB printer adapter preparation

Using a sharp knife, carefully cut around the edge of the Belkin USB parallel adapter from the kit. It is easiest to cut into the adapter on the seam on the edge.
Peel back the brown cover and peel away the copper tape and the clear substance that is on the board resembling hot glue.
Cut off the centronics port by scoring the pins where they contact the PCB, and bending it back and forth, or with a small wire cutter.
Remove the USB B port by desoldering the pins and the ground wire and pulling it off the PCB.
Cut the USB cable leaving the amount of cable you need connected to the USB A (rectangular) cable end.
Strip back the rubber insulation and push the shielding to one side. Then strip a small amount of insulation off of each of the 4 wires.

This leaves you with just the PCB from the parallel adapter which is tiny compared to the adapter itself. You may want to cut a cheaper USB cable instead of the nice Belkin one included in the kit.

Project box preparation

On the larger side of the the 2 piece box (we don't need the side with the battery door), clip off the 4 bits of plastic on the inside sides of the box.
Cut off the 2 screw riser posts in near the middle of the box.
cut off the board riser blocks in near the middle of the box
place the decora cover over the box, center it and mark where the 2 holes on the plate should be oriented on the box.
drill the holes through the box.
notch the small end plate on one side where the cord will come through.

Assembly

(If you want a strain relief on the USB cable, remember to put it on before you solder.) Solder the four wires and the shield of the USB cable to the small end of the USB adapter PCB. The wire pads are marked with the color of the wire.
Using about 3/4 of an inch of wire , solder the pads of the USB PCB to the rear pads of the LCD following the wiring of the adapter cable included in the kit.
Place some double stick tape on the back of the USB PCB and mount it to the LCD.
Place the LCD in the box and hot glue the end plate of the box in place, aligning your USB cable with the notch you made in the plate.
Using some machine screws, attatch the Decora switch plate by threading them through the box into the small holes drilled earlier.

Conclusions

This project box is perfectly sized to to hold the display, and just deep enough to hold the PCB also. The deeper box is a little better suited to getting everything in there. The Decora switch cover is absolutely the right size for the 16x4 LCD display, and is available in many colors and materials. Most of all, the parts for the housing cost less than $6.00. I have a brushed aluminum plate for my powerbook and a white one for my iBook. You an even get clear switch plates for a hi-tech look.

Pictures to come!

LCDproc Server running LCD on Mac OS X

2005-12-20T15:20:00.001-08:00

So I managed to get the LCDproc server working with my LCD kit using Mac OS X! To get this to work, you basically need to compile the LCDproc server (server only, the clients have not been ported yet), then set up the text driver, and pipe the output of the LCDproc text driver to my test program. The result is that LCDproc displays the server screen on the attached LCD!

I will work on porting some of the clients in the coming weeks so that it actually displays useful information, but a major stumbling block has been overcome!

Command Line Tool Updated

2005-12-20T15:10:00.001-08:00

I made an update to the command line tool and instructions. The update adds some more features and increases compatibility with the LCDproc text driver.

The instructions and updated command line tool are available here: Mac_OS_X_USB_LCD.tgz

New LCD Ideas Using Nokia LCDs

2005-08-24T18:48:00.001-07:00

http://serdisplib.sourceforge.net/ser/pcd8544.html

This should be pretty easy to integrate with the Belkin USB->Parallel adapter on a mac.

In other news, I STILL haven't received the cables I ordered, so I'll keep on it.

LCD Group Buy Update

2005-07-15T18:59:00.001-07:00

The correct cables are in the mail, so I will let everyone know when everything is ready to go.

If you are buying your own cable, you need the ones that have the cable as a separate piece. Most of the ebay vendors show a picture of the right one, but give you one with an integral cable. I tried using the ones that have the cable all as one piece, but they use a different chip and different voltages, and I couldn't get it to work properly.

Thanks for your interest!

Shipped First Group Buy

2005-06-15T19:29:00.001-07:00

So if you already paid, you have been shipped the parts.

The download for the instructions and command line tool is here:
Mac_OS_X_USB_LCD.tgz

Also, if you are putting one of these together yourself, download the tool and try it out.

Basic Growl Support!!

2005-06-13T19:02:00.001-07:00

So, everyone showed a lot of interest in Growl support. Unfortunately, I needed to focus my efforts on getting a basic display utility. After some work, I realized I can just set Growl to log, and have the tail utility pipe the output to my LCD display utility. As a result, I have basic Growl notification support.

I will certainly continue to work on a real display plugin, but this should be a nice benefit to the people who will be buying the kit.

Group Buy Update

2005-06-13T18:58:00.001-07:00

Quick update on the group buy:

If you already paid, I will be sending your kits out this weekend (with the correct cable).

As I mentioned, I received the wrong cables from my source. Fortunately, he has the right ones and will replace them for me. If you are still interested in the group buy, stay tuned!

Thanks again for everyone's interest!

Bad cables...

2005-06-07T15:00:00.001-07:00

So I found out that there are apparently several types of Belkin F5U002 adapters out there. I just bought some that don't work, so watch out. They have a different usb vendor id, and they do not have a separate USB cable. Otherwise they look very similar.

They might even use the same chip, but they put out different voltages and behave a little differently.

Until I can find the correct cables, or figure these out, I am going to have to temporarily suspend the group buy.

I will keep everyone updated here.

thanks

LCD Test Kit Group Buy!!

2005-06-03T14:59:00.001-07:00

So I decided I would make a kit available for people who want to start playing with LCDs right now. I want to do it in the form of a group buy so that I can buy all of the parts at once at a discount rate.

The kit would include:

HD44780 4x16 LCD
Belkin USB to Parallel Adapter
USB A to B cable
Centronics to LCD cable
header pins to connect the cable to the LCD
a simple command line program to allow you to pipe text output (from logs, programs, etc.) to your LCD.
Instructions
Discount on any future products or software I make using the parallel interface.

This kit would require some soldering and is not a commercial product. If you want a nice, finished product, wait a few more months, and I should have something available.

I won't be making much money on this at all.

I think it would cost about $30 shipped if I can sell 10. So if you are interested, post a write back.

Thanks!

Not Possible?!?

2005-06-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

I thought I would collect some links that say this can't be done.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=835731

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-12958.html

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1026134744

http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/cspplcds.asp?df=100&forumid=23720&exp=0&select=1098863 (Go to the bottom)

search.belkin.com

Parallel Port Mac OS X

2005-06-01T14:57:00.001-07:00

Thanks hackaday!

For PC users who might not see the point:

Macs don't have parallel ports or serial ports.
This adapter is supposed to be for printing only, and LCDs require low level port control that most adapters don't provide.
USB LCDs are expensive.
USB LCDs don't come with Mac software.

I will posts some simple source code in the coming weeks if people are interested.

I may also offer a kit so people can use one of these on their Mac.

P.S. buy a new printer adapter from ebay rather than using one you already have. (My wife was ready to kill me when she couldn't use the printer.) Look for the ~~brown~~ dark gray ones that are not for the mac.

LCD Software

2005-05-26T14:53:00.001-07:00

So, I am continuing to develop some software for the display.

Here are the priorities:

Develop simple user-space code to access the parallel port functions. - Almost finished.
Develop some simple code for running the HD44780.
Write a small interactive Cocoa application to output data to the LCDs
Write a display plug-in for Growl.
Finally, create a kernel extension for accessing the parallel ports through Apple's IOKit. This may become an open source project, or maybe even part of Darwin.

Pics...

2005-05-25T14:54:00.001-07:00

What makes this so interesting is that this particular cable only works on windows, and the mac version does not work on Mac OS X, and either one will only work with printers.

Just to recap, this is USB -> parallel -> LCD,
not USB -> Serial -> parallel -> LCD.
And all for under $20!!

It works!!!

2005-05-24T14:52:00.001-07:00

So I got it working!

Images to come....

PL-2305 chip not working out

2005-05-19T14:51:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to use the Prolific PL-2305 USB to parallel chip to get this done. Unfortunately, the data sheet does not mention the vendor-specific commands required to properly control the parallel port beyond simple printing. It only mentions that the commands exist, Prolific tech support has not responded, and reverse engineering the chip has proven beyond my patience.

Fortunately, Lucent makes a chip, the USS720, which I am already using in my Belkin printer adapter. It will be much simpler to implement since the vendor-specific commands are well documented. Unfortunately, they are a little more expensive, and more difficult to find. They typically appear in name-brand adapters. Either way, they aren't too expensive, and it is worth the time saved.

LCD source

2005-05-04T14:50:00.001-07:00

I found a cheap source near my home for LCDs and got everything hooked up through the usb adapter. The LCDs displayed the black bars which indicate that the LCDs are getting power and work correctly.

On the software side, I have connected to the usb module, but commands aren't getting to the LCD apparently due to some flakey wiring. Once I get that worked out, I will post some pics.

LCD proposal cont'd

2005-04-14T14:48:00.001-07:00

So, to implement this LCD Project on Mac OS X, I figured I would have to write a daemon or command line utility that would accept messages to display. Then write a bunch of scripts or clients to display server data, then have users make their own if they wanted. (Sort of like LCDproc.) Obviously this would be a pain, and have little usefulness for existing applications.

Then I discovered an application that is designed to take message notifications from applications and display them to a user. Growl will allow me to just code up a small "Display" plug-in and immediately, the LCD will be able to display noitifications from a whole list of supported applications.

This might turn out very useful and functional!

LCD Project Proposal...

2005-04-07T14:40:00.001-07:00

So I have this idea for a LCD controller project for my Mac.

Take a USB -> IEEE 1284 parallel printer adapter, open it up and take off the centroncs connector.
Connect it to a parallel character LCD which uses the Hitachi HD44780 controller.
Write a program on the Mac to send data through usb to the LCD.

Why is this any different from all of the other LCD's I have seen?

Well, any LCDs designed for the Mac use a serial connection. May others use serial connections too. This would require a USB -> RS232 adapter . This doesn't seem very elegant considering the project this will be a part of (more to come...). Any that use USB are generally pretty expensive:

http://www.j-works.com/jsb815.html - $65 for just the controller!

http://www.usblcd.de/products/showprod.php4?gr=1&lang=en - 45 euro for the controller.

I imagine I should be able to make this for $10-$20.

potential problems:

The IEEE 1284 USB adapters are made for printing, and maybe this won't work with an lcd (I'm not sure this will be a problem).
writing to USB devices is a little less obvious to program than writing to serial devices using the darwin IOKit. I sould be able to work this out though. You just can't open up a terminal program and make it work though.
Parallel won't let me use a keypad on the device like a serial controller would. But hey, I can use usb, right?