LCD Data on portA and portB

[NavMicroSystems]

EDWARD,

I would modify the hardware to make it compatible with LCDOUT.

You could cut the copper traces on the and re-wire them
or build some adapter cable between the board and the LCD.

Coud you post a schematic and Layout of your board?

[Dwayne]

You can also manually control the LCD.. .with out using LCDout.

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...d/commands.htm

YOu would send a
hex 13 to turn on the LCD,
Hex 01 to clear
and everything else will be close to the same as a LCDout.

You would send it in 4 bit mode, thus I can't remember if you send the MSB or LSB first...This may seem like a lot of work, but in reality, it is fairly simple.

You can assign the whole PortB.0- PortB.3, then assign A.3 to Port b.3 and trigger your clock.

Psuedo code:

Turn your LCD into 4 bit mode:
send Hex 13 to turn it on.

// one way to do it:
routine:
Portb.0 - POrtb.3=MSB
Porta.3=Portb.3
toggle clock

// another way to do it.
Portb.0 - Portb.2=LSB
Porta.3=Bit...(whatever it is)
toggle clock
Return


Yeah, you are sending in 4 bit mode, but it will work. But you are not using LCDout. You will also have to put your own pauses in, so that the data will not be sent too fast. (similiar to Character spacing command in LCDout)

[NavMicroSystems]

You can also manually control the LCD.. .with out using LCDout.

Of course you could,
even without using a PIC
by simply having some DIP-Switches on the Data Lines and a PushButton on the Clock Line.

(Dwayne, you remember my very first PROMmer)

If you would like to use the Power of PBP's LCDOUT
(like all the Modifiers etc.)
you would have to write your own LCD Routines

I feel cutting some traces on the PCB and soldering some wires or building an adapter cable will be less time consuming.

BTW
the "Dwayne Method" will only work if there is nothing connected to PortB.3
(Means you are wasting one PortBit)

[Dwayne]

Hello Ralph,


Ralph>>Of course you could, even without using a PIC
by simply having some DIP-Switches on the Data Lines and a PushButton on the Clock Line. (Dwayne, you remember my very first PROMmer)<<

<chuckle> Yes I do...


Ralph >>If you would like to use the Power of PBP's LCDOUT
(like all the Modifiers etc.)
you would have to write your own LCD Routines <<

that is correct... And this is what I did... Granted the wheel has already been invented, but sometimes that wheel has to be made oblong to make something work a little bit better for other situations.

Ralph >>I feel cutting some traces on the PCB and soldering some wires or building an adapter cable will be less time consuming.<<

Yes...I agree...But I don't know what limitations our gent has... Would that be allowable for him???

Ralph >>BTW
the "Dwayne Method" will only work if there is nothing connected to PortB.3
(Means you are wasting one PortBit)<<

I showed two ways... One using a MSB / LSB the other is more of a Bit shift for the first 3 bits, and the 4th bit assigned to Porta. Lengthy...Yes...but sometimes skinning the cat can't be done the way we want it done...

Thus I offered another solution, if the cat is not allowed to be skinned that way...Whether it helps or not...oh well... it is a option.

[NavMicroSystems]

...Granted the wheel has already been invented, but sometimes that wheel has to be made oblong to make something work a little bit better for other situations.

OK, if you want to prevent the wheel from turning, you could make it rectangular, but then I wouldn't call it a wheel any longer. (The proven best shape for a wheel is round)

...But I don't know what limitations our gent has... Would that be allowable for him???

This is exactly why we should stop guessing and wait for EDWARD to come back with some more detailed information

[EDWARD]

yo thanks for the help guys. modifing the hardware is not an option because i am planning on upgrading a whole bunch of these boards with new code (1000+ boards)

dwayne- i think your on the right track as to what i need. i think that i should be able either:

2. to use four 1 byte variables (one byte for each data line on lcd) and output serially each byte at the same time

or

1. pick what bit holder in a byte to output on a specifed port.



i drew a picture of what my idea is. the main question is how the data should be strucuted. the data a drew is not exact its just to give you an idea of the structure.

remember that there is a 256byte eeprom on the board as well. this is only additional memory correct? my pic has built in memory. my best guess is that the eeprom was added to the design to hold the LCD data.

[mister_e]

My suggestion, use LCD.BAS from Melabs. It's made to work with PBC and you can modify it for your special need
download it here