LCDOut Woes

[LetTheSmokeOut]

Hi guys,

Ok, I am at my wits end. I've come back to Pic and Picbasic pro from AVR so I can rapidly develop some basic circuits I need for the homestead. I spent two days working on two simple (well should be) circuits and cannot seem to get anything working except PWM on 16F628.

I wanted to make a turns counter using a hall effect and LCD connected to a 16F628. I have an old LCD backpack but it just sends garbage to the lcd as if the controller on it has been zapped by static or something.

So I fired up one of the many new LCD's I have and using LCDOUT I still cannot get anything working. I set up the 16F628 and made sure three or four of them were working on the test board and all were fine and could output PWM on CCP1 etc, but no LCD even after hours of checking and rechecking connections and filtering power etc. It's got to be coding issues. Don't laugh too hard, I have not written in basic in years now

Here is the circuit I am using and code:

@ DEVICE PIC16F628, INTRC_OSC_NOCLKOUT, WDT_ON, MCLR_OFF,BOD_ON, LVP_OFF, CPD_OFF, PROTECT_OFF

DEFINE OSC 4


TRISA = %00011111
TRISB = %00001000
CMCON = 7 ' PortA = digital I/O


begin:
pause 1000
LCDOUT $FE,1,"Testing...."
pause 1000
LCDOUT $FE,1
goto begin

[skimask]

Blocks on the LCD, yes/no?
Contrast dialed both one way (to Vdd) and back (to Vss), any changes in the screen?
Put a 'heartbeat' LED on the board, make sure the thing is actually running...

[mackrackit]

I may not be looking at it correctly and I think LCDOUT over rides it???
The TRISA posted has your LCD pins set for input?

[skimask]

The TRISA posted has your LCD pins set for input?

I'm fairly sure LCDOUT does override it. (otherwise there'd probably be another million threads on the forums about why this or that doesn't work right here or there)

[Melanie]

I see no LCD defines in your code... please put them in.

They are in the PICBASIC manual and tons of examples on this forum. Set them up for the way you've got your LCD wired.

[LetTheSmokeOut]

I see no LCD defines in your code... please put them in.

They are in the PICBASIC manual and tons of examples on this forum. Set them up for the way you've got your LCD wired.

Yes, contrast works on three different (brand new) LCD's. All LCD defines are now at default which is:

PORTA.0 =Data bit 4
PORTA.1=Data bit 5
PORTA.2=Data bit 6
PORTA.3=Data bit 7
PORTA.4=R/S
PORTB.3=Enable
R/W is grounded

I Disabled MCLR to eliminate the need for pull-up and hassle. I also tried TRISA=%00000000 and TRISB=%00000000. I will post anything you need. Pictures, or anything else. I can even switch to a breadboard and eliminate possibility of circuit board issues (proto board) although I have spent literally 20 hours soldering and de-soldering an looking at every little solder joint, then using PWM and other commands to make sure the chips are good and working properly.

Thanks for your help on this. Very, very much appreciated...