The serialVFD Driver

This section talks about using LCDproc with VFD character-displays build by NEC, FUTABA and NORITAKE.

The serialVFD-driver is working with NEC FIPC8367 based VFDs and the "KD Rev 2.1" (an ATMEL AT90S.... based FM20X2KB-AB replacement). It is also known to work on FUTABA VFDs.

The driver should operate most of NEC, Futaba and Noritake 7x5 dot VFDs with serial(RS-232) and/or parallel interface. See the following table for testing-status. Feedback is welcome.

Table 5.18. serialVFD: Display Status

DisplayControllerSerialParallelDisplay testedRemark
NEC FM20X2KB-ABNEC FIPC8367OkOkYes
NEC FC20X2JANEC FIPC8367(Ok)(Ok)NoSame Controller as on FM20X2KB-AB
NEC FC20X1SA-AB/AANEC FIPC8367(Ok)(Ok)NoSame Controller as on FM20X2KB-AB
KD Rev 2.1AT90S.... microcontrollerOkOkYes
FUTABA M402SD06GJ?(?)*OkYes(* perhaps no compatible baudrate, not tested) The display has no user-characters: set Custom-Characters=0 in LCDd.conf.
FUTABA M204SD01AAFUTABA 5P00A016(Ok)(Ok)No
Samsung 20S204DA2?OkOkYesThe display is FUTABA compatible (hard- and software). Set Custom-Characters=0 in LCDd.conf.
Noritake CU20026SCPB-Tmicrocontroller(Ok)(Ok)No
Noritake CU20045SCPB-T28A?(Ok)(Ok)No


(): Feature not tested.

If your display isn't working 100% satisfactorily you can add a new device with modified hardware commands to the driver if you want. To do that you have to add a new section to the display Type=-switch-case in ./server/drivers/serialVFD-displays.c and to write a new "load" function with the correct commands for the display. (Try which display Type= works best with your display, then copy, rename and modify this function to your needs - that is the easiest way I guess.)

On Malte Poeggel's page you may find pictures and datasheets of the VFDs: http://www.maltepoeggel.de/html/vfd/index.html

It is possible to switch the display off and back on while the server is running. It may take a few minutes until the next full refresh makes the display show everything correctly.

Connecting The Display

The Connections shown have been tested successfully.

Warning

Always cross-check with your datasheet, before connecting your display! Different displays of even the same manufacturer may have different pin assignments!

With this example connections it will be easy to connect displays with different connector pin-layouts, the pins are commonly named equal in the datasheet.

Serial Connections

It is not possible to connect most of the displays directly to the serial port. The signal has to be inverted. I use the following circuit to do that job.

Figure 5.12. serialVFD: Serial Inverter


Computer                                          Display
						  (signal)
HDD Powerconnector
color(Voltage)

red(+5V)    ----------------------------------o----- +5V
                                              |
black(GND)  ----------------------o          .-.
                                  |          | | 10k
Serial(SUB-D  9Pin female)        |          | |
pin(signal)                       V*         '-'
           ___                                |
3(TxD)  --|___|--o---o      o-----------------o----- RxD
           10k   |   |      |
                 |   |     C|
                .-.  |   -----  BC547c (or similar NPN)
                | |  | B|  /  |
            10k | |  o--|-|   |
                '-'     |  \  |
                 |       --->-    A*
                 |          E|    |
                 |           |    |
5(GND)  ---------o-----------o----o--------------o-- GND
                                                 |*
Shield  -----------------------------------------o
optional

*connect near display


The pins on the different displays vary.

NEC Displays (FM20X2KB-AB):

CN1:

Pin 33 ------- RxD
(Testmode: connect pins 25 and 26, then power up)

CN2:

Pin 1  ------- +5V
Pin 2  ------- GND
KD Rev 2.1:

The blue connector (6pin in a row) (the important one!):


--------------------------------
| +5V  +5V  RxD  GND  GND  GND |
--------------------------------

Tip

Hold the display in that position where you can read the KD Rev 2.1 marking normally!

The gray connector (10pin 2 rows):

Do not use. (the ATMEL ISP connector I guess)

The two jumpers next to the gray connector:

Normally not used.
You can activate two different testmodes with them.

FUTABA Displays (M402SD06GJ):
Pin 2   ------ +5V
Pin 4   ------ +5V
Pin 6   ------ +5V

Pin 10  ------ GND
Pin 12  ------ GND
Pin 14  ------ GND

Pin 19  ------ RxD

Parallel Connections

NEC Displays (FM20X2KB-AB):

CN1:

parallel Port:			Display (NEC):
Pin: 	Name:			Name:   Pin:

1	/STROBE --------------	/WR	17
2	D0      --------------	D0	15
3	D1      --------------	D1	13
4	D2      --------------	D2	11
5	D3      --------------	D3	9
6	D4      --------------	D4	7
7	D5      --------------	D5	5
8	D6      --------------	D6	3
9	D7      --------------	D7	1
10	/ACK	--o
		  |
11	BUSY    --o-----------	BUSY	27

			   o--  /CS	23
			   |
18 - 25	GND    ------------o--	GND	2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,26,28,20,32,34
			   |*
Shield  -------------------o
optional

*connect near display

CN2:

Pin 1  ------ +5V
Pin 2  ------ GND
FUTABA Displays (M402SD06GJ):
parallel Port:			Display (FUTABA):
Pin: 	Name:			Name:   Pin:

1	/STROBE --------------	/WR	17
2	D0      --------------	D0	15
3	D1      --------------	D1	13
4	D2      --------------	D2	11
5	D3      --------------	D3	9
6	D4      --------------	D4	7
7	D5      --------------	D5	5
8	D6      --------------	D6	3
9	D7      --------------	D7	1
10	/ACK	--o
		  |
11	BUSY    --o-----------	BUSY	20

			   o--  /SEL	18
			   |
18 - 25	GND    ------------o--	GND	10,12,14
			   |*
Shield  -------------------o
optional
			   0--	TEST	16
			   |
		+5V -------o--	+5V	2,4,6

*connect near display

Configuration in LCDd.conf

[serialVFD]

use_parallel= { yes | no }

"no" if display connected serial, "yes" if connected parallel [default: no(serial)].

Port= PORT

Portaddress where the LPT is. Used in parallelmode only. Usual values are 0x278, 0x378 and 0x3BC [default: 0x278].

Device= DEVICE

Device to use in serial mode. Usual values are /dev/ttyS0 and /dev/ttyS1 [default: /dev/lcd].

Custom-Characters= CUSTOM-CHARACTERS

Number of Custom-Characters [default: Display-Type dependent].

Size= WIDTH x HEIGHT

Specifies the size of the VFD. [default: 20x2]

Type= CODE

Specifies the display type.[default: 0] The following type codes are available:

CODEVFD model
0NEC (FIPC8367 based) VFDs
1KD Rev 2.1
2Noritake VFDs
3Futaba VFDs

Note

Noritake VFDs have not been tested yet. Feedback is welcome.

Brightness= BRIGHTNESS

Set the initial brightness [default: 1000; legal: 0 - 1000] (4 steps 0-250, 251-500, 501-750, 751-1000)

OffBrightness= OFFBRIGHTNESS

Set the initial off-brightness [default: 0; legal: 0 - 1000]. This value is used when the display is normally switched off in case LCDd is inactive. (4 steps 0-250, 251-500, 501-750, 751-1000)

Speed= { 1200 | 2400 | 9600 | 19200 | 115200 }

Set the the baud rate communication with the VFD. If not given [default 9600].

ISO_8859_1= { yes | no }

Enable ISO-8859-1 compatibility [default is yes].