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My serial LCD for displaying directions
Rawker:
maybe i should try that, the manual says the usb has a 5v and a gnd so i'll try hooking it up to that
edit: got it working, now to figure out how to send files to it
edit #2: i'm having trouble sending files to it, i tried everything in the thread and i can't seem to get anything to display on the screen. I know the screen works because i can adjust the screen's contrast level or brightness or whatever it is. anyways if anyone has the time to help me out my icq is 118287640 as i can't seem to figure out what the problem is.
i tried the stuff BobBorakovitz posted
configured the ports like maraxle said
i tried both of my comps and no luck and the only thing i can think of is that it's my cable which is http://www.radioshack.ca/estore/Product.aspx?language=en-CA&product=2600117&category=Parallel+%26+Serial&catalog=RadioShack
Rawker:
btw i get this error when trying copy test.txt com1 in >run>cmd> "The handle is invalid. 0 file(s) copied."
bump do you think i have to do this?
"but the cable is a 9 pin serial cable that allows pins 2, 3, and 5 to go straight through, connects pins 1, 4, and 6 together on the PC end, and connects 7 and 8 together on the PC end. Pin 9 is unused. The reason for connecting the pins together on the PC end is to ensure that it always has a DSR/DTR signal and a CTS/RTS signal. This is not necessary on XP, however, as it appears to be more forgiving of the serial communications standards than DOS and Win98 are..."
maraxle:
What OS are you using? If it's not XP (or maybe 2000, haven't tested), you need the custom cable.
Also, run a "mode" command before you try copying the file for the first time. I think that's mentioned somewhere else in this thread too.
Rawker:
i'm running windows xp
i tried the "mode" command and here's what i got:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\default>mode
Status for device LPT1:
-----------------------
Printer output is not being rerouted.
Status for device COM1:
-----------------------
Baud: 19200
Parity: None
Data Bits: 8
Stop Bits: 1
Timeout: ON
XON/XOFF: OFF
CTS handshaking: ON
DSR handshaking: OFF
DSR sensitivity: OFF
DTR circuit: ON
RTS circuit: HANDSHAKE
Status for device COM2:
-----------------------
Baud: 1200
Parity: None
Data Bits: 7
Stop Bits: 1
Timeout: OFF
XON/XOFF: OFF
CTS handshaking: OFF
DSR handshaking: OFF
DSR sensitivity: OFF
DTR circuit: ON
RTS circuit: ON
Status for device CON:
----------------------
Lines: 300
Columns: 80
Keyboard rate: 31
Keyboard delay: 1
Code page: 437
C:\Documents and Settings\default>copy desktop\test.txt com1
The handle is invalid.
0 file(s) copied.
C:\Documents and Settings\default>
maraxle:
Hmmm... My com1 looks like this:
Status for device COM1:
-----------------------
Baud: 19200
Parity: None
Data Bits: 8
Stop Bits: 1
Timeout: OFF
XON/XOFF: OFF
CTS handshaking: OFF
DSR handshaking: OFF
DSR sensitivity: OFF
DTR circuit: ON
RTS circuit: ON
If you can make yours look like that using some of the mode command line switches, you should have no problem. If you type "mode /?" it'll give you a list of the available switches to try. It'll end up looking something like this (all on one line):
mode com1: baud=19200 parity=n data=8 stop=1 dtr=on rts=on octs=off odsr=off