Our new official repo is on github
LCD Smartie version 5.6 is released!
Download it now: https://github.com/LCD-Smartie/LCDSmartie/releases
LCD Smartie version 5.6 is released!
Download it now: https://github.com/LCD-Smartie/LCDSmartie/releases
were to start
Moderators: _X7JAY7X_, caesar, IFR, mattcro, limbo, Fast351
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yor1001
- Posts: 3
- Joined: July 3rd, 2006, 7:31 am
were to start
well I has just finish building my comp and I figured my comp would look great wth a lcd so I bought a 20 x 4 lcd but I seriously don't know where tp start, what must I do when I get the lcd, I searched google and got this great site, with a bunch of info and a whole lote more, but It all a bit advance could some one direct me to were must i begin such as how to install the lcd.thnx
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mattcro
- Forum Supporter
- Posts: 590
- Joined: March 8th, 2006, 1:58 pm
- Location: Scotland
Unfortunately, it is a bit complicated if you don't have much electronics knowledge. Do you have any friends or colleagues that can help? That's the best way to get started.
Is your LCD just the display module itself (ie just a circuit board with a few chips and the glass display on it) or did you get a kit with mounting bezel, cable, connector etc? Or is it a complete ready-to-go module that you can just plug in?
If it's just the display module, you will need to (very carefully) solder a multiway cable and connector which can plug into the parallel (printer) port, plus a power cable that plugs into a spare disk drive power connector. If your motherboard doesn't have a printer port, you need to use a USB-parallel adapter (I'm not sure how well that would work - anyone tried it?). If you don't have much/any soldering experience, LCDs are not the best thing to start on as they are quite delicate.
If you're not confident about all that and can't easily get someone to help, it may be better to get a ready-to-go display, where all the hard work has been done - you just plug it into a USB port and it works. These are available from modding shops and the like. Of course, they are rather more expensive.
Do you want to mount the LCD inside the computer case? You need to make or buy (unless it comes with the display) a mounting plate that will fit in 2 5.25inch disk-drive bays. I'm making an external enclosure for mine (4x20) in a plastic box which will sit on my desk, with a cable going to the PC tower.
Let us know what display you have (model, kit, bare display etc) and what you want to do with it (internal, external...).
Matt
Is your LCD just the display module itself (ie just a circuit board with a few chips and the glass display on it) or did you get a kit with mounting bezel, cable, connector etc? Or is it a complete ready-to-go module that you can just plug in?
If it's just the display module, you will need to (very carefully) solder a multiway cable and connector which can plug into the parallel (printer) port, plus a power cable that plugs into a spare disk drive power connector. If your motherboard doesn't have a printer port, you need to use a USB-parallel adapter (I'm not sure how well that would work - anyone tried it?). If you don't have much/any soldering experience, LCDs are not the best thing to start on as they are quite delicate.
If you're not confident about all that and can't easily get someone to help, it may be better to get a ready-to-go display, where all the hard work has been done - you just plug it into a USB port and it works. These are available from modding shops and the like. Of course, they are rather more expensive.
Do you want to mount the LCD inside the computer case? You need to make or buy (unless it comes with the display) a mounting plate that will fit in 2 5.25inch disk-drive bays. I'm making an external enclosure for mine (4x20) in a plastic box which will sit on my desk, with a cable going to the PC tower.
Let us know what display you have (model, kit, bare display etc) and what you want to do with it (internal, external...).
Matt
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_X7JAY7X_
- Hardware Genie - Plugin Author
- Posts: 374
- Joined: February 16th, 2005, 10:24 pm
- Location: Michigan
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yor1001
- Posts: 3
- Joined: July 3rd, 2006, 7:31 am
ok to start I do have alot of electronic knowledge and I am not new to soldering I have been soldering mod chips for both ps2 and xbox for some time now.
I boght this lcd.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HD44780-New-20x4-LC ... dZViewItem
and I was also wondering how to mount it to my comp bezel I was just about to cut a hole in my case, thanks for the heads up on the mounting 5.25 bay.
I boght this lcd.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HD44780-New-20x4-LC ... dZViewItem
and I was also wondering how to mount it to my comp bezel I was just about to cut a hole in my case, thanks for the heads up on the mounting 5.25 bay.
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mattcro
- Forum Supporter
- Posts: 590
- Joined: March 8th, 2006, 1:58 pm
- Location: Scotland
OK on your electronics skills, yor1001. I had no idea if you had any experience, but you should have no problem with the connections to the LCD. Parallel port is the easiest to hook up, but some folks have had problems and damaged LCDs, including me - just gotta check everything and go carefully, particularly with regard to antistatic handling.
Depending on how your case (if it's a tower) is positioned, it may not be so easy to read the display. That's why I decided to mount the display in a separate small box, since my tower is half hidden under the desk.
You may be able to use a drive bay adaptor or blanking kit to make the LCD bezel. I used to have some old old hard drive trays that would have done nicely. You could cut a piece of aluminium sheet (or even a piece of scrap computer case to get the colour matched) to fit into the space of 2 5.25 inch bays (the LCDs are quite high), and fix it to the drive mounting rails somehow. You'll either have to do some metal bashing, or buy a suitable blanking plate or bezel.
Matt.
Depending on how your case (if it's a tower) is positioned, it may not be so easy to read the display. That's why I decided to mount the display in a separate small box, since my tower is half hidden under the desk.
You may be able to use a drive bay adaptor or blanking kit to make the LCD bezel. I used to have some old old hard drive trays that would have done nicely. You could cut a piece of aluminium sheet (or even a piece of scrap computer case to get the colour matched) to fit into the space of 2 5.25 inch bays (the LCDs are quite high), and fix it to the drive mounting rails somehow. You'll either have to do some metal bashing, or buy a suitable blanking plate or bezel.
Matt.
