This section talks about using LCDproc with LCD displays that use the serialVFD chipset. The serialVFD-driver should work with all NEC FIPC8367 based VFDs: NEC FC20X2JA NEC FM20X2KB-AB NEC FC20X1SA-AB/AA ... Tested only on: NEC FM20X2KB-AB The driver also works (tested) on "KD Rev 2.1" (an ATMEL AT90S.... based FM20X2KB-AB replacement). Note: Above char. 128 the FIPC-displays and KD's charactersets are different. The driver may work or will be easy to get working on the following Displays / Controllers (not tested!). Display Controller FUTABA M204SD01AA FUTABA 5P00A016 Noritake CU20026SCPB-T (microcontroller) Noritake CU20045SCPB-T28A ? ... or compatible. (most Futaba/Noritake 7x5 dot VFDs with serial(rs232) interface (including serial(rs232)/parallel types)) Maybe there are little changes in the commands to do to get all functions to work correctly. But because of the similarity of the protocols, it wont be much work. If you want to add a new device to the driver add a new section to the displaytype-switch-case in the init-function and fill it with the correct commands for the display. (Try which displaytype works best with your display, copy and modify it's section that is the easiest way I guess.) On this page you may find pictures and datasheets of the VFDs: 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. To enable the bignumbers on 2-line displays (only this driver supports this yet) you have to edit clients/lcdproc/chrono.c before compiling. In function big_clock_screen you have to replace the 4 by a 2 in this line: if (lcd_hgt < 4) This driver uses the serial mode of the displays. It is NOT possible to connect most of the displays directly to the serialport. The signal has to be inverted. I use the following circuit to do that job.

- A* | E| | | | | 5(GND) --------o----------o----o----------------- GND Shield ------------------------------------------ optional *connect near display ]]>

The pins on the different displays vary. 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: blue connector (6pin in a row) (the important one!): Hold the display in that position where you can read the "KD Rev 2.1" marking normally! 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. Device= DEVICE Device where the VFD is. Usual values are /dev/ttyS0 and /dev/ttyS1 Default: /dev/lcd 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: CODE VFD model 0 NEC (FIPC8367 based) VFDs 1 KD Rev 2.1 2 Noritake VFDs 3 Futaba VFDs Options 3 and 4 should work, but have not been tested yet. Feedback is welcome. Brightness= BRIGHTNESS Display brightness [default: 255]. 0 min ... 255 max ... 1000 also max (4 steps 0-64, 65-128, 129-192, 193-1000) Speed= 1200 2400 9600 19200 115200 Set the the baud rate communication with the VFD. If not given, it defaults to 9600. ISO_8859_1= yes no Enable ISO-8859-1 compatibility. Ddefault is yes.