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The mdm166a driver
This section talks about using LCDproc with
the Futaba / Targa USB Graphic Vacuum Fluorescent Display (MDM166A; USB
VID=0x19c2, PID=0x6a11).
The MDM166A is a graphical VFD with a 96x16 pixel dot matrix area which
is used for 16x2 characters with a 6x8 pixel font. It features several icons,
volume level and WLAN strength indicator which are all software controllable
using the output function.
The mdm166a driver builds on top of libhid which in
turn uses libusb.
The driver was developed by Christoph Rasim
() without any available documentation
from the vendor, but with a good protocol description from Thomas Koos
() created by reverse engineering the
protocol.
Configuration in LCDd.conf
[mdm166a]
Clock =
TYPE
Show self-running clock after LCDd shutdown. Possible values for
TYPE are no,
small and big. If not given no clock
is shown.
Dimming = ¶meters.yesnodef;
Dim display, no dimming gives full brightness.
OffDimming = ¶meters.yesnodef;
Dim display in case LCDd is inactive.
Using the icons
The icons, the volume bar and the WLAN indicator supported by the VFD
can be controlled by use of the output function.
The on parameter is used as a
bitmask to control which elements to display. Setting an icon bit to
1 enables the icon, setting the bit to 0
disables an icon. Volume and WLAN strength indicator accept an numeric value
in the given bit mask.
mdm166a_output bitmask
bit(s)
Icon
0
Play
1
Pause
2
Record
3
Message
4
Mail (at-symbol)
5
Mute
6
WLAN tower
7
Volume (the word)
8…12
Volume (decimal 0…28)
13…14
WLAN strength (0…3)
Special device hints
This display may appear as a HID device in your
system which may prevent libhid from being able to open
the USB device. In this case you have to create some OS-specific
configuration to prevent the HID driver to take control
of this display.
Configuring FreeBSD 7.x to exclude this device from uhid
To make the uhid driver ignore this device you have to apply the
following patch to your kernel source and recompile and install your kernel: