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Wed, 12 Dec 2007
GrowLCDproc for Growl 1.1.1 Available!
GrowLCDproc now works with Growl 1.1.x!
Take a look at the documentation.
Download the latest version now.
See these previous posts for more details:
GrowLCDproc Pre-Release updated!
GrowLCDproc Pre-release now available!!
Mon, 13 Aug 2007
GrowLCDproc Now Available!
After some final feature improvements and bug fixes, GrowLCDproc is now available for public use!
Forward Growl notifications from your favorite Mac OS X applications to any number of LCDproc servers running locally or on remote networks. Then see your Growl notifications appear on any of the displays supported by LCDproc on a Mac OS X, Linux or BSD server.
Take a look at the documentation.
Download the latest version now.
See these previous posts for more details:
GrowLCDproc Pre-Release updated!
GrowLCDproc Pre-release now available!!
Update!
GrowLCDproc 1.3.1 is now a Universal Binary.
Mon, 06 Aug 2007
GrowLCDproc Pre-Release updated!
New GrowLCDproc available with improved sleep behavior. Fixes a bug where sleep would cause a bad stream to remain open and prevent screens from being sent to LCDproc until a "reconnect".
See this previous post for more details: GrowLCDproc Pre-release now available!!
Download the latest version now.
AEDEX POS on LCDproc
I just submitted some code to get a serial Point of Sale display working with LCDproc. My display uses the AEDEX protocol and seems to work great. I will post the code here shortly.
When used in conjunction with GrowLCDproc, you can show your current iTunes songs or any Growl notifications on the display.
Update!
The LCDproc distribution now contains this driver with the name "serialPOS". I have also added a feature to allow input from an RS232 keyboard or terminal through a serial pass-through port.
Thu, 01 Mar 2007
Old Mac 68k as an LCDproc display
I am easily amused I suppose. Trying to find a use for the old compact Macs I have around (Macintosh 128K, 512k, SE, SE/30), I set up a connection (see below) to my G3 and ran the LCDproc daemon from the old Mac using curses as a display. Using my GrowLCDprocDisplay, you can even display your currently playing iTunes songs!
Basic steps for a serial connection:
- Get a USB serial adapter and the appropriate driver for Mac OS X
- Use a null modem cable to connect the old Mac and your new Mac
- Run an old terminal emulation (Zterm, MacTerminal, MicroPhone) program on the old Mac
- Set up the /etc/ttys file to allow you to login over the serial connection. for instance:
tty.usbserial "/usr/libexec/getty local.9600" vt100 on - Restart launchd: sudo killall -HUP launchd
- Login from the old Mac and run LCDd with curses as the display
Sun, 04 Feb 2007
TUAW link
Thanks to TUAW, The Unofficial Apple Weblog for the recent link to my blog for information relating to LCDproc.Sat, 03 Feb 2007
LCDproc compile update
Since upgrading to Xcode 2.4.1, I have noticed some problems compiling LCDproc. However, they are not difficult to overcome.
cd into the folder of the latest LCDproc source. and run the following commands:
- ./configure
- make
At some point this will return an error about nested functions. - make CFLAGS=-fnested-functions
This will finish compiling past the previous error.
If you just run make CFLAGS=-fnested-functions, without running a standard make first, you will get an error trying to dynamically link bayrad.so. Hopefully there will be a fix for this soon.
In other news, LCDproc included some new source I wrote to get the top processes and the internet interface statistics. This means that all of the lcdproc client features are now supported in Mac OS X!
Update!
There are no longer any nested functions in LCDproc. As a result, you can now just run:
- ./configure
- make
Tue, 05 Dec 2006
Mac OS X USB LCD Info
Since I haven't had any LCD Kits available for a while, I thought I would clear up some details about the kit for people who want to try it on their own.
The LCD is a HD44780 compatible character LCD. It is connected to the Mac USB port using a Belkin F5U002 USB Parallel adapter. Make sure to get the correct version that uses a separate USB cable.
The pinout I used for the kit and the Mac OS X USB LCD Command Line Tool is available here:
Beyond Logic Interfacing Example. With some minor changes to get power from the parallel port, the final pinout is:
Parallel LCD 30 1 13,14 2 30 3 36 4 29 5 1 6 2 7 3 8 4 9 5 10 6 11 7 12 8 13 9 14
Following this pinout should allow you to use the Mac OS X USB LCD Command Line Tool on your own cable and LCD.
Sun, 26 Nov 2006
GrowLCDproc Pre-release now available!!
Here is the new Growl Display plugin that will send Growl notifications to an LCDproc server. This will allow you to view Growl notifications on any character LCD supported by LCDproc, or on any UNIX or linux terminal using the curses or text drivers. Because it uses LCDproc's TCP/IP connection protocol, you can send your notifications almost anywhere!
Using this plugin, I was able to forward my notifications to my wireless Zaurus PDA running in another room.
Download the latest version now.
GrowLCDisplay 1.1 now available!!
Major Update to the GrowLCDisplay plugin just posted. Due to insufficient testing, some bugs had slipped through the previous release. I finally had some time to rewrite parts of the plugin. As a result it is much more stable and reliable with some added new features.
Download the latest version now.
Wed, 22 Nov 2006
GrowLCDprocDisplay
I just finished working on a Growl Display plugin that will send Growl notifications to an LCDproc server. It works very well! I will hopefully have a download up soon. This will allow you to view Growl notifications on any character LCD supported by LCDproc, or on any linux machine if you run the curses or text drivers. Because it uses LCDproc's TCP/IP connection protocol, you can send your notifications almost anywhere!
Check out the screenshot. Notice the LCDproc server running a text based curses display in the terminal.
Thu, 03 Aug 2006
POS Display with iTunes Movie
Here is a Quicktime Movie of the POS Display with iTunes. It shows some of the features of the script. It also reveals some of the limitations of the Display:
- no extended characters
- 40 character limit on scrolling text
- 24 hour clock only
Even with these limitations, it serves its purpose well, and it was cheap compared to a normal serial VFD.
Tue, 01 Aug 2006
POS Display with iTunes
I recently managed to get my EMAX POS pole to display my current iTunes Tracks. I will post a video soon. It uses a simple AEDEX command set.
Here is a link to the code: AEDEX iTunes Code
Make sure to save it as an application and select "Keep running." Then put it in your iTunes Scripts folder.
Requires a working serial port (edit the script to specify which) and: SerialPort X 1.0 OSAX
Wed, 26 Jul 2006
Zaurus as an LCDproc display
Here is something I tried out today after I finally received my Zaurus CF wifi card. I installed SSH on my Zaurus, then logged into my Powerbook. I ran the LCDproc daemon on my Mac from the Zaurus using curses as a display, and lo and behold, my Zaurus was a wireless LCDproc display!
It is hard to see, but the Z is displaying the status of the hard drives on my Mac. It rotates through about 8 screens, displaying the time, system load, etc.
Mon, 06 Mar 2006
Group Buy is Closed...
Thanks!
Mon, 27 Feb 2006
New VFD Arrived
My EMAX POS pole displayed arrived the other day and the VFD is huge! The spec sheet says it is 15 x 4 cm - much larger than I imagined. It is a parallel Samsung VFD, which connects to a board that translates the RS232 and AEDEX protocol used in some cash registers. There is not serial interface on the VFD unfortunately.
The protocol was very simple to figure out, and after some cable modifications, I got it running using Zterm. Now I am going to start trying to get the LCD Kit to work directly on the VFD, without the other board. I'll keep everyone posted.
Thu, 16 Feb 2006
Just Bought a VFD from ebay
I just bought a VFD from ebay. It is a 20x2 model, though I have seen some nice 40x2 models pop up at a decent price. It is from a point of sale display, so I don't really know exactly what I'm am getting. It was cheap though, so if you want a good price on a VFD, look for surplus POS displays. Mine was 99¢ plus shipping.
Since it is from a POS machine, it probably uses serial input, but like many of the Noritake VFDs, it might have parallel too. If so, I will try it with the parallel adapter and let everyone know my results.
Ultimately, I would like to get this working with LCDproc, and write a Growl plugin to connect with LCDproc. That way, I would not have to write any more code for formatting data for the LCD/VFD. This should open a lot of doors for people wanting to use LCDs on Mac OS X.
Mon, 13 Feb 2006
GrowLCDisplay plugin now available!!
Try the GrowLCDisplay plugin for Growl that allows you to send Growl notifications to your USB LCD Kit!!!
Update!
All known bugs have been fixed!
Download the latest version now.
Post a writeback if you try it or have any problems.
Mon, 06 Feb 2006
Mac OS X LCD Contest
Hey everyone,
I have a few LCDs lying around here, I so I thought I would run a contest for all of the people that bought my kit. If you are using it in an interesting way, make a writeback to this message with a small write-up describing everything and a picture or two. My top picks get each a free 16x4, or 2x20, or a backlit 16x2 HD44780 LCD!!!
Sun, 05 Feb 2006
Latest LCDproc Working
I managed to get the latest LCDproc compilied and running on Mac OS X. After creating a darwin specific file for getting machine statistics, nearly all of the features work correctly. You can test out the features using the built in text and curses drivers.
Update!
LCDproc has integrated my changes into their source tree. You can find it in the latest LCDproc download.
- using the terminal, cd into the extracted source directory
- type the command: ./configure
- type the command: make
- edit the LCDd.conf file (or get it here) to use the curses or text driver.
- type the command: server/LCDd -c ./LCDd.conf to start the server
- open a new terminal window, cd into the same directory and type the command: clients/lcdproc/lcdproc C T M X D B K U P &
- When you are done, exit the programs by entering the command: killall LCDd; killall lcdproc
The lcdproc client has many options but that should show you quite a few of the screens.
Hopefully I will find some time to write a driver for the USB LCD Kit if there is some interest.
Update!
I made some changes to LCDproc's text driver so that it's text output is properly formatted for USBLCDWriter. Now, you can run the server and 'pipe' the output to the USBLCDWriter and output your computer's statistics and information to your Mac OS X USB LCD Kit!
enjoy!
Sun, 29 Jan 2006
Command Line Tool Updated
I recompiled the tool to run on earlier versions of Mac OS X. I tested it on 10.2.8 with no problems.
Update!
I have posted the updated source for most of the command line tool. It does not include commands specific to the USS720 chip, as I am working on a library for that functionality in the future.
stdinToUSBLCD.c
enjoy!
Sun, 08 Jan 2006
Growl Plugin Status
I have completed a functional Growl Plugin, but I am having some problems with certain notifications crashing the plugin. I think it may be a Unicode problem. Ugh... Anyway, I sould have it ready for anyone who wants to beta test in a few weeeks. thanks --eric
Thu, 05 Jan 2006
LCD Housing
Currently, the USB LCD Kits do not come with any sort of housing or case. However, I have been doing some experimenting and have found a very neat way to house the LCDs:
(Note: this procedure can be adapted to work with most character LCDs that you want to mount externally, regardless of the source.)
Parts:
- Mac OS X USB LCD Kit
- 1593TBK or 1593QBK (slightly deeper) Hammond project box
- Small machine screws as long as the project box is deep.
- a Decora style light switch plate
- short piece of double stick tape
- some wire (single strand wire like in cat 5 cable is easiest)
Procedure:
USB printer adapter preparation
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut around the edge of the Belkin USB parallel adapter from the kit. It is easiest to cut into the adapter on the seam on the edge.
- Peel back the brown cover and peel away the copper tape and the clear substance that is on the board resembling hot glue.
- Cut off the centronics port by scoring the pins where they contact the PCB, and bending it back and forth, or with a small wire cutter.
- Remove the USB B port by desoldering the pins and the ground wire and pulling it off the PCB.
- Cut the USB cable leaving the amount of cable you need connected to the USB A (rectangular) cable end.
- Strip back the rubber insulation and push the shielding to one side. Then strip a small amount of insulation off of each of the 4 wires.
This leaves you with just the PCB from the parallel adapter which is tiny compared to the adapter itself. You may want to cut a cheaper USB cable instead of the nice Belkin one included in the kit.
Project box preparation
- On the larger side of the the 2 piece box (we don't need the side with the battery door), clip off the 4 bits of plastic on the inside sides of the box.
- Cut off the 2 screw riser posts in near the middle of the box.
- cut off the board riser blocks in near the middle of the box
- place the decora cover over the box, center it and mark where the 2 holes on the plate should be oriented on the box.
- drill the holes through the box.
- notch the small end plate on one side where the cord will come through.
Assembly
- (If you want a strain relief on the USB cable, remember to put it on before you solder.) Solder the four wires and the shield of the USB cable to the small end of the USB adapter PCB. The wire pads are marked with the color of the wire.
- Using about 3/4 of an inch of wire , solder the pads of the USB PCB to the rear pads of the LCD following the wiring of the adapter cable included in the kit.
- Place some double stick tape on the back of the USB PCB and mount it to the LCD.
- Place the LCD in the box and hot glue the end plate of the box in place, aligning your USB cable with the notch you made in the plate.
- Using some machine screws, attatch the Decora switch plate by threading them through the box into the small holes drilled earlier.
Conclusions
This project box is perfectly sized to to hold the display, and just deep enough to hold the PCB also. The deeper box is a little better suited to getting everything in there. The Decora switch cover is absolutely the right size for the 16x4 LCD display, and is available in many colors and materials. Most of all, the parts for the housing cost less than $6.00. I have a brushed aluminum plate for my powerbook and a white one for my iBook. You an even get clear switch plates for a hi-tech look.
Pictures to come!
Tue, 20 Dec 2005
Command Line Tool Updated
I made an update to the command line tool and instructions. The update adds some more features and increases compatibility with the LCDproc text driver.
The instructions and updated command line tool are available here: http://www.sandiego.edu/~epooch/Mac_OS_X_USB_LCD.tgz
LCDproc Server running LCD on Mac OS X
So I managed to get the LCDproc server working with my LCD kit using Mac OS X! To get this to work, you basically need to compile the LCDproc server (server only, the clients have not been ported yet), then set up the text driver, and pipe the output of the LCDproc text driver to my test program. The result is that LCDproc displays the server screen on the attached LCD!I will work on porting some of the clients in the coming weeks so that it actually displays useful information, but a major stumbling block has been overcome!