CFA633 as a standalone controller

NimbleJack

New member
I very much like CF's line of lcd controllers. The CFA633 particularly interests me as it seems to be the complete, all-in-one package: psu/mb control, fan control, temp sensing. The only thing that befuddles me is it's lack of ability to run solo of any computer connection. I can appreciate why that is, and I would hate to try to program the board on only 6 buttons, but I'd still like to see it be able to function on its own.

I have dreamed up one idea that might work as a solution and would like to ask if it would be possible. I'd hope it might work because I don't look forward to begging for a copy of the firmware to modify for whichever 633 board I buy. I have read through the manual for the cfa633 and sifted through the various forums looking to see if anyone has asked this, so if I have missed a post about it, or its obvious I don't have the proper grasp on how the 633 works, please let me know.

What I thought about doing was purchasing a usb version of the board, connecting it to my computer and programming the 633 through CrystalControl2. I would take a seperate thumb drive, wipe it clean and install CrystalControl2 there, as well as set up the 633 to pull all programming file information (ini/logs) from that drive. The 633 is not to be setup to control this specific computer, but to control a set of hardware that would be unable to communicate with it (ie: a console). Then connecting the temp sensors, the fans and the atx it is to control and setting up the 633 as to how it is to perform with CrystalControl2.

After setup, I would take the 633 and associated hardware and install all of it in the case where they will be used. Then take the thumb drive with the control file information (.ini) and connecting it to the 633 board where the 633 usb port is used to connect to a computer.

So the question is, would the 633 function as programmed if it has access to the thumb drive that contains the control files that tell it what to do?

I am assuming the 633 only has to be able to read the ini file and doesn't require the rest of the computer's OS to function and I am hoping this will work. ;)
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CF Mark

Administrator
Sorry, but it doesnt work like that :(

The 633 isnt programmable in that way. It requires a host (PC, microcontroller, etc) to tell it what to do.
The CrystalControl2 software does all the hard work getting the information, laying out the display, calculating the required fan speeds, etc and then sends that info to the 633.

The 633 does have a couple of "live" setup options where it will update the LCD with fan RPM's and temp readings without a host, but not much else (see the datasheet for information on this).

By the way, this also applies to the other USB displays like the 631,623,633,634,635.
 
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