questions on project using 633 and a pic18f4550

[rboleman]

I am doing a senior design project for school and I have a crystalfontz 633 and a pic18f4550 that is controlling my project. I will need to use the buttons on the 633 to preform actions on the pic as well as display data from my pic on the 633 lcd. So, I was wondering if I should program my pic to read and write to the lcd and if I could use the sample codes your website provides, or is there a easier way that you would suggest? what is the best way to bypass the microcontroller on the 633 to use the lcd and the buttons directly? would that be an easier solution? any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[CF Support2]

The CFA633 is designed so you don't need to bypass the micro controller on the module. But using the command set to read states and send data, your job is much easier. Using the code we have as part of our 633_WinTest application should get you on your way to reading which key has been pressed, and sending data to the display as needed.

http://www.crystalfontz.com/software/633WinTest#docs

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you.

 

[rboleman]

Having trouble!

I am haveing trouble trying to code this project, only because I have never used a serial lcd, I have code for parallel lcd's and I would like to bypass the controller if possible, can I use some of the pin holes on the board to connect directly to the LCD controller?
I would like to just write to the lcd serially using the wintest example you provide if I could but I can't figure out how to setup it up for the pic controller, if you can give me some examples on what and how I need to change the code for this configuration to work I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks.

 

[CF Tech]

The best starting point for a project like this is the " Ultra simple Windows command-line demonstration program with C source code: 633 Command Line Test.zip, 55K" from this page:

http://www.crystalfontz.com/software/633WinTest

If you can get that ported over, you should be in good shape.

Here is a link to a debugger screenshot that shows the exact sequence of bytes needed to send data to the two LCD lines:

https://forum.crystalfontz.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219&d=1076183449

The bytes highlighted in red are what the LCD wants to see, in the sequence that it wants to see them in.