about LIS2 from VLSystem and LCD driver plugin.

[giova-v2]

EDIT : yes it works !!! see tests few bit below on this page

Hi all.

I m very interrested by the LIS2 Premium VFD display device by VLSystem.

here a link that decribe it (http://www.vlsys.co.kr/English/product_lis2pre.php)

http://www.vlsys.co.kr/English/product/images/lis2_pre/contents_01.jpg

I saw that on "LCD driver" girder plugin, there is a VLsystem driver library, i also saw that the LIS2 is specified in the readme of this plugin.

does anyone has tested that display with LCD driver plugin?
does it works fine?

One thing disturb me, on LCD driver pluggin settings, when i configure the VLSystem properties, i only can choose COM1 or COM2, but not any USB :o .

So does that pluggin really support the LIS2 that is an USB display (maybe i need to install the driver first to be able to choose USB in settings?) ?

that device is pretty expensif so i would like to be sure to be able to control it via girder, before to buy it.

Thx by advance for your help.

[MMcM]

As far as I know, it has never actually been tested. I added the support based on the jaLCD source. The user who requested it did not get back to me about testing it. This was back in August. Refer to the few messages on it in the midst of this long thread (http://www.promixis.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=94933&highlight=lis2#94933).

My assumption is that the USB device driver that comes with it simulates a COM port. This is how almost all displays work. There are several manufacturers of chips that do the USB and output I2C or TTL serial that one can just drop onto the circuit board. And they give most of the Windows driver, so it's easy all around. The jaLCD source that it was based on only connected to a COM port.

While it's hard to give iron clad assurances under these circumstances, I would certainly make every effort to get it to work if you bought one and then had problems.

[giova-v2]

While it's hard to give iron clad assurances under these circumstances, I would certainly make every effort to get it to work if you bought one and then had problems.

Thank you MMcM that is very nice to you !!!


Ok so before to buy the LIS2, let me bring you all technical informations that i got, so maybe it'll help you to guess if it looks possible or not. After that i ll make my choice to take the risk or not.

Just to introduce, here the 3 reasons that says why i want to buy the LIS2:

1) it got a large display, very usefull if you are far away from your computer( that will be my case, cause it is a mini PC under my TV that would use the LIS2)

2)The LIS2 have excatly the same design as my mini PC (soltek Qbic)

3)The LIS have no button, and is fully controled by software (and i hope by Girder, let s dream a little bit :) )

Ok now few technical details:

The LIS2 is fully controled by software, here you can download the software (LIS2 multimedia control center (http://www.vlsys.co.kr/pds/lis/MCC1020.exe)), and here you can find the doc about it (http://www.vlsys.co.kr/pds/manual/lis_mcc_English.doc).

Also here a test of the LIS2 (http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=264&p=4)

Also u'll notice that LIS2 multimedia Control center, include an other software, that allow you to make your own logos to display, that point scare me a little bit about what you say on JalCD driver :-? but if there is a solution about that feature, that would be soooooo nice. here a screenshot of this software:

http://www.short-media.com/images/mm/Reviews/Hardware/Accessories/lis_2_indicator/software/cg_builder_playing.jpg

http://www.short-media.com/images/mm/Reviews/Hardware/Accessories/lis_2_indicator/installed/in_operation_03.jpg

It seems that you are right somewhere about the USB driver because i found that somewhere on their FAQ web page : "please re-setup USB port in the range of
COM port 1" :wink:

Unfortunatly the VLSystem web site also announce in its FAQ that :

we are afraid that we may not be of much help not to your suggestion as programming because we can not open this kind of source code now.

After developing new items, we are willing to welcome the opportunity to be introduced you :cry:

so i've contacted them to try to get few more informations ;)

i ve asked them to confirm me if the USB driver simulate a Com Port or not, also i asked them if they provide any SDK or dll that would allows us to use basic functions as SendTxt("Hello there!",line1). Unfortunatly it seems, that they misunderstood me, because they answered to me as if i've allready bought the LIS2 and need tech support :)

Anyway they gived me the same answer about the SDK as in the faq, but about the USB driver, they gived me that link :
http://www.ftdichip.com/Files/R9052151.zip

if you look on http://www.ftdichip.com/ web site u ll see "Welcome to FTDI - specialists in converting legacy peripherals to Universal Serial Bus (USB)."

Hoping that all of it would allow you to see if LIS2 sound usefull with your plugin or not :)
Ask me if you need any other information.

Again, thank you very much for your support :D

[MMcM]

The CG Logo File Builder is just something to let you use their Define CG command. This sets the display's CGRAM (most of the character bitmaps are in ROM, a few in RAM). The Girder plug-in knows how to use this command to define custom characters, which is a standard LCD command. So you should be able to do that as well as ordinary text.

FTDI is one of those companies mentioned in my previous post that makes chips that connect to the USB bus, simulate a COM port to the O/S, and present some simple serial protocol to other chips on the circuit board. So this seems to confirm that device connectivity will work as the plug-in expects.

As you can see from the Short Media review, the device also has AFC. The LCD plug-in does know about fans in general. Unfortunately, I do not know the command protocol to use for this feature. And as you say VL System is not too forthcoming in documenting it. So I hope that you do not need to have fan control. Maybe your mini PC doesn't even have fans?

So, in summary, I do not see any new information that makes me more worried. We still don't know for sure, but it looks like it will work or is close to it.

Finally, I have to ask whether you think it will be impossible for you to return the display, as a last resort, if you cannot get it to work. Does it have to be shipped to you from Korea or something?

[giova-v2]

Cool all of this sound great so (same if we are not absolutly sure) :D Congralutation MMcM ;)


So I hope that you do not need to have fan control. Maybe your mini PC doesn't even have fans?

Of course it got somes! one thing you have to know, is that the main problem with mini PCs is the heat control, because those PC are very small it is hard to extract air properly, and so it is a real war between safe and coldest as possible system / agains / Silence.

In my case my minipc (Qbic EQ3401 by Soltek) got one controled system fan + the controled CPU fan. The BIOS actually manage all of this, but doing it very bad (that is a well known problem of the Qbic).

Anyway, sure i would really appreciate to be able to use the LIS2's AFC, but this point is not the main ellement of my decision.


Finally, I have to ask whether you think it will be impossible for you to return the display, as a last resort, if you cannot get it to work. Does it have to be shipped to you from Korea or something?

I'll by it in France, n have read the sales conditions, i can return the product within a delay of 7 days (if i didn't used it, so i have to take care, the product must looks to have been never used).

So i'm going to buy it , i'll report that great adventure here :)

Thx again for your support.

[giova-v2]

hehe, i've received my LIS2, and it works with LCD Driver !!!! :D Congratulation MMcM
;)

Here results of my tests (they are goods ;) ):

-Character numerical code : OK
-Clear Display : OK (can also be used as an "Open Display" command)
-Close Display : OK
-Current Date/Time : Display only Time (not very important, after all we have other solutions to display that kind of info, isn't it?)
-Custom character : Don't work (well something happens, but...), still testing it to bring proper infos.
-Filename Variable : OK *
-Screen : OK
-String : OK and is allmost perfect (cf my request)
-Variable : OK

Here a question : what s the difference between "Filename Variable" and "Variable" commands?

Here 2 requests :

-That would be very interresting to add those 2 choices with all display commands (as string for exemple) :
+Don't scroll
+Scroll per X characters

If user sets Scroll per 1 character (for exemple) the text will scroll as when we press "test" button in setting window. if user sets 20, and if text="ABCDEFHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ\0", we'll see first "ABCDEFHIJKLMNOPQRST" then "UVWXYZ " then "ABCDEFHIJKLMNOPQRST" etc...

-My second request is more complicated, and probably requests that Custom character command is fixed : Allowing to display text on 2 lines (i mean that letters are 2 lines height. LIS2 software allows to display time like that (it is called CG type Display ;) ):

http://giovafr.free.fr/images/LIS2Time.jpg

iI would also have a third request , but... nooo i'm dreaming tooo much :) , do you guess what it is?