sparkfun lcd module made in china

If you have this screen (or any other serial device) connected to the same UART that is being used to program the board (ie: any Arduino with one UART and using that UART with the screen (Rx and Tx pins)), you run the risk of inadvertently sending commands during the programming process to the LCD that reconfigure it and cause it to not behave as expected!

Think about it. When you program an Arduino, both Rx and Tx LEDs show activity, meaning that the Arduino IDE is sending data to the board, and the board is responding. If the LCD screen is ALSO connected to the Arduino via the Rx and Tx pins, it too will be reading the bytes that is being send back to the IDE. If there is a byte sequence that includes the command to change the LCD baud rate, defined screen size, or whatever, then your screen will most likely not work correctly unless you send the appropriate commands to reconfigure it.

Not Sparkfun"s fault, they were very supportive and responsive throughout the support and return process. However, I cannot recommend this product at this time.

I got two unit, both could not be programmed with the USB programming adapter. Following the instructions for opening the units and attaching the SPI wires I programmed the bootloader and got a successful programmed message. However, the devices still cannot be programmed via the USB programming adapter, but I could program the examples using my USBtinyISP programmer (the same one I used for burning the bootloader). So these modules are pretty much usless until I figure uout how to fix this.

within 15 minutes of opening the package with the OLED display and Microview programming module I had the demonstrations operating. Excellent packaging and the demos provide lots of good ideas for real world usage. Plan to use this as a standalone debug to display status, commands, etc for an arduino powered robot when disconnected from the USB.

For the record, I"m using Win7 Pro-64, Sparkfun FTDI Basic USB serial adapter and Arduino IDE 1.8.2, with zero problems on several other types of Arduino boards.

I have used the MicroView to build: a portable, battery powered, LP gas sensor using an MPQ sensor and BOB; a portable, battery powered, basic component tester; a portable, battery powered, QRP, SWR/Power meter; the readout for a wireless weather station using the SparkFun weather meters and 915 MHz data transceivers.

I am using the exact components and have followed the exact pin configurations for the past 2 weeks, connecting then reconnecting, I have also tried different FTDI cables for uploading onto the Arduino pro mini. BUT have had no success, PLEASE help me as it is a basic issue I am sure but cannot find the solution, My 16*2 LCD lights up and also when I upload a program the arduino page reads that it has successfully uploaded (Done Uploading).

We"ve had customers order face plates through Ponoko for these LCDs and be pretty happy with it. Check around on the comments on other products and on the forum. You"ll probably find a lot of different examples of mounting solutions.

can this run in 8bit mode? I"m trying so hard to just wire up the 8 data lines and manually send the bits required for certain symbols. But it"s either stuck in 4bit mode, or I"m completely lost. My program is simple and I KNOW that it is sending the 1"s and 0"s down the appropriate lines but I can"t get a response at all. And I can succesfully apply the example code for liquid crystal. In class we just banged some bits into those old lcd"s and got the expected response... Is this one more advanced or something? Thanks, I really appreciate any help.

No matter what line I set the cursor at using lcd.setCursor(0,0), or lcd.setCursor(0,1), it will print everything on line 0. I"ve used the same LCD, different size before and never had this issue.

You should make the LCD"s connection pins on the bottom, like on the RGB backlit LCD"s (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10862). I like standing them straight up and down on breadboards. If I tried that with this one, it would be upside down.

I"m having a problem with this lcd, I can"d print custom caracters, I tried the code that this site http://icontexto.com/charactercreator/ gives you when you create a custom char, tried some other examples, but nothing, I always get just two vertical bars on the second and fourth columns.

I love this little LCD! It works great. However, I"m having a wicked hard time finding hardware (i.e. self-clinching PEM stud) that I can use to mount this. The 2.5mm mounting holes are pretty small. I"m trying hard not to use glues.

I"m also having trouble with LCD. I hooked up at 10kOhm pot, but when I upload the code it just gives me random pixels and characters. Is my Atmega on my Arduino Uno shot?

Also no external resistor is needed for the backlight; just like almost all other 5v character LCDs this one has a series resistor right on the board. Mine is 130 ohms.

I was able to achieve much better contrast by applying a slightly negative voltage on the Vo pin (3). Minus 200 mV did the trick. I seem to remember that LCD"s used to have a negative output for just this reason. I don"t know what the rating of this pin is, so proceed with caution.

I made it work by using the same schematic featured in the LiquidCrystal Arduino library page, except LCD pin 6 is hooked to a digital PWM instead of a potentiometer for controlling contrast.

Pretty cool little LCD. I had some problems initially with the 4bit LCD library, but after finding that the standard LiquidCrystal library supports 4-bit data lines it worked great.

Have you wired in the backlight? That tutorial doesn"t include wiring pins 15 and 16 on the lcd. I have hooked the backlight up to a pwm output so that I can turn it on and off via sketch.

I am also ahving this same problem. The LCD was great and easy to set up, but the brightness is really really poor. I installed a pot and all, but no dice.

Has anyone got this working with the LiquidCrystal or LCD4bit library? I am having quite a bit of trouble getting it to work reliably and am at the point where I am going to try and code my own library for it.

I"m also having heaps of trouble. I can sometimes get it to display text, maybe once out of every 30 attempts. And IF it decides to display anything it ends up garbling the message and locking up, not displaying the other strings in the sequence. Is this the LCD, my Arduino or the library? I tried using LCD4bit and a modified LiquidCrystal and they all yield the same, frustrating results.

Great little lcd, for basic output, debugging etc. Very easy to interface, and looks very slick! If you need a basic no frills LCD, this is a good buy.

In any event, I tried to move a board/prototype/shield that works fine on my Arduino, but it would not on the SparkFun ... I was able to download the same sketch but the contraption did not work.