Modular Smart Array 500 G2 LCD - C51343NFU OPTREX

I was rummaging through my collection of old hardware and came across a HP storage module labeled:

HP StorageWorks

Modular smart array 500 G2

and it had a nice LCD on it so decided to see if we can use for something.

After extracting it, it became obvious that it was a separate module with:

* LCD

* Microcontroller

* buttons

* Dual color leds

* EEPROM memory

all in the small board !

Printed on the board :

C51343NFU

OPTREX Made in taiwan 284-3

Let the hacking commence.

So what's inside it:

* Microcontroller - PIC16F877 , (Not the A variant)

* LCD - HD44780 variance

* EEPROM - 24c32 I2C 4K

* 3 Dual color leds. (green and red)

2 - single leds, connected to the same output pin. (red)

A RC Oscilator of unknown speed.

That's great they even left pads for in circuit programming.

Here are the connections:

You will need an ICSP capable programmer, to program it.

Word of warning while programming, connect the 5V line to an external power source, most
programmers have insufficient current to supply the board.

I successfully programmed it with Pickit 3 and the Minipro programmer.

The LCD has weird display ROM the character map is "funky" to say the least, only space numbers and English letters are where they supposed to be, everything else requires some searching.

Attached is the source code which is in C, for MLAB X ide.

I have modified my version and added a 20Mhz crystal, I've removed a resistor (R24) from the RC circuit and added a resistor between MCLR and 5V, the code is written for the Crystal, should work for RC but the config bits need to be changed.

Sources

R.K.

Orange PI PC + TFT ILI9341

Here is a quick way to configure a TFT display with a ILI9341 driver.
This should work with most (if not all) of Orange PI boards that are based on H3 (no Pi Zero).
I use Armbian as the OS.
such as:

to:

here are the connections that are needed:

Once connected, install Armbian for your board and connect to a network.
Find the IP of the device (connect to a screen and a keyboard, use the log of the router and etc.)
Putty/ssh to it, login (user: root pass:1234 , it's the default values - please change the password to something more secure)

The TFT screen should be ON (white or black screen) with nothing on it.

Create a new file /etc/modules-load.d/fbtft.conf with the following content:

fbtft_device

Create another file /etc/modprobe.d/fbtft.conf with the 

configuration for the fbtft_device device:

options fbtft_device custom name=fb_ili9341 gpios=dc:6,reset:9 speed=48000000 fps=25 busnum=0 rotate=270

restart device:

shutdown -r now

wait for boot,login again (the screen should be black)

Goto /etc/X11/xorg.conf and edit it, change the line that says

 Option                  "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"

to:

 Option                  "fbdev" "/dev/fb8"

And restart again,

shutdown -r now

When the device boots you should have a working screen.