Sunday 31 January 2016

IDE 1.6.7 and Progress

I have this afternoon been paying obeisance to the great deity 'progress' (also known as IDE 1.6.7).

In so doing, I've discovered what others who have trod the path before me have noticed - namely that the LiquidCrystal_I2C library (in its original form) does not work with this IDE as it used to with earlier 'editions', such as the nice, homely 1.5.5-r2, with which I'm still working on my main machine.

Lots of my example sketches (VFOs, rigs &c) use an alphanumeric LCD display on an I2C interface, so it hurts me and (more importantly) my readers!

Well - there is an easy fix which seems to work...

Simply download and use a modified version of the library from here.

By way of proof, here's the Kanga_VFO_3 code, compiled from IDE 1.6.7, running on a UNO and a 16*4 LCD, just as the first test...


There are no controls or even a DDS module, as I was just interested in getting the display working. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that the hardware is resting on carpet - rather than the usual backdrop of my bench. That's because I'd downloaded IDE 1.6.7 onto a PC I'm using as a media centre behind my TV in the sitting room - I'm not risking my main PC yet HI HI.

Satisfied that things looked promising, I re-programmed the "tour" Kanga VFO demonstrator, which runs on an Arduino MEGA (variety is the spice of life, after all)...


OK - so now I've cracked the errors - I just need to get rid of the warnings. That, however, is just a matter of vanity, which can wait.

...-.- de m0xpd

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for the tip, it really works. This has been driving me crazy for the longest time. I have been banging my head on the wall for a week thinking it was a simple fix, and i was freaking right. I would have never though to grab the original library, but it actually worked. Thanks for saving me tons of time.

    Brian Hopkins @ Microtips USA

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got a Frentaly 4-line LCD from Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and pulled out my hair trying to make it work with the standard I2C LCD library, and got nowhere. After some Googlewhacking, I found F. Malpartida's LCD libraries. I use a browser-based IDE called Codebender to program my microcontrollers from a Chromebook -- it makes a very good bench computer -- and uploaded the appropriate library files to it. A compile and upload later, BAM! The LCD was working perfectly.

    Have you seen the 40m modular transceiver using an Arduino Nano to power a VFO? It's in the March issue of QST.

    73,
    Gwen NG3P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi. Tried to make the lcd work, but no sucess. After turning off the pc, and surfing on tablet, found this post. Tomorrow i'll try to make the display working, so when my dds module arrive, i could start some tests on my pixie qrp and later on forty-9er. A sugestion if possible, how about a signal meter?

    73 from Portugal
    nuno
    CT1JQJ

    ReplyDelete