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Smart LCD Controller XXL jibberish

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by DJ Sterrett, Dec 12, 2017.

  1. DJ Sterrett

    DJ Sterrett New Member

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    My LCD XXL starts out good with the information on it and then mid print all the words turn to jibberish (see pic). The print still prints correctly, you just can't read the screen.
     

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  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is usually either one of two things.

    1) the cables are swapped between connectors
    2) the LCD controller is damaged*

    The controllers are dirt cheap for a reason :) They are not high quality. If swapping the cables doesn't sort it I would reach out to where you bought it for a replacement (provide them a photo if they need).

    *It can also just be a bad cable... and in very rare cases it can be a bad RAMPS or bad Arduino, but that is really rare.
     
  3. DJ Sterrett

    DJ Sterrett New Member

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    Thanks for the quick reply Mark...the place I bought it said it is sensitive to static and I should ground myself prior to touching it.
     
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  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    HAHAHAHAHA**

    OK, seriously, yes ... it would perhaps be susceptible to some (gross) static, but that one is not easily damaged.
    I have never grounded myself when installing any of the standard electronics (Arduino* Mega, RAMPS, Pi, LCDs either full graphic or that style). Mind you, I don't do the Rumba on a shag carpet while installing them either, but ... they are not really all that sensitive to ESD.

    Generally if they are failing it is something just defective and they fail right out of the box... the contrast adjustment (a variable resistor) is a common one... This is not the rheostat failing, but something else in the electronics.


    *The Arduino Due IS static sensitive and based on 3.3v CMOS logic components, but it not used in the Robo electronics. All of the Robo stuff is 5v TTL logic and not hideously static sensitive. Take normal care and you are fine.

    **not laughing at you, but they should know better
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Dec 12, 2017
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2017
  5. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    Actually...

    notice that all the variable names are correctly displaying and all the dynamic data isn't. I don't think this is hardware-based. Your problem is software (or possibly the baudrate or similar connectivity to the RAMPS board). I think I'd check things like "stop bits", "parity", "checksum" or whatever decoration there is on the communication side of things. And then, of course, I'd check the serial connection to same.
     
  6. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Mine tends to do that with cheap sd cards(granted its old as the hills now and many thousand hours and still works....kinda). When the print finishes remove the card, does it come back ?
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I would tend to not suspect the "software" (the Marlin Firmware) but the connection to the RAMPS via those cables ? Yes... that is a posibility. so is:

     
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  8. Domenic

    Domenic Member

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    When this happens to me I usually just put another sd card in and wait til it loads and it resets for me. Don’t do this in the middle of a print though.
     
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  9. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Actually, we're the ones who sell these with a warning, so I'm guessing the source here. Failures dropped by a huge amount once we started including the warning. They *are* incredibly static sensitive. Have witnessed it myself with even small zaps.

    Loose cables, improperly seated headers, and overheated boards can all cause some trouble, but the gibberish is nearly always static.
     
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  10. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Also would add that it's 100% not the firmware.

    Very slight possibility that it's the boards in the printer, but issues with those tend to cause different problems than the gibberish characters.
     
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  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, 1000% :)
     
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  12. Balice

    Balice New Member

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    Where can I buy this?
     

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