LCDInfo.com

I'm writing this post to help in getting started with new LCDInfo.

First something to remember: this is pre alpha software and as such is known to be far from perfect in many ways. But it already can be better alternative to older versions and supports many new displays so it's available here for testing.

If you notice some bug or problem that haven't been mentioned anywhere yet or you have some new information about a bug I'd very much like to hear about that. You can check reported bugs from http://www.skippari.net/bugtracker/

When you start LCDInfo it's icon should appear in system tray. With the right mouse button you should be able to open a simple menu. When running LCDInfo for the first time you want to select correct display driver and also setup correct driver settings if applicable. WinIO driver is used to handle parallel port and is included in the package so there's no need to install DLPortIO anymore.

In the Drivers forum there is a thread for every driver included that might have useful information so it's recommended to check that.

To edit the screens to your needs check here for more information: http://www.skippari.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=386

Most plugins have their own thread in the Plugins forum that might have useful information and some plugins you can't make work without reading the corresponding thread.

I hope I didn't forget anything crucial that would be needed to get started with the new LCDInfo. If you have any questions that weren't answered here then you can check if they have been discussed somewhere else in the forum and if you can't find answer there then just post your question to the forum. Also if you have something in mind that might be useful to include in this thread let me know.

Good luck with new LCDInfo

FAQ - things that I've been asked several times during the last few days

1. Why is there error in loading GUI ?
There is not yet any gui dll included with LCDInfo so that's why it's unable to load it. The option in the menu is meant for gui development testing.
So to edit screens you need to edit the screen files by hand as explained in the above introduction.

2. When running LCDInfo some strange things come to the display
If the strange things are still readable text and pictures you might be looking at the stupid test screens included in the test version. You need to edit the screen files to fit your needs.

3. How to make my own background pictures ?
Background pictures are normal BMP files saved in black&white 1-bit format. Any program that can save BMP files (Windows Paint for example) should be fine for making your own images. Some programs save the palette information in reversed order causing inverted image on lcd. One way to solve this is to load the BMP file in Windows Paint and save again.