Nmedia pro-lcd

Configuring a nMedia PRO-LCD for use with Linux

Included here are instructions on using the nMedia Pro-LCD with Linux. It comes with drivers and software for Windows XP and Windows Vista and works quite well with Windows Media Center. It connects to the motherboard through an internal USB header.

The display is a 2-line, 20-character VFD display, which connects internally to several nMedia cases (HTPC 280/288/500, HTPC 1000/2000/5000/6000). There is also a version of the display, the PRO-LCD-S and PRO-LCD-B which connects to a 5.25" drive bay. It is not known if these 5.25" versions will function with the instructions provided on this page.

There is very little information about how to connect it up in Linux; and some information even claims that these devices are not Linux-compatible. However, this page has been created to provide instructions.

Although there is a working driver for this device included in LCDproc-0.5.3, mythlcdserver included with MythTV-0.21 does not function at 100% with LCDproc-0.5.3. However, the fixes branch of MythTV-0.21, released on June 13, 2009 or later, seems to have implemented full LCDproc-0.5.3 support.

General Instructions

1. Install libftdi-devel
2. Install libftdi
3. Compile LCDproc-0.5.3 (with the lis driver)

When compiling LCDproc, be sure to enable the lis driver, using:

./configure --enable-libusb --enable-drivers=lis

1. Edit the LCDd.conf file

If the driver has compiled without any issues, you should see 'lis' in the list of supported drivers. Edit Driver entry of the LCDd.conf file to read lis.

# The following drivers are supported:
#   bayrad, CFontz, CFontz633, CFontzPacket, curses, CwLnx, ea65, 
#   EyeboxOne, g15, glcdlib, glk, hd44780, icp_a106, imon, imonlcd, IOWarrior,
#   irman, joy, lb216, lcdm001, lcterm, lirc, lis, MD8800, ms6931, mtc_s16209x,
#   MtxOrb, mx5000, NoritakeVFD, picolcd, pyramid, sed1330, sed1520, serialPOS,
#   serialVFD, shuttleVFD, sli, stv5730, svga, t6963, text, tyan, ula200,
#   xosd
Driver=lis

Once completed, start the LCDd daemon and enable mythlcdserver. See the corresponding pages for more information.

Distribution-specific notes for CentOS 5.2

Precompiled .rpm packages for libftdi CentOS 5.2 were not easily found. However, one can use the packages for Fedora Core 8 without any issues. They can be found at:

[1] libftdi-0.14-2.fc8.x86_64.rpm

[2] libftdi-devel-0.14-2.fc8.x86_64.rpm

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• Visit LCDproc to learn how to setup the startup scripts for LCDd.

• Visit Mythlcdserver to learn how to configure MythTV to make use of the display.