As I said before, the problem cannot possibly be the bit mode it’s in. The second line of the LCD displays things perfectly, although I would like to use both lines.
I believe what you are seeing is a defect in the display. There is no code that would cause this result. Try flexing the board to see if the rest of the characters suddenly appear…
Actually it is displaying more than half. I think I counted 6 lines of data in some of the characters. I almost wonder if it is starting on the wrong pixel line… Like off by 2…
Kurt
Nah, you can see the H is starting from the top row of pixels. It’s a 5 x 7 character array. It’s actually only missing the last row…
Thanks RD, I tried lightly pressing down on left and right sides of LCD and all pixels show up. I guess the LCD isn’t making good enough contact with the PCB. At least i can fix it though.
Edit: there are some black metal clips coming out the back of the PCB and I bent them a little bit more and now it’s all working.
awe shucks… 
Oh hey Wowy good job with the code and connections. 8) It always feels good to recycle! Salvaging a good device from the land fill. I’m surprised to see a real life (non custom) display on a printer. Good find. 
Yes, it does feel good to recycle. I was surprised i’d actually be able to control it from a Basic Atom.
Now I’m going to get back to de-soldering all the other components in the printer. it contains many 5vdc relays, a few OP Amp IC’s, tons of transistors, resistors, capacitors, and this other little component that I have no idea what it does yet (it says “EXIT SENSOR” on it). Oh, and lets not forgot the stepper motors, transformers, diodes…I could go on all day (laughs out loud). 
What is the best way to connect my printer to my home network without going through a computer? Is it possible to connect a printer directly to the router (wireless or somehow plug in). I have two laptops and a desktop computer. My printer is next to my desktop but the desktop computer is not always turned on. Is there a way to print from my wireless laptaop THROUGH the router so I don’t have to go through the desktop (since it is not always turned out). Any ideas?
Yes… But,
Some printers have network stuff built into them. That is true of the two printers I am currently using. You plug a network cable into them and configure them up properly and away you go.
However a lot of printers don’t have this, but you can plug them into a network print server. Here is a link to one site that has many of them:
newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=387&name=Network-Print-Servers
It has been awhile since I used on, so I don’t have any recommendations on which ones work well…
Kurt
I honestly figured this was a spam post that was going to get deleted. 
lol me too! 
P1620B is also used in the Sharp SF850
and Xerox F12 fax machines.
16x2
Use normal 14-pin wiring scheme.
wowy7 just won a prestigious Salvage Award.
Congratulations.
To find such a gem, you definitely got me beat. I’ve salvaged a bunch of goodies, but never something that nice.
My printer uses a 16x2 LCD too, so i’ll try to salvage that, when i decide to get a new printer that is.
I found this Sparkfun display on Robotshop and I was wondering whether it would be relatively easy to attach to the bot board II with atom pro 28. And I was also wondering where I could get information on the pins I would have to use. Thank you
Looks like it’ll work fine!
I just got some of the Parallax serial LCDs, and they are nice, but THICK!
Alan KM6VV
I am also curious to see some sort of diagram or article or something that would teach me how to do this, sadly I don’t know anyone that works in robotics (or electronics for that matter, and I’m only in highschool…), thank you for the response.
Some bits and pieces. (probably some code already posted available, search it).
Display con P3 ; pin
DisplayBaud con i9600 ; Parallax can be set up for 2400, 9600 or 19200 baud
;--------------------------------------------------------------------
; Serial LCD Parallax defines (Parallax) see Serial_LCD_Demo.BS2
LcdBkSpc CON $08 ' move cursor left
LcdRt CON $09 ' move cursor right
LcdLF CON $0A ' move cursor down 1 line
LcdCls CON $0C ' clear LCD (use PAUSE 5 after)
LcdCR CON $0D ' move pos 0 of next line
LcdBLon CON $11 ' backlight on
LcdBLoff CON $12 ' backlight off
LcdOff CON $15 ' LCD off
LcdOn1 CON $16 ' LCD on; cursor off, blink off
LcdOn2 CON $17 ' LCD on; cursor off, blink on
LcdOn3 CON $18 ' LCD on; cursor on, blink off
LcdOn4 CON $19 ' LCD on; cursor on, blink on
LcdLine1 CON $80 ' move to line 1, column 0
LcdLine2 CON $94 ' move to line 2, column 0
LcdCC0 CON $F8 ' define custom char 0
LcdCC1 CON $F9 ' define custom char 1
LcdCC2 CON $FA ' define custom char 2
LcdCC3 CON $FB ' define custom char 3
LcdCC4 CON $FC ' define custom char 4
LcdCC5 CON $FD ' define custom char 5
LcdCC6 CON $FE ' define custom char 6
LcdCC7 CON $FF ' define custom char 7
;--------------------------------------------------------------------
; Test code for serial LCD Parallax 27977-M
;
high Display ; setup serial output pin alm
pause 100 ; allow LCD to initialize
;
serout Display, DisplayBaud, [LcdBLoff, LcdOn1, LcdCls] ;alm
pause 250
serout Display, DisplayBaud, "ARC-32 RoboClaw"] ;alm
Alan KM6VV
Oh thank you, I think I will get the Parallax 27977 instead to make it easier on my self
My pleasure!
Also Google for “Serial_LCD_Demo.BS2”, you’ll find the Parallax web sites and forums for more info on the display.
Alan KM6VV