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By Madness
#105291
Hey everyone, this is my first time posting here and I'd really appreciate a little assistance on a project I'd like to take on.

I was looking for replacement screens for my Roland MC-505 as mine is on the fritz. I saw this item: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... cts_id=791 and as far as I understand it would work much in the same way that this one would: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5 ... 5767948970 It's basically the same item with the only difference being his is soldered onto a custom board which connects the replacement LCD's points to the molex connector on the MC-505, oh that and about $65!

I usually lean toward a diy solution to problems and this would certainly be right up my alley. I poured over the extended datasheet for the sparkfun product
LCD-1.jpg
LCD-2.jpg
as well as the MC-505 datasheet
Roland-MC505-groovebox-22.jpg
and could not make much sense of it; my knowledge with reading schematics is minimal.

My questions are these: Does this make much sense to anyone? Can someone assist me in this endeavor?

The original LCD for MC-505 (molex type ribbon on the side) doesn't have the same connectors as the sparkfun LCD (the pinpoints in a row on top).

Thank you very, very much to those willing to help! Is this a lost cause?
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By 60amp_relay
#105437
At a glance, it looks like it would work. The only problem I see is that the molex connector doesn't seem to have a connection for the LCD backlight. (where are pins #15 and #16?) Other than that, my semi-educated guess is that it would be compatible.
By gonzodada
#105594
You could match equivalent pins by looking at the datasheets for the two LCDs but then ...

... if they use different driver chips the MC505 firmware and LCD driver won't understand one another

So you need to find out what driver chips they both use.