SparkFun Electronics Forum

Hello everyone, I am a newbie sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum. I just purchased a serLCD from sparkfun that says it can run off 3.3v source. I have a USB programmer that I have fed the two spy biwire connections and power to a breadboard to program a DIP MSP430. I am also powering the serLCD with this source and have a software implemented UART on my MSP430. I have set the DCO to 1MHZ and the and the timer_a to run at 9600 baud. When I supply power to the serLCD all I have is a screen with the backlight on, nothing is displayed. I try to send information through my software UART off of P1.0 and nothing happens. I currently have it configured for 8N1 communication does it need to be 1 start 8 data and 1 stop? Should jibberish be showing on the screen when I have it powered up? Am I not delivering enough power? Thanks!

why r u using software uart?.which microcontroller you are using?hardware uart is better than software uart.

Some MSP430s don't have a hardware UART! A software UART is very simple.

Leon

Okay, found out that my contrast pot was set too low. So for people who come across the same issue, on the back of the LCD seLCD backpack there is a small surface mount pot used to control the contrast. Thanks!

bjrosas - were you able to get this to work? I have been trying (and failing) to get my MSP430F2013 to do a serial communication at 9600 baud for months. Any insights/code you could share would be GREATLY appreciated.