We recommend using a free program, Tera Term. To configure Tera Term for use with any SLCD development kit: Start the program, then choose: Setup -> Serial Port…, then set “Baud rate” 115200 (all other defaults are OK). Setup -> Terminal… -> Newline, the set “Receive” to CR+LF, and then check “Local echo”. In the main window, hit Enter, and you should see the “>” prompt.

Here are some simple macros you can install and test; they use bitmaps 1 and 2 from the standard demos. #define init_test s 0 1 z f 13B // std round button from demo bdc 29 200 100 1 "Test" 1 2 xmq 29 button_down release_after_short_press #end #define button_down w 1000 xmq 29 button_down release_after_long_press #end #define release_after_short_press out "down < 1 sec (short press)\r" // reset release macro so we can test again: xmq 29 button_down release_after_short_press #end #define release_after_long_press out "down > 1 sec (longer press)\r" // reset release macro so we can test again: xmq 29 button_down release_after_short_press #end

Question: We had a consultant generate our bitmaps and macros and then left us only with the .bin file? Now you need to make a change and can’t get the consultant to do it in time because of other commitments, vacations, etc. Answer: Here’s a way to capture those macros and bitmaps. Use BMPLoad.exe to load the .bin file from your PC and then connect to your SLCD. Click the “Store into SLCD” button. Now your bitmaps and macros are in the SLCD. You can use a terminal program to coax the SLCD into telling you what’s there. Connect a terminal program (Tera Term works well) and set it up to capture text into a file. Issue the command “lsmac” and the SLCD will list out all of its macros, and you will have captured them into a file, which you can then edit and use as your new macros.txt [...]

SLCD+/SLCD6/SLCD43 Modules Start BMPload. You will see a box called “Screen Snapshot” with a button called “GetScreen.” Make sure your Port Settings are correct, then click GetScreen. Browse to the desired file location, name the file, then click Save. SLCD5/SLCD5+/SLCD5+N Modules Use a terminal emulator, insert an SD card into the display module, then send the command “*getScreenAsBMPFile”. This step will copy the current screen to a file on the SD card.

We do not support VFDs.

The SLCD5  (7″, 8.4″, and 10.4″) firmware loads bitmaps and macros from serial data on Flash into RAM before it displays anything on the screen. This way, the screen does not come up blank. However, this loading can take time, especially if there are a lot of bitmaps. There are two ways to speed things up: If the splash screen is set to bitmap 1 (e.g., command “*SPL 1”), this bitmap is loaded and displayed first before all the others are loaded. This setting can reduce the on-time delay. A special inverter cable, P/N 23-0121-12, can be used with ERG 8MAD series inverters. This cable enables the inverter as soon as power is turned on, so the screen goes white right away. Then once the controller is initialized and there are bitmaps loaded, the screen will display normally. The downside of this solution is that the inverter always runs at [...]

You don’t need a special loader. Just copy the .ELF file to your SD card (root) and reset or power cycle the board. The card needs to be 2 GB or less in size, and it has to be FAT16 formatted. Hook a terminal emulator to Main/COM0 at 115200, and you will see the update progress.

The Windows Vista OS is known to have compatibility issues when running serial communications programs on multicore processors. This issue is because it allows multiple cores to work on the same program, which can cause synchronization issues. To solve this, use the “Set Affinity” to 1 core. There are various ways to do this (Google “Windows Vista Affinity”). When the program is running, one way to change that setting is to right-click the application from within the Task Manager and then set the affinity.