andy vt's tools & blog

Yep.  Just point it at the display dll that came with the kit.

I had to look at the source for the display dll to figure out why it wasn't working, if I can get it to compile (some depandancies weren't included) would you be interested in a x64 version?  It might be as simple as flipping some compiler options...

 Well, I can't really think of a reason why I would need a 64 bit version if the 32 bit one works just fine, but it might be less confusing to future users if the 32 and 64 bit versions offered the same options.  I know that was a confusing point when I first tried out LCD Writer.

Will be testing this afternoon! Thanks so much for your work

I found an issue with mapping custom chars.

If you dl'd the installers you'll want to do it again (same links).

 Sorry for the lack of response, I just got home and saw that you all must have been working hard at this.  I will try it tonight and see what happens.  To answer yourquestion on the case, I have the following:

 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204037&cm_re=nmedia-_-11-204-037-_-Product

I bought it on ebay and saved myself almost 30 bucks (still brand new).   GREAT CASE with one exception, it is a lower end case in terms of the slots in the back are the remove the metal panel and it's gone forever kind.  It has a single slot for my Blu-Ray/DVD/CD player.  It has a slot for the LCD screen and the power button glows blue that matches the blue LCDMODKIT screen.  Ventilation is good, but I switched out the front 120mm fan for a low RPM/high throughput fan that are silent.  The back 80mm fans are silent, so no change needed.   My 6 1tb hard drives fit in perfect and the piano finish/brushed aluminum worked well sitting under my Denon surround sound and looks like a receiver.   I looked alot for "Best Bang for the buck."

Devin

Well, I installed the x86 version, and it is driving the screen perfectly.  However, it seems to not be getting info from Media Center.  I get the dreaded "Media Center" on top line, then time and date on bottom.

 ehmsas is running, and stays running as long as the LCD Writer service is running. However, the screen will not display any media info.

 Running Windows 7 x64.  Any thoughts?  I feel like I'm so close!

The problem is probably that ehmsas.exe won't load the x86 dll.

1. create a folder in the x64 ProgramFiles folder and copying LcdWriter.dll into it.
2. open an elevated cmd window and cd to the folder
3. type "%SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\RegAsm.exe" LcdWriter.dll /codebase and hit enter
4. type "%SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\InstallUtil.exe" LcdWriter.dll
5. kill ehmsas.exe or reboot and start MC

 I did this, and afterward, ehmsas never started again, even after a restart.

 My installations hasn't gone so well.  Here is the jist. 

 Installed 32 bit with errors.  

Ran the reg file in the LCDWriter.zip and fixedthe installation

Made a Folder in the 64bit with LCDWriter.dll in it.

selected the Writer tab.  

Writer Name: selected the HD44780 with LCDSmartie from the 64bit folder that I previously made

Went to the "Select LCD Smartie DLL" button and opened the explorer from that.  Chose LCD2USB which I had moved into the 64bit folder with the LCDWriter.dll in it.  

NOTHING HAPPENED

Did the steps as follows:

1. open an elevated cmd window and cd to the folder
2. type "%SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\RegAsm.exe" LcdWriter.dll /codebase and hit enter
3. type "%SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\InstallUtil.exe" LcdWriter.dll
4. kill ehmsas.exe or reboot and start MC

 Still Nothing.  

What am I doing wrong?   

ALSO,  the LcdSmartie DLL: line remains blank after selecting the DLL.   Should I fill in the path to the LCD2USB.dll file?  (tried that and it didn't do anything)

Devin

Try putting the attached file in the folder you created.

Also, check the event log for error message.

tablestar:

Made a Folder in the 64bit with LCDWriter.dll in it.

selected the Writer tab.  

Writer Name: selected the HD44780 with LCDSmartie from the 64bit folder that I previously made

Went to the "Select LCD Smartie DLL" button and opened the explorer from that.  Chose LCD2USB which I had moved into the 64bit folder with the LCDWriter.dll in it.  

NOTHING HAPPENED

You need to select the x86 version of HD44780.

If the path doesn't fill in then it can't use the DLL.

babgvant:

Try putting the attached file in the folder you created.

Also, check the event log for error message.

Will do.  Do I need to run the previous few steps on this DLL as well?

 nope, the dll is a dependency of LcdWriter.dll (the MSAS sink).

I put the dll in the same folder, but ehmsas still doesn't start.  Log events for LCD Writer are as follows:

Construct VFD - d944fbc3-e230-452b-a4e4-a3349e5c9505

VFD Init - d944fbc3-e230-452b-a4e4-a3349e5c9505

Server Listening on ipc://LcdWriterServer

Initialize - d944fbc3-e230-452b-a4e4-a3349e5c9505

StartRenderer - d944fbc3-e230-452b-a4e4-a3349e5c9505

ReadSettings - d944fbc3-e230-452b-a4e4-a3349e5c9505

Service started successfully.

In other news, I am very pleased to see that LcdWriter and LCD Smartie play along very nicely with each other! LcdWriter grabs the first two lines, and LCD Smartie is able to put whatever it wants on the last two, provided that there aren't any custom characters used in LCD Smartie.

So ehmsas.exe doesn't start when you run MC?  Does it start running then crash or just never appear in taskmgr?

Expoert HKCR\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34} and post the contents so I can have a look. 

If you unregister my sink (run the cmd below)

• "%SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\RegAsm.exe" LcdWriter.dll /unregister

 I have no entry such as that under HKCR\CLSID.  It does exist under HKCR\CLSID\Wow6432Node though:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}]
@="LcdWriter.SessionAggregator"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}\Implemented Categories]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}\Implemented Categories\{62C8FE65-4EBB-45E7-B440-6E39B2CDBF29}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}\Implemented Categories\{FCB0C2A3-9747-4C95-9D02-820AFEDEF13F}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}\InprocServer32]
@="mscoree.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Both"
"Class"="LcdWriter.SessionAggregator"
"Assembly"="LcdWriter, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c3a1371968f2ff2a"
"CodeBase"="file:///C:/Program Files/babgVant/LcdWriter.DLL"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"
"(Default)"="mscoree.dll"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}\InprocServer32\1.0.0.0]
"CodeBase"="file:///C:/Program Files/babgVant/LcdWriter.DLL"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"
"Class"="LcdWriter.SessionAggregator"
"Assembly"="LcdWriter, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c3a1371968f2ff2a"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{EEE07744-E546-4536-BFFF-F012CDE78E34}\ProgId]
@="LcdWriter.SessionAggregator"
"(Default)"="LcdWriter.SessionAggregator"

Oh, and unregistering did nothing.  ehmsas still doesn't run at all (unless it's happening too fast for me to see)