BigBadOwl
Jan 25 2008, 03:14 PM
Hi all
I though I would share a solution to using an iMon USB LCD display on a Mac. This particular one was compiled on Leopard, but it might work on Tiger. The source is included. Attached is everything you need. The iMon usb driver was modified (by another individual - not me) to work on OS X and does not need the kernel driver as it is built into the iMon Driver. If it doesn't work for your iMon USB device, try changing the device id's in the server/drivers/imon.c file. I know this works on an Antec Fusion Case.
FYI. I am using Growl 0.7.6 (there is problems with the latest one under Leopard, and 0.7.6 works) and a program called GrowLCDproc to send Growl notifications to the LCD display. This is a really good solution.
The code attached is all open source and contains no proprietary or illegal code.
Click to view attachment
hinhale
Jan 29 2008, 12:01 PM
Really awesome! Might save me some trouble. Even though I'm guessing I'll need to recompile since my "iMon" is a MediaLab branded one (probably another devID). Found a patch on the lcdproc mailing list by phil taylor that I was going to try out, but this might save me the hassle!Cheers,hinhale.Yup. As expected, I'll need to edit the dev- and vendorID. I'm heading of for work now, but if I'll sort it out later on I'll be sure to post an update as there might be other MediaLAB users here (Mozart sx HTPC case with the MediaLAB vfd addon).
osxgus
Feb 6 2008, 12:56 AM
@bigbadowl:
is there any chance of fixing the knob; to control volume on the antec fusion and the IR sensor next to the VFD; to work with apple remote?
Alex7575
Feb 6 2008, 04:33 PM
How do you use the driver with a .so extension in OSX?
BigBadOwl
Feb 6 2008, 09:35 PM
QUOTE (osxgus @ Feb 6 2008, 12:56 AM)

@bigbadowl:is there any chance of fixing the knob; to control volume on the antec fusion and the IR sensor next to the VFD; to work with apple remote?

The knob is actually not part of the LCD driver set, it gets powered by LIRC in Linux. As far as I know, the Antec Fusion does not have the IR port. Mine certainly doesn't have it.
QUOTE (Alex7575 @ Feb 6 2008, 04:33 PM)

How do you use the driver with a .so extension in OSX?
OS X is Unix.... Also it has been modified so that it's no longer a kernel driver, it taps into the OSX USB libraries instead. Unzip the package, and run it
CODE
./LCDd -c ./LCDd.conf
Alex7575
Feb 6 2008, 10:15 PM
BigBadOwl,
I will try that, and let you know... Either way many thanks in advance
Alex
hinhale
Feb 7 2008, 01:12 AM
No luck with the Thermaltake iMon-vfd. Haven't been able to find out the device-id, either through sysctl dumps or from within linux/freebsd. Not even sure mine's still working though, since it's been over a year since i last ran vista on this computer, and i've done some messing around hardware-wise since then. But if anyone happens to know the device-id, be sure to drop a line!
osxgus
Feb 12 2008, 01:39 PM
@BigBadOWl.
My Fusion is a V2 and has a limited IR reciever.. unlike the first version.. thanks for the tip on how to get the VFD running..
Gus
Ichijoe
Feb 12 2008, 02:38 PM
HAHA LULz it works, well that's Three for Three then, (Windows XP, Mythbuntu (DVB-C), and now Leopard!!!)
..Now if I only know how to tie this into iTunes and some RSS Feed's I'd be set!!
Here's Picture of it ruuning on my EASC HTPC-DE02 Case W/the Soundgraph iMON VFD & Pad IR.


P.s. BTW before I forget THANKS!!
hinhale
Feb 13 2008, 12:27 PM
QUOTE (Ichijoe @ Feb 12 2008, 03:38 PM)

HAHA LULz it works, well that's Three for Three then, (Windows XP, Mythbuntu (DVB-C), and now Leopard!!!)
..Now if I only know how to tie this into iTunes and some RSS Feed's I'd be set!!
Here's Picture of it ruuning on my EASC HTPC-DE02 Case W/the Soundgraph iMON VFD & Pad IR.

P.s. BTW before I forget THANKS!!

No editing of device-id required? If so, what dev-id did you use?
Ichijoe
Feb 13 2008, 02:11 PM
TBH I don't know, allthogh I clearly have an OEM System (i.e. no iMON branding on the Remote), The Case (above), came with the Soundgraph Driver CD/DVD *Windows ONLY*

As I've stated I have the same Program running under Mythbuntu (MythTV HTPC Client running DVB-C), to display Channel and EPG Events under Linux, which it does a decent job of doing.
Sadly I'm a novice with it though,

Heck it took me like Four Months just to work that much out... Sad I know!
So I really wouldn't know how to pull the DeviceID from it under Linux nor OSX at this point, having unsuccessfully attempting to update to 10.5.2 I killed my Install (i.e. Kernel Panic).
Under XP it wouldn't be a problem to get that Info, sadly I don't really use it anymore and the last time I had to install it was so I could do a quick & dirty BIOS Update, since the Manufacturer *cough* Gigabyte *Cough* doesn't support Linux nor OSX the Board in qustion was a GA P35-DS3.
If you could drop a hint on how to pull that info off from a Linux Command Line I'd gladly share it with you...
hinhale
Feb 14 2008, 03:10 AM
QUOTE (Ichijoe @ Feb 13 2008, 03:11 PM)

TBH I don't know, allthogh I clearly have an OEM System (i.e. no iMON branding on the Remote), The Case (above), came with the Soundgraph Driver CD/DVD *Windows ONLY*
As I've stated I have the same Program running under Mythbuntu (MythTV HTPC Client running DVB-C), to display Channel and EPG Events under Linux, which it does a decent job of doing.
Sadly I'm a novice with it though,
Heck it took me like Four Months just to work that much out... Sad I know!
So I really wouldn't know how to pull the DeviceID from it under Linux nor OSX at this point, having unsuccessfully attempting to update to 10.5.2 I killed my Install (i.e. Kernel Panic).
Under XP it wouldn't be a problem to get that Info, sadly I don't really use it anymore and the last time I had to install it was so I could do a quick & dirty BIOS Update, since the Manufacturer *cough* Gigabyte *Cough* doesn't support Linux nor OSX the Board in qustion was a GA P35-DS3.
If you could drop a hint on how to pull that info off from a Linux Command Line I'd gladly share it with you...
Aah, in that case, I think it's safe to assume it's whatever DeviceID that was hardcoded into the files posted (deleted the src, so I couldn't check to see what it was) since it wouldn't have worked otherwise. Just thought I'd ask, since I got the same Soundgraph driver cd.
Anyway, ioreg and whatever appropriate switches should be able to provide you with the ID, but no reason to bother if it's working as is.
10.5.2 was an easy update if following the instructions posted on netkas.org. Otherwise I'd imagine there are some hacked combo update-files floating around out there by now.
cosmicrey
Feb 15 2008, 10:23 AM
I get "Bus error" while trying to execute LCDd as normal user as well as root. Tried it on 10.4.8 SSE2
zeba
Mar 10 2008, 11:13 AM
Okey! Now I would really appreciate some hints or helpful steps with LCDd.
I am using Growl 0.7.6 and GrowLCDproc to send Growl notifications to the LCD display.
When I start LCDd I get the initial screen showing up with the "LCDd server" text scrolling and the heartbeat etc.
When Growl notifications are sent to the VFD I'm not really sure what happens..
I get some random strings from the song id-tag showing up, and then all the sudden the initial screen again is show, then again some track info.. :/
This is what the console prints:
3/10/08 11:56:08 AM GrowlHelperApp[225] 2008-03-10 11:56:08 +0100 GrowlTunes: (null). If Only (2:25 — · · · · ·
Goldfinger (Composed by )
The Best of Goldfinger
Punk) - Priority 0
Now I've been searching the whole night on how to modify what is printed to the screen, how is this done..
For starters Time & Date would just look better than the initial screen..
Thank you all so much!
BigBadOwl
Mar 10 2008, 11:21 AM
I have the same problem, although the date and time do show (it always did by default from day 1), it keeps jumping to the default LCDproc message every couple of seconds. I haven't had time to fiddle yet. The default message can be changed in the conf file. Growl seems to work on some of the time too.
zeba
Mar 10 2008, 04:42 PM
Sent a growl notification and got this:

Strange.. if i start the client with just 'lcdproc -f T' it still shows the CPU MEM etc...
If you send a growl notification and you uncomment 'ServerScreen=no' there won't be any jumping anymore.
Now I just would like to know how I could clear the whole upper line..
There's 3 cells from left and right in use, tried to look in the source but couldn't find anything yet.
Thanks for your help..and the image quality is all the iphones fault..
zeba
Mar 10 2008, 07:34 PM
Well, have to be the ugliest hack in the universe, but it works, and im totally satisfied =)

Will try to modify some more, and get the growl notifications to show up correctly..
hinhale
Mar 12 2008, 02:11 PM
QUOTE (hinhale @ Feb 7 2008, 02:12 AM)

No luck with the Thermaltake iMon-vfd. Haven't been able to find out the device-id, either through sysctl dumps or from within linux/freebsd. Not even sure mine's still working though, since it's been over a year since i last ran vista on this computer, and i've done some messing around hardware-wise since then. But if anyone happens to know the device-id, be sure to drop a line!
Silly me. Seems the IMON power cable had jerked out for some reason. Now it works, and it's the same hardcoded dev id (0x15c2) so no need to recompile the source. Pretty sweet! Now I just need to find a good use for it.
silicon-surfer
May 14 2008, 12:52 AM
QUOTE (BigBadOwl @ Jan 26 2008, 01:14 AM)

Hi all
I though I would share a solution to using an iMon USB LCD display on a Mac. This particular one was compiled on Leopard, but it might work on Tiger. The source is included. Attached is everything you need. The iMon usb driver was modified (by another individual - not me) to work on OS X and does not need the kernel driver as it is built into the iMon Driver. If it doesn't work for your iMon USB device, try changing the device id's in the server/drivers/imon.c file. I know this works on an Antec Fusion Case.
FYI. I am using Growl 0.7.6 (there is problems with the latest one under Leopard, and 0.7.6 works) and a program called GrowLCDproc to send Growl notifications to the LCD display. This is a really good solution.
The code attached is all open source and contains no proprietary or illegal code.
Click to view attachmentI'm trying to get this running on my Antec Fusion with Leopard and although it seems to run OK (GrowlLCDproc can connect) I get no output on the screen. My LCD has the same device IDs as the code. Does it need the /dev/lcd0 node to communicate with the LCD as this isn't present on my system?
Doosje
Jun 4 2008, 06:59 PM
I could use some help with this aswell ...
Received my chiefec case today and been fiddling around to get the vfd working but no luck so far. The product id differs from the one already supplied.
Vendor ID: 0x15c2
Product ID: 0x0036
However i run into a bunch of trouble trying to recompile the driver through xcode ... tried to hexedit the original file aswell but was unable to find the string 65500
Anyone who could help me with this?
br492
Jun 26 2008, 09:44 PM
i have the same as above vfd and i dont know how to make it work.I 've downloaded the pack but i dont know what to do next.Help please
ezilagel
Jul 20 2008, 06:09 AM
I am having problems getting this provided LCDd to work. I have a Antec Fusion Black case and am currently running mac os X 10.5.2 (intel).
I have downloaded the code and ran the shell script. I checked my device and vendor IDs and they are the same as the one compiled. I also installed the growlLCDproc and it successfully connects to LCDd. However when I try to hit preview in growl I receive the error:
CODE
7/20/08 5:41:30 AM GrowlHelperApp[9985] Error from LCDproc Server at 127.0.0.1: huh? Screen already exists
I have looked at other forums suggesting how to send text, however nothing appears on my screen. Also, just to check if this is normal... When my computer is shutdown, but still turned on the PSU, my LCD is bright blue. Constantly bright blue. Never shuts off unless I turn off the PSU.
Also, I am trying to figure out if LCDd is supposed to be connected to /dev/lcd0 or something like that. Other forums talk about a /dev and I don't see that in /dev.
If i could get some help that would be great. I would love to work with someone to maybe get this into a package install, or at least just correctly. Any help would be awesome, I think this is something that we should try to figure out.
Thanks.
BigBadOwl
Jul 20 2008, 07:31 PM
Hi ezilagel
Just to check your running things in the right order. To get LCDproc up and running this is what I type into the terminal in order...
cd /Users/bigbadowl/desktop/LCDd
/Users/bigbadowl/Desktop/LCDd/LCDd -c /Users/bigbadowl/Desktop/LCDd/LCDd.conf
/Users/bigbadowl/Desktop/LCDd/lcdproc N
At this point a default LCDProc message should appear on your LCD. If you see nothing at this point then your LCD has not been initalised. Growl will not work until the LCD is running with the default message.
ezilagel
Jul 26 2008, 02:22 AM
Thanks for your help, but I still cannot get it to work. I installed windows the other day and was able to get it to work. I'm not sure what my problem is. I can start LCDd server with no problem. When I run the lcdproc N. Nothing happens. Growl can see the server running, but consoles the error i stated above when trying to send text. Thanks for your help, I will let you know if I get it to work.. Thanks.
planlos
Sep 6 2008, 11:09 AM
I also tried to hex edit this hack...
Have a Silverstone GD01-B MXR and also been playing around to get the vfd working but no luck so far. The product id differs from the one already supplied.
Vendor ID: 0x15c2
Product ID: 0x0038
How do i recompile or hex edit that driver? Im thinking of the combination with the Darwin port of LIRC.. could this be a possibiliy to get this running?
Any help would be appreciated!
joe75
Sep 9 2008, 04:56 PM
I have the oem version of the imon ultra bay (
http://www.soundgraph.com/Eng_/Products/im...amp;leftMenu=26 )
Ive tried many times with the lcdproc and have had no success. Ive edit the the ids and the osx patch files.. my id is Vendor ID: 0x15c2
Product ID: 0x003. i have no problem recompiling the source but it wont install after.
with mine theres is the ir part of the device that shares the same ids, which might be what is keeping it from installing correctly.. but im not sure thats the only problem. i was hoping more people would have had better success by now and figured out a better way. ive emeaild soundgraph about more support then just windows and they reply it's sold as a windows only device and to try 3rd party apps for other OS's :\
shirka666
Oct 3 2008, 09:34 PM
Having exactly the same problem as ezilagel with my Antec Fusion black and Leopard 10.5.5

Still any idea or troubleshooting tip?
epooch
Oct 7 2008, 12:13 AM
For people with the Antec Fusion Black:
Does your case have an LCD or is it a VFD similar to the pictures in this thread?
If it is a SoundGraph LCD, the above source will not work. There are patches out there to get LCDproc to work with it though. If people are still interested, I can give it a try.
Also, you can get an updated version of GrowLCDproc at my new website:
http://maclcd.blogspot.com/
moridin
Feb 20 2009, 12:43 PM
Just a quick FYI. On my setup I had to use '/dev/cu.serial1' for my device in the LCDd.conf.
It was a little confusing, as there is also a '/dev/tty.serial1' which I was using and wouldnt work (despite working with 'screen /dev/tty.serial1 19200').
Hardware:
Matrix Orbital LCD-2041
GA-945GCM-S2C (onboard serial port works!)
running 10.5.6
Many thanks to epooch for his help.
k2rii
Mar 14 2009, 01:19 PM
QUOTE (Doosje @ Jun 4 2008, 07:59 PM)

I could use some help with this aswell ...
Received my chiefec case today and been fiddling around to get the vfd working but no luck so far. The product id differs from the one already supplied.
Vendor ID: 0x15c2
Product ID: 0x0036
However i run into a bunch of trouble trying to recompile the driver through xcode ... tried to hexedit the original file aswell but was unable to find the string 65500
Anyone who could help me with this?
Hi, the driver for this VFD has been successfully developed. It has not been released yet, but it will be soon. You will be able to find it in the website:
http://maclcd.blogspot.com/I show a picture from his website. That case is a Silverstone LC-16M with a Imon Soundgraph VFD which Vendor ID is: 0x15c2 and Product ID is 0x0036 as well.
k2rii
Apr 15 2009, 12:54 PM
To all the Silverstone LC16M owners interested, I post here a Controllermate configuration file that will make all the buttons in the case work with the exception of the volume knob.
Luckily I read that Controllermate is free to use if you programm no more than 8 buttons, and this case has 7 (plus the volume knob that I cant figure out how to do that).
I inserted a couple scripts on the "drivers", one for the stop button and another for the mute button. Both editable in Controllermate. By default I only programmed the stop button to stop any movie or music being played in iTunes, DVD Player or Quicktime. If you want to add more programms, its very easy to add more in Controllermate. I did not include more programms there because if you dont have one of these programms installed that the script calls, it will show an annoying window saying that the computer does not find the programm anywhere.
If anyone would like to try to programm a driver for the volume knob I would be very happy to help as much as I could, though that is just beta testing because I am not a programmer.
Tharbat
May 22 2009, 10:38 AM
Hi there!
I have a Black Antec Fusion, with imon LCD (not vfd), and I've been trying to install LCDproc, but with no luck. I tried downloading the new zip from
maclcd but I had no luck.
I edited the config file to match my product id (Vendor ID: 0x15c2 Product ID: 0x0038), and edited the size of the display, but I can't seem to get the driver to load properly.
The remote is working though... (mouse and some keys, not mutimedia keys)
this is the errors I get when I installed it:
CODE
imon: Device 56 is an LCD
imon: Device 56 uses control endpoint
imon: Looking for device matching vendorID=0x15c2 and productID=0x0038
imon: Found matching device 0x1003: Configuring for input/output
imon: Found interface 0x1303
imon: Unable to open device interface. ret= e00002c5
imon: No matching interface found. ret= e00002c5
imon: Error during device init (see previous errors)
imon: No device matching vendorID=0x15c2 and productID=0x0038 found.
imon: init() done
Driver [imon] init failed, return code -1
Module /usr/local/lib/lcdproc/imon.so could not be loaded
Could not load driver imon
There is no output driver
Critical error while initializing, abort.
Any ideas?
k2rii
May 22 2009, 02:16 PM
QUOTE (Tharbat @ May 22 2009, 11:38 AM)

Hi there!
I have a Black Antec Fusion, with imon LCD (not vfd), and I've been trying to install LCDproc, but with no luck. I tried downloading the new zip from
maclcd but I had no luck.
I edited the config file to match my product id (Vendor ID: 0x15c2 Product ID: 0x0038), and edited the size of the display, but I can't seem to get the driver to load properly.
The remote is working though... (mouse and some keys, not mutimedia keys)
this is the errors I get when I installed it:
CODE
imon: Device 56 is an LCD
imon: Device 56 uses control endpoint
imon: Looking for device matching vendorID=0x15c2 and productID=0x0038
imon: Found matching device 0x1003: Configuring for input/output
imon: Found interface 0x1303
imon: Unable to open device interface. ret= e00002c5
imon: No matching interface found. ret= e00002c5
imon: Error during device init (see previous errors)
imon: No device matching vendorID=0x15c2 and productID=0x0038 found.
imon: init() done
Driver [imon] init failed, return code -1
Module /usr/local/lib/lcdproc/imon.so could not be loaded
Could not load driver imon
There is no output driver
Critical error while initializing, abort.
Any ideas?
Hi!
I certainly know that your Device ID has successfully been programmed to work with the driver from the same website you downloaded it (maclcd.blogspot.com). Besides, I know the programmer told me he succeeded and he even has a picture of it working, and it is not an VFD. I would recommend you asking him in his website. The man who programms these drivers is very cool.
My idea is that if it says "Module /usr/local/lib/lcdproc/imon.so could not be loaded
" means that the driver was not loaded. Ok, that was a very "bright" thing to say, I know, but what I mean is that the driver address was not properly specified. In order to do so, you have to edit the LCDd.conf file and mention where did you put the driver, imon.so in the system. I think you cannot edit this imon.so file directly, but you can edit the file imon.c before compiling (that is installling the script) so that the script compiles it with the right information. In this imon.c file you have to put the Device ID (the 0038 right?) and the manufacturer. I had these problems too, but I was not the one who succeeded making everything, that was the programmer from this website. If you dont succeed with my help, sorry, then you will have to ask there because I dont think I know much more. Send me the files Imon.c and LCDd.conf if you want me to check that they are right, though I warn you, I will help as much as I can, but I cant promise anything.
Hope it was of some help this information.
Good luck!
k2rii
May 22 2009, 02:46 PM
QUOTE (k2rii @ May 22 2009, 03:16 PM)

Hi!
I certainly know that your Device ID has successfully been programmed to work with the driver from the same website you downloaded it (maclcd.blogspot.com). Besides, I know the programmer told me he succeeded and he even has a picture of it working, and it is not an VFD. I would recommend you asking him in his website. The man who programms these drivers is very cool.
My idea is that if it says "Module /usr/local/lib/lcdproc/imon.so could not be loaded
" means that the driver was not loaded. Ok, that was a very "bright" thing to say, I know, but what I mean is that the driver address was not properly specified. In order to do so, you have to edit the LCDd.conf file and mention where did you put the driver, imon.so in the system. I think you cannot edit this imon.so file directly, but you can edit the file imon.c before compiling (that is installling the script) so that the script compiles it with the right information. In this imon.c file you have to put the Device ID (in hex values, transform them with the osx calculator) and the manufacturer ID (in hex too). To transform a number in hex, type it in normal mode, and then click on Hex (put the calculator program in programmer view mode). I had these problems too, but I was not the one who succeeded making everything, that was the programmer from this website. If you dont succeed with my help, sorry, then you will have to ask there because I dont think I know much more. Send me the files Imon.c and LCDd.conf if you want me to check that they are right, though I warn you, I will help as much as I can, but I cant promise anything.
Hope it was of some help this information.
Good luck!
pino72
Jun 14 2009, 11:28 AM
Hi, I got an IMon LCD Silverstone Grandia case and would like to test this driver but I do not have the Apple developer tools...could someone make the compiled version available please, or does this have to be compiled on each individual machine to work properly?
I do not care so much about the lcd but the ir would be great in conjunction with a harmony remote!
Tocotron
Jul 30 2009, 10:31 PM
Thx, the controllermate config file works like a charm...Thx.
Would be cool, if i can get a script for the pad. But controller mate doesnt show any activity if i press a button on the imon pad.
k2rii
Aug 14 2009, 06:48 AM
QUOTE (Tocotron @ Jul 30 2009, 11:31 PM)

Thx, the controllermate config file works like a charm...Thx.
Would be cool, if i can get a script for the pad. But controller mate doesnt show any activity if i press a button on the imon pad.
The Imon Pad and the volume knowb work somehow through device that controls the IR and LCD too, though they need (if I understood correctly) different programming. I know that EPOOCH was working on the IMON PAD with some users but I got no interest in that remote and I cannot recall about that. Go to his website and check it out.
http://maclcd.blogspot.com/Good luck!
Tharbat
Aug 30 2009, 08:03 PM
Hey I need some help from you guys. I'm having a really weird issue:
I have a Back Antec Fusion with lcd, using it with a leopard vanilla install, with lcdprog. I really need to disable the IR functionality completely.
I need to do so, because whenever I use my satellite tv remote controller (pressing number pad 1 or 9 in my satellite remote), my hackintosh recognizes it as a mouse event (left click and drag) witch f*cks up the mouse control. It breaks my left mouse click.
I know it sounds crazy but its true, so I decded to just disable any IR in my box so it doesn't reacts to my Sat Remote. I tried removing AppleIRController.kext, but it doesn't work. It still picks the mouse event. I even thought of blocking my LCD and IR receiver with tape, but this is kind of extreme.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
T.
Kunze
Jan 15 2010, 08:52 AM
QUOTE (ezilagel @ Jul 20 2008, 07:09 AM)

Also, just to check if this is normal... When my computer is shutdown, but still turned on the PSU, my LCD is bright blue. Constantly bright blue. Never shuts off unless I turn off the PSU.
I have the same problem. But even if my PSU is turned off my LCD is bright blue. So what i need to turn off the display when i shutdown the os?
Is there a workaround or something?
When would it by possible to use the volume knob?
(I have the imon display 0x0038 0x15c2 an it works.)
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