Be sure you are waiting the required amount of time between instruction writes to the display. I had trouble at first writing to displays in 4 bit mode and got results like you see. After I checked my code I found I wasn't quite waiting long enough between writes. Doubling the delays (for overkill) worked! I also found that the delays mentioned in spec sheets are only approximate. Increase yours and see if it helps. Dave At 02:08 PM 12/17/96 -0500, you wrote: >Hello > I am having trouble initializing my 2x8 optrex lcd w/hd44780a >controller >in 4 bit mode.I have tried everything I could glean from the FAQ's but --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ( DSchmidt Technologies, Ventura CA http://www.rain.org/~dschmidt ) ( Freq selectors for FME/FMX/FM25, DTMF decoders. Email dschmidt@rain.org ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------