The method i used was to add a 2-4 second delay each time the enable
signal changed, and thus i could look at the lines to make sure things
were hapening the way i wanted. Also, make sure you have a solid routine
that simply puts the upper then lower nibbles on the bus and toggles the
enable line as required before attempting anything else.

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A member of the PI-100 Club:
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751
058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679

On Thu, 1 Jul 1999, Tim Hamel wrote:

> In a message dated 7/1/99 3:33:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> paulb@midcoast.com.au writes:
>
> > To *learn* the interface, I highly recommend using the parallel port
> >  (using an extra card, not the one built into your motherboard) on a PC
> >  with FORTH as the access language.  That mastered, do it in PIC.
>
> I couldn't agree with you more Paul!  Once I conquered it using the parallel
> port (sadly, I used the onboard LPT instead of another card), it only took
> about 20 minutes to implement it on a PIC (8-bit interface). If this person
> (or anyone else) is a Visual Basic type person, I have source code to control
> an LCD via the parallel port - schematic too!
>
> Tim H.
>