weird issue with ramps 1.4 and lcd 2004, need help!

When my gt2560 board stopped working on my prusa i3 printer, I replaced it with a cheaper ramps 1.4 board from ebay: [www.ebay.com.au]

I paired this with an arduino mega 2560 r3 and my lcd 2004 smart controller (connected via a smart adapter), and uploaded the marlin firmware just how the online guides told me to.

when i power up the board, all i get from the lcd controller is a constant beep and flicker of light when i press the rotary encoder, no lcd display. the arduino also gets pretty hot after a few minutes.

i can plug the lcd 2004 module into the old gt2560 board and it will work fine, but it can't control the printer.

Has anyone ever had this issue before with ramps/lcd 2004? Does anyone know what the problem might be, or how to fix it? any help or suggestions would be really appreciated!

check your endstop wiring! - had this once when swapping from another board to RAMPS - sequence of the Pins was different, shorting out +5V to GND

Have you reconfigured marlin for the ramps board, updating the motherboard line?

I would take a few steps back...

remove the mega, plug only the mega into the computer, can you talk to it with controlling software?

If that’s fine, add an un populated ramps. re test

Then add endstops and test they work with M119

then add thermistors and re test, can you now read room temp?

add you screen back in, does it work?

Basically break the problem down into smaller parts then build it up slowly, testing everything as you go..

if you followed Dust advice and it still doesn't work you need to swap the leads so ext 1 of the LCD goes into ext2 of the adaptor and ext2 into ext 1....but you also need to rotate the headers 180 and cut slits into the adaptor headers to accommodate grooves.
double check you selected the right controller in firmware.



you can do this to the LCD controller or the adaptor

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2017 08:53AM by jinx.

@Dancer - I don't have any endstops plugged in yet, but i'll keep that in mind when i do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2017 03:09PM by James Verley.

@Dust - I've tried re-configuring the marlin firmware multiple times, using a number of online guides.

I've been testing it with only the lcd controller plugged in, and all jumpers etc. removed.

Even with the entire printer hooked up i can still send commands to it through usb to make motors move, but after the first few commands it freezes every time.

I did try testing it without the lcd plugged in, the arduino didn't heat up. I then added the smart adapter, no heating up. it's only when i add the lcd that i have problems, so that's what's shorting it out for some strange reason.

@jinx - i'll try cutting grooves and rotating the headers, thanks for the image. I've also double checked everything i can think of in the firmware!

@jinx - I flipped the cables in their sockets by cutting grooves in the adapter just like you said, and it's working fine now! Thanks a lot!

Thanks everyone, really impressed with your quick responses.

good stuff happy printing

Is there any background on why that fix (swap and rotate the lcd cables) is needed? It seems like a fairly major mess-up to require such a major hack.

@JamesK

Some lcds have cable connections connecting straight out of back of lcd others are at 90 degrees, they seem to turn the cable around between these two versions.

normally its not an issue, you get lcd + smart adaptor together that match

But when you have a board with on board lcd connectors you have to get a screen that matches (or in this case a smart adaptor that machines the screen they had)

I even struck this issue with a glcd from geeetech and the new re-arm

Wow, what a pain. Good to know, many thanks for the explanation.