Hacking Existing LED Sign
Kody Alan Rogers wrote 04/25/2021 at 19:30 • 2 pointsI found this really cool project by Solid State Group and I am wondering how I could use it to get an existing 3 foot by 2 foot LED sign working again.
The sign was assembled and configured by a company that refused to service it 3 months after when it broke. It is currently using Linsn controllers and was configured using the Linsn LED Studio. That software has not been updated for over 6 years, and Windows 7 is needed to run it.
I am wondering how difficult it would be to use the existing LED panels to reassemble the sign to use a Raspberry Pi and use the software from that project to control it?
I have some hardware experience with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and I have designed printed circuit boards before. I also have programming experience with C/C++ and Python. What other skills would I need to complete a project like this?
Are there any suggestions as to what hardware, software, or example projects I should read up on?
Thanks for any suggestions people have!
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nothing to add here.
I have an old Rockwell / Inview LED scrolling sign that I haven't been able to get working.
It completes its POST, I did download Inview 2.x software from the web, but it didn't connect through the Ethernet port. I guess I'll have to try the Serial port next.
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For some inspirational ideas: http://kgelabs.nl/?s=led+sign
This is a LED sign I bought quite some years ago and could not find any info on it. I also reverse engineered the hardware for the matrix and tried with several microcontrollers. Final step was a simple programming language to use the sign. These days I would use a ESP32 or such or maybe the new Raspberry Pico. The microcontroller module is modular(...) to the sign and can be replaced easily.
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Thanks!
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How is the existing sign designed to be controlled (physical layer, connection to computer), and how is it damaged / nonfunctional / "broken"?
A friend gave me a somewhat similar sign of his -- it had supposedly died in a storm -- I plugged it in, turned it on, and it was fine. Mine is based on an NEC V20 CPU with a half-meg of RAM, as I recall. I could be wrong -- it's been in my closet for a while. I forget the name of the software, but the guy had maintained an ancient XP laptop (based on one of the early "Pentium 4 for mobile systems" chips, pre-Pentium M) because that was the only thing that would run it -- he runs a local tech shop, no big deal for him ;)
I also have that laptop, complete with software... it came with the sign. Physical layer interconnect is RS-232 aka COMport. One of these days I'm going to dig the sign out of my closet, fire up the laptop, and put some sort of sniffer on the cable between them (it's just a standard 9pin cable), sniff out the protocol.
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@Kody Alan Rogers No response?
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It is not non-functional really. It appears to have lost configuration because when it turns on the start-up program is not centred.
It was programmed through a wifi connection. The main problem was is that it could not be connected to and therefore not re-programmed.
I know that the easiest route would be to reconfigure the Linsn controllers and get a better connection, but I am hoping to set up something better.
I would like to try and use code from a project like this one: https://github.com/SolidStateGroup/rio. While that particular code may not work I would like to find something that makes it easier for my mother and the people at her office to create and send slideshows to the sign.
Currently, I am going to get all the different part numbers (mostly need the LED panels) so that I can create a schematic and then I'll start worrying about what software (or potential hardware replacements) as suggested by @Ken Yap .
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There's no physical data connectors on it? or a "press this button to reset everything" button?
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There was a 'sender card' in the office for some reason (did not know it was there). It looks like there is a reset button, and for physical connections, there are two ethernet ports (guessing they connect to the receiver card) and 8 connectors that look like HUB 75 but seem to have a different pinout.
The pin out of the HUB 75 looking connectors is:
R1 R2
G1 B1
R3 R4
G3 B2
CLK GND
LAT GND
OE GND
A B
I say it looks like a HUB 75 connector because it has the same amount of pin but in a different order and instead of a C and D pin it has two extra red pins.
I go this information from the silkscreen of the circuit board with the connectors also listed there is what I think is the company name and part number:
01040539
GLUX-16A
www.GLUX.hk
2007-10-17
2007/12/4 0.5mm
L199BP0308A0
Again my main plan right now is to make a schematic so that I can understand how everything is set up and then I'll think about either fixing the current configuration or exploring the possibility of improving on the configuration by adding new controllers and using new software.
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Are they hub75 compatible? If they are, you can get controllers on aliexpress. I use huidu controllers and they have up to date software that works on windows 10.
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I think they are. My next step is going to be to create a schematic of all the hardware and if I verify they are hub75 I'll look into the controllers you suggested.
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Before you start worrying about the software you should try to work out the schematic of the panel circuit. That will assist the discovery of how to drive them.
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I think that is a great idea, and that is where I will start. If I can build a complete schematic it will definitely make everything easier. Thanks!
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