I see... I used a potentiometer to edit the contrast and also grounded the RW pin.. I have not edited the library code to false.. i'm not sure if I have to do that. but I see all kinds of symbols scrolling through the lcd.
I think i might be send it incorrect commands.
I have the following
LCD pin Arduino pin
1 ground
2 5v
3 potentionmeter to ground
4 12
5 ground
6 3
11 7
12 8
13 9
14 10
15 14
16 ground
this worked for us.
the library we used was LCD4Bit 4X40 even though we have a 4X20 