Hello Don,
Thanks for your response. Based on the information you provided, I rewired the the uno from the ribbon connector to the uno, as you indicated, and changed the program to reflect those changes for a 2port 8pin mode connection uploaded and still nothing. (Just to be sure, I take it #define LCD_RS 0....LCD_EN 2 lines mean the control lines from the ribbon connector go to digPins 0,1 and 2 of PortB, right? That's how i have them.).
Also did a careful comparison of the eg2.7, 4bitmode single port and eg 2.5 8bit mode double port, and reread the section for the various ways of displaying character data, and tried to do a 8bitmode single port sketch. Basically, I've just been experimenting with different variations of the code and comparing them with the requirements in the specs for the vfd for writing the info.
Even requested from the super if he could pull up the source code to reconnect the CIODIO48 to check the display for functionality....
In addition to the mountain of code i've written in MPLABv8.84 and the PIC18, plus C++ source code, here's what I've come up with and utilized thus far from Mr. Mazidi's and arduino's site, all of which compiles and the 'YES' one gives me everything nicely (unlike yesterday) as you pointed out, the enable pin active low, active highs (3.7volts and higher) on the data pins, and the other pins as should be.
Arduino Sketches.pdf (239 KB)