I have a Hitachi HD44780 lcd. I have my lcd laying on top of the pins and wires coming out of it from above like the image provided (Sorry for the poor quality but it'll have to do. you can kinda see the pins sticking out of the holes).
My lcd doesn't work and I've tried looking up multiple diagrams and they're all the same. I checked my wiring and it looks fine. Now I'm wondering if I need to solder the pins to the lcd for it to make a connection.
, is this so? Or does it work like this for the time being and did I still do something different wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Hello there!
Soldering the pins to the LCD would be a good place to start. With high-speed systems, noise can alter data very easily, and cause things to not work correctly.
Every so often, someone posts here and asks why their display doesn't work.
A lot of time is wasted suggesting various pin arrangements and code trials, and eventually it becomes clear that the poster has not even connected the display.
So full marks to you, asking the sensible question and making the sensible observation.
Yes, of course you have to connect the display. Unless you connect all the wires, nothing is going to happen. That's just how electronics works. 
The wires are fine - you do need to solder the pins in the holes.
ChrisTenone:
The wires are fine - ....
On what are you basing that opinion?
- The wiring connections may not agree with the constructor.
- One or more of the wires themselves may be defective.
- He might not have connected R/W to GND.
EDIT: Also, his breadboard is one of those with 'interupted' power buses and he has not jumpered across the gaps.
Don
There could be problems with the wiring, I can't see all the wiring. However the board is not soldered to the pins, and that is a problem that is obvious from the picture. The OP needs to solve the hardware issues one at a time, until it works.
YES YOU HAVE TO SOLDER OTHERWISE YOU WON'T GET RELIABLE CONTACT