Problem has been solved! I do not know what the the problem was, after unwiring everything and rewiring with new arduino, breadboard, and wire it works now. here is the code that works for anyone that needs help with this in the future. also,
/*
LiquidCrystal Library - Hello World
Demonstrates the use a 16x2 LCD display. The LiquidCrystal
library works with all LCD displays that are compatible with the
Hitachi HD44780 driver. There are many of them out there, and you
can usually tell them by the 16-pin interface.
This sketch prints "Hello World!" to the LCD
and shows the time.
The circuit:
* LCD RS pin to digital pin 12
* LCD Enable pin to digital pin 11
* LCD D4 pin to digital pin 5
* LCD D5 pin to digital pin 4
* LCD D6 pin to digital pin 3
* LCD D7 pin to digital pin 2
* LCD R/W pin to ground
* 10K resistor:
* ends to +5V and ground
* wiper to LCD VO pin (pin 3)
Library originally added 18 Apr 2008
by David A. Mellis
library modified 5 Jul 2009
by Limor Fried (http://www.ladyada.net)
example added 9 Jul 2009
by Tom Igoe
modified 22 Nov 2010
by Tom Igoe
This example code is in the public domain.
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/LiquidCrystal
*/
// include the library code:
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);
void setup() {
// set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
lcd.begin(16, 2);
// Print a message to the LCD.
lcd.print("hello, world!");
}
void loop() {
// set the cursor to column 0, line 1
// (note: line 1 is the second row, since counting begins with 0):
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
// print the number of seconds since reset:
lcd.print(millis()/1000);
}
here is one last picture of the working setup Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Thank you everybody that helped out on this! I really like this community.
I am trying to be able to display a basic message to my 1602a display. The problem is, is that the display does not show anything. I am following this tutorial here: http://www.hacktronics.com/Tutorials/arduino-character-lcd-tutorial.html
I have it wired as it is in the tutorial. I have double checked this to make sure that it is the case.
I have also played with the pot that controls the contrast. it does change the contrast, but that doesnt help much if there is nothing on the screen.
Also, I have checked all of my wires to check for breaks and they all are good.
The resistor I am using is 100 ohms, the tutorial suggests greater than 40 ohms.
Does anybody know why it might not be working?
~~this forum wouldnt let me add a picture, so i uploaded it to imgur and here is the link: http://imgur.com/1WWjqbn~~
a new smaller image is below
Here is the code I am using
/* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
// character LCD example code
// www.hacktronics.com
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
// Connections:
// rs (LCD pin 4) to Arduino pin 12
// rw (LCD pin 5) to Arduino pin 11
// enable (LCD pin 6) to Arduino pin 10
// LCD pin 15 to Arduino pin 13
// LCD pins d4, d5, d6, d7 to Arduino pins 5, 4, 3, 2
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2);
int backLight = 13; // pin 13 will control the backlight
void setup()
{
pinMode(backLight, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(backLight, HIGH); // turn backlight on. Replace 'HIGH' with 'LOW' to turn it off.
lcd.begin(16,2); // columns, rows. use 16,2 for a 16x2 LCD, etc.
lcd.clear(); // start with a blank screen
lcd.setCursor(0,0); // set cursor to column 0, row 0 (the first row)
lcd.print("line one"); // change this text to whatever you like. keep it clean.
lcd.setCursor(0,1); // set cursor to column 0, row 1
lcd.print("line two");
}
void loop()
{
}
/* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
Also, I fixed the wiring and soldering, here is a new, smaller image
