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I recently got 40 large LED display boards. The boards are powered by old 300-400 MHz pc's, fitted inside the board. OS is MS-Dos. The display (LED's) are drivin by a small ISA card. Images/text are displayed via a MS-Dos based playlist, like a slideshow. The playlist gives the path to the images to display, and the time the slide should be displayed.
Problem is I cant change the playlist, I dont know how. I have to rename my images to match the names in the playlist in order for it to work, but I cant set the time delay.
What I would like to do is change the OS to Win or Linux, and the have a playlist run the slideshow. In order to do this I need to know where to find the driver for the ISA card? The reason for Win/Linux is so that I can setup a wireless network to update the playlist (currently I have to remove the hard drive to edit the files, some of the displays are difficult to reach).
Else if someone can help me on how to modify the Dos playlist I could still use DOS and update via a modem or Laplink.
Can someone please help me out? Either in telling me where and what to look for in obtaining the driver or how to change the playlist.
The files without the graphics is about 10meg, I could upload it if needed.
The last time I touched DOS was when I still played "Leisuresuit Larry"!!!
The simplist solution seems to be edit the playlists. Are they
is ASCII Text format? You may be using the wrong editor.
Changing the OS means finding compatible drivers for the
display cards. If you go that route find the drivers first.
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Thank you for your reply Wizard-Fred.
Heres a snippit from the playlist:
"ópmfa001þô={ä€?^iD"
The first part is the filename : pmfa001.bmp
The other gibberish is the time delay befor the next slide.The file for the playlist is a *.led?
I have no idea how to edit it....The graphics card is custom made.. I has a programmable PIC on it as well as a ATMEL. No chance on getting drivers for it.
The company that made these boards went out of bussines, thats why I'm stuck.
Another company can edit hte playlist for me @ a charge of $10 per playlist. As the playlists needs to be updated daily, all 40 is different, it tends to get rather expensive...
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If you know, as that sounds from your post, the structure/content of the playlist .led file, you can try to edit it by using a hexadecimal editor. I use one for plain DOS and I can give it to you if interested and that is the way you want to follow.
In that case contact me by a private message including your e-mail.
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I think editing the PL is a much better idea than installing winders and getting stuck for drivers.
Maybe zip up a PL and let the gang here have a crack at it.
=====================================
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Thanks Mechanix2Go.
IVO is currently looking into the situation, it seems that there is maybe more files involved than simply the PL.
If IVO is unable to help me I will certainly upload the files here so that others could assist.
Thanks again for the help guys!
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I think the playlists are created by a utility program, that allows input of file name, display time etc.
Are you able to contact any other users of the display board concerned?
If so, they may be able to advise.
Good Luck - Keep us posted.
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Hello DOS Gurus,
now I'm contacting Cobus, but I think the problem is far beyond plain DOS architecture. My info is still very limited but I fear the solution involves microcontroller mastering the board. I'll keep you posted because any help is welcome.
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Hi IVO,
As long as there's at least one viable PL, maybe it could be worked over with something like Bruce Guthrie's CHANGE. Tedious, but maybe the path of least resistance.
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If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Hi M2,
if you are interested i'm glad to share with you the stuff and info cobus gave me. there is work and space for everybody in this challenge. Send me a private message with the e-mail address where I can redirect the info with the attached file whose size is less than 500 KB in .rar format.
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---- Solved ----
Although the OS is DOS, the actual playlist was encrypted with external software. I thought it could simply be solved by someone with DOS knowledge that could change the playlist.
Another problem is the actual file that runs the playlist "shellrun.exe", this is also a custom file and very hard to decompile. Further this file sends data to the LED's via a custom Graphics card.
So we came to the conclusion that it would be too hard to Decompile the files in order to determine a way to compile a playlist. It would also cost far too much if possible to convert to a standard Graphics card and run simple playlists.
I did however get a couple of "Generic" playlist from a previous employee of the company who made the boards. These playlists come in various shapes and sizes. So this way I could just rename my files to match files in the playlist provided. Currently this seems to be the easiest and simplist way to go...
Thanks for everyones input and help. And KUDOS to IVO for hours of help and suggestions; Grazie molto!
Cobus
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