Using the LCD display of FWA-3034 under FreeBSD and OPNsense

FWA-3034 from Advantech

Under FreeBSD or OPNsense, the built-in display of the Advantech FWA-3034 appliance is not used by default. To use the display, the community plugin lcdproc can be used in conjunction with a customized configuration.

Test environment

The following instructions have been performed in the following test environment:

• Hardware: Advantech FWA3034 with integrated LCD display
• Software: OPNsense 26.1.2_5-amd64 (FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE-p8s)

Performance

Search for community plugin lcd

To correctly control the serial display, the plugin ‘’'os-lcd-proc-sdelcd'‘’ must be installed:

1. Under System ‣ Settings ‣ Firmware, click on the Plugins tab. Here, the checkbox for Show community plugins must be selected. Then search for lcd.

2. 

   Install plugin

   Click on "+" to install the plugin.

After the plugin has been installed, our customized configuration file with the display specifications must be used.

The file path is /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf.

[server]
DriverPath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/
Driver=CwLnx
Bind=127.0.0.1
Port=13666
ReportToSyslog=yes
User=nobody
Foreground=yes
Hello="== THOMAS KRENN "
Hello="==  FreeBSD LCD MOD"
Hello=""
Hello="    1234567890     "
GoodBye=""
GoodBye=""
WaitTime=10
TitleSpeed=10
ServerScreen=on
Backlight=open
ToggleRotateKey=Enter
PrevScreenKey=Up
NextScreenKey=Down

[menu]
MenuKey=Escape
EnterKey=Enter
UpKey=Up

[hd44780]
ConnectionType=lcdserializer
Device=/dev/ttyU0
Speed=19200
Keypad=yes


[CwLnx]
Device=/dev/cuau1
ConnectionType=serial
Size=20x4
Speed=19200

Activate system service for testing

Activate the system service with the following command:

service LCDd onerestart

Display / output

After completing the previous steps, you should see the following result:

Author: Wilfried Seifert Wilfried Seifert, working in the Systems Engineering department at Thomas-Krenn, is responsible for system/prototype development in his work area. LPIC 3 certified, deals with construction / programming of embedded / GPIO systems; in his spare time he likes to repair old home computers, attends Linux conferences or is on the road with his bike (MTB) for sporting compensation.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.