Interfacing with mobile phone screens

[smegballs]

I've seen on ebay small screens from blackberries and the like can be had for a fiver or so. So it would seem a pretty good source of small screens for little fun projects (say a diy speedo/tacho/boost gauge etc etc).

Anyone know how you'd even begin to go about interfacing with them? Or are they pretty much out of reach behind a mountain of proprietary firmware?

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Here's a taster :-

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.lewis19/nokia.htm
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[Charlie]

Use to have an old Sony Ericsson W960i that I've been meaning to do the same with but never got round to it. Then it got stolen

I guess it depends on how easy you can get a datasheet for it... But you could make it more fun by reversing engineering the screen first to understand/gain control. Tag onto the bus and do capture and try to decode it? Or read the firmware image off the phone and reverse the screen driver?
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[rideslikean00...]

Seems like a lot of work reverse engineering what was basically designed as closed source tech. Personally I feel the easier yet ironically somewhat more elaborate solution would be to use a Raspberry Pi with some small generic LCD and have a lot more control over what you can do. Since both Pi and LCD would be low power (the Pi is USB standard 500ma via 5V, IIRC) it presumably wouldn't be too hard to have a bike power them directly.

All guesswork though, I'm shite with electronics when it comes to that side of it, but there's a handful on here who could run with the idea.
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[daemonoid]

I can't imagine the interface is that revolutionary from a data perspective. The more modern a display, the more generic the input as they'll be pattern parts assembled to designer specs. Probably...

If you're good electrically and software wise then maybe for the enjoyment of the project it's worth a go. Otherwise there's much easier ways to go about it... Not least - buy an old android phone and do everything in code - you can get a bluetooth OBD-II that will give you all the input.
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[Im-a-Ridah]

Find something with better documentation or it will end up taking you forever. Not much point saving £5 on a screen and spending an extra week getting the thing working.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Arduino/PICAxe and an I2C display would be a cheap starting point that's well documented.
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5