More info in my blog here: https://ptodorov.com/interfacing-a-hd44780-lcd-with-raspberry-pi-over-i2c/

Aliexpress LCD and I2C backpack link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1709948156.html

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo apt-get install i2c-tools sudo apt-get install python-smbus sudo apt-get install lcdproc

select “Yes” when asked to perform an automatic configuration upgrade

sudo raspi-config

5 Interfacing Options > P5 I2C > Yes

sudo reboot

sudo i2cdetect -y 1

Write down your address, mine was 3f, you will need to set it in /etc/LCDd.conf later

wget https://github.com/wilberforce/lcdproc/blob/master/hd44780.so -O /usr/lib/lcdproc/hd44780.so

cd /home/pi git clone git@github.com:ptodorov0/lcdproc_hd44780_i2c.git

Edit your /etc/LCDd.conf according to the LCDd.conf present in my repository, if you use the same display and convertor board you should just change the I2C address if it is not the same as mine.

sudo service LCDd enable sudo service LCDd start

lcdproc

WARNING: If you don't see anything on the LCD try to adjust the contrast potentiometer screw on the parallel to I2C convertor board.

crontab -e

choose to edit it with your editor of choice and add the following line to the bottom of CRON table: * * * * * php /home/pi/lcdproc_hd44780_i2c/play.php >> /home/pi/lcdproc_hd44780_i2c/play_debug.log

check if cron is currently started with the following command sudo service cron status

if it is inactive (the default on Moode and maybe Raspbian), start cron service and enable it on startup sudo service cron enable sudo service cron start