I'm working on getting the 'Welcome to Machine Science!' text to display on my LCD.  I setup the board, following the instructions in the tutorial (to the best of my knowledge, of course).  I am successfully able to compile and download the code (no errors on download, it says it is successful), but text does not display.

When my LCD is plugged in, one row is dark, and the other is empty; this makes me think there is an issue with wiring somewhere.

I've included an image of my board.  I believe the only connection you can't see in the pic (because of the angle) is J16 to Ground, but it is there.

The other thing that concerned me is the connection from I1 to I21; the red wire is the exact size needed to connect those two ports, so the LCD that needs to be connected at I17 through 120 did not push down as much as I would expect it too.

To see if that was the issue, I tried swapping the I1 to I21 red wire with a orange wire and having it just go on the outside of the board (since it is a longer wire), so it had no chance of getting in the way; this resulted in a much better connection for the LCD, but no change to the display.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this; I'm happy to provide pics from a different angle, if that would be helpful.

Thanks in advance,

Chris Martin

Full Board Pic:

Close of of LCD:

Using Alternate Wire: