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I don't think I can realistically use the LCD directly, but the other circuit board has only 7 pins as input, so 5 data pins at most. This seems like it could be done, though I doubt any documentation exists for the board.
What can a total newb like me do with this?
I googled the name listed on the PCB and found This. Seems doable, the spec sheet goes into a lot of detail on how the serial interface works
That would be working with the LCD directly, and ditching the rest. I ruled this out because the sheer amount of connections between the board and the display looked unmanageable. That documentation does look plenty detailed, of course. What would it take to get it running? Would an arduino/raspberry suffice?
Sorry for the stupid questions btw. I really know very little, but it would be great if I could learn enough to get this worlking!
I would not be surprised if those 7 wires are 3 power (blk gry wht) and 4 USB. Maybe it's actually 2 serial data lines, control and text? Maybe try to trace out the PCB and get any identifying marks from the ICs? If one is a microcontroller or ram or rom or a USB controller that would go a long way in getting it reverse engineered. For real though, they probably are using standards like i2c or USB or rs232, no sense reinventing what works
Probably a Hitachi LCD interface. Search around for Hitachi HD44780.
If you can identify the LCD itself, alibaba may have replacement driver boards for cheap
