Most displays, when powered, will display all block characters across the first line until they receive some sort of signal. I saw no blocks, no smoke, and had no funny smells. The LED backlight was working which made me feel a little better. I checked and re-checked my connections a dozen times before I caught a slight glimpse of characters. When I held the display at an angle I could see faint characters on the display. I was relieved that it was working but confused why the characters were so dim.




Link: MTB