Can you set the VFD to 19200? It very much looks like the LinuxCNC driver is ignoring your request for 9600 baud.
The driver defaults to 19200 and it might just be easier to set the VFD to match.
First of all, thank you again Andy for not letting me down. I still don't have an encouraging result but not feeling alone is already a lot!
I have made so many changes that I wanted to start again from the beginning.
Here's what I get:
The values on the VFD are as follows:
PD163: 1
PD164: 2
PD165: 3
PD1: 2
PD2: 2
and the jumper J1 is in the position V1
