Hi again!
What kind of display controller is using your LCD display?
In the past I have been using LCD display with HD61830 and I am sure - it can work in the text mode. I can send you PDF file with complete description. You can set text mode writing 0x3C to the control register, 0x75 sets 5x7 character mode (or you can set 5x11 dots characters), you can also set the number of rows and columns. ASCII characters (ISO646) are in built-in ROM.

Regards,
Jacek