The clock is connected to P1.4, but it is active low, so when the LCD is not enabled the clock is. I did disconnect the LCD, thinking it could possibly be a problem with the pins of the LCD not going into a high impedence state and I tried writing to the clock. The clock has non volatile RAM once the on chip oscillator is enabled, which is done by writing to one of the registers (which I tried). I need the LCD connected to get an output though because I have no RS232 connection and at the moment have no intention of installing one.

Another thing I've just tried is to remove the clock from the circuit and then try reading the same way but I still end up getting "EE" written to the LCD. I'm not fully sure what this is telling me. Does it mean the LCD is still trying to drive the pins even when it is not enabled? Or does it mean that the two DS12887 chips I have are destroyed (I have another few ordered but they won't be here before the deadline)? Or does it just mean that I'm doing something very stupid somewhere that I'm just not seeing?

Thanks for the help,
Ray