Arduino Pass-through to multiple HD44780 displays

Possibly you've heard something like this previously.

I have eight 16x2 HD44780 compatible displays connected to an Arduino. 
All pins are shared except for the EN pins - those are each connected to 
their own digital pin. My wiring is almost identical to this, and it 
functions very well:

http://www.hackmeister.dk/2010/08/4-lcd-displays-on-1-arduino/


Ideally, I would like to be able to plug this setup into my linux server 
via USB, and have LCDproc send information to the displays as if they 
are a 16x16 character display. (I don't know if this is actually 
possible with the current set of LCDproc drivers.)


To get myself started, I have been trying to make this example work 
using only one of the displays:

http://milesburton.com/USD_LCD_Display_%28HD44780%29_Running_on_Linux_via_Arduino

... sadly all I get is garbled strings and trash on the display, often 
being scrolled at random speeds left or right.  I can't tell if there is 
something I am doing wrong, or if Mister Burton's example doesn't work 
to begin with.

Am I heading in a totally wrong direction, or can my plan work if I just 
keep spending time on it? Right now I'm walking in circles trying to 
figure out why it isn't working at all.