I've tried with both a Arduino Uno and an ESP8266. With the ESP8266 just the first 5 lights come on and seem random.
I've tested the power out of the supply at 5.5V
Pin 6 was connect to the data pin of the strip
the 5V to DC IN
and the grnd of the PS to the GND of the strip (not to the arduino)
But Nothing at all. I was thinking it was related to the data pin as an OUTPUT but that hope was crushed. No idea what i'm doing wrong.
I get nothing on the first 8 LED's, then a few random colors on LED 9-14 then nothing on the rest of the strip.
As in this picture
I've tested the voltage at the end of the LED strip and it shows 5.4V so it would appear something is wrong with the data or my code.
I'm running "FastLED version 3.001.003"
I just had an LED strip working in one place (msp430) and misbehaving in the other (ATTiny85). I had never burned my bootloader onto my smaller chip and so the clock wasn't running at the speed I expected -- causing bad light behaviour.
Reduce your strip LED number to like, 5, and see if only 5 things light up, too.
I just tested the same strip with a T-1000S controller and doesn't lit up. I tested another same model strip with the T-1000S and it lights up right away.
So, I think maybe the two (???) strips I tested had failed.
I'm going to test again tonight on a smaller strip and see if I can get anything at all.
I hope I didn't damage them during my previous tests...
To Andy's question - Not sure, I haven't seen anything yet. I have tried with a ESP8266 and an Uno. Nada on both.
I picked up one of the test good strips (on the hardware controller) and plugged it into my Arduino Uno. Worked perfectly first try.
Then I copy the code, set the software to use the ESP 8266 and move the Digital Pin and Ground over. All i saw was the first 12-15 lights start flashing different colors, not the blue chase light I was testing before.
Basically I move two pins from one board to another and I go from working config to none.
Really at a loss for what to test
Here is the code
// Verion 1 T.S Setup
//Inclusions
#include <FastLED.h>
// Definitions
#define NUM_LEDS 300
#define LED_TYPE WS2812B
#define DATA_PIN D3
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];
/*
#define FASTLED_ESP8266_RAW_PIN_ORDER
#define FASTLED_ESP8266_NODEMCU_PIN_ORDER
#define FASTLED_ESP8266_D1_PIN_ORDER
*
*
*/
void setup() {
// pinMode(D3,OUTPUT);
// Initial Array
FastLED.addLeds<NEOPIXEL, DATA_PIN>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
}
void cycle() { //This is a single led on/off at a time creating a single movement
for(int dot = 0; dot < NUM_LEDS; dot++) {
leds[dot] = CRGB::Blue;
FastLED.show();
// clear this led for the next time around the loop
leds[dot] = CRGB::Black;
delay(30);
}
} // End cycle
void loop() {
cycle();
// End of Loop
}
I've been reading around and no idea if thise is down the right path but
My WS2812B are only 3 wires. Many others that have used the ESP8266 have used a 4-wire with CLK. SOmething about bit banging and SPI. Frankly I don't really understand it.
Is there anything I can do to leverage these ESP8266 that I have. I really want to use these as I can connect to Wifi and use MQTT to control the lights.
Its all powered from a 5V wall-wart. Not enough current to light all 60 leds white at once, but my 60 leds are wrapped into a circle to make a clock and only a few are ever lit at the same time.
Confirmed this morning after adding the 3.3V > 5V level-shifter that my sketch now works
In case anyone else has a similar issue, if you are powering your LED's via 5V, the data pin must receive at 5V as well and since the ESP8266 only outputs 3.3V you'll need to upshift.
I'm using a 74AHCT125 SMD (with super tiny contacts) so waiting to swap that out with a conversion board but as far as this morning tests, all good.
the data pin must receive at 5V as well and since the ESP8266 only outputs 3.3V you'll need to upshift.
Glad you got it working. Thanks for reporting back, to help others. You are right, there is a lot of discussion around the net on this subject and it seems that sometimes it works without level shifters and sometimes it doesn't. As I said, I have never needed to use them, so far...