So I followed this tutorial and built myself ambilight using WS2815 strip and chinese arduino nano clone (ATMEGA328P), here is the drawing. Everything is fine except for the blue flickering that sometimes happens on a few leds and the fact that it just randomly stops working. By that I mean that the leds remain powered on but the connection between them and the PC is interrupted so they just remain still and do not respond to a program (hyperion or prismatic).
It happens randomly, it might work for 3 hours straight or just 1 minute, I just have to unplug the usb, plug it again and restart the program to make it work.
These are the actions I took so far to fix this:
installed all the recommended drivers (at least the ones that were mentioned on various forums)
reinstall Windows 11 (but I did debloat it, don't know if that's what causes it)
disabled Windows Defender and Firewall
added a new inbound rule to Firewall for all port
changed the priority in task manager (tried High and Realtime)
tried using Hyperion instead of Prismatic
changed the port number from 3 to 256, because why not
used process explorer to see if there is any app blocking the port (it shows only hyperion/prismatic)
killed background processes like Fan Control, MSI Afterburner etc making sure that there isn't any unnecessary app running in the background.
And no luck, I'm out of ideas. The only thing that I'm thinking right now is just replacing the board but to me it seems like a software issue because it does work, just not for long.
Small observation: the "countdown" begins when I launch a program that does the ambilight thingy, before that the connection between board and pc remains uninterrupted
Here is the log from hyperion:
2024-11-03T14:38:12.600Z [LEDDEVICE|First LED Hardware instance] (ERROR) Device disabled, device 'adalight' signals error: 'Timeout writing data to COM256'`
2024-11-03T14:38:12.603Z [LEDDEVICE|First LED Hardware instance] (ERROR) Device disabled, device 'adalight' signals error: 'The system cannot find the file specified.
I'm not sure what that means, this is my very first experience with arduino, but basically it looks like when the ambilight stops working the connection between PC and arduino is interrupted somehow so that even IDE can't connect to the board. I was blaming the serial port and that's why I followed multiple advices on how to prevent the port from getting blocked (firewall, antivirus, process explorer etc). It didn't change anything.
yeah, I like 99% sure that it is caused by my soldering skills.
#include "FastLED.h"
#define ANALOG_MODE_AVERAGE 0
#define ANALOG_MODE_LAST_LED 1
/**************************************
S E T U P
set following values to your needs
**************************************/
#define INITIAL_LED_TEST_ENABLED true
#define INITIAL_LED_TEST_BRIGHTNESS 32 // 0..255
#define INITIAL_LED_TEST_TIME_MS 500 // 10..
// Number of leds in your strip. set to "1" and ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED to "true" to activate analog only
// As of 26/1/2017:
// 582 leaves ZERO bytes free and this
// 410 is ok
// tested with 500 leds and is fine (despite the warning)
#define MAX_LEDS 500
// type of your led controller, possible values, see below
#define LED_TYPE WS2812B
// 3 wire (pwm): NEOPIXEL BTM1829 TM1812 TM1809 TM1804 TM1803 UCS1903 UCS1903B UCS1904 UCS2903 WS2812 WS2852
// S2812B SK6812 SK6822 APA106 PL9823 WS2811 WS2813 APA104 WS2811_40 GW6205 GW6205_40 LPD1886 LPD1886_8BIT
// 4 wire (spi): LPD8806 WS2801 WS2803 SM16716 P9813 APA102 SK9822 DOTSTAR
// For 3 wire led stripes line Neopixel/Ws2812, which have a data line, ground, and power, you just need to define DATA_PIN.
// For led chipsets that are SPI based (four wires - data, clock, ground, and power), both defines DATA_PIN and CLOCK_PIN are needed
// DATA_PIN, or DATA_PIN, CLOCK_PIN
#define LED_PINS 6 // 3 wire leds
//#define LED_PINS 6, 13 // 4 wire leds
#define COLOR_ORDER GRB // colororder of the stripe, set RGB in hyperion
#define OFF_TIMEOUT 15000 // ms to switch off after no data was received, set 0 to deactivate
// analog rgb uni color led stripe - using of hyperion smoothing is recommended
// ATTENTION this pin config is default for atmega328 based arduinos, others might work to
// if you have flickering analog leds this might be caused by unsynced pwm signals
// try other pins is more or less the only thing that helps
#define ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED false
#define ANALOG_MODE ANALOG_MODE_LAST_LED // use ANALOG_MODE_AVERAGE or ANALOG_MODE_LAST_LED
#define ANALOG_GROUND_PIN 8 // additional ground pin to make wiring a bit easier
#define ANALOG_RED_PIN 9
#define ANALOG_GREEN_PIN 10
#define ANALOG_BLUE_PIN 11
// overall color adjustments
#define ANALOG_BRIGHTNESS_RED 255 // maximum brightness for analog 0-255
#define ANALOG_BRIGHTNESS_GREEN 255 // maximum brightness for analog 0-255
#define ANALOG_BRIGHTNESS_BLUE 255 // maximum brightness for analog 0-255
#define BRIGHTNESS 255 // maximum brightness 0-255
#define DITHER_MODE BINARY_DITHER // BINARY_DITHER or DISABLE_DITHER
#define COLOR_TEMPERATURE CRGB(255,255,255) // RGB value describing the color temperature
#define COLOR_CORRECTION TypicalLEDStrip // predefined fastled color correction
//#define COLOR_CORRECTION CRGB(255,255,255) // or RGB value describing the color correction
// Baudrate, higher rate allows faster refresh rate and more LEDs
//#define serialRate 460800 // use 115200 for ftdi based boards
#define serialRate 115200 // use 115200 for ftdi based boards
//#define serialRate 500000 // use 115200 for ftdi based boards
/**************************************
A D A L I G H T C O D E
no user changes needed
**************************************/
// Adalight sends a "Magic Word" (defined in /etc/boblight.conf) before sending the pixel data
uint8_t prefix[] = {'A', 'd', 'a'}, hi, lo, chk, i;
unsigned long endTime;
// Define the array of leds
CRGB leds[MAX_LEDS];
// set rgb to analog led stripe
void showAnalogRGB(const CRGB& led) {
if (ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED) {
byte r = map(led.r, 0,255,0,ANALOG_BRIGHTNESS_RED);
byte g = map(led.g, 0,255,0,ANALOG_BRIGHTNESS_GREEN);
byte b = map(led.b, 0,255,0,ANALOG_BRIGHTNESS_BLUE);
analogWrite(ANALOG_RED_PIN , r);
analogWrite(ANALOG_GREEN_PIN, g);
analogWrite(ANALOG_BLUE_PIN , b);
}
}
// set color to all leds
void showColor(const CRGB& led) {
#if MAX_LEDS > 1 || ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == false
LEDS.showColor(led);
#endif
showAnalogRGB(led);
}
// switch of digital and analog leds
void switchOff() {
#if MAX_LEDS > 1 || ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == false
memset(leds, 0, MAX_LEDS * sizeof(struct CRGB));
FastLED.show();
#endif
showAnalogRGB(leds[0]);
}
// function to check if serial data is available
// if timeout occured leds switch of, if configured
bool checkIncommingData() {
boolean dataAvailable = true;
while (!Serial.available()) {
if ( OFF_TIMEOUT > 0 && endTime < millis()) {
switchOff();
dataAvailable = false;
endTime = millis() + OFF_TIMEOUT;
}
}
return dataAvailable;
}
// main function that setups and runs the code
void setup() {
Serial.begin(serialRate);
// analog output
if (ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED) {
// additional ground pin to make wiring a bit easier
pinMode(ANALOG_GROUND_PIN, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(ANALOG_GROUND_PIN, LOW);
pinMode(ANALOG_BLUE_PIN , OUTPUT);
pinMode(ANALOG_RED_PIN , OUTPUT);
pinMode(ANALOG_GREEN_PIN, OUTPUT);
}
int ledCount = MAX_LEDS;
if (ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == true && ANALOG_MODE == ANALOG_MODE_LAST_LED) {
ledCount--;
}
#if MAX_LEDS > 1 || ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == false
FastLED.addLeds<LED_TYPE, LED_PINS, COLOR_ORDER>(leds, ledCount);
#endif
// color adjustments
FastLED.setBrightness ( BRIGHTNESS );
FastLED.setTemperature( COLOR_TEMPERATURE );
FastLED.setCorrection ( COLOR_CORRECTION );
FastLED.setDither ( DITHER_MODE );
// initial RGB flash
#if INITIAL_LED_TEST_ENABLED == true
for (int v=0;v<INITIAL_LED_TEST_BRIGHTNESS;v++)
{
showColor(CRGB(v,v,v));
delay(INITIAL_LED_TEST_TIME_MS/2/INITIAL_LED_TEST_BRIGHTNESS);
}
for (int v=0;v<INITIAL_LED_TEST_BRIGHTNESS;v++)
{
showColor(CRGB(v,v,v));
delay(INITIAL_LED_TEST_TIME_MS/2/INITIAL_LED_TEST_BRIGHTNESS);
}
#endif
showColor(CRGB(0, 0, 0));
Serial.print("Ada\n"); // Send "Magic Word" string to host
Serial.println("Ada: LED num: " + String(FastLED.size())); //Return number of LEDs configured
boolean transmissionSuccess;
unsigned long sum_r, sum_g, sum_b;
// loop() is avoided as even that small bit of function overhead
// has a measurable impact on this code's overall throughput.
for(;;) {
// wait for first byte of Magic Word
for (i = 0; i < sizeof prefix; ++i) {
// If next byte is not in Magic Word, the start over
if (!checkIncommingData() || prefix[i] != Serial.read()) {
i = 0;
}
}
// Hi, Lo, Checksum
if (!checkIncommingData()) continue;
hi = Serial.read();
if (!checkIncommingData()) continue;
lo = Serial.read();
if (!checkIncommingData()) continue;
chk = Serial.read();
// if checksum does not match go back to wait
if (chk != (hi ^ lo ^ 0x55)) continue;
memset(leds, 0, MAX_LEDS * sizeof(struct CRGB));
transmissionSuccess = true;
sum_r = 0;
sum_g = 0;
sum_b = 0;
int num_leds = min ( MAX_LEDS, (hi<<8) + lo + 1 );
// read the transmission data and set LED values
for (int idx = 0; idx < num_leds; idx++) {
byte r, g, b;
if (!checkIncommingData()) {
transmissionSuccess = false;
break;
}
r = Serial.read();
if (!checkIncommingData()) {
transmissionSuccess = false;
break;
}
g = Serial.read();
if (!checkIncommingData()) {
transmissionSuccess = false;
break;
}
b = Serial.read();
leds[idx].r = r;
leds[idx].g = g;
leds[idx].b = b;
#if ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == true && ANALOG_MODE == ANALOG_MODE_AVERAGE
sum_r += r;
sum_g += g;
sum_b += b;
#endif
}
// shows new values
if (transmissionSuccess) {
endTime = millis() + OFF_TIMEOUT;
#if MAX_LEDS > 1 || ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == false
FastLED.show();
#endif
#if ANALOG_OUTPUT_ENABLED == true
#if ANALOG_MODE == ANALOG_MODE_LAST_LED
showAnalogRGB(leds[MAX_LEDS-1]);
#else
showAnalogRGB(CRGB(sum_r/MAX_LEDS, sum_g/MAX_LEDS, sum_b/MAX_LEDS));
#endif
#endif
}
}
} // end of setup
void loop() {
// Not used. See note in setup() function.
}
sketch2;
/*
* Arduino interface for the use of WS2812 strip LEDs
* Uses Adalight protocol and is compatible with Boblight, Prismatik etc...
* "Magic Word" for synchronisation is 'Ada' followed by LED High, Low and Checksum
* @author: Wifsimster <wifsimster@gmail.com>
* @library: FastLED v3.001
* @date: 11/22/2015
*/
#include "FastLED.h"
#define NUM_LEDS 240
#define DATA_PIN 6
// Baudrate, higher rate allows faster refresh rate and more LEDs (defined in /etc/boblight.conf)
#define serialRate 115200
// Adalight sends a "Magic Word" (defined in /etc/boblight.conf) before sending the pixel data
uint8_t prefix[] = {'A', 'd', 'a'}, hi, lo, chk, i;
// Initialise LED-array
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];
void setup() {
// Use NEOPIXEL to keep true colors
FastLED.addLeds<NEOPIXEL, DATA_PIN>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
// Initial RGB flash
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(255, 0, 0));
delay(500);
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(0, 255, 0));
delay(500);
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(0, 0, 255));
delay(500);
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(0, 0, 0));
Serial.begin(serialRate);
// Send "Magic Word" string to host
Serial.print("Ada\n");
}
void loop() {
// Wait for first byte of Magic Word
for(i = 0; i < sizeof prefix; ++i) {
waitLoop: while (!Serial.available()) ;;
// Check next byte in Magic Word
if(prefix[i] == Serial.read()) continue;
// otherwise, start over
i = 0;
goto waitLoop;
}
// Hi, Lo, Checksum
while (!Serial.available()) ;;
hi=Serial.read();
while (!Serial.available()) ;;
lo=Serial.read();
while (!Serial.available()) ;;
chk=Serial.read();
// If checksum does not match go back to wait
if (chk != (hi ^ lo ^ 0x55)) {
i=0;
goto waitLoop;
}
memset(leds, 0, NUM_LEDS * sizeof(struct CRGB));
// Read the transmission data and set LED values
for (uint8_t i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) {
byte r, g, b;
while(!Serial.available());
r = Serial.read();
while(!Serial.available());
g = Serial.read();
while(!Serial.available());
b = Serial.read();
leds[i].r = r;
leds[i].g = g;
leds[i].b = b;
}
// Shows new values
FastLED.show();
}
