Adalight problems

[sebeck1]

Hello,

I recently received my Adalight kit and I bought an Arduino UNO from radio shack. I have everything connected properly. I have tested voltage at both ends of the lights and have 5 volts. I have ohmed out the connections and all wiring is correct and solid. blue to ground, green to 13 and yellow to 11 on the board. I had to install the 32bit processing app because the 64bit version wouldn't work. I also had to do a driver workaround because I'm on Windows 8 and the Arduino drivers are not signed. I just had to disable driver signing.

Anyway...i have gotten it to flash RGB when i first started the project tonight. Somewhere along the line everything just went haywire. I can no longer get the RGB flash. I can't get processing to do colorswirl, i have replaced the files in the my documents folders with new fresh files. I had to change the line of code for colorswirl and Adalight to "1" to reflect com port 3. Still nothing. I can get both to run...just no lights. When I run Adalight and grab a window and drag it around on the screen i can see the preview of what lights are supposed to be coming on and everything. I just have no lights!! Help!?

[pburgess]

Strange that the flash is no longer happening. The most likely culprit in that case is the wiring coming loose. Look over all your connections, and if everything appears OK, then it might be helpful to run some tests on the Arduino and LEDs without involving Processing (one less "moving part" to break).

The 12mm LED Pixel tutorial includes some simple test code for Arduino. Try working with that, and the outcome will determine which step should be taken next...

[sebeck1]

Strange that the flash is no longer happening. The most likely culprit in that case is the wiring coming loose. Look over all your connections, and if everything appears OK, then it might be helpful to run some tests on the Arduino and LEDs without involving Processing (one less "moving part" to break).

The 12mm LED Pixel tutorial includes some simple test code for Arduino. Try working with that, and the outcome will determine which step should be taken next...

Thanks for the link to the strand test. I hadn't seen that yet. I just tried it and I still couldn't get a response from the LED strand. I also double checked my wiring and I swapped ends just in case the wrong connectors were on the input end. The only response I get from the LED's is when I first connect the power supply to them I get a very very faint blink in the pixels. But thats it. Nothing bright at all.

[pburgess]

If the Arduino is accepting code, I think the board's okay. Let's focus on the LEDs and the power supply...

If possible, a clear photo of the wiring (including the connections to Arduino, LEDs and power supply) would be helpful. Could you also examine the label on the power supply to confirm that it's a 5 Volt unit, and not 9V? (They look the same.)

Also, you did notice that the 12mm tutorial uses different pin numbers than Adalight, yes?

[sebeck1]

Yes I followed the other wiring diagram for the strand test. GND,3,2 I believe. I'm at work now. I will take photos tonight of my wiring and ill double check the power supply specs.

[sebeck1]

I made breadboard connections today and even matched up the correct wire colors. I crimped, soldered, shrink wrapped and continuity tested each one of them. I wired everything up and never got even the slightest light from any of the LED's. I have 5v on each end of the light strand. The Arduino seems to respond to everything I upload to it. The TX and RX lights blink etc. Just no lights on the strand. Here are some photos I took of my wiring etc.

http://imgur.com/a/RdZvI

[sebeck1]

Showing 5v on power supply. Barrel positive.
http://i.imgur.com/tHt49.jpg

5v after adapter going into lights
http://i.imgur.com/kcHlx.jpg

[tcyhety]

Hi,

My computer is Window 7,64bits,it can work?
We set up the software ,everything is ok,but no R-G-B flash .We can't control the lighting change.Only LX with yellow color is flash on board.
Any special requirement for Lighting's IC?

[Garyedwards]

I made breadboard connections today and even matched up the correct wire colors. I crimped, soldered, shrink wrapped and continuity tested each one of them. I wired everything up and never got even the slightest light from any of the peimar led lights. I have 5v on each end of the light strand. The Arduino seems to respond to everything I upload to it. The TX and RX lights blink etc. Just no lights on the strand. Here are some photos I took of my wiring etc.

Very difficult to detect the problem. I will consult my expert friend he might have some solution

[pburgess]

Hi sebeck1,

Nobel Prize for clarity! Thanks for going the extra mile on all the troubleshooting.

With all other avenues explored, I think it's reasonable to say that something's gone kaput with the LED strand (or at least the first pixel). Please email support@adafruit.com and include a link to this post, and we'll arrange for a replacement.

[sebeck1]

Ha! Thanks alot! I wanted to be sure that I was doing everything exactly as I was supposed to. Adafruit support responded very quickly and a new strand is on the way. Thanks alot for the help.

[sebeck1]

Just making a follow up post to let you know that you were right, something must have happened to the first pixel and it prevented the rest of them from working. While I was waiting for the new strand I cut the first one off and 24 of the lights worked. Since then my new strand has arrived and it's working flawlessly. I just wish it worked with Battlefield 3 in real full screen mode. That would be awesome! Do you know if anyone is working on that?

[pburgess]

Glad to hear it's working! No idea about Battlefield 3 though, maybe inquire with the developer.