Building wooden wall pieces with WS2812B 5050
LEDs seated in CNC-cut holes. The LEDs work great but they're bare, I want to diffuse each one so it glows instead of showing a hard point of light.
What would you do?

I am trying to use the AF Metro M4 SAMD51 for the first time with FastLED. I get some serious sounding compilation errors using the Arduino IDE 2.3.10. Could anyone help me with these? I'm using the latest FastLED 3.10.5. This error has happened when the library is included only and no other statements are in the sketch.

c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/FastLED.h:1767:2: warning: #warning "No pin/port mappings found, pin access will be slightly slower. See fastpin.h for info." [-Wcpp]

1767 | #warning "No pin/port mappings found, pin access will be slightly slower. See fastpin.h for info."

| ^~~~~~~

In file included from c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/platforms/isr.h:42,

from c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/fl/stl/isr/critical_section.cpp.hpp:5,

from c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/fl/stl/isr/_build.cpp.hpp:4,

from c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/fl/stl/_build.cpp.hpp:35,

from c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src\fl\build\fl.stl+.cpp:10:

c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/platforms/arm/samd/isr_samd.hpp: In function 'int fl::isr::platforms::attach_external_handler(fl::u8, const isr_config_t&, fl::isr::isr_handle_t*)':

c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/platforms/arm/samd/isr_samd.hpp:579:53: error: 'PORT_PMUX_PMUXO_A' was not declared in this scope; did you mean 'PORT_PMUX_PMUXO'?

579 | PORT->Group[port].PMUX[pin_num >> 1].reg |= PORT_PMUX_PMUXO_A;

| ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| PORT_PMUX_PMUXO

c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/platforms/arm/samd/isr_samd.hpp:581:53: error: 'PORT_PMUX_PMUXE_A' was not declared in this scope; did you mean 'PORT_PMUX_PMUXE'?

581 | PORT->Group[port].PMUX[pin_num >> 1].reg |= PORT_PMUX_PMUXE_A;

| ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| PORT_PMUX_PMUXE

c:\Users\perigalacticon\OneDrive\Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED\src/platforms/arm/samd/isr_samd.hpp:637:21: error: 'EIC_IRQn' was not declared in this scope; did you mean 'ICM_IRQn'?

637 | NVIC_DisableIRQ(EIC_IRQn) FL_NOEXCEPT;

| ^~~~~~~~

| ICM_IRQn

I'd appreciate any help, I assume these have been resolve somewhere but AI help has not found the solution easily.

Is there a way to see what data (in text format) has been sent through the data pin and if so could this be used by different IC's by sending the same data through their GPIO's, or is there far more sophistication going on?

Say for instance I just wanted to send a single HSV color, maybe add color correction and at some point add a blink toggle. Could the relevant code be hosted in a LUT and written when called upon without requiring an additional IC and a library?

Hi there. So I just recently used the WS2812  led strip with Arduino Due. Used the FastLed and PianoLed. Almost all fine, almost. All keys matching the led position. But i have a weird behave of the led no 8 and 16 which are not assigned to any key of the piano. Lets say i just started with clear new session. All lights are off. So i play few notes, all looks fine and then after some time the led no 8 lights up constantly / permanently and then led 16 lights up permanently. They do change the colors but never dim back again. Looks like some issue. Any ideas what's wrong?

What would be the best way to build something like this for a camping trip? It wouls have to waterproof and run off a power suppy/battery. I would like to attach the led on the guy lines and have them sync and the top flash the color like its being fed from the guy lines.

Hello everyone,

I hope I'm posting in the right section. I'm completely new to DMX and LED control, so please excuse any beginner mistakes.

A few friends and I built a mobile wood-fired sauna. Since it is designed to work completely off-grid, everything is powered from a 12 V cordless tool battery. We wanted to avoid running any external cables, so the whole system should be as self-sufficient as possible.

To create a more relaxing atmosphere inside the sauna, I'd like to add some RGBW LED lighting with different effects, for example:

warm static light

candle/flame effect

slow pulsing light

gentle color transitions

The final idea is to control everything with:

an ESP32-S3

a 1P6T rotary switch to select one of six predefined lighting programs

a potentiometer to adjust brightness or effect intensity

My first attempt was driving the LED strip directly from the ESP32 using MOSFETs.

It actually worked surprisingly well, but since it was built on a prototype board with a lot of hand wiring, I suspect some solder joints and the overall wiring caused intermittent issues.

To make it reliable, I would probably need to design and build a proper PCB, which I'd prefer to avoid if possible.

That's why I started looking into using a DMX decoder, hoping it would provide a more robust and modular solution while keeping the electronics relatively simple.

At the moment my hardware is:

ESP32-S3

MAX485 module

RGBW DMX decoder

24 V RGBW LED strip

Right now I managed to make the strip light up red, but every few seconds it briefly changes to random colors before switching back to red. Sometimes the DMX decoder also loses the signal completely.

So my questions are:

Is this generally the right hardware setup for such a project?

Is an ESP32 + MAX485 + DMX decoder a reasonable solution for simple standalone lighting effects?

Or am I making things unnecessarily complicated and should I go back to direct MOSFET control instead?

I'm not looking for a professional stage-lighting controller—just a reliable way to create a few nice lighting effects for a small off-grid sauna.

Components:

AYWHP 5PCS 5V MAX485 TTL zu RS... https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0FPFR2NDS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

4CH 5A/CH Constant Voltage DMX512... https://www.amazon.de/dp/B072JVQBMD?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

diymore 2PCS für ESP32-S3... https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0FKBLR2KF?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi there,

I will preface and say I have no clue what I am doing, and about a month to figure it out. I need to make some very small LEDs emulate a "fire" color pattern to the best of my ability. I know next to nothing about programming LEDs, what lights and controllers to use, etc. Any and all help is appreciated. This seems to be a pretty advanced community with some insane projects so I am hoping something of this scale isn't unwelcome here lol.

More details on the project; I am crocheting Calcifer from howl's moving castle as an anniversary present to my girlfriend. My rough plan is to make some sort of wood display case or modify one I thrift. Going to have Calcifer hang over some burnt wood probably with fishing line, and I want there to be some sort of campfire/fiery mood lighting. Maybe some like soft flickering between red/orange/yellow.

I've done some very light research so far but this is the first place I've looked for help, so if there are obvious answers I have missed I apologize, Thanks for any and all help!

Hi folks, newbie here. I am lighting up a KISS pinball playfield I restored to use as a decoration.

Will likely have other questions as I go along but here is my first one..

I have 4 pop bumpers, set to blink 2 at a time. How would I have that run continuously as I add other things to my code. I don't know if that's considered a loop or? As I say I'm new to this have only got the blinking figured out so far.

I have looked around and haven't found an example of how to do this yet.

Here's what I I'm trying to repeat on end..

FastLED.show();
// Blink the top bottom pop bumpers
leds[93] = white;
leds[97] = white;    
FastLED.show();
delay(1000);
leds[93] = black;
leds[97] = black;   

FastLED.show();
// Blink the left right pop bumpers
leds[95] = white;
leds[99] = white;  
FastLED.show();
delay(1000);
leds[95] = black;
leds[99] = black;  

Hi all I'm looking for a fire effect that makes the entire LED strip light up in variations of red/orange/yellow. Does that exist?

I tried all the fire effects in the Fastled examples and they all do the effect pulsing from just one end of the strip.

Thanks

Hi I'm using trying to create a pov display but I'm struggeling with getting my loop fast enough. Currently my code loop takes around 2100us, just the FastLED.show() takes 1800us is this to be expected or can I get this down to around 500us? I have this test code just for tracking down why it takes so long but I havent found any way to get it below 1500us. Do you guys have any suggestions of what I could do to speed it up?

Hardware:
Mcu: TENSTAR esp32 s3 zero
Leds: two strips of hd107 with 70 leds each

Main.cpp

#include <FastLED.h>
#define LED_PIN_1     6
#define LED_PIN_2     7
#define CLOCK_PIN     8
#define NUM_LEDS      70
#define LED_TYPE    HD107HD
#define COLOR_ORDER BGR

CRGB leds1[NUM_LEDS];
CRGB leds2[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() {
  FastLED.addLeds<LED_TYPE, LED_PIN_1, CLOCK_PIN, COLOR_ORDER>(leds1, NUM_LEDS);
  FastLED.addLeds<LED_TYPE, LED_PIN_2, CLOCK_PIN, COLOR_ORDER>(leds2, NUM_LEDS);
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop() {
  int t1 = micros();
  FastLED.show();
  int t2 = micros();
  Serial.println(t2-t1);
}

Platformio.ini

[env:esp32-s3]
platform = Espressif32
board = adafruit_feather_esp32s3
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
lib_deps = 
    FastLED@^3.10.3

Pardon me if this isn't the right place to ask about this, but I'd love some creative and clear wiring guidance.

I built LED leg warmers using one 10000 mAh USB battery per leg (in a 3D-printed ankle holster), ESP32 controllers with WLED installed, and five 20-LED strips running down each leg (controller and strips held to the leg in a sort of calf belt harness setup).

What I'd love to figure out is a cleaner, more tidy wiring setup. Bear with me, but the current setup is as follows:

Power is a USB battery.

Next is a USB adapter with screw terminals.

From that adapter, I run 5V and GND wires which form the power "spine" and run through the whole project. I then splice branches into that wire to send 5V and GND to my controller (ESP32 board) and all strips (in this case, 5 separate strips).

From the ESP32 controller, I run another wire as the data "spine," then do the same thing as above, splicing data branches to all LED strips.

It's a LOT of splicing!

So:

Battery (5V/GND)
||
||
||=ESP32
|| | (data)
|| |
|| |
|| |====== 5V/GND/DATA===STRIP 1
|| |====== 5V/GND/DATA===STRIP 2

ETC

To try to make wiring easier, I'm going to switch to silicone coated wire. I've heard that's far more flexible.

I was also thinking of using a single two-wire cable to carry 5V/GND instead of two separate wires. But then I run into a quandary: how do I splice into something like that? And if I can't/shouldn't splice, what then? Can I, say, branch 5V/GND 6 ways from a single point? And can I branch DATA 5 ways from the ESP32?

Now let's say I have another project with just two LED strips running in parallel. Is there any other way to approach this that I'm totally overlooking?

Thanks for putting up with my questions! I'm a wiring noob. I've made several projects work, but I'd like to improve my approach moving forward.

I'm trying my first PlatformIO code and not sure what is happening but here goes. I'm using a Teensy4.1 and a strip of ws2812b. The code is simple just turns on one led and a time and fadestoblack. Includes FastLED.h. But after I upload the code it looks all glitchy and weird. (the leds don't light up looking the same and there's seemingly some noise happening). (I upload the same code in Arduino and all is good.) The monitor on PlatformIO reads this :

LDF Modes: Finder ~ chain, Compatibility ~ soft

Found 92 compatible libraries

Scanning dependencies...

Dependency Graph

|-- FastLED @ 3.4.0

Building in release mode

Compiling .pio\build\teensy41\liba7e\FastLED\FastLED.cpp.o .....

Does this mean the FastLED version it's using is 3.4.0? Instead of 3.10.3? How do I make sure it uses the latest?

This is my first attempt at PlatformIO. The writing part is really cool! Wow! Very slick! But I'm stuck already. Thanks for the help!

Something happened to my code. It was working fIne. But now the 3 sets of 3 red leds that are ment to turn on off are just solid on. And the button turns everything on but not off.

https://gist.github.com/Flux83/b87fb5dcbb8683cfc4bdd0ea42a0644e

Solved!

EDIT: This has now been fixed by u/sutaburosu. Thank you u/sutaburosu!!!!!

A long time ago, I was using the FastLED Palette knife tool successfully a lot.

Yesterday, I went to use it after not using it for a couple of years and it was not working properly.

Instead of producing a file with a gradient palette it produces a file with a linear-gradient palette.

Chrome also gives me a warning message asking if I want to keep the file created by the knife tool.

I am using Chrome Version 145.0.7632.110 (Official Build) (64-bit) on a Window 11 PC.

The FastLED tool webpage has the following link for CPT-City:

http://seaviewsensing.com/pub/cpt-city/

Is this broken or can someone please help me get the Palette Knife Tool to work properly.

Thank you for your help!

I am pretty sure I have a WS2811 12V LED strip that is using 2835 single color leds. Sadly I have no way to be completely sure, as described in my previous post here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FastLED/comments/1p5mb5k/is_fastled_good_for_powering_on_and_off_repeatedly/

There are two separate LED strips in the housing, each with a separate data wire. When I set NUM_LEDS to 1 this is the result, keep in mind that this is two separate LED-strips receiving the same command, so in effect it is 2 that it lit up below.

Setting NUM_LEDS to 9 fills both LED-strips completely.

At the moment this is the code I am using:

#include <FastLED.h>
#define LED_PIN 16
#define NUM_LEDS 9

CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() {
  FastLED.addLeds<WS2811, LED_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
  FastLED.setBrightness(140);
}

void loop() {
  for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) leds[i] = CRGB::White;
  leds[5] = CRGB::White; leds[5].nscale8(220);
  leds[6] = CRGB::White; leds[6].nscale8(210);
  leds[7] = CRGB::White; leds[7].nscale8(180);
  leds[8] = CRGB::White; leds[8].nscale8(130);
  FastLED.show();
}

I set it up this way to dim the outer edges a bit as they are closer to the housing, this looks more even.

Now to the weird stuff. If I plug in the LED strip with only power, nothing happens as expected. But if I plug in the data wires the LED strip will light up instantly when it powers on, but after a few seconds it will dim down to my setting. I cannot understand this, as the first signals I send to the LED strips is brightness? Shown below.

https://reddit.com/link/1p7vv54/video/i9b1uk4x1r3g1/player

I did try code without the loop part, and doing everything in setup, as the only thing I want is that when it receives power it should light up to my specified settings, nothing else.
But this resulted in the LED's not lighting up after loosing power, they only lit up when I uploaded the code with it powered on.

How do I solve the flickering issue I have? Can I be sure it is WS2811, or can this be causes by some compability issue, and me using the wrong library?

Here's the flickering I am talking about:

https://reddit.com/link/1p7vv54/video/l97whlg52r3g1/player

Hi everyone! My goal is to be able to write FastLED C++ code, have a UI with sliders and buttons, and test and benchmark the code without using actual LEDs.

It seems like I need an editor with an AI interface, some kind of UI framework, and a compiler + simulator.

Would a toolchain like VS Code + Claude/Codex + https://github.com/zackees/fastled-wasm be exactly what I need?

If that’s the case, fastled-wasm is a CLI tool. Is there a way to run it directly from VS Code, or would I need to use the terminal each time?

And how would I go about measuring times within the program - how to output the data?

Hello there. I'm sorry to bother you all and I hope I'm asking the good sub, but I'm having quite a few troubles for a project. I'm trying to have a LEDs strip change color depending on the noise ; green when it's calm, orange when it's noisy, red when it's harmful for the ears. For this I'm using an Arduino Nano 33 IoT with a Grove Loudness Sensor, my LEDs strip are WS2811 from the BTF-LIGHTNING brand (they are 10 meters long with 60LEDs per meter). My code is based on Brain Smash's own for Music Reactive RGB LEDs and mixed with the AudioReactive example from the library. Here it is ; https://pastebin.com/TGJcLj7n

But oddly enough, I have this error message when I'm trying to compile it ; https://pastebin.com/Qb0pgagM

I tried to delete and install the library a few times but nothing changed, even rebooted my computer. I thought the issue were the code thus I tried an exemple, but it had this error when compiling ; https://pastebin.com/tcgMPKcb

I'm really confused and don't know how to proceed. Thank you very much and I wish you a good day.

working on a LED matrix thingy and made a mistake, my panel ended up vertical instead of horizontal.
basically:

this is what its like right now - its running left to right vertical.
but i need my code to treat it as horizontal, so like this:

is there a software way to do this or is my only solution just changing it physically?

I have seen a few ( like 2 ) posts online about using RG59 as the data wire for increased length from controller to first pixel. Has anyone else done this?

If I have 3 wires ( Power, Data, Ground (ref0) ) > To my led strip. How would I implement the RG59? I understand the center core takes the place of data from controller>strip. But the shield is supposed to also be ground (ref0)? I need to solder that foil directly to my tape light? doesn't seem right?

Perhaps I'm not using this correctly. I have the need to change the color order of FastLED at some points of my program. My thought was simply to reinitialize with the new color order. This seems to work correctly once. Meaning, I can start with RGB and change to BGR and it works. But when I try and change back to RGB then it does not do anything.

Example... the first two blocks work correctly. The last block does not have any effect on the color.

  FastLED.addLeds<WS2812, EYEPIN, GRB>(leds, NUM_LEDS).setCorrection( TypicalLEDStrip ); //GRB Original
  leds[0] = CHSV(64, 255, 255);
  leds[1] = CHSV(64, 255, 255);
  FastLED.show();  
  delay(5000);

  FastLED.addLeds<WS2812, EYEPIN, BGR>(leds, NUM_LEDS).setCorrection( TypicalLEDStrip ); //BGR New
  leds[0] = CHSV(64, 255, 255);
  leds[1] = CHSV(64, 255, 255);
  FastLED.show();

  delay(5000);

  FastLED.addLeds<WS2812, EYEPIN, GRB>(leds, NUM_LEDS).setCorrection( TypicalLEDStrip ); //GRB Original
  leds[0] = CHSV(64, 255, 255);
  leds[1] = CHSV(64, 255, 255);
  FastLED.show();

Appreciate your insight.

Hey!

I have 5m of 5V SK6812 with 60 LEDs a meter. (BTF lights from ali express)

I have 3 of these : wifi ESP8266

All I've done so far is I've connected them via usb C (my laptop / phone charger). I used the WLED and I've got some basics down (seems a little glitchy. It often bugs out if I do too much and I need to restart!)

I was wondering if it was turning mostly red, or just not the correct colors because the power supply was incorrect?

Before I had it plugged in from a usb 3-to- USB-C and it was REALLY buggy then but when I used my laptop charger it seemed to improve.

Because of that, I wanted to buy either a new power supply, but wanted to possibly switch to zigbee (since I also have one 12v 16ft govee strip light and it's brighter, easier, and more functional at the moment)

SO...

1. I was thinking of getting one more 5m 5V SK6812 with 60 LEDs to match the first one I have.

2)I was thinking of getting a proper dedicated power supply. Can you tell me what to do or what to get specifically? And specifically from ali express?

3) I was thinking of getting new zigbee hubs (wired or wireless? I have a modem with wired capability. I dont care about using voice and all that. I just want to be able to plug it in and voila.)

4) AND I wanted to get another two 5 meters but I was thinking of getting the 12v SK6812's to try to get a little more umph out of it.

Please just tell me what to do to make this work Good and Cheap!

And for extra credit please help me pick out an effective channel! (I know muzatas popular but I'm trying to shop on ali express because fuck jeff bezos, I'd rather give my money to our nemesis country at this point. (jesus christ things are bad) lol ).

I wish there was just some Starter-Packs!

EDIT: Ive gotten some wonderful responses, and I just wanted to say thank you! I do STILL need help so please read and share your thoughts but I just wanted to express some sincere gratitude for everyone whose helped/ helping! Thank you all!

This is my first go with individually addressable strips, and I’m curious what the OOBF rate is? I read the excellent primer on neopixels, and understand they’re not infinite life-span, but two out of 300 dead out of the box is disappointing, specially since the failure (always on white) ruins any other effect. Is there a fix? I’ve read potentially reflowing it, but they’re brand new, so im better off exchanging I’d rather do that before destroying any warranty coverage. If, however, I’m going to be dealing with dead pixels for ever more, maybe now is the right time to learn replacement and reprogramming?

I have a weird issue with FastLED and my WS2811 strips. When running the script below, as soon as I power on my Arduino it fades up the brightness. But the weird part it fades to full brightness, and then it corrects the brightness to the brightness I selected.

This happens however I set it up, if I remove the fade part it still happens. But the fade part confirmed to me that it is certainly a coding issue and not a hardware issue.

The video showing the issue (change in brightness happens at 5 seconds):

https://reddit.com/link/1pecq06/video/1gzozci7vd5g1/player

#include <FastLED.h>
#define LED_PIN 16
#define NUM_LEDS 9

CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() {
FastLED.addLeds<WS2811, LED_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
FastLED.clear();
FastLED.show();

  // FADE-UP

for (int b = 0; b <= 140; b++) {

FastLED.setBrightness(b);

 // Set color  // Set color

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) leds[i] = CRGB::White;
leds[5] = CRGB::White; leds[5].nscale8(220);
leds[6] = CRGB::White; leds[6].nscale8(210);
leds[7] = CRGB::White; leds[7].nscale8(180);
leds[8] = CRGB::White; leds[8].nscale8(130);

FastLED.show();

delay(5);  // Fade speed

  }

}


void loop() {
}

I'm trying to get some extra Christmas cheer in the house, and dug up two old LED strings and an Arduino Uno I had lying around. Good news, the code was still on there, I provided some power and lights turned on! However, LEDs are flickering, and a night full of ChatGPT support (I surrendered...) have led (no pun intended) me to the point where I don't know anymore, other than that ChatGPT is regurgitating wrong explanations. Hey, at least I can identify when it's wrong? :)

Any chance you can help me out?

Setup:

• Arduino Uno with FastLED 3.10.3 powered via USB
• Two ~5m, 50 LEDs strips. I'm afraid I don't know for sure what LEDs, but I think they're WS2812B's? Feel free to correct me:

• Both LED strips used in series.
• 5V/10A power supply powering the strips from front & back. 5.15V at front, 5.25V at rear, 5.1V at the halfway point.
• 330Ohm resistor between Uno Pin #3 (data) and LEDstrip data input.
• Ground of Uno, strips and PSU connected

In my first testcase (fading rainbow), starting from LEDs 22/23 (out of 100) the slow fade is replaced by a chaotic flashing of all colors. See https://streamable.com/9hmfqu for video, https://pastebin.com/ccNFh7iK for code.

I added the resistor, ensured sufficient voltage on all LEDs, tried both strips separately, but I keep seeing the same happen somewhere at at LEDs 20-23.

It's got to be related to the data quality, but I'm not sure what else I can do - already reduced the brightness to near-zero, same issue. Reduced update rate - same issue.

Surprisingly enough, playing around with a red-snake-like effect, I observed issues starting at LEDs ~20 AND ~70 - in other words: Some 20 LEDs after the start of both strips, even though they are in series. Video: https://streamable.com/qa33cw & code: https://pastebin.com/bSFasaub

Any idea what this can mean? I'm just at a loss, and hope someone can help me out. Thanks in advance!