Where did my red go?

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Where did my red go?

I previously had a 144 led 12x12 serpentine grid going and ran code on it no problem. I’ve since put together a 6x12 grid with the same leds, but the red is now orange and sometimes green.

WS2812B led strips. Arduino 1.6.5 FastLED 3.0.3 Mega 2560.

When I run RGB calibrate, I get one orange led, two green, and three blue.

When I run the sketch below, I get all green instead of all red.

I can’t figure out why it worked perfectly before, and not now.

#include “FastLED.h”
#define NUM_LEDS 72
#define DATA_PIN 6
#define CLOCK_PIN 13
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() {
FastLED.addLeds<WS2812B, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
}

void loop() {
fill_solid(leds, NUM_LEDS, CRGB::Red);
FastLED.show();
}

Thanks to anyone who can offer any help.

(this is the first working panel for my wearable leds and I’ll be posting pics soon)

2

Switch to the FastLED3.1 branch for arduino 1.6.5

3

Randomly - re-pull the 3.1 branch if you grabbed it before this comment, there was a bug in there that I need to fix that I just put in now.

4

I assume you got new LED strips. They come in different color orders. Try GBR and other variations.

5

+1 for GBR in stead of RGB!

6

Thanks everyone. I’ll give the above a try later today and post the results. I had tried GRB but not GBR. If that doesn’t work I’ll get FastLED 3.1 (or maybe I’ll get it regardless).

Thanks again!

7

Folks, the reason why he was getting orange instead of red is because green was always on - the reason for that is because of some issues with the 1.6.5 compiler which are fixed in 3.1 and have nothing to do with rgb ordering.

8

Just tried all of the above with no success. Tried the RGB order first since it was quick. With the same parameters as above… RGB gave me green, RBG gave me green, BGR gave blue, BRG gave orange, GRB gave orange, GBR gave blue.

I redownloaded FastLED 3.1, deleted the original files, copied the new ones over, and it didn’t change the results at all. Unless I get any other suggestions, I’ll uninstall Arduino and delete all FastLED files, and redownload and reinstall everything (when I get time).

Thanks for all the help so far! I’ll post results as soon as I try again.

(fyi, when I powered up the panel, a few leds lit up because the arduino wasn’t powered up yet – some of the leds randomly lit up red – so I know it’s possible)

9

What are you powering the setup with?

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I’m powering the LEDs with a wall wart… 5.25 volts, 1.5 amps, with a 2200uf capacitor. The arduino is just running off the usb, but I have a shared ground for the LEDs and arduino.

11

I just uninstalled arduino and reinstalled with a fresh download of FastLED, no improvement. AAAaaaaarrrrrgggggh!!! :slight_smile:

12

Have you tried switching data pins?

Mega is documented as fixed for various pin outputs, but give it a shot with a known supported pin.

13

Didn’t think of trying a different data pin. Currently on pin 6, but will try something different as soon as I can.

Also, I tried uncommenting the neopixel info instead of the WS2812B. That gave me all orange instead of green. Not sure if that gives anybody any ideas or not.

While I’m at it, should also say that although I’m running the latest Arduino and FastLED, I’m doing it on an old laptop that’s still running Windows XP (just because it can sit on my project table full time). I can’t see that causing any problems, but might as well mention it.

14

Are you sure you are using FastLED3.1? You should see a message while compiling:

“warning: FastLED version 3001000 (Not really a warning, just telling you here.)"

15

I don’t recall seeing a warning – I’ll look for it specifically. I’ve been clicking the “Download ZIP” on this page

16

That’s the master branch - to get the FastLED3.1 branch you need to do it from here - https://github.com/FastLED/FastLED/tree/FastLED3.1

17

Aah! I bet we just discovered the solution to my problem. (and I emphasize the “my” since I caused it).

I’ll try and test it tonight – tomorrow night at the latest.

Thanks everybody! I’ll post the results just to let you know it worked!

18

SUCCESS!

Using the CORRECT version of FastLED3.1 got my reds to red, instead of orange. I still had to switch the RGB order on the WS2812B code line to GRB. But everything is working the way it’s supposed to now.

THANKS to everyone who gave suggestions and advice.

19

Glad you got it fixed!

Now post some videos of it in action!

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Coming soon!