Controlling Addressable LED's

• Connecting to the wrong data/clock pin.
• Incorrect LEDS.addLeds definition (i.e. using APA102 strip with WS2812 definition).
• Incorrect pin definitions.
• Flaky wiring/breadboard.
• The wrong version of the library being used (wasn't up to date).
• Old version of the Arduino IDE.
• Incorrectly named library.
• Using the wrong/old version of the library.
• Duplicate library.
• Didn't rename the library from FastLED-master to FastLED.
• Library placed in wrong location.
• Not enough power/current available.
• Too high of a voltage being used (and you might have blown up the 1st LED). Try connecting clock/data to the 2nd LED.
• Noisy power supplies.
• Bad solder joints.
• Trying to power too many LED's from the Arduino 5V line.
• Connecting to Dout instead of Din.
• Grounds not tied together (lots of people have this issue).
• Blown LED's (see voltage above).
• Memory leakage, i.e. referring to leds[NUM_LEDS] as opposed to leds[NUM_LEDS-1].
• Wrong colours (as in Neopixels).
• Make sure you're not using a 12V led strip.
• Getting errors when using BLEND. Replace BLEND with LINEARBLEND instead.
• Your board may not yet be supported.
• Your code just does NOT work (yet). Have you tried known working code?
• Trying to support too many LED's. There's 3 bytes per LED and only 2K of RAM on an UNO. Try a Teensy instead.
• Infra Red libraries don't work with WS2812's. Try APA102's or WS2801's.
• Swap out your USB cord. . Again if necessary.
• Try a different Arduino.

Q. I've tried the above and it still doesn't work. Help!!!

A. There could be loads of reasons, so let's gather information. Please provide details:

• What kind of LED's you're using.
• What microcontroller board you're using.
• How it's all powered up.
• What version of the FastLED library you're using.
• What version of Arduino IDE you're using.
• What OS you're building from.
• A circuit diagram/layout (try using Fritzing to show it).
• A copy of your .ino file (copy it to www.pastebin.com or gist.github.com).
• Essentially, give us EVERYTHING in excruciating detail.
• Provide specifics on how/where it's all being powered up.
• That would be pins, voltages, power supply used. . . everything.
• Try and remove all the superfluous code and minimize the amount of code that exhibits the issue.

A. Oh, and triple check EVERYTHING. Again!

If you ask a question online and later get it resolved, please have the courtesy and post what the solution was.

Q. My FastLED .ino file gives me a (long assed) compile error.

• Make sure you are using (the most recent version of) FastLED.
• Some routines may require the LATEST development version (currently 3.1). Get it.
• Make sure you've renamed the library to just FastLED.
• Re-install the library just to be sure.
• Check your code to make sure it's correct.
• Try an example that's included with the FastLED library.
• Post a copy of your (simplified) code that exhibits the problem onto pastebin.com or gist.github.com and ask for some assistance with it.

Q. I want to use a LOT of LED's. What do I need to do?

• Remember that at full brightness, each LED can take up to 60mA of current.
• If you need to limit the current, consider using the power management capabilities of FastLED.
• Depending on the brightness, if you're running more than about 30 LED's, you should be using a dedicated power source for them.
• You shouldn't be powering an Arduino UNO with 5V through the barrel connector. It should be 7-12V.
• Just make sure that all of the grounds are tied together. Robustly.
• You could put a 1000uf capacitor between Vcc and Gnd near the strip.
• You could add a 330 ohm resistor between the data lines and the strip.
• You could add a 10K ohm resistor between the data lines and Gnd.
• Make sure that the wiring distance between the Arduino and the strip is <1M.
• Use one Arduino data/clock pin per strip. It gets risky when driving 2 strips from one pin.
• Consider using a Teensy 3.X with an OctoWS2811 adaptor.
• Test the whole thing about on a small scale first, so you can isolate power/size issues from basic functionality.
• Here's an interesting article:

http://ledwallproject.blogspot.ca/2014/05/making-5v-signals-for-ws2812-with-logic.html?m=1

Q. My Arduino is not recognized? What do I do?

• Try a different Arduino.
• Try a different cable.
• Try a short cable.
• Try a different computer.
• Remove the LED strip and everything else connected to the Arduino.
• Are you using an Arduino clone? With a clone FTDI chip? If so, please Google search for 'FTDI fix'.
• Some Arduino's require you to manually install the drivers.

Q. I need help coding my sequence of awesomeness?

• It is VERY difficult conveying to others what your sequence should do, so please put considerable effort into doing so. . clearly and concisely.
• Please use gist.github.com or www.pastebin.com to exchange code.