Uncontrolled LED flickering - tried almost everything

1st Official Post

    Hello Hyperion Project forum

    First of all, thanks for this great project. When I saw this the first time, I knew it's gonna be on the back of my next TV.

    A week ago, it was time. I bought a new Sony 75" and all the stuff I needed for my hyperion setup:

    Raspberry Pi 3B
    10 Meters of SK9822 (similar to APA102) LED stripe
    15A power supply
    and a lot of cables, connectors and everything else I needed.

    My plan was to use Hyperion Android Grabber because my main source is DRM free IPTV.

    Everything was set up, and it worked like a charm. I was waiting for my new soundbar to arrive, and two days later the TV was mounted to the wall. That where the problems began.

    - I can turn hyperion server on, I see the hyperion colors but the flickering is overlapping
    - The LEDs are flickering uncontrolled in all different colors
    - The LEDs are not flickering when Data and Clock are not connected to the Raspi
    - The LEDs are flickering when Data and Clock are connected to the Raspi, it doesn't matter if the Raspi is on or off
    - When I disconnect everything after the first segment, the first segment is still flickering

    I have:
    - Tried 3 different Raspis (all model 3 B)
    - Reinstalled Raspian and Hyperion in total 4 times
    - Checked all the cable and corner connections at least 15 times
    - Replaced the first segment

    I'm going nuts about this. I don't have enough stripes to change every single segment

    What is making the LEDs flicker? Do you have any idea where to look next? I want my Ambilight back :(

    Thanks in advance and best regards
    p

    Additional observation:
    - LEDs are flickering uncontrolled in different colors only when Data is connected to Raspi, even if the hyperion service is stopped

    Sorry, don't understand what you mean. The stripe has 2 + and 2 ground cables (beginning and middle). But there is no ground connection between the Pi and the stripe.

    I've found 2 potential issues:
    - Pi and Stripe have 2 separate power supplies
    - Data/Clock cable between Pi and Stripe is not shielded, but it's in a tight cable cover with 220v, 5v and ethernet.

    Is one of those the potential source for the flickering?

    Thanks a lot
    p

    • Official Post

    i am not an electrician, i can only try to explain a little bit:

    device 1 says: yep, here is my 5v signal (and he starts at 0v)
    device 2 says: no it is only 3v, you are measring it wrong... (but he starts counting at -2v)

    then you connect the ground fo those devices and say: ok look, you both start counting at 0v, so have a common ground/start point

    WARNING: THIS IS ONLY METAPHORICALLY SPOKEN JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE HINT. as i said, i am not an electrician

    Quote from TPmodding

    i am not an electrician, i can only try to explain a little bit:

    device 1 says: yep, here is my 5v signal (and he starts at 0v)
    device 2 says: no it is only 3v, you are measring it wrong... (but he starts counting at -2v)

    then you connect the ground fo those devices and say: ok look, you both start counting at 0v, so have a common ground/start point

    WARNING: THIS IS ONLY METAPHORICALLY SPOKEN JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE HINT. as i said, i am not an electrician

    Sounds like a valid enough answer and impressive that it got explained in simple terms in 2 lines :)

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