LED output not working rp3b+ and ws2812s

Hey guys i just installed a new install on a rpi 3 for a friend on a setup i finished for them a couple of years ago.
when i got the tv and everything, he said his son had ripped cables off the back of the tv so i reinstalled them and only had basic functions from the hyperion app. when i tried to login to the dashboard over wifi, only a blank kodi setup showed. messed with tryingto restart hyperions service but didnt have much luck, but the leds were working, so i know the hardware and pi are good.
i figured id start a new install, formatted the card and long story short, have capture card working and dashboard working but cant seem to get the LEDs to work anymore.
Log file says ws281x is enabled and i have double checked root privs are enabled.
gpio pin used is 18 and DMA pin is pin 10.
i have a working pi4 setup on my own tv and that isnt helping much either. Any help/direction would be appreciated.
Thank you

https://pastebin.com/vPEyGEhL
thanks for the help

nothing output wise works but i do have the output showing it works.
in other words i have the capture card working and i can see it working in live view.
it was working before how its wired now but maybe it was using a different gpio pin?
these leds have 4 pads on them. 5v, ground and two data lines.
i can find wiring for 3 pad strips but not 4.
is there another data line i can use besides 18 if its bad?
itd be silly of me to have wired it wrong but it would be a relatively easy fix haha.
ill start by replacing all the wires
UPDATE
i replaced all the wires with gpio set to 18. led strip goes full white but nothing else happens. replaced the power and ground wire and the single data wire to pin 12 (gpio18).
if i hold the data wire and secondary wire it seems like it flickers and changes color etc but not consistently at all. defintely going to look into finding a schematic so i know what to wire everything to.