Flickering LEDS during colorswirl

[T3CHRAGE]

Hi, I am posting hoping I can get a bit of help with my adalight setup.

I am using an arduino uno powered over usb, hooked to some WS2801 LEDs. The computer I am running is running windows 8.1. I have ran through the tutorial to get the lights up and running, R/G/B test pattern works perfect. The problem is when I run the colorswirl program, all the leds strobe between colors quickly, almost looking white but flickering red and blue.. I did a google search and saw a change to make to the LEDstream sketch, but you guys had already changed it (SPI_CLOCK_DIV16). I know all the LEDs work properly because these were left over from a 5m strip I had bought and tested, and used the others on a ambilight TV build (with a raspberry pi). Also, just to see what kind of output I would get running the adalight sketch, and the same strobing issue happens with the lights.
Is this a sketch issue? Are there issues with this project and windows 8.1? Would appreciate any help I could get, would love to get this running correctly =)

thanks in advance!

[T3CHRAGE]

I also notice video chopping up when using the adalight project.

[pburgess]

I've not tested Adalight with Windows 8.1, can't say for certain if that's the problem.

Flickering usually indicates either a missing ground connection between the Arduino and LED strip, or a USB latency problem between the PC and Arduino. If the Arduino is connected to a USB hub, try connecting directly to a port on the computer. Conversely, if connected directly, try a hub (preferably USB 2.0 if you have one).

[T3CHRAGE]

Hm... I'll try a powered hub tomorrow, I know it's not a ground issue, my arduino is sharing a common ground with my power supply and lights

I'll report back, thanks for the reply :)