5 meter vs 1 meter Digital Addressable RGB LED

[jonwa]

I have two of the led light belt kits and one five meter length of the same led strip.
http://adafruit.com/products/332
http://adafruit.com/products/306

I've taken the strip from the belt kit and wired it to an arduino uno, using:
int dataPin = 2;
int clockPin = 3;
const int numPixels = 32;

I have one of your 5 volt, 10a power supplies, which ought be enough to power a 5 meter led strip.

ground of strip to ground of arduino to ground of power supply
data pin 2 to strip, clock pin 3 to strip
power of power supply to +5 in on strip.

Works fine for the 1 meter, 32 led strip, but if I swap in the 5 meter strip I only see the first two led lights light up white. This is with updating the code to read:
const int numPixels = 160;

Is my five meter strip bad? I don't want to cut off the ends or anything, they are so nicely sealed and watertight.
The end I'm using is the end that was on the outside of the role, male pins, connects to the side of the leds where the connectors are labeled DI and CI.

Oh, the code I'm working with is the advanced led belt script.

[pburgess]

The 'advanced' sketch is too memory-intensive to handle 160 LEDs on the Uno. You'd need to either use a simpler sketch (like the normal belt code), cut back on the number of LEDs, or use a board with more RAM (e.g. Arduino Mega).

[jonwa]

I've got a mega, just swapped that for the uno, didn't help.

[jonwa]

Switched to the simple led belt code, that didn't work either.

[jonwa]

I'm back to believing that my 5 meter length of leds is defective. The only thing I could do that I can think of is to cut the end off and try soldering a new connector. I have held off on that thus far. The strip is still in original condition.

[jonwa]

If I coded for less than 160 lights, yet still had the full strip connected, ought the code run, use less memory, and just not address the lights beyond the set value?
If that is the case, then I ought be able to run the code set for 32 lights, and just swap the 32 light strip for the 160 light strip, and see only the first 32 lights function.

I still get just the first couple of lights lit and no animation.

Now I've been assuming that the flat ribbon cable that is attached to my five meter led strip is soldered to the strip without any twists.
Lay the cable leds up, stretching away from me, so that the connector is towards me, with the locking clip on top.
The four wire cable is clear, thus the wire on the left shows through as copper, while the other wires are clear.
Copper is ground, far right would be +5, and that means the two on the middle are data and clock (my arduino 2 & 3)
Just like the end of the strip
from left to right: GND, DI, CI, +5V

I have the same four pin connector I soldered myself to my 1 meter length of lights.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Just like the end of the strip
from left to right: GND, DI, CI, +5V

Sounds like you have good connections on GND & +5v. Check that the ribbon cable connections to DI and SI are good too.

[jonwa]

I'll have to cut open the water tight rubber cap over the connector ends in order to do so, and I really didn't want to have to do so. The five meter section came that way.

[jonwa]

Should I be able to use a meter from one end of the 5 meter cable to the other for all four pins?
I can see that gnd and +5 go all the way through the cable, but my meter doesn't show a connection from one end to the other for DI and CI.
I'm guessing that in order to test I'll have to cut open the cable, but considering it came that way, it feels like voiding the warranty, and I really want it to remain sealed.

[jonwa]

ok, fine, I cut the nice water proof cover off the end of the five meter led strip, plugged it into my circuit and compared it to the one meter cable, and all four connections are valid and none are shorted to any other.
The wiring is all sound.

Still doesn't work though. I'm convinced that I have a bad led strip. Unless you have any other suggestions.

[jonwa]

I know its node the arduino mega or the program code. If I leave it set for 160 lights, and plug in my 32 light segment, I get what I would expect, one fifth of the expected light show, scrolling rather oddly across 32 lights.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Alright then. Contact support@adafruit.com with a link to this thread and ask for a replacement.

[jonwa]

I got the replacement strip today, works perfectly.
Thanks!

[seanr]

I have the same problem listed here. The first two lights stay lit, while the rest light randomly. I have tried with three different microprocessors and I've tested the inputs and outputs. The strip belongs to the university so I can not cut it to perform the last verification, but I've also posted in this thread here with no response: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33530

[adafruit_support_bill]

@seanr:

I have tried with three different microprocessors

What processors and code have you tried? We have an Arduino library and examples for the Raspberry Pi and the Netduino.