Docs USB LEDs

USB controllers

The two USB-to-serial chipsets LumaSync recognises out of the box, how to identify what you have, and what kits ship with them.

LumaSync’s USB LED path drives a WS2812B strip through a USB-to-serial controller, streaming frames at 115200 baud using the LumaSync v1 serial frame format — not Adalight. An opt-in Adalight profile is on the v1.4 roadmap.

Two chipsets are supported out of the box:

ChipUSB VID:PIDWhere you’ll find it
CH3401A86:7523Most cheap Arduino-clone ambilight kits; “ambilight USB kit” on the usual marketplaces
FTDI FT2320403:6001Higher-end kits, DIY boards using genuine FTDI

LumaSync scans the OS’s serial port list and matches against these IDs. If your controller reports a different VID:PID, the Device panel flags it manual_required — you can still connect it by pointing at the port explicitly, but LumaSync won’t auto-detect.

How to check what you have

macOS

ioreg -p IOUSB -l -w 0 | grep -iE 'idVendor|idProduct|CH340|FT232'

Look for 0x1a86 (CH340) or 0x0403 (FTDI) in the vendor field.

Windows

Device Manager → Ports (COM & LPT) — the device name usually spells out the chipset:

  • “USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM3)” → CH340
  • “USB Serial Port (COM4)” → FTDI, confirm by clicking Properties → Details → Hardware IDs, should show VID_0403&PID_6001.

Linux

lsusb | grep -iE '1a86|0403'

And the serial port is typically /dev/ttyUSB0 for both chipsets once the kernel driver loads (ch341 for CH340, ftdi_sio for FTDI).

Drivers

  • macOS 13+: both chipsets work with bundled drivers. No third-party install needed.
  • Windows 10/11: CH340 drivers sometimes need a manual install from WCH’s website (search “CH340 driver”). FTDI chips install automatically through Windows Update.
  • Linux: kernel ships both drivers since forever. If /dev/ttyUSB0 doesn’t appear, your user probably isn’t in the dialout group: sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER then log out and back in.

Firmware on the controller

The controller needs to run LumaSync v1 firmware at 115200 baud — see Serial protocol for the full wire spec.

  • A companion reference sketch will ship alongside the firmware companion repo; until then, the serial-protocol page has the byte-level format so you can port or write your own (~40 lines of Arduino code).
  • Most “ambilight USB kit” marketplace products ship pre-flashed with Adalight firmware. From v1.4, LumaSync includes an opt-in Adalight encoder profile — pick “Firmware profile: LumaSync v1 | Adalight” in Settings → Device, and LumaSync emits the legacy Adalight framing instead of its native v1 frame. Alternatively, reflash the controller with LumaSync v1 firmware.
  • Don’t change the baud rate from 115200. LumaSync hard-codes it for the handshake, and most firmware ships at 115200 by default.

”My controller isn’t on the list”

If your chip is neither CH340 nor FTDI but is a standard USB-to-serial bridge at 115200 baud (e.g. CP2102, WCH CH9102):

  1. Plug it in and note the device path (macOS: ls /dev/tty.usbserial*; Linux: ls /dev/ttyUSB*; Windows: Device Manager → Ports).
  2. Settings → Device → Enter port manually.
  3. Paste the path. LumaSync attempts the LumaSync v1 handshake and connects if the firmware responds. Nothing else changes.

Adding the chipset to the auto-detect list requires a code change in the shared contracts — please open an issue with the VID:PID if you’d like it bundled.

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