zram-swap-config VS rpi_ws281x

crontab, /etc/rc.local or create a simple systemctl service are all prob the easiest and most secure ways to allow on boot. /etc/rc.local I think happens after all services think `@reboot` with crontab is the same but you would have to google to be sure. or copy and hack the service from https://github.com/StuartIanNaylor/zram-swap-config as really they are also quite simple to create

I still have https://github.com/StuartIanNaylor/zram-swap-config but doesn't do much more than https://github.com/systemd/zram-generator#readme but I passed control of https://github.com/ecdye/zram-config as maintenance aint my strong point and it was just a protest of hey guys get this sorted.

I read in a few articles that the default sram-config package has some sizing/erro handling issues. Two configuration scripts seem to be recommended: this one and this other one.

zram can help as create a swap that the majority of time will be used also mounting a small zram zstd (great text compression) for var/log will practically bring writes to pretty much nothing. Armbian have a util that does that. You are using 62.2m 9very small) of 872m main memory Swap virtual memory you are using 40.8m of 100m because dphys-swap is set to only 100m by default but is just disk space. Its prob pushed 40.8m there because its idle so its pushed it out of main memory and will pull back if ever needed. I use my util https://github.com/StuartIanNaylor/zram-swap-config and another one I did is now maintained by openhab. Dunno if systemd/zram-generator is in raspberry might actually a great zram util.

zram when your confined with 512mb as sd card swap sucks. https://github.com/StuartIanNaylor/zram-swap-config zram isn't perfect as you will get apps that pass already compressed uncompressible data, but luckily is the exception not the rule and web based is usually highly compressable.

https://github.com/StuartIanNaylor/zram-swap-config just install and reboot

Remember to finish the installation and install zram-swap-config for global zram.

Connect the led strip data pin to an available Io pin on the pi, connect the strips and to pi gnd pin and to a 5V power supply gnd pin, and connect the strips + to the 5V power supply.

Then use a library on the pi, for example this: https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x

I'm sorry, but bit banging WS2812 on that hardware is stupid. Find some peripheral that you can use to output WS2812 bitstreams, and use that. For example, for the Raspberry Pi there is a library at https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x that can use either PWM, PCM or SPI to do this. I know you're dealing with a different CPU, but this should give you ideas about how you can use its peripherals. The data sheet is available: https://github.com/milkv-duo/duo-files/blob/main/hardware/CV1800B/CV1800B-CV1801B-Preliminary-Datasheet-full-en.pdf

E.g.: https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x

The library it's based on specifically notes SPI usage in the readme, and details on how to use (that's where I got the steps that I double-checked in the OP)

Regarding the error though, it sounds like there are a bunch of slight cpu variations that aren’t all clearly defined. I can’t reproduce it myself (guess I have an older board). But there’s a solution suggested by the maintainer on a GitHub issue here https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x/issues/483 so I’d suggest trying that out first.

You can run them direct off gpio but if xlights is your “end game” the falcon pi cap is more inline with the ecosystem of xlights, falcon player and a overall Christmas light display end game where gpio pins is more of a “electronics project” https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x

The LEDs are controlled via the SPI interface of the Raspberry Pi. The rpi_ws281x library is used to manage the ring from python code. The library also provides the possibility to control LEDs via PWM or PCM, however this either disables either analog or digital audio output, which is quite disadvantageous for a music server. On a Raspberry Pi 4, there is one thing to look out for: SPI requires a stable clock, and the Pi 4 throttles itself by default. This can be avoided by adding core_freq_min=500 to /boot/config.txt. Raveberry takes care of this during install if you enable LED visualization.

I have one too, when I plug it in the lights just stay white, unless its losing power in which they flash red. I wanted program them with python and I found a module to use but it wasn't really working. There was a script the came with the module that made them change color, but I haven't been able to write any scripts with the module myself. the module is called rpi_ws281x. You can install it using pip for python and I saw more about other programming languages too. for the button I was able to get that working as power button with this tutorial. Hope this helps.

[2] https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x