Lighting Doesn't Match

Your devices show the wrong colors, stay dark, ignore your changes, or their card in Nexus shows a "Not responding" warning.

Work through the steps below in order. On the Lighting page, Lighting doesn't match? at the bottom of the device list opens the Fix lighting window, which walks you through steps 2 to 4.

1. Check the device is supported and controlled

  • Open Devices > Supported Devices and search for the device. If it is not in the catalog, Nexus does not support it yet; see Device Not Detected.
  • On the device's page, check that Nexus Control is on. While it is off, Nexus leaves the device alone.

2. Close conflicting apps

Another RGB or vendor app that drives the same hardware fights Nexus for it, so colors flicker, snap back, or never change. Common examples are SignalRGB, Corsair iCUE, ASUS Armoury Crate, MSI Mystic Light, and Lian Li L-Connect. Windows Dynamic Lighting counts too.

Nexus lists the conflicting apps it finds running. Choose which ones Nexus ends with End task (Windows Dynamic Lighting is turned off instead), and use Disable auto start so they do not come back the next time Windows starts. See Using Nexus Alongside Other RGB & Fan Software.

3. Restart Nexus

In the Fix lighting window, click Restart Nexus. Nexus shuts down completely, starts again, and restores your lighting.

4. Power off completely

  1. Shut down the PC.
  2. Switch the power supply off at the back (or unplug the PC) and wait about 20 seconds.
  3. Switch the power supply back on and start the PC.

Some devices, GPUs especially, keep their lighting controller powered from standby power while the PC is off. A normal restart or shutdown never cuts that power, so a stuck controller stays stuck until the power is fully removed.

Effects look choppy on some devices

An effect plays smoothly on most of your devices but steps, stutters or lags on others, most often Lian Li fans and Strimer Wireless cables. The device's lighting controller sets the limit.

Why it happens

To play a Lighting page effect, Nexus streams the effect's frames to the device's lighting controller, over USB or, for wireless devices, over the radio link. Some controllers can show only so many frames:

  • Lian Li SL-Infinity hubs show a limited number of frames each second, and fewer as fans on more of the hub's ports play Lighting page effects. Nexus sends frames at the pace the hub can show, because sending faster makes the hub show even fewer.
  • Lian Li wireless fans and Strimer Wireless cables share one radio link. Nexus sends most animated effects ahead of time, as short loops the devices play on their own. Effects that react to sound or sensors, mirror your screen, play media or react to key presses cannot be sent ahead, so they update far less often, and more slowly with every wireless fan chain or Strimer cable you add.

How to make it smooth

  1. Use ARGB sync. Plug the controller's sync cable into an ARGB header on your motherboard. The controller then plays the header's signal itself, so Nexus no longer streams frames to it. Open the controller's page in Nexus, go to its Lighting tab where it has one, and:

    • On an SL-Infinity hub, turn on Sync with ARGB header and choose the header under ARGB header. Nexus lights the fans through that header, so your Lighting page effects keep playing on them. The header has to be one Nexus lights, which also shows on the Lighting page; if none is listed, the switch stays off.
    • On other Uni Hubs and the Strimer Plus controller, turn on Follow the motherboard ARGB.
    • On wireless fans and Strimer Wireless cables, turn on Follow the motherboard ARGB for each fan chain or cable. The switch appears once it reports that its sync cable is connected. This is the fix for live effects: the device takes its colors from the cable, not the radio link.

    With Follow the motherboard ARGB on, the devices play whatever the header sends and Nexus stops lighting them directly. If Nexus lights that header, set its effect on the Lighting page. On a Uni Hub, every port plays the same colors while ARGB sync is on.

  2. Use a built-in effect. On the controller's page, turn off Use Lighting page effects and choose an effect there. The controller plays the animation on its own, so how fast Nexus can send frames no longer matters. While this is off, the controller does not follow the Lighting page.

  3. Test other devices with Frame cap. Frame cap limits how often a device's lighting updates. On the Lighting page, open the device card's menu, choose Customize device, and pick a value under Frame cap at the bottom of the window. It saves right away and covers the whole device. Lian Li hubs, the Strimer Plus controller and Lian Li wireless devices do not offer it, so it cannot fix the choppiness above. On a device that does offer it and stutters or misbehaves during animated effects, lower it one step at a time. If the effect looks the same or smoother, keep the lower value. If it gets choppier, set it back to Off.

Still stuck?

Export a support bundle and report the problem on Discord. Log Files & Reporting a Bug shows where to find the bundle and what to include.