QL 120s, Lighting Node Pro, and Commander Pro Setup Question

[Elminor]

Hi all, I have 9 QL120s in my build and they came with the older RGB LED hubs and my husband has 9 LL120s that came with the Lighting Node Core. This is our first time doing any real modification to prebuilt systems and I have no build experience, so I apologize if the answers to my questions are painfully obvious to the unignorant.

 

We have multiple issues so I will start with hopefully the easiest to tackle:

 

The fan speed button on the controller that came with the RGB LED hub and the QLs does not seem to change fan speeds no matter how many times I press the button or if I hold it down. This controller does offer limited RGB control though. I've got 9 QL120s running at full speed, and it's not very pleasant to sit next to.

 

The Lighting Node Cores are recognized by iCue, and I can set up profiles and iCue *thinks* that the fans are lit, but they are dark with either the QL or LL fans even after proper setup per Corsair tutorial vids. I've reinstalled and updated iCue and checked graphics card drivers. I've also tried disabling the Razer software that controls RGB on those peripherals to no avail. This issue is occurring on both builds with either fan type.

 

The LLs connected to the Lighting Node Cores seem to have their speed operating on a proper curve, but still no lighting.

 

What do I need to buy/do in order to get full function out of these fans in either or both builds? Is simply adding a Commander Pro to each the fix or is there a deeper issue that I'm still likely to have?

Edited June 13, 2020 by Elminor

[c-attack]

Unless you two swapped the hardware, the QL should have come with the Lighting Node Core and the older LL should have the Lighting Node Pro (LNP) + RGB Lighting Hub. To further confuse the issue, the 'Core' is essentially a large RGB Lighting Hub with a 1 channel Node Pro inside. Both pairing should work for either LL or QL.

 

Neither of these devices regulate fan speed. This is lighting current and control only. There are two wires on each fan. The Core and RGB Hub (+LNP) get the flatter looking RGB wires. The other standard fan connector likely is connected to your motherboard fan/chassis headers and will be BIOS controlled. In order to bring fan speed into iCUE, you need a Corsair fan controller. That is the Commander Pro. Besides fan speed control, it also serves the same RGB control function as the LNP and it would replace that in the system. For the Core, it can take the USB 2 connection into its passthrough ports and the fan control wires as well.

 

You should be able to get lighting already. Go to the top part of iCUE and select the "Instant Lighting" for any color except black. The entire system should turn that color. Do the fans respond? If not, then there could be a hardware problem or a loose wire/connection somewhere and we'll need to trace it. Assuming it does light up, you might have a software configuration issue. That "fan speed button" thing is giving me a moment of pause. I am wondering if somehow you have an old SP-RGB controller. There shouldn't be any thumb remotes in this set-up.

 

1) Go to the Lighting Controller in iCUE (Core or LNP).

2) Click on "Lighting Set-up" in the left menu for the controller.

3) Select either QL or LL and then select the number of fans. Since you have 9 fans in each, you likely also have multiple Cores or RGB Hubs on two LNP channels. You will need to set up both Cores and both channels of the LNP.

4) Now go the Lighting Effects menu and click + to throw out a rainbow or two.

 

**If the QL fans are indeed on the LNP + 2 RGB Hubs, that would explain one problem. You can't load up the LNP on both channels with QLs. Too much current. It will shut down channel #2 past 4 QL fans.

 

Also see Zotty's Guide below. It has more pictures and diagrams than I can ever duplicate.

https://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=173880

[Elminor]

The wrong controller was the first thing I blamed the issues on. The fans shipped separately from different sellers and the LLs definitely came with a lighting node core and the QLs definitely came with the older controller. The LLs had been installed for a week before the QLs ever arrived. I went through he process with Amazon to report the inaccurate product, contacted the seller who was unwilling to work with me, then Amazon gave me a partial refund for my troubles on that front.

 

I tried hooking some of the QLs to the core and left some on the old controller. Double checked all connections, and nothing seems loose. ICue recognizes the core, but neither instant lighting or anything else I try gives me lights at all. The three that are still connected to the old controller still have light, though. I'm also not getting any fan speed control from my bios with the QLs, though bios control is working fine for the LLs connected to cores on the other rig.

 

Also possibly useful to note, the LLs were doing the default rainbow just fine until we installed iCue, then 6 of the 9 went black as soon as iCue installed and launched. Same issue where iCue recognizes the cores, have them set up for the correct number of LL fans, but no control and one of the two cores is giving dark fans.

[c-attack]

OK, well someone was playing little mix and match games with your stuff. QL multi-pack = Core with USB direct USB connection. LL multi-pack gets two pieces = LNP + RGB Hub. Now again, it shouldn't matter and all of these fans can run from all of the controllers with one caveat. If you put 6 QL fans on a Node Pro, it will switch off RGB channel 2. Frankly, I am inclined to wonder if there is a problem with the controllers and that is what lead to all the switching around. There are people that use Amazon like a replacement part warehouse, swapping out the select pieces they need and then sending the old back as "defective" in the new box. The RGB Lighting Hubs that come with the LL/ML fans are hard to find. Sadly, this is another way to obtain them.

 

The lighting works in series for both fans and controllers. If you have a fan with a bad LED half-way around, the first half would light and then all the rest on that fan and all the others would be out. Same thing on the controller itself. If port #2 is dead, fan 1 lights and 2-6 are out. What you probably need to do is swap a different fan into port 1 on the controller (just temporarily) and see if anything changes. Usually when this happens it is not at LED 1, slot 1, so you get some partial lighting.. Fully lights out like this makes me wonder if the RGB Hub for the QL is functional at all.

 

However, I can't remember any issues like this for the Core. It's only 1 channel and seemingly more resilient. There seems to be a lot of overlapping issues and frankly this is the nightmare scenario I worried about when then introduced the Core - both device types in use in the same system with multiple fan types. It's a headache just describing it.

 

1) On your first load, it would be normal for the fans to show rainbows while the system boots, then go dark when iCUE loads or is installed. Before that, they were in hardware mode running from the last saved setting in the device's memory. When iCUE first loaded, you have not created any software lighting effects yet and so they are off - waiting for lighting set-up and for a new lighting effect to be assigned.

 

I just pulled a new Core controller out of plastic and hooked in a LL fan to see what it would do. With iCUE not running it displayed the default "rainbow channel" and then blanked out when I started iCUE. If you see solid blue or some other effect when you first start a new device and before iCUE loads, that also is a sign you are not the device's first owner.

 

 

2) As long as a device has a USB connection to the motherboard (Core or LNP), it will show up in iCUE. It does not check to make sure you choose the correct lighting set-up. If I tell it I have 6 LL fans there are absolutely none connected at all, it will still show me the fans in the UI dancing with their colors, even with nothing on the physical end. Make sure the devices are set up the right way. This can be tricky with multiple Cores because they don't stay in the same position across the top. The Core with 6 fans may load before the Core with 3. The next time, they flip-flop. Once properly identified to 6 and 3, it will no longer matter. You also can change their names by clicking the three horizontal lines in the top right corner of the window. That changes the pictures to editable text.

 

 

There is a lot going on here. It appears the Core device with 6 LL fans is dead. Make sure the SATA power line to it is good, try another, and swap a different fan into port 1. The Core does not care what fans you put on it. LL work fine.

 

The QL -> RGB Hub -> Node Pro is a bit trickier. You need 2 RGB bubs and 2 Node Pro for this. Node Pro with 6 QL will turn off the second channel, so you can't use 2 RGB hubs on the same Node Pro. This is one of the reasons the QL comes with Core instead. Also this rule does not apply to the Commander. You can do 6+3 QL on the Commander's 2 RGB channels using 2 RGB hubs.

 

There also is a small possibility to have too much loaded on one SATA line. These all use the 5v and it is possible to get into trouble with smaller PSUs and other multi-rail components (like HDDs) on the same multi-branch SATA cable coming from the PSU. That might be something to look at if you have an entire controller (RGB Hub or Core) that won't light. Normally, I would expect it to light, maybe be dim, cause a hard shutdown, etc., however, plugging an extra SATA PSU cable and connecting the Core or RGB hub to it is likely an easier test than trying to source new parts. Also, this should not be an issue on higher watt PSUs with good efficiency ratings, but even my 1200 watt Platinum takes a hit on the 5v rail from all of this stuff.

 

 

 

The fan speed button on the controller that came with the RGB LED hub and the QLs does not seem to change fan speeds no matter how many times I press the button or if I hold it down. This controller does offer limited RGB control though. I've got 9 QL120s running at full speed, and it's not very pleasant to sit next to.

 

What was this thumb controller thing again? There shouldn't be anything like that. Any time some says 9 120mm fans, I immediately start thinking about O11D and XL cases, but if this is a hold over from some Corsair 460x or 570x with the SP-thumb RGB remote, that would be a problem too. There shouldn't be any thumb remotes in this set-up.

Edited June 14, 2020 by c-attack