Back in the day, I knew what I would get from ASUS and their AURA tech. Pretty simple, just choose what you want and go. My LEDs did what I wanted, it was simple. But no… no they said. Instead we want you to download most of a gig of bullshit to do the same thing, but with extra fucking steps.
I’m pretty sure my light controlling software is now tracking me. I’m not sure if the pattern of my LEDs are watching me or not.
How the shit did we let this come to pass? Why do we let these monstrosities into our life?
I’m part of the problem, I know. I just want my lights to do what I tell them to.
I dream that someday there will be a simple piece of OSS that can control all this RGB crap. We’ve very nearly arrived at a single universal RGB header (not quite, but it’s down to 2 major common ones, and one of two oddball proprietary one offs), but the software side of things is still an absolute clusterfuck. At least in the embedded space there’s only a couple standard control protocols.
I use OpenRGB to manage the msi mobo, corsair mouse, reddragon keyboard, and my reference amd gpu. Works pretty flawlessly. There is a comprehensive compatibility list for hardware to look at.
Please do read carefully on the hcl though. Previously the software in older versions was damaging the rgb controllers on some msi boards a few years back. It has since been resolved, but I’m not sure if there are any other possibly incompatible hardwares out there.
https://openrgb.org/
I think i read that Windows update 22h2 introduces native RGB lighting controls? I don’t know what the limits are, is it only motherboard direct connections like case fans etc? But perhaps they are working with (or against) hardware manufacturers to take rgb control of peripherals as well, idk.
Edit ew it’s windows 11 not 10
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-11-rgb-software-finally-here
Another edit: i think Asus is making it a pain intentionally so people will buy another device. Classic anti consumer tactics. Stay classy asus:
dedicated rgb lighting controller hub: https://rog.asus.com/us/armoury-crate/
Its still Windows. Even with RGB lipstick, it’s still a pig.
When I can use Linux to perform my required functions without sacrificing output quality and without taking 5x as long, I’ll gladly switch. But that won’t happen because the professional tools I use are made by companies who benefit from requiring users to retain an insecure operating system so they can pump as much data out of us as possible.
Edit: sorry to the person whose feelings were so butthurt they had to downvote my truths.