frugalRGB — no bloat, just LEDs

A lightweight, standalone RGB controller for PC hardware. Built for personal use as a replacement for SignalRGB (too bloated) and OpenRGB (conflicts with Stream Deck, buggy on some hardware).

Supported devices

This app was built for my specific hardware. It currently supports:

Device	Connection	Notes
ASRock Polychrome USB (VID 26CE, PID 01A2)	USB HID	Tested on ASRock Z890M Riptide. Does not require admin.
MSI Mystic Light (VID 1462, 185-byte protocol)	USB HID	Tested on MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI (PID 7E03). Does not require admin.
ENE AUDA-series DDR5 DRAM RGB (addresses 0x70–0x77)	SMBus (i801)	Tested with KLEVV DDR5 RGB. Requires admin (kernel-level SMBus access).

What about my hardware?

There is a Diagnostics button in the app that collects device info, register dumps, and system details into a zip file on your Desktop. Run as admin to include SMBus/RAM data. If you'd like support for your hardware, you can open an issue and attach that zip. I'll do my best to look into it, but there's no commitment to extend support — this is a personal project.

Features

• Static color — pick any color via the color picker, preset buttons, or manual RGB entry
• Effects — breathing, color cycle, rainbow, strobe — all with adjustable speed
• Per-device color — untick a device to freeze its color, tick another and pick a different color; Apply sends each device its own color
• Per-LED DRAM color — set different colors on individual LEDs per RAM stick via zone dropdown (All LEDs, LED 1–8)
• Per-device calibration — RGB brightness correction sliders per device to compensate for LED imbalance
• Presets — save/load/overwrite/delete named presets (color + effect + speed)
• Startup preset — automatically apply a preset on launch
• System tray — minimize to tray, close to tray, load presets from tray menu
• Start minimized — launch hidden in the tray
• Start at login — when running as Administrator, creates a Windows scheduled task that launches the app at login with elevated privileges and no UAC prompt; when running without admin, creates a standard startup shortcut (note: Windows Defender may also flag the scheduled task creation — see Windows Defender note above)
• --apply-quit mode — apply the startup preset and exit immediately (saves RAM for always-on setups)
• Save to Hardware — write the current color/mode to the DRAM controller's non-volatile flash so it persists across power cycles (boot color). See warning below
• Diagnostics — collect system info, USB HID enumeration, SMBus scan, device register dumps, and config files into a zip for troubleshooting (run as admin to include SMBus/RAM data)
• Cross-platform — runs on Windows (PawnIO driver) and Linux (smbus2); Linux support is untested
• Single instance — prevents duplicate instances with a friendly notification

Installation

Pre-built exe (Windows)

Download frugalRGB.zip from the Releases page, extract it, and run frugalRGB.exe.

• For motherboard RGB only (ASRock Polychrome USB): no admin required.
• For RAM RGB (DDR5 via SMBus): run as Administrator.

Windows Defender: Because this is an unsigned PyInstaller executable, Windows Defender may flag it as a threat. You'll need to allow it manually (Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Protection history > Allow on device). This is a common false positive with PyInstaller-packaged apps.

Prerequisites for RAM RGB (SMBus)

On Windows, DDR5 DRAM RGB control requires kernel-level port I/O access through PawnIO:

1. Install PawnIO from https://pawnio.eu/
2. Download SmbusI801.bin from PawnIO.Modules releases
3. Place SmbusI801.bin in the modules/ folder next to the app (or next to the exe's _internal/modules/)
4. Run as Administrator

From source

git clone https://github.com/emaspa/frugalRGB.git
cd frugalRGB
pip install -r requirements.txt

Run:

# For motherboard RGB only (no admin needed):
pythonw main.pyw

# For RAM RGB (needs admin):
# Run your terminal as Administrator, then:
pythonw main.pyw

Build the exe yourself

pip install pyinstaller
python build.py

Output: dist/frugalRGB/frugalRGB.exe

Configuration

Config files are stored in your home directory:

• ~/.frugalrgb_config.json — calibration, UI options, startup preset
• ~/.frugalrgb_presets.json — saved presets

--apply-quit flag

For a "set and forget" setup, create a shortcut to:

frugalRGB.exe --apply-quit

This applies the configured startup preset and exits immediately — no window, no tray, minimal resource usage.

Save to Hardware warning

The Save to Hardware button writes the current color and mode to the ENE DRAM controller's non-volatile flash memory, so your RAM sticks display that color at every boot — before Windows even loads.

Use at your own risk. This operation is known to be unstable on some ENE firmware versions. In rare cases it can soft-lock the RGB controller, making the LEDs unresponsive. Recovery typically requires physically reseating the DIMM. OpenRGB disables this feature by default for the same reason.

The app requires a double confirmation before saving. Make sure you have already clicked Apply with the desired color/mode before saving.

If you just want your color applied at every boot without touching hardware flash, use the startup preset + Start at login approach instead — that's the safer option.

Architecture

main.pyw                      Entry point
frugalrgb/
  controllers/
    base.py                   Abstract controller interface
    detect.py                 Device auto-detection
    asrock_polychrome.py      ASRock Polychrome USB HID protocol
    msi_mystic_light.py       MSI Mystic Light USB HID protocol
    ene_dram_ddr5.py          ENE AUDA DDR5 DRAM SMBus protocol
  smbus/
    interface.py              Platform-agnostic SMBus ABC
    windows.py                PawnIO-backed i801 SMBus (Windows)
    linux.py                  /dev/i2c-* via smbus2 (Linux)
  effects/
    engine.py                 Threaded effect loop (hw or sw)
  gui/
    app.py                    CustomTkinter main window + tray
    widgets.py                Device cards, presets, calibration
  diagnostics.py              Diagnostics zip collector
build.py                      PyInstaller build script
modules/
  SmbusI801.bin               PawnIO kernel module (not included — download separately)

License

This project is provided as-is for personal use. No warranty. Use at your own risk.