Controller Setup

Use Chrome or Edge on a computer. Safari and Firefox can't talk to the controller, and phones and tablets won't work at all. This has to be a desktop or laptop with a USB cable.

First time on this computer

Install the USB driver once, before anything else. The controller uses a chip that Windows and macOS do not fully handle on their own — skip this and the controller either never appears or appears and then fails partway through.

Mac — download CH34xVCPDriver.pkg and open it. macOS then needs the driver switched on by hand: System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Driver Extensions, turn on CH34xVCPDriver, then restart. Miss that step and it looks like the driver never installed. If macOS blocks the installer, allow it under Privacy & Security and open it again.
Windows — plug the controller in and give Windows Update a minute to fetch the driver on its own. If it doesn't, install CH341SER from WCH.

Flashing a controller

Connect the controller to this computer with a USB cable.
Click Install Avid Lighting below.
Pick the port that reads wchusbserial on a Mac, or USB-SERIAL CH340 on Windows. If a Mac also offers one reading usbmodem, do not pick that one — it looks right, connects, and then fails to write.
When asked, choose Erase device. This matters — a controller that isn't erased keeps its old light settings and the strips won't come up on their own.
Wait for it to finish. Around two minutes. Don't unplug it.

This browser can't flash controllers. Open this page in Chrome or Edge. This page has to be served over https to flash a controller.

Check it worked

Unplug the controller, then power it back on.
On your phone, look at the list of Wi-Fi networks. Within a minute you should see one called Avid_Home_Services- followed by six characters.
If you see it, the controller is ready. Open the Avid Lighting app and add it the normal way.

If something goes wrong

No ports in the list: Nearly always the driver above, so install it first and restart. Otherwise try a different USB cable — charge-only cables are the usual culprit and look identical to data cables — and then another USB port. Plug straight into the computer rather than through a dock or hub.
It connects, then fails to write: On a Mac this means the usbmodem port was chosen instead of wchusbserial. Both appear for the same controller and only the second one can be written to. Run it again and pick the other entry.
It fails partway through: Unplug the controller, plug it back in, and run it again. A half-finished flash does no harm; the controller simply isn't usable until one completes.
Finished, but no Avid_Home_Services network: Give it a full minute after powering on. If there's still nothing, flash it once more and be sure to choose Erase device this time.
The lights don't work after pairing: Almost always a controller that was flashed without erasing. Flash it again with Erase device selected.