Raspberry Pi 3B+ LED/RGB 4x4x4 Cube

[Jonj91]

TL;DR My dad bought an LED/RGB 4x4x4 cube for his pi and it doesn't light up. How do I get this cube to light up on the raspberry pi 3b+? 

 

First post, so go easy on me here. 

 

So, I've been building PCs for friends, family, and myself for a few years now, but I wanted to get my dad something neat for Father's day. He's 68 and he loves techy stuff. Although he's not super fluent in it, he still likes to learn. He hasn't used a desktop PC in 10 years. He's happy with his tablet, phone, etc. So I bought him a raspberry pi 3b+ kit. He got a huge kick out of how small a PC could get now and loves it. I have never used a raspberry pi before and I'm somewhat unfamiliar with Linux. So this falls out of the scope of what I'm used to doing. 

 

He found this 4x4x4 "Pi Cube" LED/RGB device that is supposed to light up green when it's plugged into the Pi. He was so excited about it and has never seen RGB stuff before, so naturally, he ordered it. It didn't come with an instruction manual or a box, but the description said that it was compatible with Raspberry Pi 3 etc. So he asked me for help installing it. I plug it in and nothing happens.

 

It also seems to be hard to find info about this device, because I think it was originally some kind of Kickstarter. Most guides I've found are on how to make your own and not for a pre-assembled cube. I have the most up to date version of Raspbian installed on his Pi and everything works, except for this damn cube. 

 

I have no idea where to start troubleshooting, if there's any kind of software available for it, or how to get it to work. There's no switch or anything and it's plugged directly into the Pi. I don't even know if it's defective or not. It doesn't look damaged in any way though. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If you need more information please let me know. I'll ask him and post what I can. 

 

UPDATE: He tells me that the Amazon description says, "Pi Cube 4x4x4 LED cube for Raspberry Pi 3, 2, 0 and A+ assembled and sold by SB Components." Do you guys think the 3b+ would be incompatible or would it fall under the 3 category? He hasn't gotten a response from the seller. 

 

Pictures attached below. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Jonj91
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