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Testing and Debugging
Note: the most common problem that arises with electronics projects such as this one are lose wires and/or connections. If you run into a problem during this project, always make sure to check your connections. If this does not fix the problem, try testing with some components switched out for others, as their may be defective ones.
Amplifier
In order to test the amplifier out, start by placing the volume of your computer on low, and the arrow of the potentiometer to one end. Connect the two speakers to their respective terminals using 20 AWG speaker wire. Plug in the AUX cord, and the power supply. Slowly turn up the volume on your computer until you start to hear music. Then play with the potentiometer to see which way increases the volume. If the potentiometer does not adjust the volume, make sure that all of your connections are soldered correctly. I had this problem during my setup, and I figured out that it was actually just a broken potentiometer. However, always check your connections before you determine dead parts. Turn up the volume to a desired level, and try out the setup with different songs to make sure everything is working well. If any song sound a bit off, that may be just the quality of the speakers and/or wiring. This can be fixed by investing in higher quality components, however this will probably not be a problem with speakers of this size.
LEDs
Test the LEDs out in a breadboard configuration before going on to make the actual circuit. Once you have created the circuit on your breadboard as shown in the circuitry page, plug in you power to the circuit and to the amplifier, and the aux cord to the amplifier. Make sure your volume is all the way up on your computer, and play a song. If you would like to compare the lighting to the sound, you can attach one of the speakers to its appropriate output from the amplifier for this test. If the LEDs are not pulsing, make sure that your volume is all the way up on your computer and that the circuit is assembled as shown on the circuitry page. Also check to make sure that you have good batteries attached to your circuit, and that you have the correct resistor attached. Lastly, make sure that the LEDs that you are using are all working properly, or else this will stop the entire circuit from operating properly. If all of these are in order, then you may have a faulty transistor, try switching this out and always make sure to double check your connections before determining dead parts.
Final Testing