Lian Li UNI Fan Controller Not Working – ARGB Cable Kit Solution

Roughly half the time I spent building my new Windows 11 gaming battle station (“Ghost”) went toward troubleshooting the Lian Li UNI fan controller on my Gigabyte B550 Vision D-P motherboard. The system would not recognize it, and I couldn’t use L-connect (or version 2) to control the SL120 UNI fans.

I spent hours browsing forums and trying the following fixes:

  • Updated all components (software, BIOS, etc.)
  • Three different Lian Li UNI controllers
  • Two different USB 2.0 headers
  • A USB splitter
  • Uninstalling all generic USB hubs from device manager
  • L-connect and L-connect 2
  • Running all software packages as Administrator
  • Updating the controller firmware using Lian Li’s guidebook (I never got this to work)
  • And every possible combination of rebooting, reinstalling, unplugging, and replugging things imaginable.

I used the 5-volt, 3-pin addressable RGB headers on my motherboard to control my Lian Li Galahad AIO cooler and Strimer cables. However, I needed a “splitter” to share this signal with the UNI fans. So I ordered the Lian Li ARGB device cable kit and went to work!

I have four fan locations (9 UNI SL120 fans in total).

  • On the Galahad AIO radiator (2 fans, air intake)
  • Case bottom (3 fans, air intake)
  • Case top (3 fans, air exhaust)
  • Case rear (1 fan, air exhaust)

Because of how the UNI fans can be linked, I essentially had four sets of PWM and RGB cables. Each PWM cable goes to its own motherboard header so that the BIOS can control fan speeds.

The four UNI fan RGB connectors went to the 3-pin LED extension cable (pictured). This cable, in turn, was connected to a Y-splitter (also included in the ARGB cable kit) to have a place to attach my Lian Li Galahad AIO RGB cable. Together, these five devices are connected to a 5-volt, 3-pin RGB addressable header on the motherboard. I was concerned about the power draw, but running everything white (which uses the most power) has not been an issue thus far! 🤞🏽

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19 COMMENTS

  1. Hello, I have 2 groups of fans, each being 3 fans daisy-chained. When I don’t run L-Connect, only 2 of 3 fans is on. The last fan in the 3-fan daisy chain stays turned off.

    If I run L-Connect3, the last fan turns on. The problem is that I want to control everything with SignalRGB, since it can also control my GPU and RAM RGB while L-Connect3 cannot.

    But, the only way I can get SignalRGB to “see” my fans is to turn on “MB passthrough” in L-Connect3. But of course, when I do that, I’m back to square one and only 2 of 3 fans in each group stay on. I can control those 2 fans in SignalRGB, but the other won’t turn on.

    I contacted Lian Li and they suggested it’s because my NZXT motherboard simply can’t accomodate the number of LEDs in a 3-fan daisy chain of Lian Li AL120s, but I’m hoping you may know of a solution.

    Thank you!

  2. Hi there, i’m also running a system with the gigabyte b550 d-p vision motherboard and the Lian li cpu cooler. The main difference with my problem is that instead of the 9 Lian Li Ii SL 120 fans you have here I am using 9 of the Lian Li AL 120 fans, which have a different rgb connector (I think). Like you, I am having the problem where I am unable to change the color or fan speed via L connect and they are stuck on rainbow. I am wondering if the cable set listed here will still come with the right cables for my issue or is there another kit I could buy?
    Thanks,
    Forrest

    • Hey Forrest, although I’m not sure your configuration will be the exact same, I’d imagine the Lian Li ARGB kit will include the cables you need to get the job done.

      • Ok thank you, I think that the AL 120’s have a 4 pin instead of 3 pin RGB cable so it wouldn’t work with the 3 pin LED extension cable you have in the picture above, but hopefully the kit comes with a 4 pin one also.

  3. The software V3 is fine I have all my fans running white, I have the same PC case and Cooler and Fan set up as you. Only thing is using the SL120 Controller I havent been able to plug the Cable into for the AIO it as there is no more plugs on the controller so I cant change the colour on the pump. Maybe I need to look at this cable kit

  4. Hey so could you help me out a bit? I have 3 fans connected in daisy chain mode. The issue I am having is that the USB device malfunctions when I connect the controller to the motherboard USB I/O.

  5. Rishi,

    I am a little confused actually. Is that Y splitter cable two female ARGB and one male ARGB? Because it doesn’t look like it is in the picture? I have the same issue and I am running AL120 fans with a AS550 CPU cooler, so if I get a splitter to get the AL120 fans to split the signal with my AS550, I’ll need ARGB female for the AS550.

  6. Hey thank for posting this I have been having issues with the uni-hub on my gigabyte b550 board and have been looking up and down for a solution hopefully this works!

  7. Any possibility you could get the pinout for the Fan RGB 3 pin to ARGB cable? I can not find this Lian Li cable kit anywhere online anymore.

    Thanks,
    Josh

    • Hey Josh! I’m not sure I understand your question – can you please clarify?

      I’m not sure where you live, but the Amazon link I included in the post has some kits shipping in early May. Furthermore, retailers like Microcenter also have some in inventory depending on where you live.

  8. mine has done the complete opposite. only one fans RGB seemed to work at all since i bought the aio 4 months ago. then 15 minutes ago all of a sudden, a second starts flickering then the 3rd. now all 3 are going for the first time ever. and i have changed nothing….im so confused.

  9. Geesh I thought I was just loosing mind or dumb. The only thing I can get them to do is fhe rainbow which sure looks decent but I don’t want a rainbow colored PC I want red white or blue. For as expensive as these fans were I’m surprised that the software just flat out refuses to Control then. I have a 12th Gen core i9 build so that means a z690 asus rog strix-e mobo. I will give your fix a try thanks for the post sir.

    • Hey Brandon! I had the same issue since I wanted an “all-white” build and just wasn’t having the default rainbow effect. I haven’t gone back and looked if Lian Li updated any of the software, but the ARGB cable kit continues to work fine for me!

  10. Mine was working fine for 4 months… All of the sudden stopped. I am now in the same boat…. Did all the same trouble shooting I am waiting on lian LI to get back from vacation to see if I can warranty it.

  11. Yes. Controlling them through the mother board isn’t the problem, did you ever get it to work with the lian li controller and software? The software has better lighting customizations than my motherboard has. Please let me know because I this point I’m going to return my lian li aio and 6 lian li fans and just go no rgb to save money since it doesn’t work with the controller or software, thank you in advance if you choose to reply

    • Hey Rogelio! I use the ARGB cable kit I showed in the post. This allows me to control the lighting through the motherboard’s software (GIGABYTE RGB Fusion). Haven’t looked to see if Lian Li released any update as I’m satisfied with how things I working with my current configuration (even though I know the Lian Li software would be ideal!) I tried virtually every guide I could find to troubleshoot the controller/software before buying the ARGB kit.

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