LED Stick APA102C issues

I am having trouble integrating a LED Stick APA102C into my setup. I am using a Sparkfun RedBoard Qwiic and Mac OS. The LED stick works fine when attached directly to the board with nothing else and using code examples from the library. But when I connect it to my “big project” my code no longer works, and I am simply trying to initialize the LED Stick, Im not even trying to turn it on. which makes me think it is a communication issue.

My “big project” currently has a LCD screen (16,2) and two buttons connected to the I/O on the board, then 5 qwiic button breakouts and 2 qwiic motor drivers (running 4 motors). All the qwiic devices are daisy chained. The motor drivers have a separate power source. Currently all I2C pull up jumpers are disabled including the LED Stick. I have used the I2C scanner and all device addresses show up. I am new to all of this so let me know if further info is needed. and thanks in advance for any advice.

Please make sure that the Led stick is getting sufficient current in your big project setup.

Thank you! It was most certainly a power issue. I hooked up external power to the LED stick and shortened the length of my I2C daisy chains. Everything is working great.

Thanks again!