Thanks for the insightful reply! Your suggestions regarding the ALSA issue and Neopixels are really helpful and logical. I’ll definitely check the permissions for the ALSA devices and experiment with modifying the sudoers file as you suggested. It makes sense to avoid using sudo when possible, so I’ll try adjusting the permissions for Neopixels as well.

And yes, taking breaks with something like a Smoky Barbecue Cheeseburger sounds like the perfect way to refuel during a long debugging session! Appreciate the help!