In this guide I will be showing you how to disable or modify the RGB lighting of your Unraid rig using the Docker application P3R OpenRGB. P3R OpenRGB was specifically developed for Unraid and uses OpenRGB to control the RGB lighting found many consumer motherboards, fans, and coolers.
Don’t get me wrong, I get that RGB lights are fun and a hallmark of many gaming rigs. If you’re like me and only use your Unraid rig as a server and network-attached storage, RGB lights can be superfluous or, depending on where the rig is placed, annoying.
Or perhaps you’re not pleased with your rig’s default lighting and are looking for a way to customize the RGB lights on your motherboard, fans, memory, and graphics card. Most manufacturers only supply Windows software to control their RGB lights and getting it up and running on Unraid, an operating system based on Linux, is all but possible.
As my Unraid server sits in my bedroom, my only wish is to be able to disable the RGB lighting of my Unraid rig. Luckily for me, my motherboard (an MSI B450M MORTAR) is the only piece of hardware which has a small strip of LEDs but unfortunately MSI doesn’t give you the ability to disable them in their BIOS.
A word of warning
P3R OpenRGB provides a tool to probe the SMB (System Management Bus) which is a potentially dangerous operation if you don’t know what you’re doing. Do not click the Detect Devices or Dump Device buttons without informing yourself first. There have been reports of Gigabyte motherboards having serious issues after using these functions.
The developers of P3R OpenRGB and OpenRGB are not responsible for any damage caused by improper use of their applications. Along the same lines, I am not instructing you to use this piece of software. I am merely informing you that the option exists but what you do with it is your responsibility.
Installing P3R OpenRGB on Unraid
Before installing P3R OpenRGB you might want to take a look at the list of supported hardware. If your hardware isn’t listed, you are most likely out of luck.
The installation of P3R OpenRGB is as easy as it gets. You will find it in the Community Applications by searching its name. Simply click on the installation button, and you’re already halfway there. As a template is already provided, there is no need for you to edit any of the settings.
Operating P3R OpenRGB
P3R OpenRGB is operated using a slightly complicated looking web interface. Using it, you can adjust the available settings or, just as I did, completely disable the RGB lights by pushing the colour all the way to black.
Skip the headache and buy a motherboard without RGB
