diff --git a/controller/controller.go b/controller/controller.go
index 66b93e9..ba0f59c 100644
--- a/controller/controller.go
+++ b/controller/controller.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func New(cfg *config.Config) (*Controller, error) {
 	c := &Controller{cfg: cfg}
 
 	if cfg.OpenRGB.Enabled {
-		client, err := openrgb.Connect()
+		client, err := openrgb.Connect(cfg.OpenRGB.Host, cfg.OpenRGB.Port)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("warning: openrgb unavailable: %v", err)
 		} else {
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func (c *Controller) SetLEDs(on bool) error {
 
 func (c *Controller) setOpenRGB(on bool) error {
 	if c.orgb == nil {
-		client, err := openrgb.Connect()
+		client, err := openrgb.Connect(c.cfg.OpenRGB.Host, c.cfg.OpenRGB.Port)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/controller/openrgb/client.go b/controller/openrgb/client.go
index a256176..a078021 100644
--- a/controller/openrgb/client.go
+++ b/controller/openrgb/client.go
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ package openrgb
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"net"
 	"os/exec"
+	"strconv"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -12,24 +14,30 @@ const (
 	retryDelay = 3 * time.Second
 )
 
-// Client controls RGB devices via the openrgb CLI.
+// Client controls RGB devices via the openrgb CLI. It talks to a running
+// OpenRGB SDK server (the --startminimized --server instance) rather than
+// re-detecting hardware on every command — local re-detection races with the
+// server for the USB/HID devices during login/boot and is unreliable.
 type Client struct {
-	bin string
+	bin    string
+	server string // host:port of the OpenRGB SDK server
 }
 
-func Connect() (*Client, error) {
+func Connect(host string, port int) (*Client, error) {
 	bin, err := exec.LookPath("openrgb")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("openrgb not found in PATH: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Verify openrgb can list devices (confirms it's running/accessible)
-	cmd := exec.Command(bin, "--list-devices")
+	server := net.JoinHostPort(host, strconv.Itoa(port))
+
+	// Verify the SDK server is reachable (confirms it's up and enumerated).
+	cmd := exec.Command(bin, "--client", server, "--list-devices")
 	if out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("openrgb list-devices failed: %w\n%s", err, out)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("openrgb client connect to %s failed: %w\n%s", server, err, out)
 	}
 
-	return &Client{bin: bin}, nil
+	return &Client{bin: bin, server: server}, nil
 }
 
 func (c *Client) Close() error {
@@ -39,9 +47,10 @@ func (c *Client) Close() error {
 // run executes an openrgb command with retries to handle transient failures
 // during early boot when device enumeration may not be complete.
 func (c *Client) run(args ...string) error {
+	full := append([]string{"--client", c.server}, args...)
 	var lastErr error
 	for attempt := range maxRetries {
-		cmd := exec.Command(c.bin, args...)
+		cmd := exec.Command(c.bin, full...)
 		out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 		if err == nil {
 			return nil
@@ -56,13 +65,19 @@ func (c *Client) run(args ...string) error {
 	return lastErr
 }
 
-// SetAllOff sets all devices to black (off) using direct mode.
+// SetAllOff sets all devices to black (off).
+//
+// Uses "static" mode, not "direct": OpenRGB's direct-mode color path crashes
+// (vector out-of-bounds → SIGABRT) on devices that expose addressable zones
+// with zero LEDs, e.g. unused ASUS Aura ARGB headers. Static mode applies the
+// same color across all devices and zones without hitting that path.
 func (c *Client) SetAllOff() error {
-	return c.run("--mode", "direct", "--color", "000000")
+	return c.run("--mode", "static", "--color", "000000")
 }
 
-// SetAllOn sets all devices to the given color.
+// SetAllOn sets all devices to the given color. See SetAllOff for why this uses
+// "static" mode rather than "direct".
 func (c *Client) SetAllOn(r, g, b byte) error {
 	color := fmt.Sprintf("%02X%02X%02X", r, g, b)
-	return c.run("--mode", "direct", "--color", color)
+	return c.run("--mode", "static", "--color", color)
 }
diff --git a/led-controller b/led-controller
index 6be54c0..4f63e7c 100755
Binary files a/led-controller and b/led-controller differ