From c7b4ee5c601c3e2431a4769506f121d6496bc7cc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "J. Nick Koston" <nick@home-assistant.io>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:40:17 -1000
Subject: [PATCH] fix when on_boot at 800

---
 .../components/light/addressable_light.cpp    | 49 ++++++++++++-------
 esphome/components/light/addressable_light.h  |  4 +-
 2 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)

diff --git a/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.cpp b/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.cpp
index 5f5f123fe7..d2f5913f4b 100644
--- a/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.cpp
@@ -59,23 +59,11 @@ void AddressableLightTransformer::start() {
   this->light_.correction_.set_local_brightness(255);
   this->target_color_ *= to_uint8_scale(end_values.get_brightness() * end_values.get_state());
 
-  // When every LED starts at the same color (the common case: plain turn_on/turn_off on a uniform
-  // strip), interpolate math-only against a single start color. Avoiding the per-step read-back
-  // through the 8-bit stored byte prevents gamma round-trip quantization from stalling the fade
-  // at low values (e.g. gamma 2.8 pre-gamma values <27 round to stored 0, freezing progress).
-  this->uniform_start_color_.reset();
-  if (this->light_.size() > 0) {
-    Color first = this->light_[0].get();
-    bool uniform = true;
-    for (int32_t i = 1; i < this->light_.size(); i++) {
-      if (this->light_[i].get() != first) {
-        uniform = false;
-        break;
-      }
-    }
-    if (uniform)
-      this->uniform_start_color_ = first;
-  }
+  // Uniformity scan is deferred to the first apply() call. start() can run before the underlying
+  // LED output's setup() has allocated its frame buffer (e.g. on_boot at priority > HARDWARE
+  // triggering a transition), and reading through ESPColorView would deref a null buffer.
+  this->uniform_start_scanned_ = false;
+  this->uniform_start_is_uniform_ = false;
 }
 
 inline constexpr uint8_t subtract_scaled_difference(uint8_t a, uint8_t b, int32_t scale) {
@@ -115,7 +103,30 @@ optional<LightColorValues> AddressableLightTransformer::apply() {
   // non-linear when applying small deltas.
 
   if (smoothed_progress > this->last_transition_progress_ && this->last_transition_progress_ < 1.f) {
-    if (this->uniform_start_color_.has_value()) {
+    // Lazy uniformity scan: deferred from start() so the LED output's setup() has run and the
+    // frame buffer is valid. When every LED already has the same color (the common case: plain
+    // turn_on/turn_off on a uniform strip), interpolate math-only against a single start color.
+    // Avoiding the per-step read-back through the 8-bit stored byte prevents gamma round-trip
+    // quantization from stalling the fade at low values (e.g. gamma 2.8 pre-gamma values <27
+    // round to stored 0, freezing progress).
+    if (!this->uniform_start_scanned_) {
+      this->uniform_start_scanned_ = true;
+      if (this->light_.size() > 0) {
+        Color first = this->light_[0].get();
+        bool uniform = true;
+        for (int32_t i = 1; i < this->light_.size(); i++) {
+          if (this->light_[i].get() != first) {
+            uniform = false;
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+        if (uniform) {
+          this->uniform_start_color_ = first;
+          this->uniform_start_is_uniform_ = true;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    if (this->uniform_start_is_uniform_) {
       // All LEDs started at the same color: compute the interpolated value once and write it to
       // every LED. No read-back, so each LED's stored byte advances through every gamma threshold
       // as smoothed_progress crosses it, instead of stalling at 0 for low pre-gamma values.
@@ -125,7 +136,7 @@ optional<LightColorValues> AddressableLightTransformer::apply() {
       // via its read-back. Concurrent per-LED mutation during a transition isn't a pattern we
       // support, so this is acceptable.
       // lerp(start, target, progress) via existing helper: target - (target-start)*(1-progress).
-      const Color &start = *this->uniform_start_color_;
+      const Color &start = this->uniform_start_color_;
       int32_t remaining = int32_t(256.f * (1.f - smoothed_progress));
       uint8_t r = subtract_scaled_difference(this->target_color_.red, start.red, remaining);
       uint8_t g = subtract_scaled_difference(this->target_color_.green, start.green, remaining);
diff --git a/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.h b/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.h
index c4eabbad2e..0202ad380a 100644
--- a/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.h
+++ b/esphome/components/light/addressable_light.h
@@ -115,7 +115,9 @@ class AddressableLightTransformer : public LightTransformer {
   AddressableLight &light_;
   float last_transition_progress_{0.0f};
   Color target_color_{};
-  optional<Color> uniform_start_color_{};
+  Color uniform_start_color_{};
+  bool uniform_start_scanned_{false};
+  bool uniform_start_is_uniform_{false};
 };
 
 }  // namespace esphome::light