Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi USB Serial Communication

Question

I am trying to get Arduino Uno with Raspberry Pi to communicate with each other. I want the python script to write a message and for my Arduino to read it. This was working before, but I came back a week later and it stopped. Essentially, I want the Raspberry Pi to write '3' and for my Arduino to recognize this 3 and light up some LEDs. Where do you think I am going wrong? The Arduino works when testing it through the IDE and Serial Monitor. There are no errors when running the python script, the LEDS just don't light up, so I assume there is some miscommunication.

Python Code

import serial
ser = serial.Serial('/dev/ttyACM0', 9600)
ser.write('3')

Arduino Code

String serialRead;
int val;
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  strip.begin();  
  strip.setBrightness(25);
  strip.show(); // Initialize all pixels to 'off'
}

void loop() {
  serialRead = Serial.read();
  if (Serial.available() > 0) {
    val = Serial.read();

    if (val > '0' && val <= '9') {
      Serial.println(val);
      val = val - '0';
      Serial.println(val);

      if (val == 3)
      {
        //strip.setBrightness(100);
        colorWipe(strip.Color(127, 127, 127), 50);
        colorWipe(strip.Color(0, 0, 0), 50);        
      }
    }
  }
}

Answer 1

Just at a glance:

Your loop consumes the byte and stores it in serialRead, so there is probably no available data at the outer if, so it is never entered.

Try deleting this line:

serialRead = Serial.read();