The last 2 days have been torture.

Dotstars are rated to be soldered by reflow... once.  The failure rate I've been getting de-seating them is nearly 75%.  When you solder them multiple times, the pins migrate, which pulls off the tiny connecting wires inside the module.  Usually the clock pin - in/out.

So nevermind getting a row of 6 of them to work.  I'm willing to settle for 2!

FYI, I was using the 5050 Dotstars.  The 2020 ones, although harder to solder due to the size, hold up better to manual soldering.  Or... it's just me..  :)