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Retro computing with a touch of modern and the home for all things, retroCombs (aka Steven Combs).

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6 January 2014

HOWTO: Install the Arduino IDE on Peppermint OS 4

by Steven B. Combs, Ph.D.

Two things happened during the holiday break. Loki and I reacquired our fascination with the Arduino and I also upgraded the operating system on my old Acer Aspire One from Chrome OS to Peppermint OS 4. In an earlier post, I shared how to install the Arduino software on a netbook with Ubuntu Netbook remix 9.04. I thought these earlier instructions would assist me with an install on Peppermint OS 4. That was not the case. Not even the first step was correct.

This post will provide an update to that original post. Users of other Linux distributions should also find these instructions valuable and if you are using a Debian variant, they should work perfectly. After you hit the link below, you will find instructions for installing and using the Arduino software on Peppermint OS 4.

The Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) requires Java. Peppermint OS 4 does not include Java as part of the default installation. Rather than using the official Oracle Java install, many Linux users recommend using the icedtea-plugin due to ease of install and regularity of updates. I will use this variation of Java.

After you load the page in the default Peppermint OS 4 Chromimum browser, allow the Java plugin access to the page. You should then see a verification as shown in the image below.

Now that we have the Java dependency complete, let’s install the Arduino IDE. This is VERY easy if you have ever installed software on a Linux box.

Let’s try it out our new Arduino IDE install.

NOTE: The latest version of the Arduino IDE for Linux automatically configures the correct port once it finds an attached device.

The Arduino IDE will compile the program (check for errors and convert to machine code) and then upload the code to the Arduino. Once upload is complete, the Arduino will blink the on-board LED every second.

Success! The Arduino IDE is installed and configured properly. Now get out there and create some cool new thing. If compelled, share your creation in the comments below.

That’s all there is to it. Linux use and acceptability has come a long way in the past few years and given the ease of this process, I can highly recommend a Linux box (or an old Acer Aspire netbook) as an Arduino development tool.