Ubuntu
The easiest way to setup things on Ubuntu is to get the precompiled packages from a PPA: ppa:artfwo/monome.
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:artfwo/monome
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install libmonome
$ sudo apt-get install serialosc
Arch
The easiest way to setup things on Arch is to use the PKGBUILDs available in the AUR. You can either install them manually, or use an AUR helper utility such as yay or auracle. Once that’s done, you can install the required packages:
Source
If there are no precompiled packages available for your distribution, you can still build libmonome and serialosc from source:
Notes
You’ll need to have the usbserial and ftdi_sio kernel modules loaded before connecting your grid. Most Linux distributions include these modules by default, and should load them as soon as they detect your grid being plugged in. If these USB and serial modules are not available in your kernel, follow your distribution’s documentation for configuring, compiling, and installing a custom kernel.
Load the required kernel modules, verify that they’re loaded, and start serialosc:
$ sudo modprobe usbserial ftdi_sio
$ lsmod
$ serialosc
serialosc [m128-000]: connected, server running on port 18872
Unplug your grid so that it saves its current configuration to ~/.config/serialosc/, including port number. Press Ctrl-C to stop serialosc.
Now re-run serialosc, then plug and unplug your grid to save your config. If you need to change any aspect of your grid, such as its rotation in 90-degree increments, edit ~/.config/serialosc/<your_monome_id>.conf. You can also set the application prefix, host, and port numbers.
If you get a permissions error when running serialosc:
$ serialosc
libmonome: could not open monome device: Permission denied
Add your user to the uucp and/or dialout groups, so that you can use serial devices. The exact group name will depend on your distribution:
$ sudo gpasswd -a yourregularuser uucp
$ sudo gpasswd -a yourregularuser dialout
Then log out, and log back in as your regular user.