kd7eir:
I would first plug it in and look at the output of "dmesg". You should see recent activity indicating Linux found the USB device and has created a device such as /dev/ttyUSB0 or some such entry. If you don't see this - this is your first hit at a problem. If you do see it, you might try a common program like kermit and add a loop back to the far end of the cable. Then, simply type something. You should see it echo back as if you were typing into an editor. If all that works and the Arduino SDK still doesn't - I would next suspect that the Arduino SDK is trying to create lock files to prevent other programs from using the /dev/ttyUSB0 device (or what ever it was called) but failed. At this point, I (briefly) ran the Arduino SDK as root as a test.
The port is discovered as it should and I have used this FTDI cable with an Arduino Pro before, so it's nothing wrong with that. What I'm wondering is if anyone got it to work with the colorduino as it is not build for using an FTDI cable directly. Are everyone using another modified arduino board in between? Seems a bit stupid that you have to do it that way. Is there really no better way to flash the colorduino?