Does uploading require root privileges under Linux?

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hello, this isn't a serious problem for me but I want to improve my understanding...

I just got a starter kit, installed the 1.56-r2 IDE, and tried uploading the "blink.ino" sketch as the first program. It worked fine. However, from there on, if I unplug and then reconnect the board (Uno rev.3) through USB cable, I get an error uploading. It turns out that the board is connected with read/write privileges for root, but I'm running the IDE as a normal user. So I change the permissions to read/write for everybody (using sudo), and then I can upload no problem.

So my question is: am I missing something in connecting the board to the computer, or am I just supposed to run the IDE as root? And why did the first sketch load okay without root privileges? :~

TIA for information.

2

bobmon:
Hello, this isn't a serious problem for me but I want to improve my understanding...

I just got a starter kit, installed the 1.56-r2 IDE, and tried uploading the "blink.ino" sketch as the first program. It worked fine. However, from there on, if I unplug and then reconnect the board (Uno rev.3) through USB cable, I get an error uploading. It turns out that the board is connected with read/write privileges for root, but I'm running the IDE as a normal user. So I change the permissions to read/write for everybody (using sudo), and then I can upload no problem.

So my question is: am I missing something in connecting the board to the computer, or am I just supposed to run the IDE as root? And why did the first sketch load okay without root privileges? :~

TIA for information.

When you connect your Uno , do you go to tools-port and select the port Uno is Connected ? it should be COM3 or COM4..

3

You need to belong to the group with access rights to the port. Assuming you are using Ubuntu, that should be the dialout group.

sudo adduser YourUserName dialout

Logout and login after you run adduser.

4

The adduser stuff above was not needed for my Ubuntu PC as that line is included in the Ubuntu Software Centre installer of the IDE.

5

Thanks for the tip about the dialout group. I haven't logged out/in yet, but that makes sense and looks good.

6
  • Solved -
    Yep, group "dialout" was the issue. Thanks again!