I’m hoping to add some LED lights to my Raspberry Pi 5, which is running Ubuntu 24.04. I’ve come across the Pimoroni Blinkt (Blinkt!), which is exactly what I’m looking for. Unfortunately, from most of what I’ve read online, it seems these will run on PiOS but are difficult/impossible to get going under Ubuntu and on a Pi 5. Has anyone tried or succeeded with this, or can anyone give me some guidance? I’d buy them to try, but installation will involving opening my case and having to redo the thermal paste, which I’d like to avoid if it’s not going to work. I asked ChatGPT and got this, but unsure how trustworthy it is:
Getting Pimoroni Blinkt! Working on Ubuntu
Even though Pimoroni Blinkt! is designed for Raspbian, you can still use it on Ubuntu by manually installing its dependencies and running the Python scripts. Here’s how you can do it:
Install Python dependencies: The Blinkt! library requires Python 3 and some additional Python packages, which you can install via pip:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-pip python3-rpi.gpio
pip3 install blinkt
Run Blinkt! scripts: After installing the necessary dependencies, you should be able to use the Blinkt! Python library in your scripts on Ubuntu just like you would on Raspberry Pi OS.Make sure you run your scripts with sudo since GPIO access requires root privileges.
import blinkt
blinkt.set_pixel(0, 255, 0, 0) # Set the first pixel to red
blinkt.show()