Add Linux support with application mute handling and startup script

README.md

@@ -27,10 +27,40 @@ The architecture consists of three main components:
 
 ## Starting the Server
 
-There are a couple of ways to launch the software depending on your needs:
+There are a few ways to launch the software depending on your needs:
 
-- **Interactive Mode (`Start-Macropad.bat`)**: Starts the Node.js server, displays the console output, and automatically opens your default web browser to the `http://localhost:3001` configuration page.
-- **Background Mode (`Run-Hidden.vbs`)**: Silently launches the Node server in the background without opening a visible command prompt window. This is ideal for adding to your Windows Startup folder for seamless background operation.
+- **Interactive Mode (Windows) (`Start-Macropad.bat`)**: Starts the Node.js server, displays the console output, and automatically opens your default web browser to the `http://localhost:3001` configuration page.
+- **Background Mode (Windows) (`Run-Hidden.vbs`)**: Silently launches the Node server in the background without opening a visible command prompt window. This is ideal for adding to your Windows Startup folder for seamless background operation.
+- **Linux Mode (`start-macropad.sh`)**: Starts the Node.js server and automatically opens the configuration page in your default browser.
+
+---
+
+## Linux Installation & Prerequisites
+
+To run the application on Linux (e.g., Ubuntu/Debian), perform the following configuration steps:
+
+### 1. Serial Port Permissions
+By default, Linux limits access to serial devices (like `/dev/ttyACM0`). Give your user account permission to access the Pico serial port by running:
+```bash
+sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
+```
+*Note: You must log out and log back in (or reboot) for this change to take effect.*
+
+### 2. Keyboard Simulation Dependencies (`nut-js`)
+The keyboard simulation library requires the development header for `libXtst` and requires an **X11 / XWayland** environment (native Wayland will block synthetic input):
+```bash
+sudo apt-get update
+sudo apt-get install libxtst-dev
+```
+
+### 3. Launching
+Make the script executable and run it:
+```bash
+chmod +x start-macropad.sh
+./start-macropad.sh
+```
+
+---
 
 ## Configuration
 

server.js

@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ async function connectToPico() {
     }, 1000);
   });
 
+  serialPort.on('error', (err) => {
+    console.error('Serial port error: ', err.message);
+  });
+
   parser = serialPort.pipe(new ReadlineParser({ delimiter: '\n' }));
 
   parser.on('data', async (line) => {
@@ -193,10 +197,46 @@ async function connectToPico() {
         });
       } else if (btn.actionType === "mute_app" && btn.cmd) {
         console.log(`Toggling mute for: ${btn.cmd}`);
+        if (process.platform === 'win32') {
           const svvPath = path.join(__dirname, 'SoundVolumeView.exe');
           exec(`"${svvPath}" /Switch "${btn.cmd}"`, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
             if (error) console.error(`Mute error: ${error}\n${stderr}`);
           });
+        } else if (process.platform === 'linux') {
+          const cleanAppName = btn.cmd.replace(/\.exe$/i, '').toLowerCase();
+          exec('pactl list sink-inputs', (error, stdout, stderr) => {
+            if (error) {
+              console.error(`pactl error: ${error}\n${stderr}`);
+              return;
+            }
+            const blocks = stdout.split(/Sink Input #/i);
+            let found = false;
+            for (const block of blocks) {
+              if (!block.trim()) continue;
+              const lines = block.split('\n');
+              const index = parseInt(lines[0].trim());
+              if (isNaN(index)) continue;
+              const blockLower = block.toLowerCase();
+              const hasAppName = blockLower.includes(`application.name = "${cleanAppName}"`) || 
+                                blockLower.includes(`application.name = '${cleanAppName}'`) ||
+                                blockLower.includes(`application.process.binary = "${cleanAppName}"`) ||
+                                blockLower.includes(`application.process.binary = '${cleanAppName}'`) ||
+                                blockLower.includes(`media.name = "${cleanAppName}"`);
+              if (hasAppName) {
+                found = true;
+                console.log(`Found stream index ${index} for ${cleanAppName}, toggling mute...`);
+                exec(`pactl set-sink-input-mute ${index} toggle`, (err) => {
+                  if (err) console.error(`Failed to mute sink input ${index}: ${err}`);
+                });
+              }
+            }
+            if (!found) {
+              console.log(`Application '${cleanAppName}' not found in active audio streams.`);
+            }
+          });
+        } else {
+          console.warn(`mute_app is not supported on platform: ${process.platform}`);
+        }
       }
       
     } else if (line.startsWith("R,")) {

start-macropad.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Move to the script's directory
+cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+
+echo "Starting Macropad Control Center..."
+node server.js &
+SERVER_PID=$!
+
+# Wait 2 seconds for server to start
+sleep 2
+
+# Open local config page in default browser
+if command -v xdg-open > /dev/null; then
+  xdg-open http://localhost:3001
+elif command -v gnome-open > /dev/null; then
+  gnome-open http://localhost:3001
+else
+  echo "Please open http://localhost:3001 in your browser"
+fi
+
+# Keep the script running to allow stopping the server with Ctrl+C
+wait $SERVER_PID