How to install particle dev on Ubuntu 16.04

Getting Started
1

How to install particle dev on Ubuntu 16.04?

I’m getting these errors in atom when trying to install the particle-dev-complete package, please help.

untitled11 untitled1:1LFUTF-8Plain TextError installing particle-dev-complete dependencies
Error Installing particle-dev> serialport@4.0.1 install /tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport> node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-buildUnsupported target version: 0.37.8
npm WARN deprecated spark@0.5.10: Use particle-api-js instead
npm WARN deprecated minimatch@2.0.10: Please update to minimatch 3.0.2 or higher to avoid a RegExp DoS issue
npm WARN installMany node-pre-gyp was bundled with serialport@4.0.1, but bundled package wasn't found in unpacked tree
npm WARN engine deep-extend@0.4.1: wanted: {"node":">=0.12.0","iojs":">=1.0.0"} (current: {"node":"0.10.40","npm":"2.13.3"})
node-pre-gyp ERR! install error node-pre-gyp ERR! stack Error: Unsupported target version: 0.37.8
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at get_runtime_abi (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/versioning.js:156:23)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Object.module.exports.evaluate (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/versioning.js:277:19)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at install (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/install.js:148:31)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Object.self.commands.(anonymous function) [as install] (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/node-pre-gyp.js:48:37)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at run (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/bin/node-pre-gyp:79:30)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Object.<anonymous> (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/bin/node-pre-gyp:131:1)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Module.load (module.js:356:32)node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
node-pre-gyp ERR! System Linux 4.4.0-34-genericnode-pre-gyp ERR! command "node" "/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/.bin/node-pre-gyp" "install" "--fallback-to-build"
node-pre-gyp ERR! cwd /tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialportnode-pre-gyp ERR! node -v v0.10.40
node-pre-gyp ERR! node-pre-gyp -v v0.6.29
node-pre-gyp ERR! not ok 
npm ERR! Linux 4.4.0-34-genericn
pm ERR! argv "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node" "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js" "--globalconfig" "/home/randal/.atom/.apm/.apmrc" "--userconfig" "/home/randal/.atom/.apmrc" "install" "/tmp/d-116721-15669-3suug/package.tgz" "--target=0.37.8" "--arch=x64" "--production"
npm ERR! node v0.10.40npm ERR! npm  v2.13.3npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLEnpm ERR! serialport@4.0.1 install: `node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build`npm ERR! Exit status 1npm ERR! npm ERR! Failed at the serialport@4.0.1 install script 'node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build'.npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the serialport package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:npm ERR!     node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR!     npm owner ls serialportnpm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR!     /tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-15669-ce0x6o/npm-debug.log
2

What version of node are you running? (Run the command node -v to get your node version)

3

$ node -v
v4.2.6

4

Can you try this: https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/wiki/Updating-npm’s-bundled-node-gyp and then re-run the Particle install command?

5

Thanks, but no luck so far:

If I try that, I get:

$ sudo npm explore npm -g -- npm install node-gyp@latest
npm ERR! Linux 4.4.0-34-generic
npm ERR! argv "/usr/bin/nodejs" "/usr/bin/npm" "explore" "npm" "-g" "--" "npm" "install" "node-gyp@latest"
npm ERR! node v4.2.6
npm ERR! npm v3.5.2

npm ERR! It doesn't look like npm is installed.
npm ERR!
npm ERR! If you need help, you may report this error at:
npm ERR! https://github.com/npm/npm/issues

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR! /home/randal/npm-debug.log

if I cd /usr/bin and then run:

/usr/bin$ sudo npm install -g node-gyp@latest
/usr/local/bin/node-gyp -> /usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js
/usr/local/lib
└── node-gyp@3.4.0

However with aton, I's still getting:

Error installing particle-dev-complete dependencies
Error Installing particle-dev

serialport@4.0.1 install /tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-21873-x14j88/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
Unsupported target version: 0.37.8
npm WARN deprecated spark@0.5.10: Use particle-api-js instead
npm WARN deprecated minimatch@2.0.10: Please update to minimatch 3.0.2 or higher to avoid a RegExp DoS issue
npm WARN installMany node-pre-gyp was bundled with serialport@4.0.1, but bundled package wasn't found in unpacked tree
npm WARN engine deep-extend@0.4.1: wanted: {"node":">=0.12.0","iojs":">=1.0.0"} (current: {"node":"0.10.40","npm":"2.13.3"})
node-pre-gyp ERR! install error
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack Error: Unsupported target version: 0.37.8
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at get_runtime_abi (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-21873-x14j88/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/versioning.js:156:23)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Object.module.exports.evaluate (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-21873-x14j88/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/versioning.js:277:19)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at install (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116721-21873-x14j88/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/install.js:148:31

6

You are still using Node version 4.2.6. Update to 6.x.x with

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_6.x | bash -
sudo apt-get install nodejs

And then try doing what @harrisonhjones recommended.

1 Like
7

I started over with a fresh install of CentOS 7 and am getting similar results. I hope this is not too much to ask, but I would like to have someone try doing the particle-dev install for CentOS 7 (as it works correctly with my AMD video card) and document the steps to actually get particle-dev to install and work properly.

Here's what I get with CentOS 7:

untitled
1
1

untitled1:1
LFUTF-8Plain Text
Error installing particle-dev-complete dependencies
Error Installing particle-dev

serialport@4.0.1 install /tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
Unsupported target version: 0.37.8
npm WARN deprecated spark@0.5.10: Use particle-api-js instead
npm WARN deprecated minimatch@2.0.10: Please update to minimatch 3.0.2 or higher to avoid a RegExp DoS issue
npm WARN installMany node-pre-gyp was bundled with serialport@4.0.1, but bundled package wasn't found in unpacked tree
npm WARN engine deep-extend@0.4.1: wanted: {"node":">=0.12.0","iojs":">=1.0.0"} (current: {"node":"0.10.40","npm":"2.13.3"})
node-pre-gyp ERR! install error
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack Error: Unsupported target version: 0.37.8
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at get_runtime_abi (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/versioning.js:156:23)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Object.module.exports.evaluate (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/versioning.js:277:19)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at install (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/install.js:148:31)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Object.self.commands.(anonymous function) [as install] (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/node-pre-gyp.js:48:37)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at run (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/bin/node-pre-gyp:79:30)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Object. (/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/bin/node-pre-gyp:131:1)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
node-pre-gyp ERR! System Linux 3.10.0-327.el7.x86_64
node-pre-gyp ERR! command "node" "/tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/node_modules/.bin/node-pre-gyp" "install" "--fallback-to-build"
node-pre-gyp ERR! cwd /tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
node-pre-gyp ERR! node -v v0.10.40
node-pre-gyp ERR! node-pre-gyp -v v0.6.29
node-pre-gyp ERR! not ok
npm ERR! Linux 3.10.0-327.el7.x86_64
npm ERR! argv "/usr/share/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node" "/usr/share/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js" "--globalconfig" "/home/rriedinger/.atom/.apm/.apmrc" "--userconfig" "/home/rriedinger/.atom/.apmrc" "install" "/tmp/d-116729-17068-1gc2ksz/package.tgz" "--target=0.37.8" "--arch=x64" "--production"
npm ERR! node v0.10.40
npm ERR! npm v2.13.3
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! serialport@4.0.1 install: node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the serialport@4.0.1 install script 'node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build'.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the serialport package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR! node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR! npm owner ls serialport
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR! /tmp/apm-install-dir-116729-17068-qsfwix/npm-debug.log

8

You are also using a version of node that is too old.

Update with:

curl -sL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_6.x | bash -
sudo yum install nodejs
9

This is how I was able to get particle-dev working in Atom with Ubuntu 16.04 after looking at posts from @suda and @nrobinson2000 :

  1. Make sure you have build-essential:
    sudo apt-get install build-essential
  2. Make sure you have a current version of nodejs, you can substitute 6.x vs 7.x below:
    curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_7.x | sudo -E bash -
    sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
    (may need to restart your computer!)
  3. Remove the Particle packages from within Atom and exit Atom
  4. The problem child is particle-dev, so install it first from the terminal:
    export npm_config_runtime=electron
    apm install particle-dev
  5. Then do this from a terminal in your Home directory:
    cd ~/.atom/packages/particle-dev
    npm install nopt
    rm -rf node_modules/serialport
    export ATOM_NODE_VERSION=0.22.3
    apm install .
    apm install tool-bar
    apm rebuild-module-cache
  6. Now startup Atom and if red bug icon at lower right corner, select it then select Rebuild Modules and restart Atom
  7. Now add all the other Particle packages in Atom:
    particle-dev-cloud-variables
    particle-dev-cloud-functions
    particle-dev-profiles
    particle-dev-libraries
    language-particle
    particle-dev-release-notes
  8. You should now have extra icons in Atom like the Particle Web IDE and also a Particle menu item. If this did not work, try it in a different sequence!

I hope this helped save you some time . . .

2 Likes
10

Hey all, I'm having the same trouble. Maybe something to do with me actually using node serialport package on my own projects and/or that I had Atom installed before trying to install Particle-dev?

My configuration is:

Ubuntu 16.04

node --version
v6.9.1

atom --version
Atom : 1.9.8
Electron: 0.37.8
Chrome : 49.0.2623.75
Node : 5.10.0

When I saw that Atom list Node 5.10.0 as its version, and Electron 0.37.8, I figured let me try and re-install atom. I did that by doing:

sudo apt-get remove atom
sudo rm -rf ~/.atom/

Then after re-instaling Atom, I get:

atom --version
Atom : 1.12.6
Electron: 1.3.9
Chrome : 52.0.2743.82
Node : 6.5.0

Some significantly newer versions there, particularly Node and Electron. So then, per this:

apm install particle-dev-complete

Open Atom and get info notification like so:

Pasted image1301×744 59.6 KB

And once that's done I think we're off to the races:

Pasted image1301×744 58.7 KB

1 Like
11

… not so fast though, I have a Particle menu in Atom now, but the dropdown has nothing in it … what’s gives?

Update, I noticed there was a “red icon” in the lower right hand corner, indicating I need to rebuild one of the packages, which I did and it succeeded. Restarted atom which reinstalled some more particle-dev dependencies, and now my Particle menu is populated. Yay!

1 Like
12

Wow! That works alot better than my post! Thank you.

1 Like
13

Hi,
I’m having similar problem as you had installing desktop particle IDE. I’m using Ubuntu 17.10
Installed atom from Ubuntu Software GUI, No errors and opens with dialog asking to install

particle-dev-complete dependencies

Then:
Error Installing particle-dev

I updated nodejs and npm. Here are the versions that atom reports:

$ atom --version
Atom : 1.23.1
Electron: 1.6.15
Chrome : 56.0.2924.87
Node : 7.4.0

You said you got a red icon indicating need to rebuild a package. I don’t get that. What package did you rebuild?

Here’s what I get when I try to install particle-dev using apm

sudo apm install particle-dev
Installing particle-dev to /home/tgm/.atom/packages ✗

    > serialport@4.0.1 install /tmp/apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
    > node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build

    /tmp/apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor
    └── (empty)


    npm WARN deprecated spark@0.5.10: Use particle-api-js instead
    npm WARN deprecated minimatch@2.0.10: Please update to minimatch 3.0.2 or higher to avoid a RegExp DoS issue
    npm WARN excluding symbolic link test/server/static/ie8-polyfill.js -> ../../../ie8-polyfill.js
    npm WARN excluding symbolic link test/server/static/ie8-polyfill.js -> ../../../ie8-polyfill.js
    sh: 1: node-pre-gyp: Permission denied
    npm WARN enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/tmp/apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor/package.json'
    npm WARN apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor No description
    npm WARN apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor No repository field.
    npm WARN apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor No README data
    npm WARN apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor No license field.
    npm ERR! Linux 4.13.0-19-generic
    npm ERR! argv "/snap/atom/106/usr/share/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node" "/snap/atom/106/usr/share/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js" "--globalconfig" "/home/tgm/.atom/.apm/.apmrc" "--userconfig" "/home/tgm/.atom/.apmrc" "install" "/tmp/d-1171115-15486-1vqjwnn.xc4n29/package.tgz" "--runtime=electron" "--target=1.6.15" "--arch=x64" "--global-style"
    npm ERR! node v6.9.5
    npm ERR! npm  v3.10.10
    npm ERR! file sh
    npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
    npm ERR! errno ENOENT
    npm ERR! syscall spawn

    npm ERR! serialport@4.0.1 install: `node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build`
    npm ERR! spawn ENOENT
    npm ERR! 
    npm ERR! Failed at the serialport@4.0.1 install script 'node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build'.
    npm ERR! Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
    npm ERR! If you do, this is most likely a problem with the serialport package,
    npm ERR! not with npm itself.
    npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
    npm ERR!     node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
    npm ERR! You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
    npm ERR!     npm bugs serialport
    npm ERR! Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
    npm ERR!     npm owner ls serialport
    npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.

    npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
    npm ERR!     /tmp/apm-install-dir-1171115-15486-b6y03n.es63hj8aor/npm-debug.log
    npm ERR! code 1

Thanks so much for looking at this!
Tim

14

Me too. I installed Atom with Particle Dev successfully last year on Ubuntu 16.04. This year, I upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04; however, today, I reinstalled Ubuntu on a new SSD (finally got a brand-name SSD instead of a shady Chinese one that started becoming unreliable after two or three months of use). Had a super hard time finding the Particle Dev install instructions--it's nearly impossible to find on the Particle website now.

Before reinstalling, Particle Dev in Atom worked fine--I was busy debugging a Photon project yesterday with it.

Anyway, I can't install the Particle Dev package on Atom. After finding this page, I upgraded "nodejs", which didn't change anything. "atom --version" currently returns the following:

Atom : 1.26.1
Electron: 1.7.11
Chrome : 58.0.3029.110
Node : 7.9.0

I can install all of the other Particle Dev packages, except for "particle-dev" itself. Fails with a mess of noncomprehensible stuff, as follows:

serialport@4.0.1 install /tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build

Failed to execute '/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node /opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/../node_modules/.bin/node-gyp build --fallback-to-build --module=/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/build/Release/serialport.node --module_name=serialport --module_path=/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/build/Release' (1)
/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr
└── (empty)

npm WARN deprecated spark@0.5.10: Use particle-api-js instead
npm WARN deprecated minimatch@2.0.10: Please update to minimatch 3.0.2 or higher to avoid a RegExp DoS issue
npm WARN excluding symbolic link test/server/static/ie8-polyfill.js -> ../../../ie8-polyfill.js
npm WARN deprecated cryptiles@2.0.5: This version is no longer maintained. Please upgrade to the latest version.
npm WARN deprecated hoek@2.16.3: This version is no longer maintained. Please upgrade to the latest version.
npm WARN deprecated boom@2.10.1: This version is no longer maintained. Please upgrade to the latest version.
npm WARN excluding symbolic link test/server/static/ie8-polyfill.js -> ../../../ie8-polyfill.js
node-pre-gyp ERR! Tried to download(404): https://github.com/EmergingTechnologyAdvisors/node-serialport/releases/download/4.0.1/serialport-v4.0.1-electron-v1.7-linux-x64.tar.gz
node-pre-gyp ERR! Pre-built binaries not found for serialport@4.0.1 and electron@1.7.11 (electron-v1.7 ABI, glibc) (falling back to source compile with node-gyp)
gyp ERR! build error
gyp ERR! stack Error: not found: make
gyp ERR! stack at getNotFoundError (/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/which/which.js:13:12)
gyp ERR! stack at F (/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/which/which.js:68:19)
gyp ERR! stack at E (/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/which/which.js:80:29)
gyp ERR! stack at /opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/which/which.js:89:16
gyp ERR! stack at /opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/isexe/index.js:42:5
gyp ERR! stack at /opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/isexe/mode.js:8:5
gyp ERR! stack at FSReqWrap.oncomplete (fs.js:123:15)
gyp ERR! System Linux 4.15.0-38-generic
gyp ERR! command "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node" "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/.bin/node-gyp" "build" "--fallback-to-build" "--module=/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/build/Release/serialport.node" "--module_name=serialport" "--module_path=/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/build/Release"
gyp ERR! cwd /tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
gyp ERR! node -v v6.9.5
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v3.4.0
gyp ERR! not ok
node-pre-gyp ERR! build error
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack Error: Failed to execute '/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node /opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/../node_modules/.bin/node-gyp build --fallback-to-build --module=/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/build/Release/serialport.node --module_name=serialport --module_path=/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport/build/Release' (1)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess. (/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/compile.js:83:29)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at emitTwo (events.js:106:13)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:191:7)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:877:16)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:226:5)
node-pre-gyp ERR! System Linux 4.15.0-38-generic
node-pre-gyp ERR! command "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node" "/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/.bin/node-pre-gyp" "install" "--fallback-to-build"
node-pre-gyp ERR! cwd /tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/node_modules/particle-dev/node_modules/serialport
node-pre-gyp ERR! node -v v6.9.5
node-pre-gyp ERR! node-pre-gyp -v v0.6.39
node-pre-gyp ERR! not ok
npm WARN enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/package.json'
npm WARN apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr No description
npm WARN apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr No repository field.
npm WARN apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr No README data
npm WARN apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr No license field.
npm ERR! Linux 4.15.0-38-generic
npm ERR! argv "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/bin/node" "/opt/atom/resources/app/apm/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js" "--globalconfig" "/home/siddy/.atom/.apm/.apmrc" "--userconfig" "/home/siddy/.atom/.apmrc" "install" "/tmp/d-1181010-21731-11mkvlw.li8rqf47vi/package.tgz" "--runtime=electron" "--target=1.7.11" "--arch=x64" "--global-style"
npm ERR! node v6.9.5
npm ERR! npm v3.10.10
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE

npm ERR! serialport@4.0.1 install: node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the serialport@4.0.1 install script 'node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build'.
npm ERR! Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
npm ERR! If you do, this is most likely a problem with the serialport package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR! node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
npm ERR! You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
npm ERR! npm bugs serialport
npm ERR! Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
npm ERR! npm owner ls serialport
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR! /tmp/apm-install-dir-1181010-21731-4la2n.fcovvuc8fr/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! code 1

So I'm basically grounded again. Any suggestions?

EDIT: found the solution (at least for me). Doesn't make any sense, but it works.
From the GitHub page (GitHub - particle-iot-archived/particle-dev: Particle Dev package for Atom), the following command is suggested:
sudo apt-get install build-essential

Another 117MB later, and bingo...it works...