User contributed documentation

Installation on the Raspberry Pi

For the Raspbian distribution

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential
$ sudo apt-get install libasound-dev or libasound2-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libjack0
$ sudo apt-get install libjack-dev
$ sudo apt-get install python-pip
$ sudo apt-get install python-dev
$ sudo pip install python-rtmidi

Installing python-rtmidi through Bash on Windows

The latest insider preview of Windows 10 adds a subsystem for Linux and users can use Bash just like a Linux shell. In order to set up python-rtmidi, there are a few additional required steps before the normal installation procedure:

• Set up pip and Python ($ denotes the bash prompt):

  $ apt-get remove upstart
  $ apt-get remove udev
  $ apt-get autoremove
  $ sudo apt-get install python-pip
  $ sudo apt-get install python-dev
  $ nano /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
  

• Write the following to /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d:

  #!/bin/sh
  exit 101
  

  Then:

  $ chmod +x /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
  $ dpkg-divert --local --rename --add /sbin/initctl
  $ ln -s /bin/true /sbin/initctl
  

• Set up requirements for python-rtmidi:

  $ sudo apt-get download udev
  $ sudo apt-get install initramfs-tools
  $ sudo dpkg -i --force-all confmiss udev_*.deb
  $ apt-get install -y alsa-utils
  $ gpasswd -a root audio
  

Unfortunately, there are some issues around the current version of Bash on Windows, which prevents the Alsa and soundcards from being accessible. (Try running alsamixer and aplay -l to see if it works on your device). An issue about this has been filed.

Still, after performing the above setup, python-rtmidi can be installed as described in the main INSTALL.rst file and is technically accessible through Python.