npm build Fails on macOS (Ventura 13.4.1)

[andreschoque3]

I was following the installation process as indicated on the README file.
I was trying to do an npm install blinkstick when I received all the errors below

npm WARN old lockfile 
npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm,
npm WARN old lockfile so supplemental metadata must be fetched from the registry.
npm WARN old lockfile 
npm WARN old lockfile This is a one-time fix-up, please be patient...
npm WARN old lockfile 
npm WARN deprecated ini@1.3.5: Please update to ini >=1.3.6 to avoid a prototype pollution issue
npm WARN deprecated mkdirp@0.5.1: Legacy versions of mkdirp are no longer supported. Please update to mkdirp 1.x. (Note that the API surface has changed to use Promises in 1.x.)
npm ERR! code 1
npm ERR! path /Users/andreschoque/Desktop/blinkstick_js/blinkstick-node/node_modules/node-hid
npm ERR! command failed
npm ERR! command sh -c prebuild-install || node-gyp rebuild
npm ERR! CC(target) Release/obj.target/hidapi/hidapi/mac/hid.o
npm ERR!   LIBTOOL-STATIC Release/hidapi.a
npm ERR!   CXX(target) Release/obj.target/HID/src/HID.o
npm ERR! gyp info it worked if it ends with ok
npm ERR! gyp info using node-gyp@9.4.0
npm ERR! gyp info using node@20.5.0 | darwin | arm64
npm ERR! gyp info find Python using Python version 3.11.4 found at "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.11/bin/python3"
npm ERR! gyp info spawn /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.11/bin/python3
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args [
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/gyp/gyp_main.py',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   'binding.gyp',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-f',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   'make',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-I',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/Users/andreschoque/Desktop/blinkstick_js/blinkstick-node/node_modules/node-hid/build/config.gypi',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-I',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/addon.gypi',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-I',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/include/node/common.gypi',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dlibrary=shared_library',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dvisibility=default',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_root_dir=/Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_gyp_dir=/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_lib_file=/Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/<(target_arch)/node.lib',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dmodule_root_dir=/Users/andreschoque/Desktop/blinkstick_js/blinkstick-node/node_modules/node-hid',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_engine=v8',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '--depth=.',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '--no-parallel',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '--generator-output',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   'build',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Goutput_dir=.'
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args ]
npm ERR! gyp info spawn make
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args [ 'BUILDTYPE=Release', '-C', 'build' ]
npm ERR! In file included from ../src/HID.cc:31:
npm ERR! In file included from ../../nan/nan.h:174:
npm ERR! ../../nan/nan_callbacks.h:55:23: error: no member named 'AccessorSignature' in namespace 'v8'
npm ERR! typedef v8::Local<v8::AccessorSignature> Sig;
npm ERR!                   ~~~~^
npm ERR! In file included from ../src/HID.cc:31:
npm ERR! ../../nan/nan.h:680:39: warning: 'IdleNotificationDeadline' is deprecated: Use MemoryPressureNotification() to influence the GC schedule. [-Wdeprecated-declarations]
npm ERR!     return v8::Isolate::GetCurrent()->IdleNotificationDeadline(
npm ERR!                                       ^
npm ERR! /Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/include/node/v8-isolate.h:1291:3: note: 'IdleNotificationDeadline' has been explicitly marked deprecated here
npm ERR!   V8_DEPRECATE_SOON(
npm ERR!   ^
npm ERR! /Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/include/node/v8config.h:550:39: note: expanded from macro 'V8_DEPRECATE_SOON'
npm ERR! # define V8_DEPRECATE_SOON(message) [[deprecated(message)]]
npm ERR!                                       ^
npm ERR! In file included from ../src/HID.cc:31:
npm ERR! ../../nan/nan.h:2536:8: error: no matching member function for call to 'SetAccessor'
npm ERR!   tpl->SetAccessor(
npm ERR!   ~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR! /Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/include/node/v8-template.h:816:8: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion from 'imp::Sig' (aka 'int') to 'v8::SideEffectType' for 7th argument
npm ERR!   void SetAccessor(
npm ERR!        ^
npm ERR! /Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/include/node/v8-template.h:809:8: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion from 'imp::NativeGetter' (aka 'void (*)(v8::Local<v8::Name>, const v8::PropertyCallbackInfo<v8::Value> &)') to 'v8::AccessorGetterCallback' (aka 'void (*)(Local<v8::String>, const PropertyCallbackInfo<v8::Value> &)') for 2nd argument
npm ERR!   void SetAccessor(
npm ERR!        ^
npm ERR! In file included from ../src/HID.cc:31:
npm ERR! In file included from ../../nan/nan.h:2884:
npm ERR! ../../nan/nan_typedarray_contents.h:34:43: error: no member named 'GetContents' in 'v8::ArrayBuffer'
npm ERR!       data   = static_cast<char*>(buffer->GetContents().Data()) + byte_offset;
npm ERR!                                   ~~~~~~~~^
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:67:5: error: ISO C++17 does not allow dynamic exception specifications [-Wdynamic-exception-spec]
npm ERR!     throw(JSException);
npm ERR!     ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:67:5: note: use 'noexcept(false)' instead
npm ERR!     throw(JSException);
npm ERR!     ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR!     noexcept(false)
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:70:5: error: ISO C++17 does not allow dynamic exception specifications [-Wdynamic-exception-spec]
npm ERR!     throw(JSException);
npm ERR!     ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:70:5: note: use 'noexcept(false)' instead
npm ERR!     throw(JSException);
npm ERR!     ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR!     noexcept(false)
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:152:3: error: ISO C++17 does not allow dynamic exception specifications [-Wdynamic-exception-spec]
npm ERR!   throw(JSException)
npm ERR!   ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:152:3: note: use 'noexcept(false)' instead
npm ERR!   throw(JSException)
npm ERR!   ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR!   noexcept(false)
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:163:3: error: ISO C++17 does not allow dynamic exception specifications [-Wdynamic-exception-spec]
npm ERR!   throw(JSException)
npm ERR!   ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:163:3: note: use 'noexcept(false)' instead
npm ERR!   throw(JSException)
npm ERR!   ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
npm ERR!   noexcept(false)
npm ERR! ../src/HID.cc:608:31: error: too few arguments to function call, expected 3, have 2
npm ERR!   node::AtExit(deinitialize, 0);
npm ERR!   ~~~~~~~~~~~~                ^
npm ERR! /Users/andreschoque/Library/Caches/node-gyp/20.5.0/include/node/node.h:1263:18: note: 'AtExit' declared here
npm ERR! NODE_EXTERN void AtExit(Environment* env,
npm ERR!                  ^
npm ERR! 1 warning and 8 errors generated.
npm ERR! make: *** [Release/obj.target/HID/src/HID.o] Error 1
npm ERR! gyp ERR! build error 
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack Error: `make` failed with exit code: 2
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.onExit (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/lib/build.js:203:23)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:514:28)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:294:12)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! System Darwin 22.5.0
npm ERR! gyp ERR! command "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/node/20.5.0/bin/node" "/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
npm ERR! gyp ERR! cwd /Users/andreschoque/Desktop/blinkstick_js/blinkstick-node/node_modules/node-hid
npm ERR! gyp ERR! node -v v20.5.0
npm ERR! gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v9.4.0
npm ERR! gyp ERR! not ok

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in: /Users/andreschoque/.npm/_logs/2023-08-01T14_10_12_770Z-debug-0.log

I wanted to reach out to see which version of npm, node, or any other dependencies work
Thanks,

[bala9248]

@andreschoque3 Were you able to find a fix for this issue? I am facing the same problem when I am trying on Windows.

node version - v18.12.1

[antti5]

@andreschoque3 @bala9248 Were either of you able to solve this?

I'm facing the same problem on Ubuntu 22.04, Node.js version 20.11.

[andreschoque3]

sorry guys, I did not find a solution. Instead I used Ruby and it worked fine for me.

[antti5]

sorry guys, I did not find a solution. Instead I used Ruby and it worked fine for me.

Roger that! It looks to me that adjusting the flags of the C++ compiler would solve this... Maybe I'll have a go at this.

[sdegliame]

Hello folks, on M1/Sequoia 15.7.1, this is the solution I founded for my BlinkStick Square.

Initially, I had the same error about the compilation of native node-hid even with the right command-line tools installed. After multiple tries, I have abandoned this track. And return to npm only solution with :

npm cache clean --force && npm install node-hid@latest

Then reinstall blinkstick npm install blinkstick but I face multiple errors again...

The problem stems from the old version of node-hid that the blinkstick package tries to install. So I try an alternative solution: create my own implementation using node-hid directly, which already works.

Based on the search results, I found the USB HID vendor ID and product ID for BlinkStick devices:

Vendor ID: 0x20a0
Product ID: 0x41e5

These IDs are consistently used across multiple BlinkStick implementations and libraries, including:

• The BlinkStick Node.js library
• The BlinkStick Python library
• The BlinkStick Go implementation

The vendor is listed as "Clay Logic" and the device is the BlinkStick. The vendor ID 0x20a0 appears to be registered to Flirc (formerly owned by Jason Kotzin), and BlinkStick uses product IDs within a range allocated by this vendor.

These identifiers remain current as of 2025 and are used to detect and communicate with BlinkStick USB LED controller devices across different platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS).

And this is an implementation that run smoothly :

const HID = require("node-hid");

// BlinkStick USB IDs
const BLINKSTICK_VENDOR_ID = 0x20a0;
const BLINKSTICK_PRODUCT_ID = 0x41e5;

// Fonction pour convertir une couleur en RGB
function colorToRGB(color) {
  const colors = {
    red: [255, 0, 0],
    green: [0, 255, 0],
    blue: [0, 0, 255],
    yellow: [255, 255, 0],
    purple: [128, 0, 128],
    cyan: [0, 255, 255],
    white: [255, 255, 255],
    orange: [255, 165, 0],
    off: [0, 0, 0],
  };
  return colors[color.toLowerCase()] || [0, 0, 0];
}

// Fonction pour interpoler entre deux couleurs
function interpolateColor(color1, color2, factor) {
  // factor entre 0 et 1 (0 = color1, 1 = color2)
  const r = Math.round(color1[0] + (color2[0] - color1[0]) * factor);
  const g = Math.round(color1[1] + (color2[1] - color1[1]) * factor);
  const b = Math.round(color1[2] + (color2[2] - color1[2]) * factor);
  return [r, g, b];
}

// Trouver le BlinkStick
function findBlinkStick() {
  const devices = HID.devices();
  const blinkstick = devices.find(
    (d) =>
      d.vendorId === BLINKSTICK_VENDOR_ID &&
      d.productId === BLINKSTICK_PRODUCT_ID
  );
  return blinkstick;
}

// Classe BlinkStick simplifiée
class BlinkStick {
  constructor(deviceInfo) {
    this.device = new HID.HID(deviceInfo.path);
    this.maxLeds = 8; // Par défaut, peut être ajusté selon le modèle
  }

  // Définir la couleur d'une LED spécifique
  setColor(channel, index, r, g, b) {
    // Si r est une chaîne (nom de couleur), convertir en RGB
    if (typeof r === "string") {
      [r, g, b] = colorToRGB(r);
    }

    // Commande HID pour définir la couleur d'une LED
    // Format: [0x05, channel, index, r, g, b]
    const report = [0x05, channel || 0, index || 0, r, g, b];
    try {
      this.device.write(report);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Erreur lors de l'envoi de la commande:", error.message);
    }
  }

  // Fermer la connexion
  close() {
    this.device.close();
  }
}

// Programme principal
const deviceInfo = findBlinkStick();

if (deviceInfo) {
  console.log("BlinkStick détecté!");
  console.log("Fabricant:", deviceInfo.manufacturer);
  console.log("Produit:", deviceInfo.product);

  const led = new BlinkStick(deviceInfo);

  // Fonction pour faire une transition douce entre les couleurs
  function smoothTransition(colors = ["red", "green", "blue"], duration = 3000, repeats = 3) {
    const maxLeds = led.maxLeds;
    const steps = 50; // Nombre d'étapes pour la transition
    const stepDelay = duration / steps; // Délai entre chaque étape

    // Convertir les noms de couleurs en RGB
    const rgbColors = colors.map(c => colorToRGB(c));

    let currentColorIndex = 0;
    let step = 0;
    let repeat = 0;

    console.log(`Début de la transition douce (${repeats} cycles)...`);
    console.log(`Couleurs: ${colors.join(" → ")} → ${colors[0]}`);

    const interval = setInterval(() => {
      // Calculer le facteur d'interpolation (0 à 1)
      const factor = step / steps;

      // Couleur actuelle et suivante
      const color1 = rgbColors[currentColorIndex];
      const color2 = rgbColors[(currentColorIndex + 1) % rgbColors.length];

      // Interpoler la couleur
      const [r, g, b] = interpolateColor(color1, color2, factor);

      // Appliquer la couleur à toutes les LEDs
      for (let i = 0; i < maxLeds; i++) {
        led.setColor(0, i, r, g, b);
      }

      step++;

      // Transition vers la couleur suivante
      if (step > steps) {
        step = 0;
        currentColorIndex = (currentColorIndex + 1) % rgbColors.length;

        // Vérifier si on a terminé un cycle complet
        if (currentColorIndex === 0) {
          repeat++;
          if (repeat >= repeats) {
            clearInterval(interval);
            // Éteindre toutes les LEDs à la fin
            for (let i = 0; i < maxLeds; i++) {
              led.setColor(0, i, 0, 0, 0);
            }
            console.log("Transition terminée!");
            led.close();
            return;
          }
          console.log(`Cycle ${repeat + 1}/${repeats}...`);
        }
      }
    }, stepDelay);
  }

  // Lancer la transition douce
  // Paramètres: tableau de couleurs, durée par transition (ms), nombre de répétitions
  smoothTransition(["red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "purple", "cyan", "white", "orange"], 10000, 20);

} else {
  console.log("Aucun BlinkStick détecté");
  console.log("Vérifiez que votre BlinkStick est bien connecté en USB");
  console.log("\nAppareils HID disponibles:");
  HID.devices().forEach((d) => {
    console.log(
      `  - ${d.product || "Inconnu"} (VID: 0x${d.vendorId?.toString(16)}, PID: 0x${d.productId?.toString(16)})`
    );
  });
}

I hope it helps.

[Ginden]

@sdegliame You may be interested in modern fork.