OrangePi Zero as an Ad-Block server with Pi-Hole [GUIDE]
I recently purchased from Aliexpress the latest Orange Pi Zero for 6.99$. It is a nice little microcomputer with the specs you see below:
Hardware specification |
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| CPU | H2 Quad-core Cortex-A7 H.265/HEVC 1080P. | |
| GPU | ·Mali400MP2 GPU @600MHz ·Supports OpenGL ES 2.0 |
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| Memory (SDRAM) | 256MB/512MB DDR3 SDRAM(Share with GPU)(256MB version is Standard version) | |
| Onboard Storage | TF card (Max. 64GB)/ NOR Flash(2MB Default not posted) | |
| Onboard Network | 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 POE is default off. | |
| Onboard WIFI | XR819, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n | |
| Audio Input | MIC | |
| Video Outputs | Supports external board via 13pins | |
| Power Source | USB OTG can supply power | |
| USB 2.0 Ports | Only One USB 2.0 HOST, one USB 2.0 OTG | |
| Buttons | Power Button | |
| Low-level peripherals | 26 Pins Header, compatible with Raspberry Pi B+
13 Pins Header, with 2x USB, IR pin, AUDIO(MIC, AV) |
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| LED | Power led & Status led | |
| Key | POWER | |
| Supported OS | Android, Lubuntu, Debian, Raspbian | |
Interface definition |
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| Product size | 48 mm × 46mm | |
| Weight | 26g | |
As a project to see how it performs I decided to set it up as an Ad-block server with the incredibly nice software Pi-Hole. As an operating system I used the Armbian which you can get it from here: https://www.armbian.com/.
So first step is to download the image (I used the Debian jessie 3.4) , decompress it because it is in 7z extension and write it a Microsd card with Etcher. It is the suggested tool for this task.
Power your OrangePi, find the Ip address from the dhcp connected devices from your router’s control panel and after a few seconds try to connect via SSH. For this you can use Putty. Default username is root and password is 1234. You will get prompted to change the root password and add a user. Do both. Then you are ready to install Pi-hole. This an easy task. Just paste in your terminal curl -L https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
After a couple of seconds you will see a wizard which will guide you through some basic setup. Once this is finished you are ready to use your Ad-block server! Add as DNS in your internet connection the IP address of the orange pi and check a website you know it is full of ads. Magically they disappeared! Bonus the really nice admin panel for pi-hole. You can access it from your browser -> http://<your-orangepi-ip>/admin/index.php.
Here is mine:
Have fun!
Sorry if it’s a silly question, but how did you set up video output on the zero
There is no video output. I connect to it through ssh with a utility called putty.
There is a TV output, 9th pin.
Have you tested the performance of the Orange Pi? Does it scale up well when you use multiple computers in the network?
One benefit of this approach is that actual traffic is not routed through the Pi-hole server.
you might have to add a “-k” in the command. “curl -k -L https://install.pi-hole.net | bash”
Does it really support 64GB sd card? Official specs says it’s only 32GB.
I’m using this setup plus Unbound for a few days now and I’m facing a lot of disconnections. I have a lot of smart home appliances that constantly connect to a remote server and create a lot of traffic, all of which goes through the orangepi. After some research, I concluded that the orangepi zero 256mb doesn’t have enough RAM to run PiHole. See in the prerequisites, they say at least 512mb.
Good thought though.