do I need a display

[Eduardo Claro]

Hi, I am completely newbie here, so apologize if my question is stupid...

 

I am planning to buy a board to build a wireless print server. what I need my board to have is wireless connection and a Linux distribution capable of running cups, and a USB port.

 

I think Orange Pi Zero fits my needs with a good price, BUT it does not come with any video output option built-in.

 

My question is: if I buy Orange Pi Zero, and "burn" the armbian OS to SD card using my laptop, would I be able to configure ethernet and/or wifi network from my laptop, changing the network configuration files inside the SD card, and then boot the Pi board and have it connected to my network without the need to have a video output to configure something directly from the board, or it's absolutely mandatory to have a video output?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

EDUARDO

[tkaiser]

You don't need a display. Default images come with sshd enabled on the Ethernet port so after you bought the Zero you burn the image according to our documentation, insert SD card, attach network and power cord and connect to orangepizero.local after 3 minutes with your SSH client of choice.

[Eduardo Claro]

good to know, thanks very much.

[tkaiser]

BTW: Just to save you some time. The only command you need to set up Wi-Fi then is 'nmtui'. No need to fiddle around in config files manually. Just choose your Wi-Fi network with nmtui, reboot, login again through Ethernet to get the 2nd IP address and then try to connect to this through Wi-Fi.

 

We have some reports that this causes problems (maybe depending on network environment) so in case you run into troubles check this thread then: https://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/2907-opi-zero-incoming-ssh-cant-connect/

[Eduardo Claro]

thanks very much. By the way, I know it's a little off topic because it's not software-related, but if somebody can answer: how much power would it necessary for Orange Pi Zero? Would 1A (a regular phone charger) do the trick?

[tkaiser]

Check the right thread: https://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/2808-orange-pi-zero-went-to-the-market/

 

We use the same booting settings as with the small NanoPi NEO (which means these three boards take quite a bit time to boot but don't exceed 2W) and I managed using Armbian's h3consumption tool to get idle consumption as low as 0.5W. When H3 devices are busy consumption increases but also not that much -- see here for example: https://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/1748-sbc-consumptionperformance-comparisons/?p=13626

 

The problem with 'phone chargers' is that some do not provide more than 500 mA if the device in question doesn't speak one of the USB power delivery dialects (which no SBC does). And more importantly that many phone chargers simply suck. It might work but rule of thumb is 'a charger is not a PSU'. It should be noted that over 95 percent of 'Armbian problems' are related to either SD card or power supply issues

[jongtaesong]

"You don't need a display. Default images come with sshd enabled on the Ethernet port so after you bought the Zero you burn the image according to our documentation, insert SD card, attach network and power cord and connect to orangepizero.local after 3 minutes with your SSH client of choice." 

 

Hi, I am new here. 

I followed the instruction as above, it is not working.

 

$ slogin orangepizero.local

 

slogin: Could not resolve hostname orangepizero.local: Name or service not known

 

I think this may be because of my network environment. My network doesn't have DHCP server running and each device has fixed IP address. 

Is there any way to connect to orange pi zero without DHCP server?

 

thank you

[Igor]

 

I think this may be because of my network environment. My network doesn't have DHCP server running and each device has fixed IP address. 

Is there any way to connect to orange pi zero without DHCP server?

 

- via serial console

- by mounting SD card on some linux and setting fixed IP in /etc/network/interfaces as this example:

    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.0.2.7
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        gateway 192.0.2.254

[tkaiser]

My network doesn't have DHCP server running and each device has fixed IP address. 

 

So you most probably will hate everything that would make life easier? Eg. installing ZeroConf for Windows (I assume you're using Windows -- in OS X everything should be fine and in Linux it's just avahi-daemon that needs to be installed).

 

When there's no DHCP server the OPi Zero like any other machine running a half-decent OS should choose a so called link-local address (169.254.x.x) which gets announced through ZeroConf/Bonjour -- in Windows known as APIPA and working there for at least 15 years or so.

 

Oops, tried it out myself and had to realize that it's broken for reasons unknown to me. Apologies! It might work if you change your local IP address to 169.254.1.1 and try a broadcast ping (169.254.255.255) and check 'arp -a' output later. But serial console (or activating DHCP temporarly) seems more easy.

[arox]

So you most probably will hate everything that would make life easier? Eg. installing ZeroConf for Windows (I assume you're using Windows -- in OS X everything should be fine and in Linux it's just avahi-daemon that needs to be installed).

 

When there's no DHCP server the OPi Zero like any other machine running a half-decent OS should choose a so called link-local address (169.254.x.x) which gets announced through ZeroConf/Bonjour -- in Windows known as APIPA and working there for at least 15 years or so.

 

Oops, tried it out myself and had to realize that it's broken for reasons unknown to me. Apologies! It might work if you change your local IP address to 169.254.1.1 and try a broadcast ping (169.254.255.255) and check 'arp -a' output later. But serial console (or activating DHCP temporarly) seems more easy.

 

I think response to broadcast ping may have been disable (for security reason ?). I didn't manage to use it for a long time.

 

Please don't back up people that try to port "blue screen" technology on linux. I have seen the funniest things on network with appletalk 3 level physical/logical/service paradigm (access to wrong printer) and Microsoft abuse of layer 3 broadcast helpers (broadcast storm propagated threw the WAN). Microsoft programmers are not bad : bad choices are made upstream to offer functionality with little concern to security.

 

Automatic configuration of address is of no use : you have to choose a unique name anyway. You could as well use a fixed well known local ip address and force user to change it a first connection - as it is done for root password.

[tkaiser]

Automatic configuration of address is of no use : you have to choose a unique name anyway. You could as well use a fixed well known local ip address and force user to change it a first connection - as it is done for root password.

Are you kidding? Zeroconf works flawlessly and the concepts aren't new (AppleTalk). And since it's link-local even stubborn network administrators are not able to mess things up (unlike AppleTalk for example, all problems I ever had with it was due to admins too lazy getting familiar with the basics). Maybe time to read https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3927 and https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6762

 

This works since ages but unfortunately not with Armbian since a few packages and config bits are missing. And since there are always strong opponents when it's about 'networking that just works' I fear this will remain like this. So simple solution: get a DHCP server and you're done (and sorry, if anyone thinks DHCP would be a security risk I can't really help)

[rodolfo]

Are you kidding?

 

Most likely not

 

 

Missing network design does not improve with added complexities like DHCP or zeroconf-style automaticities. As @igor and @arox already mentioned, the most simple foolproof networking is based on static IPs defined in /etc/network/interfaces.

Sooner or later any Armbian user will have to learn Linux basics anyway and basic networking is part of it. Keep it simple and enjoy the power of lean, clean solutions. 

 

As most "network problems" are encountered by users of Microsoft/Apple systems, I'd strongly recommend a Linux system to work with Armbian boards as well.

[jongtaesong]

I think the serial console will be the best fit for me.

Can you point me where i can buy "cable for serial console"?

It is difficult to find 3 pin serial cable in the Internet.

[gnasch]

Try this:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PCS-CH340G-Serial-Converter-USB-2-0-To-TTL-6PIN-Module-for-PRO-mini-Instead-of/32309334168.html

[tkaiser]

As most "network problems" are encountered by users of Microsoft/Apple systems, I'd strongly recommend a Linux system to work with Armbian boards as well.

Since we're talking here about OPi Zero where currently only OS images with a 'legacy' (read as 'shitty Android') kernel are available quite the opposite is true, a Linux system running this kernel shows broken behavior regarding networking in more than one area.

 

Anyway, I finally give up since this 'edit static files' crap is way too stupid to deal with. Zeroconf works, it would need a few packages to be installed and config entries for link-local network range and then just a simple Ethernet cable would be enough. Too easy, I know. Things that 'just work' should be avoided. Let's edit static files since we did that back in 1970 also.

[rodolfo]

Anyway, I finally give up since this 'edit static files' crap is way too stupid to deal with. Zeroconf works,

 

While zeroconf may be a quick workaround for simplistic peer-to-peer networking, what you call "crap" is just the proven simple but powerful way to design, implement and test networking scenarios from basic to very complex.

Networking is all about control, not dumbing-down automaticities.

 

 

I think the serial console will be the best fit for me.

Can you point me where i can buy "cable for serial console"?

It is difficult to find 3 pin serial cable in the Internet.

 

Serial console is best bet. Just use 4-pin cable. Do not connect RED (power).

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-To-RS232-TTL-UART-PL2303HX-Auto-Converter-USB-to-COM-Cable-Adapter-Module-/181847253057?hash=item2a56f0e041

[tkaiser]

While zeroconf may be a quick workaround for simplistic peer-to-peer networking, what you call "crap" is just the proven simple but powerful way to design, implement and test networking scenarios from basic to very complex.

Networking is all about control, not dumbing-down automaticities.

 

 

Yeah, I know this. Those customers where 'everything is under control' have slow networking since admins chose high-end managed switches where they're able to mis-configure anything while those with the el cheapo stuff enjoy flawlessly working fast network

 

Well, it's all about getting those little devices up and running without becoming a network expert. While I still fail to understand how anyone would not use a central location to fiddle around in config files but chooses to fiddle around on every single device (c'mon: Installing dnsmasq and manage static IP address configuration is so plain simple by adding 'dhcp-host=$MAC,$NAME,$IP-ADDRESS,infinite' entries to Dnsmasq.conf) we tried to address the issue in the meantime: https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib/commit/0ca301701388b6f942a8c66f144adadb96af1032

 

That means with latest beta image from tomorrow neither real serial console nor an usual network environment (at least DHCP up and running!) are necessary. Simply connect the device with its Micro-USB port to an USB port of your host (USB3 preferred since 900mA are provided and not just 500mA!) and after OPi Zero boots up you have a serial console over USB and can then configure Wi-Fi the usual way: 

screen /dev/cu.usb* 115200 –L 

Wait 2 minutes (maybe automatic first run reboot), then login, change root pwd, create user account and configure Wi-Fi:

sudo nmtui

If you just want to use Wi-Fi don't connect the Ethernet cable (reasons here -- short version: Linux networking sucks).

[arox]

Yeah, I know this. Those customers where 'everything is under control' have slow networking since admins chose high-end managed switches where they're able to mis-configure anything while those with the el cheapo stuff enjoy flawlessly working fast network

 

Slow networking is most of the time "catastrophic slow" networking due to frame drops at link layer that need a long delay retransmission timer in transport layer. Or morons that put filters everywhere on switches that need then to handle frames in (tiny) processor instead of ASIC.

 

But "admins" don't even realize it, because they are not using telnet/ssh (the round trip delay for echoing each character make it evident) and never have a look at interfaces/port error counters (in a LAN with switches, you should have zero collision, FCS or short frame errors because you are peer to peer and full duplex with a "store and forward" device). But people know a lot of acronyms but very little on the technology implied.

[jongtaesong]

 

- via serial console

- by mounting SD card on some linux and setting fixed IP in /etc/network/interfaces as this example:

    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.0.2.7
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        gateway 192.0.2.254 

Thank you. It works with few more configuration in my case. 

 

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback

 

auto eth0

iface eth0 inet static

address 192.0.2.100

netmask 255.255.255.0

gateway 192.0.2.1

network 192.0.2.0

broadcast 192.0.2.255

dns-nameservers 192.0.2.?? 192.0.2.??

 

Now I am trying to setup WiFi access point - "myopizero".

After configuring WiFi access point using nmtui,

My laptap still cannot find the access point myopizero.

Is opizero only working as a client mode? 

Can you point me the reference for configuring WiFi access point? 

 

thanks

[Igor]

With AP mode on OPi zero it looks like we have some problems. Need to be investigated / fixed.