sidward35 / OrangePiWiFiSetup.md
Now that the Orange Pi Zero is working, we can do some initial set up. The following assumes you are logged into your Orange Pi Zero using either SSH or the serial console with your everyday account. Remember to hit the enter key after typing in each line of commands.
First we’ll update Armbian to the latest version:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade The first time you use sudo in a session, and periodically thereafter, you will be prompted for your pasword. Depending on the speed of your internet connection and the size of the update, the upgrade process can take a while.
Next we’ll set the time zone to match your location. To do so, enter the following command:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata - Use the arrow keys to select your Geographic area and press enter.
- Select a city or region within your time zone and press enter.
Your timezone will be updated and you will be returned to the command line.
Lastly, we’ll set up wifi. This is super handy because once set up, our Orange Pi Zero can be placed anywhere within wifi range where it can be provided with power. To do so,
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces - Add the following 4 lines to the end of the file, substituting the actual network SSID and WPA password for your wifi network:
auto wlan0 iface wlan0 inet dhcp wpa-ssid <Your Access Point Name aka SSID> wpa-psk <Your WPA Password> - To save your changes, hit the key combination Control+O.
- To quit back to the command prompt, hit the key combination Control+X.
- Bring up your wifi connection with the following command:
You can find out the IP address assigned to your wifi connection by typing:
The assigned IP address should appear immediately after the text inet addr:.
You can observe the signal strength and other details of your wifi connection by entering:
To monitor the temperature, CPU speed and other interesting details of your Orange Pi Zero type:
(To quit and return to the command line, hit the key combination Control+C.)
To cleanly exit your PuTTY session while leaving your Orange Pi Zero running, type:
To cleanly shut down your Orange Pi Zero before disconnecting power, type:
To reboot your Orange Pi Zero, type:
Here are just some things you can do now that your Orange Pi Zero is operational:
- Check out the Fine Tuning section of the Armbian user guide for additional configuration you can perform.
- Your router could decide to assign a different IP address to your Orange Pi Zero ethernet and wifi interfaces in future. If that happens, you’ll have to rediscover the IP address(es) of your Orange Pi Zero… But many routers have the ability to assign fixed (aka static) IP addresses. To do this, you need to know the hardware address of the interfaces on your Orange Pi Zero. To discover these type:
sudo ifconfig eth0 | grep -i hwaddr sudo ifconfig wlan0 | grep -i hwaddr The hardware address will be the jumble of hexadecimal numbers separated by colons, e.g “8c:ff:a3:06:b5:1b”, at the end of the line. In your router configuration you need to add a mapping between the hardware address and the fixed IP address to be assigned to the interface.
- Add a heatsink to H2+ chip on your Orange Pi Zero — it runs pretty hot without one.
- Put in your Orange Pi Zero in a nice box.
- Track aircraft in your area with a cheap USB DVB-T television receiver dongle.
Add a Wi-Fi Connection #
The nmtui tool, or NetworkManager Text User Interface , is a component of NetworkManager, and can be used (in a TUI style) to add and select a Wi-Fi network. Nmtui is, however, also capable of managing other types of networks, and depending on your circumstances may not be the best option. This leads is to…
Method 2: nmcli #
nmcli , like nmtui , is a component of networkmanager, and has the same features.
To connect to a wireless network, follow these instructions:
1: list wireless networks #
To show a list of Wi-Fi networks, at a sudo-enabled terminal, enter:
sudo nmcli device wifi list The output should look like this:
* SSID MODE CHAN RATE SIGNAL BARS SECURITY * Orange-Pi-wifi Infra 11 54 Mbit/s 100 ▂▄▆█ -- A13-Wifi Infra 6 54 Mbit/s 30 ▂___ WPA1 WPA2 2WIRE533 Infra 10 54 Mbit/s 44 ▂▄__ WPA1 WPA2 Connect to network (without password) #
If your network does not require a password (I.E. is not secure), you can connect to it with the following command:
sudo nmcli device wifi connect 'WiFINetworkName' ifname wlan0 Give it a few seconds to connect, then verify your connectivity with:
ip -br address show dev wlan0 Connect to network (with password) #
However, if your network does require a password (as most should), you may connect to it with the following command, replacing WiFiNetworkName and WiFiNetworkPass with your network name and password, respectively:
sudo nmcli device wifi connect 'WiFiNetworkName' password 'WifiPass' ifname wlan0 Please do keep in mind that you will not receive feedback while typing the password component of the above command, for security reasons.
Once again, verify your connectivity with:
ip -br address show dev wlan0 LuisHCK / Orange Pi Zero — WiFi setup
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| sudo cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfacesoriginal |
| sudp rm /etc/network/interfaces |
| sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces |
| ———————————- |
| COPY |
| ———————————- |
| auto lo |
| iface lo inet loopback |
| auto eth0 |
| allow-hotplug eth0 |
| iface eth0 inet dhcp |
| allow-hotplug wlan0 |
| iface wlan0 inet manual |
| wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf |
| iface default inet dhcp |
| ——————————— |
| Ctrl + O |
| Enter |
| Ctrl + X |
| sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf |
| ———————————- |
| COPY |
| ———————————- |
| ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev |
| update_config=1 |
| network= |
| ssid=»SECURE-WIFI» |
| psk=»yourpassword» |
| > |
| network= |
| ssid=»OPEN-WIFI» |
| key_mgmt=NONE |
| > |
| ———————————- |
| Change based on your WiFi Settings |
| Ctrl + O |
| Enter |
| Ctrl + X |
| sudo reboot |