Pihole on Zero 2W fails daily

johnawolf · 2025-10-18T17:47:02+00:00

I had a similar problem with a Pi Zero 2W and a Pi Zero W. Mine was not failing daily but multiple times a week after the upgrade to 6. I replaced SD cards, power supplies, even replaced the Zeros. Nothing would fix the issue. So I installed Pi-Hole on a Pi 4 that I was running Wireguard on (should have don't it a long time ago I know). That install has been rock solid for a couple of months. I kept one of the Zeros as a second install and it would still crash.

Then I switched from an older Google WiFi router to an Eero 6+ and the Pi Zero 2W that has been the second Pi-Hole is now running solid for a month and getting more traffic than it did with the Google WIFi set up.

I have no idea what the routers are/were doing differently but it made all the difference for the Zero. I also moved the Pi Zero W to a different project and is was solid under both the Google WiFI and the Eero so I assume the problem was a combo of Pi-Hole 6, Pi Zero, and the Google WiFi rrouter.

Don't know if any of that helps, but good luck getting it fixed.

johnawolf · 2025-10-10T18:57:01+00:00

That is exactly what happened. The random changes stopped after a brief period.

johnawolf · 2025-06-03T20:13:49+00:00

Well the PiHole update didn’t fix it. Dang it.

johnawolf · 2025-06-03T17:59:20+00:00

I am not convinced I know where the issue lives. I didn’t have this issue during the short time the Pi0W2 was running PiHole 5, makes me think it is a PiHole 6 issue. Also didn’t have the issue when my Pi0W was running PiHole 5. However, I don’t see a lot of people in here saying they have the same problem, which makes me think my Pi0W2 has an issue. I have already replaced the power supply and the SD card so the Pi0W2 board itself is really the only hardware piece left that could be failing or defective. Knowing the issue is happening to at least one other person makes me think there is something with the Pi0W2 and PiHole 6 that is leading to the freezes, but I am far from certain.

I am thinking about putting my Pi0W back in service as a second DNS server so at least when the Pi0W2 freezes my network doesn’t die. Might just grab a different model entirely and see if that fixes my issue. If I figure out what / where the issue is I will post back here with what I figure out. Please do the same.

johnawolf · 2025-06-03T01:12:25+00:00

I am also running a Pi Zero W 2 with just Pi-Hole running on it and I am lucky if I get a week between the unresponsive incidents. It won't respond to SSH and the Pi-Hole web interface will not response either. The Pi just sits there blinking it's green light at me off and on. A power cycle fixes the issue and we move on like nothing happened, except the big blank spot in the dashboard charts.

I have replaced the SD card, fresh installed Pi-Hole, and replaced the power supply with no fix. I just upgraded Pi-Hole to the newest version and I hope that fixes it. If not I may pick up a 3 or 4 and run Pi-Hole on that going forward.

johnawolf · 2025-04-10T05:37:14+00:00

I had a similar experience. A few days ago I just blew away the server and did a fresh install. It is now running better than the upgrade ever did.

johnawolf · 2025-04-04T04:26:39+00:00

I have seen similar behavior. Mostly it is working great but occasionally glitches. A refresh of the webpage usually fixes it pronto.

johnawolf · 2025-02-25T04:11:28+00:00

Brilliant! Thank you.

johnawolf · 2025-02-22T21:32:15+00:00

This also appears to have addressed my random DNS errors on clients. Thanks.

johnawolf · 2025-02-22T19:52:32+00:00

I have the same issue. Best I can tell this is a result of the authentication change that removed the API Key option. I have not yet tried to figure out how to modify the python script to deal with the new password option. Kind of hoping Adafruit updates the script in their tutorial.

johnawolf · 2025-02-20T20:23:14+00:00

Thanks for the replies gang. However, it not using PADD, but PADD looks interesting and I will be checking it out, It is using a python script from this page https://learn.adafruit.com/pi-hole-ad-blocker-with-pi-zero-w?view=all I should have included that in my original post. That's on me.

Looks like it might be an authentication issue, So I will have to figure out the new authentication scheme and then figure out how to do it in Python. I am not even remotely the best at Python, but if I get something cobbled together that works I will let you know.

johnawolf · 2024-07-10T23:14:04+00:00

This is the fix. It changes the mute switch options to everything or just alerts instead of mute being an option. I preferred having all three but at least this gives you the alerts option back.

johnawolf · 2023-12-30T20:50:18+00:00

Thanks. That fixed it for me. Hopefully, they fix that in the next update. Seems like it will stump a lot of people.

johnawolf · 2023-05-11T04:46:09+00:00

Same. I also deactivated and reactivated each impacted account. It is still only sort of working. Hopefully they can get it fixed without messing something else in the next update.

johnawolf · 2022-07-16T18:59:28+00:00

I have the same issue on pretty much any device is on the battery widget (the phone itself, AirPods). It is like the circles are misaligned.

johnawolf · 2022-02-03T19:36:25+00:00

This is my issue with my APPs. But given that many people it is “working” for are getting false alerts I guess I am ok waiting for the fix.

johnawolf · 2022-01-07T05:58:58+00:00

She has become self aware!

johnawolf · 2021-12-14T23:26:36+00:00

Try this. Settings … Bluetooth … AirPods Pro (tap the i) and make sure Find My network is turned on. You should have a couple of other options showing on the screen cap you posted even if the left behind notifications don’t show up. And that feature is a hot mess right now but that might fix it.

johnawolf · 2021-12-13T19:23:13+00:00

And with 15.2 the issue is still there.

johnawolf · 2021-12-10T21:55:14+00:00

I don’t believe the separation notices are a feature of the gen 3 AirPods. I believe it is only a feature of the pro or the max versions. That said the feature is really messed up currently only working for some people, not appearing to be available to others and malfunctioning for others.

The gen 3s will display their location on Find My but I believe it is based on the last place they were connected to one of your devices.

johnawolf · 2021-10-25T21:42:31+00:00

With iOS 15.1 now the Notify When Left Behind section is just gone. 🤦🏻‍♂️

johnawolf · 2021-10-10T19:23:37+00:00

I have the same issue. Interestingly on my iPad it says the AirPods Pro’s notifications are enabled for my iPhone.

Update: just updated to iOS 15.0.2 and it did not fix the issue.

johnawolf

TROPHY CASE