How to Set Up Headless SSH Access on Radxa Zero 3W (1GB, No eMMC) with a Lightweight OS?

#1

Hi everyone,

I recently got a Radxa Zero 3W (1GB RAM, no eMMC) and I want to set it up wirelessly and headlessly using SSH . My main issue is that I can’t figure out how to do it properly .

What I’ve Tried:

  • Flashed DietPi & Armbian to a microSD, but couldn’t get SSH access.
  • Tried adding wpa_supplicant.conf in /boot for Wi-Fi setup, but it didn’t seem to work.
  • Checked Radxa’s documentation, but I couldn’t find a clear guide for a fully headless setup.

My Requirements:

  • Need SSH access immediately after boot without using a monitor or keyboard.
  • Looking for the best lightweight OS for this board that allows an easy headless setup.
  • Wi-Fi must be preconfigured before boot , as I don’t have a way to interact physically.

Questions:

  1. Which OS is best for a lightweight, headless setup on Radxa Zero 3W?
  2. How do I correctly configure Wi-Fi before booting to enable SSH?
  3. Are there any prebuilt images that support easy headless setup?

If anyone has successfully set up a similar configuration, please help! I’d really appreciate any detailed steps or guidance. Thanks! :blush:

#2

DietPi should be easiest to use and as far as I know it support headless setup.

If you are looking for lightest OS you can consider making your own distro using Yocto. Radxa Zero 3W has very mature support for it. With Yocto you can easly fit your requirements but it require some basic Linux knowleadge.

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#3

I tried DietPi but it isn’t working and I don’t know about Yocto so don’t we have something like any prebuilt images that support easy headless setup??

#4

Have you tried that? https://dietpi.com/docs/usage/#how-to-do-an-automatic-base-installation-at-first-boot-dietpi-automation

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#5

here’s a guide maybe you can refer to if you use our Radxa Debian OS.

https://docs.radxa.com/en/template/sbc/radxa-os/headless

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#6

I have already visited here but the thing is that the board is not connecting to the wifi even after setting up the before.txt and config.txt.

#7

Can you connect to wifi under linux without setting before.txt?

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#8

did’nt understand what you mean??

#9

yes, it did’nt work

#10

You should definitely connect UART to USB adapter and spend some time to debug this, because I have never had problem with headless setup on DietPI

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#11

I don’t have a UART to USB adapter and I can’t spend on buying it.

#12

See actually the thing is that when I flash dietpi on the sd card and view it through file explorer in windows I see only the 4 files, readme.md, and 3 more .txt files and I don’t see any boot folder or anything else I have tried many image flashers many images (iso, img.xz, img) but nothing works. Please someone help!!

#13

also my board does not have a header.

#14

Please help!!!

#15

ok, start from the basics. Windows don’t understand ext4 filesystem, that’s why you cannot see any Linux partition. It’s recommended to develop things like this using Linux on your workstation. You can also use Raspberry Pi to flash your images, explore files and even to communicate through uart*. Serial console is most important tool for embedded developer and its not very expensive so you should consider to buy one. In your situation, I would use USB keyboard and HDMI screen to debug why headless setup don’t wants to work.

*rockchip serial using very high baudrate thats why cheap serial converters sometimes don’t wants to worki. So I’m not sure if RPi serial can handle it. On the other hand, probably every modern microcontroler is capable of making as uart to USB converter

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