Xunlong Orange Pi Zero 3

The Xunlong Orange Pi Zero 3 is a single-board computer using Allwinner SoCs and lack an Ethernet Network Switch.

Xunlong Orange Pi Zero 3 uses the Allwinner H618, a 1.5GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 SoC. Included is 1GB/1.5GB/2GB/4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 16MB SPI flash, one Gigabit network ports, microSD card slot, Allwinner AW859A (aka CDTech 20U5622) WiFi5 & Bluetooth 5.0, one USB 2.0, micro-HDMI port, USB-C for power supply and 2x USB 2.0, audio stereo output, microphone input and video output are available via 13 pin header.

For further Allwinner-based boards, please refer to soc.allwinner.sunxi

Uncompress the OpenWrt ...ext4-sdcard.img.gz image and write it to a micro SD card using a tool like dd or Balena Etcher.

For installation see soc.allwinner.sunxi or install OpenWrt (sdcard explanation).

→ generic.debrick

It's easy to debrick this device, the system is stored on a Micro-SD card.

→ failsafe_and_factory_reset

You can enter Failsafe mode through serial console.

It might be tricky to connect via Ethernet for the first time. By default the DHCP client is enabled and the IP address is configured as static 192.168.1.1

After flashing OpenWrt as described above, you can reach the OpenWrt via Ethernet by using the SSH to set your password or browse to http://192.168.1.1 if LuCI is installed.

Alternatively, in order to set it up with a fixed IP different from the default 192.168.1.1 do the following:

uci set network.lan.ipaddr=10.0.0.1
uci commit network
/etc/init.d/network restart

In order to get online with a serial directly on the Orange Pi Zero 3, set the single port to 'wan' edit the network file, create the wan and change the lan to eth0 (vi /etc/config/network):

config interface 'loopback'
	option device 'lo'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.0.0.0'
 
config interface 'lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	#option ifname 'eth0'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option ip6assign '60'
 
config interface 'wan'
	option ifname 'eth0'
	option _orig_ifname 'eth0'
	option _orig_bridge 'false'
	option proto 'dhcp'
 
config interface 'wan6'
	option ifname 'eth0'
	option _orig_ifname 'eth0'
	option _orig_bridge 'false'
	option proto 'dhcpv6'
	option reqaddress 'try'
	option reqprefix 'auto'

Alternatively, in order to configure onboard ethernet to eth0 for LAN and USB adapter to eth1 for WAN (vi /etc/config/network):

config device
	option name 'br-lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	option ports 'eth0'
 
config interface 'lan'
	option device 'br-lan'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '10.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.255.255.0'
	option ip6assign '64'
 
config interface 'wan'
	option device 'eth1'
	option proto 'dhcp'
 
config interface 'wan6'
	option device 'eth1'
	option proto 'dhcpv6'
	option reqaddress 'try'
	option reqprefix 'auto'

Reboot.

Be sure to change these back once your USB LAN adapter is installed

It is common to use a USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet adapter to connect your WAN/Internet device (e.g. cable modem or fiber optic modem), thus freeing up the built-in Ethernet port for a switch and/or wireless access point.

Install the kernel module associated with your adapter. It is suggested to use Firmware Selector, click Customize, and add your adapter kmod so it is ready use. Some common examples:

• RTL8153: kmod-usb-net-rtl8152
• AX8817: kmod-usb-net-asix-ax88179

Alternatively, you can compile your own sunxi image with these included, for example (on menuconfig):

Kernel modules -> USB Support -> kmod-usb-net
kmod-usb-net-asix
asix-ax88179

Then proceed with the connecting instructions on the previous chapter.

The default network configuration is:

No VLAN for this device.

→ hardware.button on howto use and configure the hardware button(s).

The Xunlong Orange Pi Zero 3 has no buttons at all.

Front:
Insert photo of front of the casing

Back:
Insert photo of back of the casing

Backside label:
Insert photo of backside label

Note: Since the Orange Pi Zero 3 ships without a case, this can't void your warranty. :)

→ port.serial general information about the serial port, serial port cable, etc.

How to connect to the Serial Port of this specific device:

1.5GB RAM doesn't completely boot properly: On Orange Pi Zero 3 with 1.5GB RAM, attempting to boot the images which result of not being able to boot and hangs on U-Boot boot sequence. If you have a serial console, you can identify with the following messages:

U-Boot SPL 2024.01-OpenWrt-r28427-6df0e3d02a (Feb 03 2025 - 23:09:37 +0000)
DRAM: 2048 MiB
Trying to boot from MMC1
NOTICE:  BL31: v2.10.0  (release):OpenWrt v2.10-1 (sunxi-h616)
NOTICE:  BL31: Built : 23:09:37, Feb  3 2025
NOTICE:  BL31: Detected Allwinner H616 SoC (1823)
NOTICE:  BL31: Found U-Boot DTB at 0x4a0b19a0, model: OrangePi Zero3
ERROR:   RSB: set run-time address: 0x10003


U-Boot 2024.01-OpenWrt-r28427-6df0e3d02a (Feb 03 2025 - 23:09:37 +0000) Allwinner Technology

CPU:   Allwinner H616 (SUN50I)
Model: OrangePi Zero3
DRAM:  2 GiB (effective 15.5 EiB)

This is a bug in the bootloader that causes it to incorrect DRAM size (2 GiB rather than the expected 1.5GiB of RAM).

This is reported at several places such as below:

• Can not boot OpenWrt 24.10.0 on OrangePi Zero3
• PR17993

Space for additional notes, links to forum threads or other resources.

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