Ad lists inaccessible during last Gravity run (21)

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1

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Expected Behaviour:

Built NEW Pi-hole (Raspberry Pi 3B+) about 5 days back because my original machine stopped working, and I was seeing messages that the OS was out of date. So I inserted a new SD card and rebuilt Pi-hole using all defaults. Including default ad lists (no custom lists added).

When checking Pi-hole tonight on my local network, I see 21 Pi-hole diagnosis entries. They indicate that some ad lists are inaccessible during the last Gravity update. This is a NEW pihole installation (about 5 days old).

Expect Pi-hole to be able to access and utilize all default ad lists.

Debug Token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/DBE4x6pf/

2

Presumably you restored a Teleporter backup? Your debug log shows 40+ custom domain rules and 50+ adlists present. Some of these rules and lists have an added date of 2020.

A new Pi-hole installation has one adlist, Steven Black's hosts.

The lists indicated are indeed all broken and inaccessible in various ways. Pi-hole is correctly reporting this.

Since you are ready for a new setup, I'd suggest re-imaging with the latest Pi OS 12, setting it up with a static IP and installing Pi-hole from scratch. Test it is all working and then manually add known good adlists and rules.

3

Wow, totally missed the mark. I did restore a teleporter backup. Completely forgot I had done that! I will delete the obsolete entries, and see if I want to add any others.

I'm regards to the OS, I used the Raspberry Pi Imager to install. I selected my model Pi (3B+), and selected the recommended option (port of Debian Bullseye -- released 2023-12-05).

Do the logs show something different? Are there better choices I can make to get the OS to version 12?

The IP is dynamic within the OS, but is set to reserved in Pi-hole (192.168.1.20) which runs my network DHCP settings and assigns the Pi its IP address.

One last question about the debug logs. Are the logs accessible so I can review them? If so, is there a link which provides instructions on how to retrieve the logs?

Thank you for the fast response!

4

It might be "cleaner" to start with a fresh image and reinstall, just so you know for sure you're in a known good state. But if you want to keep this setup, just delete all the adlists except the first one (the default), and then go through each Domain entry (your custom rules) and see if these are all still okay, since they also date from 2020 and may have some old stuff that's not relevant now.

I see what you mean, my Imager also says the same. However the Debian Bookworm 12 version is definitely supported on all models, see here ("Compatible with: All Raspberry Pi models").

[ For anyone else seeing this in a later search, version 12 Bookworm uses Network Manager to manage the network. Turns out there's a nice interactive terminal app for interacting with it, which you can invoke with the simple command sudo nmtui. You can use that to set up the network and ensure a static IP, ready to install Pi-hole on a clean image. ]

The previous version will continue to work fine for some time so you can stick with that if you prefer.

That's cool, as long as one way or another it ends up with an address that doesn't change. That .20 address is on the ethernet wired connection, but you also have your wifi enabled and that's also getting a separate address .21. It would be best to disable the wireless interface, or at least disconnect it from any networks so it can't rejoin.

Yes, there's a copy of your most recent debug log stored on your Pi-hole. You can view it with the command in the Pi-hole terminal:

sudo less -R /var/log/pihole/pihole_debug.log

You can use PgUp, PgDn, up, down to move around and look at it. Press q to quit. It's the exact same log that was uploaded, only Pi-hole staff can see them and they are deleted from the server after 48 hours (your own private copy on your Pi stays until you overwrite it with a later one).

You can also choose to make a debug log and NOT upload it (this is the default in fact), if you just want to make your own local copy to look at.

5

Thanks, I think I will replace another SD card to get a good clean image using OS 12 (Debian Bookworm!).

Thank you again for the fast response and suggestions to make my Pi-hole work at its best!

6

One follow up question for my current Pi setup. I know the Wi-Fi is configured as you found. It was configured as part of the Raspberry Imager process.

Before I get another SD card rebuilt and ready to go, is there a simple way to disable the wireless interface?

7

If you're re-imaging using the Raspberry Pi Imager, you can select to not configure the wireless in the extra settings before imaging (the part where you can enable SSH, select the region, create a user, etc).

On a Pi OS with wireless already enabled you can kill it with

sudo rfkill block wifi

You can later re-enable it with

sudo rfkill unblock wifi

Be careful you don't kill it if it's the only way you have to access the Pi!

8

Perfect, thank you for all your help. I will get a new card going later today or tonight and skip Wi-Fi configuration along with the other suggestions!

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Another follow up question regarding the OS (Bookworm). I changed my Pi to a Pi4 which provided the additional Bookworm option. I see three options:

  1. Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) -- port of Debian Bookworm w/Pi desktop (recommended)
  2. Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) -- port of Debian Bookworm w/Pi desktop
  3. Raspberry Pi OS (Legacy, 32-bit) -- port of Debian Bullseye w/Pi desktop

I used option 1 (64-bit), but am wondering if I am getting the most up-to-date OS (12) or if I should have chosen another option (e.g. Pi5 for different options).

Question:
Did I get the correct OS version (12), and is there a recommendation regarding 32-bit versus 64-bit OS?

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In the Pi Imager you don't need to select the Raspberry Pi Device, it's just a convenience. You can just go straight to the Operating System selection and choose Bookworm if you want, even on a 3B+. As per the earlier link that is supported on all devices. It may be that Bullseye is slightly better supported on the earlier hardware (as it's been around longer) which could be why it's suggested in the Imager if you select the type of Pi you have, but you don't need to do that.

A Pi 4 can run Pi-hole but if you're only using it for that it's massively overspecced and 'wasted' on just Pi-hole. Your 3B+ is fine. Even that is overkill.

That's the best option unless you have some specific reason to only run the 32-bit OS, such as some special application that requires it. If you are using a Pi 4 and it has 4GB or 8GB of memory the 64-bit OS will allow that memory to be used much better.

The version that is presented by the download links is the most recent for that selection. Or use the selection in the Imager and that will similarly grab the most recent version for that selection.

11

Thanks, Chris! I got a new image set, and I see that I am not required to select the Pi model to install the port of Debian (I use a Pi 3B+ for Pi-hole). Appreciate all the responses and help!

12

Side question, but how do you quote respond in this thread? I have reviewed and searched the help system, but cannot see how you do that.

13

I think I figured out how to quote, thank you!

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