Raspberry Pi: yeah we're pretty much all on desktops again

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Raspberry Pi: yeah we're pretty much all on desktops again

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mod sassinator: Dec 13, 2006; I came here to Kick Ass and Chew Bubblegum,
and I'm All out of Ass

Use an HDMI distributor or matrix switch (i.e. many inputs in, many inputs out and all can be connected independently to each other). Trying to hack something up with multiple little Linux boards is a recipe for pain, frustration, and massive security issues when they inevitably are exploited. There are tons of inexpensive options nowadays for video distribution: https://www.monoprice.com/search/index?keyword=Video%20Distribution%20Amplifier

# ? Mar 13, 2019 21:50

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# ? May 20, 2024 13:50

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Why not just get an HDMI splitter?

# ? Mar 13, 2019 21:56

DIEGETIC SPACEMAN: Feb 25, 2007; fuck a car
i'll do a mothafuckin' walk-by

Cojawfee posted:

Why not just get an HDMI splitter?

Because I already got two Pi�s I can donate to the cause, so the price of getting this going would be far less if I could just hack something together. But it�s not my money I�m trying to save, so I�m not willing to put too much effort into this endeavor.

There�s also the logistics of running cables around the place but again, not my problem. I�m just the nerd he turned to for advice.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 22:05

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Sometimes the correct answer is spend money on the actual solution, and not "hack something together that will break later and no one knows how to fix it."

# ? Mar 13, 2019 22:07

mod sassinator: Dec 13, 2006; I came here to Kick Ass and Chew Bubblegum,
and I'm All out of Ass

You don't want to be getting the call at 9pm on a Saturday night 'oh my god the big game is on and all the TVs just STOPPED!! get down here now!'. If you can afford to open a restaurant, stock a commercial kitchen, hire and manage staff, etc. you can call a contractor to run 3 cables the right way for a few hundred bucks.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 22:13

mystes: May 31, 2006

Your friend probably can't even legally be showing the stream in his bar anyway.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 22:21

Mr.Radar: Nov 5, 2005; You guys aren't going to believe this, but that guy is our games teacher.

mystes posted:

Your friend probably can't even legally be showing the stream in his bar anyway.

This. Sports leagues are even worse than the RIAA/MPAA when it comes to dicking people over through copyright enforcement. If your friend doesn't have a commercial license to be showing that stuff and he gets caught out he can expect his business to be sued into oblivion.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 23:26

utonium: Dec 17, 2002

I recently jumped on the SBC + Pi-hole bandwagon, too. I went with a Rock64 2GB board since it was the same price as an Rpi 3 B+ and more RAM and a faster LAN port seemed more valuable to me than wifi. For an OS I went with DietPi, and it took really no time to get it running Pi-hole plus OpenVPN so my Pixel 2 can use the Pi-hole's DNS away from home. Nothing too difficult, but with enough small snags for me to troubleshoot here and there that I'm still learning quite a bit.

Got everything from https://www.ameridroid.com. So that plus getting an Edgerouter-X about the same time were the upgrades my home network needed.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 23:29

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Someone makes an HDMI to RJ-45 (cat 5) adapter for longer runs, uses two cables... Splitter is $15 and a set of adapters is $10... Your buddy probably already has a big spool of cat 5 in the back room.

Most bars split the video and then pull the audio off one device and broadcast that everywhere using copper cables for zero latency and no echo. Anything else is a huge clusterfuck.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 23:36

Mr Shiny Pants: Nov 12, 2012

I just build a 4 Pi Kubernetes cluster, highly recommended. The joy of actually building something from physical parts is way better than dicking around with VMs.

# ? Mar 14, 2019 06:52

evil_bunnY: Apr 2, 2003

utonium posted:

I recently jumped on the SBC + Pi-hole bandwagon, too. I went with a Rock64 2GB board since it was the same price as an Rpi 3 B+ and more RAM and a faster LAN port seemed more valuable to me than wifi. For an OS I went with DietPi, and it took really no time to get it running Pi-hole plus OpenVPN so my Pixel 2 can use the Pi-hole's DNS away from home. Nothing too difficult, but with enough small snags for me to troubleshoot here and there that I'm still learning quite a bit.

Got everything from https://www.ameridroid.com. So that plus getting an Edgerouter-X about the same time were the upgrades my home network needed.

Did you write it up?

# ? Mar 14, 2019 16:09

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Could I setup a pi hole that serves up lewd images in place of the normal banner ads, instead of deleting the ads entirely. Asking for a friend.

# ? Mar 14, 2019 19:43

Queen Combat: Dec 29, 2017; Lipstick Apathy

Nah, this is a DNS redirect not something that interacts with page data.

# ? Mar 14, 2019 20:13

Klyith: Aug 3, 2007; GBS Pledge Week

Queen Combat posted:

Nah, this is a DNS redirect not something that interacts with page data.

DNS redirect can easily replace images, just redirect the request to a server that sends back lewdanime.jpg for everything.

pi-hole is just a mediocre ad blocker. Other similar projects use pixelserv-tls to block https ad images. I guess the pi-hole devs are making a turnkey solution for the lowest-common-denominator audience. Possibly they don't want to instruct all their users to install a root certificate that would be dangerous if pis get owned.

# ? Mar 14, 2019 20:37

22 Eargesplitten: Oct 10, 2010

pzy posted:

Pretty sure you just have to whitelist fi.somethingawful.com

Does that whitelist the ads at the top as well or just the bottom? I'm seeing the SA-related ads at the bottom now but not the ones at the top.

# ? Mar 14, 2019 20:39

Moey: Oct 22, 2010; I LIKE TO MOVE IT

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Does that whitelist the ads at the top as well or just the bottom? I'm seeing the SA-related ads at the bottom now but not the ones at the top.

How much do you love the SA forums?

# ? Mar 14, 2019 21:24

fishmech: Jul 16, 2006; by VideoGames; Salad Prong

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Does that whitelist the ads at the top as well or just the bottom? I'm seeing the SA-related ads at the bottom now but not the ones at the top.

You seem to have a goal of making sure SA gets more money. You will do much more for that goal by simply purchasing the no-ads account upgrade for 5 bucks (which does still have an option to keep the goon bought ads visible, if you want that).

# ? Mar 14, 2019 21:25

22 Eargesplitten: Oct 10, 2010

I don�t even have $5 in my bank account right now :v:

Also I completely forgot that even exists. I�ll probably get that and a new avatar once I get my first/second paycheck from this new job.

�Rich needs neck braces
Patreon!� Maybe?

# ? Mar 14, 2019 22:32

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Hadlock posted:

Could I setup a pi hole that serves up lewd images in place of the normal banner ads, instead of deleting the ads entirely. Asking for a friend.

What you want is something like this: http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html

Take the script they provided, cut out the system() calls, replace the URL in the print lines with links to hello.jpg or whatever, and you're probably there.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 02:58

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

wolrah posted:

What you want is something like this: http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html

Take the script they provided, cut out the system() calls, replace the URL in the print lines with links to hello.jpg or whatever, and you're probably there.

Yeah I think this is what I want. It's waaay too late to think hard about this but I wonder if this works at all for modern SSL.

I noticed all his examples use unencrypted old-school http, not https. Modern https in chrome checks for a number of things that cause all sorts of things to break when trying this sort of stuff these days. I develop/support a bunch of internal web apps ay wotk and chrome shits a brick for end users if all your ducks aren't exactly in a line with SSL these days.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 11:29

Klyith: Aug 3, 2007; GBS Pledge Week

Hadlock posted:

It's waaay too late to think hard about this but I wonder if this works at all for modern SSL.

I noticed all his examples use unencrypted old-school http, not https.

It does not. You can block the requests from going anywhere, but to make the browser load anything you need a certificate for the site. That means you either need a copy of for example ebay.co.uk's private cert key (unlikely), or you need the user to override the untrusted warning on their browser, or to install a root certificate to their browser/pc.

Installing a root cert is what Diversion does, using the tiny pixelserv-tls webserver to send a 1-pixel image back to all ad requests. It speeds up page loads a ton on https sites because the browser isn't just sending blackholed requests over and over. However, installing a root cert is dangerous -- it can be used to MITM all your traffic if anyone got their hands on the private key.

Apparently you can add pixelserv-tls to a pi-hole if you're capable of configuring some minor things over SSH. I use Diversion myself and the difference in page load speed on my phone between blackholing requests and installing the cert for pixelserv was pretty night and day.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 16:43

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Yeah, the whole point of SSL/TLS is to prevent third parties from being able to intercept and/or tamper with the communication. If one end or the other is outdated there may be some downgrade attacks possible, but otherwise HTTPS is untouchable unless you control one of the endpoints or the user is a total idiot.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 20:21

General_Failure: Apr 17, 2005

I've been hitting a brick wall trying to install TensorFlow on an RPi Zero W, Orange Pi 3, and Pinebook 1080. Is it just me? Or is something broken on the TF end of things.

I got OpenAI Gym installed and working so things aren't totally broken.

I get screens of red crap when I try to install TF. I've dealt with all the dependencies spat out in those messages AFAIK. I just want to know if it breaks for anyone else?

# ? Mar 16, 2019 01:04

mod sassinator: Dec 13, 2006; I came here to Kick Ass and Chew Bubblegum,
and I'm All out of Ass

The Zeros use an ARMv6 architecture and not ARMv7 like the Pi 3, so make sure the binaries you're trying to run are built for ARMv6. Also with just 512 mb of RAM they really don't like to run a lot of big programs. Stuff like compiling huge things with GCC will start segfaulting and failing in glorious ways when under memory pressure. Sometimes enabling swap space memory can help but it's just a small bandaid. I've had trouble even just compiling modest size node.js and native code projects on the zeros.

# ? Mar 16, 2019 01:16

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

What he said.

The absolute minimum I would attempt tensorflow on is the pi 3 B+. Single core and half a gb of ram is not a platform to do compute work from.

ARMv6 is super ancient and has nowhere near the compile support as the universal ARMv7 that's in every cell phone on the planet.

If you're using the zero for aesthetics or cost reasons, maybe look at the A+ ? It's very similar in size, and are like $25-ish. They are only single core and 512 mb though, still.

# ? Mar 16, 2019 03:51

General_Failure: Apr 17, 2005

Hadlock posted:

What he said.

The absolute minimum I would attempt tensorflow on is the pi 3 B+. Single core and half a gb of ram is not a platform to do compute work from.

ARMv6 is super ancient and has nowhere near the compile support as the universal ARMv7 that's in every cell phone on the planet.

It is ancient. However I have seen TF specify that it can be supported.
Rule of thumb I find about 250MB per core is needed when building things.
My last phone was ARMv8 but that's neither here nor there.

quote:

If you're using the zero for aesthetics or cost reasons, maybe look at the A+ ? It's very similar in size, and are like $25-ish. They are only single core and 512 mb though, still.

A few reasons. The main is because I just want to. The Zero W has some strengths. It's very small. It has self contained networking via WiFi, power consumption is low, and no matter how hard it works it doesn't have thermal issues assuming compatible environment.
I have other things to run it on. Various ARMv7 and ARMv8 devices. I did try my RPi3 last year sometime, but I just couldn't keep the heat under control.
I mentioned this time round I also tried on an Orange Pi 3 and a Pinebook. They both have 2gb RAM to work with. I keep bumping into similar issues. Can't even get as far as installing TF.

# ? Mar 17, 2019 01:45

MrPablo: Mar 21, 2003

Hadlock posted:

What he said.

The absolute minimum I would attempt tensorflow on is the pi 3 B+. Single core and half a gb of ram is not a platform to do compute work from.

ARMv6 is super ancient and has nowhere near the compile support as the universal ARMv7 that's in every cell phone on the planet.

If you're using the zero for aesthetics or cost reasons, maybe look at the A+ ? It's very similar in size, and are like $25-ish. They are only single core and 512 mb though, still.

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ is quad-core, not single core.

It does only have 512MB of RAM, though.

# ? Mar 18, 2019 14:45

MrPablo: Mar 21, 2003

General_Failure posted:

It is ancient. However I have seen TF specify that it can be supported.
Rule of thumb I find about 250MB per core is needed when building things.

There's a difference between "supported" and "works well". If you really want to run TensorFlow on a Rasberry Pi Zero W, my recommendation would be to train the model elsewhere and only evaluate it on the Pi. See below for details.

General_Failure posted:

Can't even get as far as installing TF.

I was able to install TensorFlow on a Raspberry Pi Zero W using these instructions: Install TensorFlow with pip.

A couple of notes:

The non-virtualenv instructions do not appear to work on a Raspberry Pi Zero W; they bomb out when installing the tensorflow package
It takes a long time to install (>1 hour). Most of that time is spent compiling the grcpiio and numpy packages.

Here are the steps that I took:

code:

# install system pip, numpy dependencies, and virtualenv
sudo apt-get install python3-pip python3-dev libatlas-base-dev virtualenv

# at this point i tried to install tensorflow directly via pip, which does NOT work
# sudo pip3 install --upgrade tensorflow

# created virtualenv environment instead
virtualenv --system-site-packages -p python3 ./venv

# activate virtual environment "venv"
# note: after this command your shell prompt will be prefixed with "(venv) "
source ./venv/bin/activate

# install tensorflow (i also installed keras here, because I use it for other stuff)
# note: this step takes a comically long time (>1 hour)
pip install tensorflow keras

Then I tested TensorFlow and got the following result:

code:

(venv) pabs@zero:~> python -c "import tensorflow as tf; tf.enable_eager_execution(); print(tf.reduce_sum(tf.random_normal([1000, 1000])))"
/home/pabs/venv/lib/python3.5/importlib/_bootstrap.py:222: RuntimeWarning: compiletime version 3.4 of module 'tensorflow.python.framework.fast_tensor_util' does not match runtime version 3.5
  return f(*args, **kwds)
/home/pabs/venv/lib/python3.5/importlib/_bootstrap.py:222: RuntimeWarning: builtins.type size changed, may indicate binary incompatibility. Expected 432, got 412
  return f(*args, **kwds)
2019-03-18 17:36:37.227233: W tensorflow/core/framework/allocator.cc:124] Allocation of 4000000 exceeds 10% of system memory.
2019-03-18 17:36:37.680899: W tensorflow/core/framework/allocator.cc:124] Allocation of 4000000 exceeds 10% of system memory.
2019-03-18 17:36:37.763153: W tensorflow/core/framework/allocator.cc:124] Allocation of 4000000 exceeds 10% of system memory.
tf.Tensor(62.454308, shape=(), dtype=float32)

My recommendation would be to train any real model on a system with a more powerful CPU or on a system with GPU-accelerated TensorFlow, and then save and evaluate the model on the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Evaluating even trivial models on a Raspberry Pi Zero W takes forever:

8 core KVM VM, ThreadRipper 1950X: 1.745 seconds
Raspberry Pi Zero W: 39.068 seconds

I will run the same test on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ and post the results shortly. My guess would be 5-10 seconds to run the same test.

Test Details (8 core KVM VM running on a Threadripper 1950X):

code:

pabs@hive:~> time docker run --rm -it tensorflow/tensorflow:latest-py3 python3 -c "import tensorflow as tf; tf.enable_eager_execution(); print(tf.reduce_sum(tf.random_normal([1000, 1000])))" 
2019-03-18 17:58:45.812310: I tensorflow/core/platform/cpu_feature_guard.cc:141] Your CPU supports instructions that this TensorFlow binary was not compiled to use: AVX2 FMA
2019-03-18 17:58:45.826520: I tensorflow/core/platform/profile_utils/cpu_utils.cc:94] CPU Frequency: 3393620000 Hz
2019-03-18 17:58:45.826992: I tensorflow/compiler/xla/service/service.cc:150] XLA service 0x4781ca0 executing computations on platform Host. Devices:
2019-03-18 17:58:45.827010: I tensorflow/compiler/xla/service/service.cc:158]   StreamExecutor device (0): <undefined>, <undefined>
tf.Tensor(-173.73222, shape=(), dtype=float32)

real	0m1.745s
user	0m0.032s
sys	0m0.016s

Test Details (Raspberry Pi Zero W):

code:

(venv) pabs@zero:~> time python -c "import tensorflow as tf; tf.enable_eager_execution(); print(tf.reduce_sum(tf.random_normal([1000, 1000])))"
/home/pabs/venv/lib/python3.5/importlib/_bootstrap.py:222: RuntimeWarning: compiletime version 3.4 of module 'tensorflow.python.framework.fast_tensor_util' does not match runtime version 3.5
  return f(*args, **kwds)
/home/pabs/venv/lib/python3.5/importlib/_bootstrap.py:222: RuntimeWarning: builtins.type size changed, may indicate binary incompatibility. Expected 432, got 412
  return f(*args, **kwds)
tf.Tensor(-601.9529, shape=(), dtype=float32)

real	0m39.536s
user	0m38.194s
sys	0m1.152s

Edit: Fixed typos, and "B+", not "A+".

MrPablo fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Mar 18, 2019

# ? Mar 18, 2019 19:24

MrPablo: Mar 21, 2003

I just installed TensorFlow on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ using the same steps I posted above, then ran the same test.

Results:

8 core KVM VM, ThreadRipper 1950X: 1.745 seconds
Raspberry Pi Zero W: 39.068 seconds
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+: 9.366 seconds

Test Details (Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+):

code:

(venv) pabs@peach:~> time python -c "import tensorflow as tf; tf.enable_eager_execution(); print(tf.reduce_sum(tf.random_normal([1000, 1000])))"
/home/pabs/venv/lib/python3.5/importlib/_bootstrap.py:222: RuntimeWarning: compiletime version 3.4 of module 'tensorflow.python.framework.fast_tensor_util' does not match runtime version 3.5
  return f(*args, **kwds)
/home/pabs/venv/lib/python3.5/importlib/_bootstrap.py:222: RuntimeWarning: builtins.type size changed, may indicate binary incompatibility. Expected 432, got 412
  return f(*args, **kwds)
tf.Tensor(-1510.0331, shape=(), dtype=float32)

real	0m9.366s
user	0m9.131s
sys	0m0.421s

If you are interested, the tensorflow installation took a little over 10 minutes:

code:

(venv) pabs@peach:~> time pip install tensorflow keras
... snipped pip output

real	10m7.591s
user	14m25.813s
sys	0m40.676s

Edit: Fixed typos.

MrPablo fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Mar 18, 2019

# ? Mar 18, 2019 19:31

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Nvidia just announced for pre-order the Jetson nano, which has 128 cuda cores, for $99 ; it has roughly the footprint of the raspberry pi and runs on 5w power

Phoronix tested the larger Jetson tx1 with 256 cuda cores ($499) and it was between 4x and 500x faster depending on computational workload

Jetson nano only has ~12 GPIO but that's probably enough for the average tensorflow nerd

# ? Mar 19, 2019 00:45

fishmech: Jul 16, 2006; by VideoGames; Salad Prong

It's worth remembering that the overall performance of the CPU in a Pi Zero W is on par with a top end Pentium II up to a low-mid-range Pentium III system, depending on the exact task you're trying to do.

You're really not playing with much computing power at the end of the day.

# ? Mar 19, 2019 00:58

Endymion FRS MK1: Oct 29, 2011; I don't know what this thing is, and I don't care. I'm just tired of seeing your stupid newbie av from 2011.

Does anybody have any experience with using a Pi for Steam Link? I'm interested but I do not have a wired option. It would be on a Pi 3 B, connected to a Ubiquiti HD Nano AP, on a 100/10 connection

# ? Mar 19, 2019 04:44

poeticoddity: Jan 14, 2007; "How nice - to feel nothing and still get full credit for being alive." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five

Hadlock posted:

Nvidia just announced for pre-order the Jetson nano, which has 128 cuda cores, for $99 ; it has roughly the footprint of the raspberry pi and runs on 5w power

Phoronix tested the larger Jetson tx1 with 256 cuda cores ($499) and it was between 4x and 500x faster depending on computational workload

Jetson nano only has ~12 GPIO but that's probably enough for the average tensorflow nerd

There's a hackaday article about this if anyone's interested:
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/18/hands-on-new-nvidia-jetson-nano-is-more-power-in-a-smaller-form-factor/

# ? Mar 19, 2019 04:52

mewse: May 2, 2006

Endymion FRS MK1 posted:

Does anybody have any experience with using a Pi for Steam Link? I'm interested but I do not have a wired option. It would be on a Pi 3 B, connected to a Ubiquiti HD Nano AP, on a 100/10 connection

It runs on my retropie 3b+ over wifi - performance is fine.

# ? Mar 19, 2019 05:10

Tatsuta Age: Apr 21, 2005; so good at being in trouble

Endymion FRS MK1 posted:

Does anybody have any experience with using a Pi for Steam Link? I'm interested but I do not have a wired option. It would be on a Pi 3 B, connected to a Ubiquiti HD Nano AP, on a 100/10 connection

It's good but I liked the moonlight client more than steam link so try that first if you have an Nvidia card imo

# ? Mar 19, 2019 05:22

Endymion FRS MK1: Oct 29, 2011; I don't know what this thing is, and I don't care. I'm just tired of seeing your stupid newbie av from 2011.

Tatsuta Age posted:

It's good but I liked the moonlight client more than steam link so try that first if you have an Nvidia card imo

I do, that seems interesting. What about Parsec? I hear a lot about that too.

# ? Mar 19, 2019 05:28

General_Failure: Apr 17, 2005

Been driving most of the day probably won't try the TF stuff tonight, but I will. I want to try it on my Orange pi 3 too. The crusty BSP kernel sucks sweaty balls but it's a pretty capable SBC. I'm not advocating for it BTW. It's not perfect but I'm happy with it.

I noticed something odd about the Pi Zero W. I seem to need to give it a nudge with ping before an SSH connection or it just doesn't respond. Also I'm reasonably happy with the Elecrow USB hub I put on it. Even moreso since I realised the lithium battery connection is the same as the one on my little quadcopter. I may have mislaid it's charging cable.

# ? Mar 19, 2019 07:56

Shibawanko: Feb 13, 2013

I haven't used my retropie box in a while because i was abroad. I now see I can only upgrade to 4.4 if I use a fresh install. Is this worth doing? I was getting annoyed with the old version's crappy input handling and I read this has improved in some ways, is it really better?

# ? Mar 24, 2019 19:43

Fuzz1111: Mar 17, 2001; Sorry. I couldn't find anyone to make you a cool cipher-themed avatar, and the look on this guy's face cracks me the fuck up.

Klyith posted:

Installing a root cert is what Diversion does, using the tiny pixelserv-tls webserver to send a 1-pixel image back to all ad requests. It speeds up page loads a ton on https sites because the browser isn't just sending blackholed requests over and over.

Hang on a second, I could be wrong but in my observation replying with a 1 pixel image is not much different to not doing so, as long as pi-hole host replies to ad requests with a TCP reset, which can be accomplished with iptables rules like so:

code:

iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -s x.x.x.0/24 --dport 80 -j REJECT --reject-with tcp-reset
iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -s x.x.x.0/24 --dport 443 -j REJECT --reject-with tcp-reset

The reason I did it this way (and why there's the -s x.x.x.0 qualifiers which should be changed to specify subnet of your LAN) is because the same device also serves up http and https traffic to external connections. I could have had lighttpd host the 1 pixel image server on an unused port, and used iptables to redirect
local port 80 traffic to that port, but when I compared browser performance I saw no meaningful difference to just doing a TCP reset.

I do know that other types of responses (eg: just ignoring the packets entirely) definitely can slow things down because the browser keeps retrying connection, but TCP reset seemed to prevent that behaviour.

# ? Mar 24, 2019 23:33

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# ? May 20, 2024 13:50

Klyith: Aug 3, 2007; GBS Pledge Week

Fuzz1111 posted:

Hang on a second, I could be wrong but in my observation replying with a 1 pixel image is not much different to not doing so, as long as pi-hole host replies to ad requests with a TCP reset, which can be accomplished with iptables rules like so:
code:
iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -s x.x.x.0/24 --dport 80 -j REJECT --reject-with tcp-reset
iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -s x.x.x.0/24 --dport 443 -j REJECT --reject-with tcp-reset
The reason I did it this way (and why there's the -s x.x.x.0 qualifiers which should be changed to specify subnet of your LAN) is because the same device also serves up http and https traffic to external connections. I could have had lighttpd host the 1 pixel image server on an unused port, and used iptables to redirect
local port 80 traffic to that port, but when I compared browser performance I saw no meaningful difference to just doing a TCP reset.

I do know that other types of responses (eg: just ignoring the packets entirely) definitely can slow things down because the browser keeps retrying connection, but TCP reset seemed to prevent that behaviour.

I'm not a networks person so I couldn't tell you why they did it like that. It does sound a lot safer & easier than having to install a root cert, so I would suppose there's some cases where there's a downside to it? Maybe some ads served by javascript might start looping requests when they got a connection reset. (that is a guess completely pulled out of my rear end)

# ? Mar 25, 2019 01:08

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Raspberry Pi: yeah we're pretty much all on desktops again

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