PADD

PADD (formerly Chronometer2) is a more expansive version of the original chronometer.sh that is included with Pi-Hole. PADD provides in-depth information about your Pi-hole.

PADD is optimized for a 60x22 character display:

It will also run in PADDmini mode on a screen that is smaller than 60x22 characters:

(PADD will not run on a screen smaller than 30x16.)

Setup

To setup PADD with a PiTFT+ screen:

Setup Your Pi

More in-depth instructions on setting up a Raspberry Pi with a PiTFT+ can be found here.

• Download and flash the latest version of Raspian Lite to an SD card.
• Get and run the latest PiTFT Installer script:

cd ~
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/Raspberry-Pi-Installer-Scripts/master/adafruit-pitft.sh
chmod +x adafruit-pitft.sh
sudo ./adafruit-pitft.sh

• Prevent the display from going to sleep by adding consoleblank=0 to the end of /boot/cmdline.txt.
• Set your Pi to automatically log into the console using raspi-config.
• Configure the console to use the Terminus font at 8x14 by running sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup.

Setup Pi-Hole

• Install Pi-hole by running curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash.

Setup PADD

• Get a copy of PADD by running:

cd ~
wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jpmck/PADD/master/padd.sh

• Make PADD executable by running

sudo chmod +x padd.sh

• Set PADD to auto run by adding the following to the end of ~/.bashrc:

# Run PADD
# If we're on the PiTFT screen (ssh is xterm)
if [ "$TERM" == "linux" ] ; then
  while :
  do
    ./padd.sh
    sleep 1
  done
fi

• Reboot your Pi-Hole by running sudo reboot. PADD should now run when your Pi-Hole has completed booting.

(Optional) Put the Display to Sleep at Night

If you don't want your PiTFT on all night when you are asleep, you can put it to sleep! (Note: these instructions only apply to a PiTFT.)

• To do so, edit cron as root (sudo crontab -e) and add the following:

# PiTFT+ SLEEPY TIME
# Turn off the PiTFT+ at midnight
00 00 * * * sh -c 'echo "0" > /sys/class/backlight/soc\:backlight/brightness'
# Turn on the PiTFT+ at 8:00 am
00 08 * * * sh -c 'echo "1" > /sys/class/backlight/soc\:backlight/brightness'

Updating PADD

• Just run

cd ~
wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jpmck/PADD/master/padd.sh

FAQ

1. What screens are supported?

   PADD has only been "officially" tested on a 3.5" PiTFT display. It also works on any terminal emulator (Terminal.app, iTerm, PuTTY, etc.). It has also been in use by other users on several other third-party displays.

2. What version of Pi-hole is supported?

   Generally speaking, the latest version of Pi-hole at the time the a new version of PADD is released. However, if there is an update to Pi-hole, there is a small chance that PADD may break.

   • I'm on the beta version of Pi-hole and the display is messed up. Will there be support for the development branch of Pi-hole?

     No. My Pi-hole, and by extension my PADD, runs in my house with the following goals: (a) don't screw up the internet for for my work-from-home/VPN setup, and (b) don't screw up the internet for my wife. For those reasons, PADD will only ever support the latest stable release of Pi-hole.

3. What does PADD mean?

   Personal Access Display Device ... also "Pi-hole Ad Detection Display" ...

   • "Pi-hole Ad Detection Display"? Does that mean you're part of the Pi-hole team?

     Nope, PADD is a third-party application that isn't affiliated with the official Pi-hole project.

4. Who are you? How can I get a hold of you?

   Yes, my name is Jim.

   You can send me an email at jim at jpmck dot com or send me a message on Reddit.