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Install on your SBC

Debian 13 on an Orange Pi 4 Pro

Flash the ready-made OpenAstro image to a microSD card and the Orange Pi 4 Pro boots straight into a networked gear-control server. Faster than a Raspberry Pi 4 and costs less. No installer and no internal storage to touch. The board runs entirely from the card.

Orange Pi 4 Pro
Debian 13 (Trixie)Allwinner A733Runs from microSD

Flash the image​

  1. Download the latest openastro-orangepi4pro.img.xz from the releases page.

  2. Write it to a microSD card (8 GB or larger) with balenaEtcher, Raspberry Pi Imager, or from a terminal:

    xzcat openastro-orangepi4pro.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync

    Replace /dev/sdX with your microSD device.

  3. Insert the card and power on. That's it. The board runs entirely from the card.

Full details, build scripts, and the kernel changelog live in the openastro-orangepi4pro repository.

ZWO EAF/EFW ready

The image ships a custom kernel with HIDRAW enabled and a backported HID descriptor fix for ZWO EAF focusers and EFW filter wheels, validated on hardware.

Connect to the board​

The image comes up with these defaults:

SettingValue
Hostnameopenastro
Username / passwordastro / astro
WiFi access pointOpenAstro-XXXX (2.4 GHz), password 12345678
WiFi AP address172.24.1.1
EthernetDHCP

XXXX is the last 4 hex digits of the board's WiFi MAC address (for example OpenAstro-915D), set automatically on first boot so multiple boards at the same site each get a unique hotspot name. The access point starts at every boot, so even if the board can't be reached over your network you can always join its hotspot and log in at 172.24.1.1.

Connect over Ethernet or join the OpenAstro-XXXX WiFi network, then SSH in. Use one of the following SSH clients depending on your operating system:

  • Linux: Terminal (built-in)
  • macOS: Terminal (built-in)
  • Windows: MobaXterm (or PuTTY, or Windows Terminal)
ssh astro@openastro

Change the default password right away, then update the operating system:

passwd
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y && sudo reboot

Join your own WiFi network (optional)​

Change all WiFi settings from the AlpacaBridge web page: open http://172.24.1.1:6800 while joined to the hotspot (or http://openastro.local:6800 from your LAN) and use the WiFi card on the Server tab to scan for networks, join one with its password, and manage the hotspot's name, password, band, and regulatory country. No command line needed.

The hotspot runs on its own virtual interface, so joining your home WiFi does not take down the hotspot. You can also just use the Ethernet port.

The hotspot starts on 2.4 GHz and stays there until you set a regulatory country in the WiFi card. Once the country is set, the hotspot can be moved to 5 GHz. This only applies to the hotspot itself; joining your home WiFi works on both bands regardless.

AlpacaBridge Comes Preinstalled​

The image ships with AlpacaBridge 3.5.1 (with the WiFi manager) already installed from the OpenAstro APT repository and running as a systemd service, so the board works at a dark site straight from the flash. No internet required and nothing to install.

The web portal listens on port 6800: http://openastro.local:6800 from your LAN, or http://172.24.1.1:6800 when joined to the hotspot.

Keep AlpacaBridge up to date​

Updates arrive through apt from the OpenAstro repository. Check apt.openastro.net to see the latest AlpacaBridge version and whether your board needs an update. Whenever the board has internet access, pull the latest release with:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install alpacabridge

This upgrades AlpacaBridge to the newest version even if the image bundled an older one. Running sudo apt full-upgrade as shown above also picks it up along with the rest of the operating system.

Continue to Configure AlpacaBridge to set up your devices. If you ever need to reinstall the service manually, the steps are in Install AlpacaBridge.