I would like to save the pain of all the newcommers in setting up the hotspot on their OPi ZERO.

Please note, that the wifi module on this board is crappy and the available driver is barely working. The AP function is left enabled in the beta builds.

You can read about it here: thread about the wifi module

 

I am not a dev or any highly experienced user.

 

I tested this step by step with my Orange Pi Zero 256MB, board rev. 1.1:

1) download the image from dl.armbian.com: Armbian_5.35_Orangepizero_Ubuntu_xenial_default_3.4.113

2) write it to your SD card

3) SSH to your OPi Zero

4) run as root

armbian-config

5) navigate to "system" and enable "nightly" builds (or the beta images) and wait

6) navigate to wifi and connect to some other wifi network fist! if you do not connect, the wifi hotspot won't work

7) disconnect from the wifi network

8) navigate to Hotspot and let the armbian-config do all the setup for you.

9) you should have wifi ssid ARMBIAN running.

10) change your ssid and password

 

11) reboot if your hotspot stops working and connect with the zero to wifi and repeat

 

probably it can wotk with other armbian releases, but I did not test others.

 

 

 

Enjoy! and do not ask the devs all over again to help you with the hotspot, they can not help you.

Thanks for your guide!
May I suggest that you publish it on the tutorials section?
This way it will be more organized and accessible. 

Which version of orange Pi has a better chip suitable for being used as stable AP?