Written 7 Sep 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card.
Restart Pi-hole or the house share
Ads vanished or Finder lost the folder, but the computer is still on. Restart the one service that died. You don't need a full reboot or a new mini PC.
Haven't installed the house ad block yet? Start with the first useful thing. No share yet? Start with a file share. Computer looks asleep or dead? Check that first: is the computer still on?. This note is only the soft restart when SSH still works and one house job stopped.
Skip until SSH works
If you cannot log in from the couch, fix that before you restart anything: SSH from the couch, or when SSH won't connect. Soft-off after a quiet night? Try wake the computer from the house network. Disk read-only or the machine thrashing? A service restart will not heal that: when the disk went read-only, when the computer ran out of memory.
What this is
Debian and Ubuntu keep long-running programs as services. Pi-hole's engine is usually pihole-FTL. The house share is Samba (smbd). Either can stop after a bad update, a full disk, an OOM kill, or a power blip while the rest of the computer stays awake. You check status, restart the dead one, then prove ads or the folder work again. You are not wiping lists. You are not reformatting. You are not buying a NAS.
Step 1: awake, then SSH
Power light. Fan. Same house Wi-Fi or ethernet as the computer, not guest Wi-Fi. Then SSH in. Connect fails? Stop here and use the SSH notes above.
Step 2: pick which job died
| What you see | Restart this |
|---|---|
Ads are back house-wide, or http://pi.hole/admin is blank, while SSH works | Pi-hole (pihole-FTL / pihole restartdns) |
| Finder, File Explorer, or the phone cannot open the house folder; computer is awake | Samba (smbd) |
| Both feel dead after a blip | Check both statuses. Restart only what is failed or inactive. Reboot last. |
One phone still shows ads while everyone else is clean? That is usually the phone, not a dead service: when one phone still shows ads. Whole house cannot browse after you changed DNS? Put the router back on automatic first: when the house won't browse after Pi-hole.
Step 3: restart Pi-hole
See if it is up:
pihole status
Or the systemd unit:
systemctl status pihole-FTL --no-pager
You want active / enabled language, not failed or inactive. Soft restart DNS and the engine:
pihole restartdns
If status still looks wrong, or the admin page stays blank:
sudo systemctl restart pihole-FTL
On some installs a separate web unit still exists. If systemctl status lighttpd --no-pager shows a real unit (not "not found"), you can restart that too:
sudo systemctl restart lighttpd
If lighttpd is missing, skip it. Rely on pihole restartdns and pihole-FTL. Fuller admin-page walk: when the Pi-hole admin page won't open. Ads still house-wide after status looks fine: when ads come back.
Step 4: restart the house share
Check Samba:
systemctl status smbd --no-pager
Failed, inactive, or "dead"? Restart it:
sudo systemctl restart smbd
Optional, if browsing the share name from Windows is flaky:
sudo systemctl restart nmbd
Skip nmbd if the unit is missing on your install. Then open the folder again from a laptop or phone: open the house share from a laptop, open the house share from a phone. Still gone after a clean active status? The longer checklist is when the house share disappeared, check the computer, then when the house share won't open.
Step 5: prove it
For Pi-hole: open http://pi.hole/admin (or the computer's address plus /admin). Watch Query Log while a phone loads a page. You should see lookups. For the share: open the same path you always use, type the Samba password if asked, and copy a small file. If login fails with a password you know is right, clear the saved one on the laptop: forget the saved house-share login.
Step 6: when a restart is not enough
Status flips back to failed right away, or the computer is swapping hard: check room and memory before you loop restarts. See if the computer still has room. Full system disk symptoms: when the computer's disk is full. OOM kills: when the computer ran out of memory. After weekly updates, a reboot may actually be required: see if a reboot is needed. Prefer a clean reboot over yanking the cord: shut down without yanking the plug (then power on), or sudo reboot when you mean a restart of the whole machine.
What this is not
This is not a full reboot of the old PC (that is the last step when services keep dying). It is not wiping Pi-hole lists. It is not recreating the share from scratch. It is not a reason to buy a NAS or a new mini PC. It is not opening SSH, Samba, or the Pi-hole admin page to the internet.
What next
Ads still messy after FTL is active: when ads come back. Admin blank: when the Pi-hole admin page won't open. Share still missing: when the house share disappeared, check the computer. Need a timed pause instead of a restart: pause Pi-hole for a few minutes. After a power blip, the wider pass: after the power comes back. Once a week, keep the computer updated, and keep Pi-hole updated.
Optional: jot which service you restarted in Lab plan — username + passkey, no email. Skip if you just want to keep reading.
Skip
- Skip buying a NAS because Samba needed one restart.
- Skip a new mini PC because Pi-hole needed
restartdns. - Skip yanking the power cord to "fix" a dead service.
- Skip opening the admin page or SMB past the house network.
- Skip restarting both when only one status is failed.
- Skip this until SSH works and the computer is actually on.
Sources
Pi-hole docs. Pi-hole command (status, restartdns). Debian: systemctl. Ubuntu: systemctl. Samba: smbd. Official pages only. For install, see the first useful thing and a file share. For a dead share checklist, see when the house share disappeared, check the computer. For ads that stay after FTL is up, see when ads come back.