Pi ZeroW wont connect to WiFi

Help setting up WiFi
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G8MMM
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:23 pm

Pi ZeroW wont connect to WiFi

Post by G8MMM »

Hi guys

Just trying to get my ZeroW to connect to Wifi but no luck so far. Using the PiStar V4.1.4.08 Feb 2021 image with the Wifi info added to "boot" by means of the Wifi builder which creates a "supplicant" file. The "hat" is from Amazon but I believe is called a Zumspot?

Pretty sure the ZeroW is Ok as I have previously loaded a "noobs" package which allowed you to prime the Wifi credentials using a couple of type in boxes. That worked fine but of course no Pi-Star software and that couldn't be found by the search tool and "add software". However the "supplicant" route is not connecting at all and that is confirmed by no ip address appearing during boot up and no icon entry in the BT router table. The Zumspot hat works fine on both a Pi B+ and also a Pi 3 with wired ethernet and you get the illuminated display.

I suppose by elimination the "supplicant" file must be the issue but it seems complete and was added to the SD card as per instructions. Removing the "hat" doesn't solve the problem.

Any guidance welcome.

Gordon
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G8SEZ
Posts: 553
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: Pi ZeroW wont connect to WiFi

Post by G8SEZ »

In the UK BT usually means the company that used to call itself British Telecom, essentially similar to AT&T and before it Bell Telephone. It escaped from government ownership in 1983 (although management attitudes took longer to move out of the public sector) but is still a fairly big player in the domestic ISP stakes.
--

Brian G8SEZ
G8MMM
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:23 pm

Re: Pi ZeroW wont connect to WiFi..all sorted

Post by G8MMM »

G8SEZ and KE7FNS.

Many thanks for your replies and yes sorry for confusing the BT with bluetooth. I used to work for the outfit which didn't help.

Comment about how the supplicant file should disappear if all is well was key because it wasn't going away. Content was fine but I had adopted the practice of adding a suffix in brackets say (7) every time I changed it and I was working on a friends issue as well so he had a different SSID and I didnt want to confuse them as it was a common computer. That was it...just renamed the file to Wpa_Supplicant.conf and it all worked!!

Very sensitive these Pi's

Gordon G8MMM
G8MMM
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:23 pm

Re: Pi ZeroW wont connect to WiFi

Post by G8MMM »

Jason

Thanks a lot for the supplementary info. Pretty sure I used lower case throughout and was a bit lax in the typing in my forum note. It is important as you say to get the case correct. The good news is it worked and the addition info is valuable.

Best 73

Gordon G8MMM
EA7HOH
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:08 am
Location: SPAIN

Re: Pi ZeroW wont connect to WiFi

Post by EA7HOH »

If the image doesn't connect to your WiFi network and instead goes into Auto AP mode, the issue could be because your router doesn't broadcast SSIDs.

In that case, try adding:

scan_ssid=1

to the /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf file, between ssd and psk:

network={
#ssid="WirelessNetworkName"
ssid=576972656c6573734e6574776f726b4e616d65
scan_ssid=1
#psk="WirelessNetworkPassword"
psk=364b8070f605f9222cca4e21173ad266e6a54e1495a13d38280c67e78a3d5ff2047c5d
id_str="0"
priority=100
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