Cant write pi-star image

[2E0SEI]

Hi
No matter what I do try I cannot write an image to my sdcard?
I have used 4 sdcards, not all the same make new and old. 16gb 32gb
I have used win32 imager rufus balenaEtcher 1.5.122.
I can format all cards no errors, I card write to cards write other images just not pi-star.
I have downloaded images many times on two laptops. Still no joy.
Read all the post of other having trouble but still every thing I have read has not help.
Grateful for any help
thanks

[AF6VN]

Hi
No matter what I do try I cannot write an image to my sdcard?
I have used 4 sdcards, not all the same make new and old. 16gb 32gb

What type of error message do you receive? (Note: since you mention Win32 Disk Imager, I'll presume a Windows system -- Windows can not process Linux ext3/ext4 file systems, so after writing an image all you'll find is a small FAT32 boot partition used by the R-Pi to load model specific configuration files before transferring control to the ext4 file system partition)

Though you have not stated the brands. SanDisk seems the most reliable for me (Samsung is highly rated, but I've never seen one in local stores).
My second preference would be Lexar (though my only real experience with them is in CF format cards used by my digital cameras).

PNY, Transcend (I believe), and Kingston don't make chips. They just label units bought from foundries on lowest-bidder basis. As a result, two cards with the same label (size, class) could be vastly different internally.

Any other company -- especially eBay and similar sellers -- aren't fit to trust. They may have bought cheap cards and had them relabeled with a "quality" name. They have been known to sell cards labeled for a larger capacity than really inside the card (having programmed the card to report a high capacity -- only to fail when one reaches the actual physical Flash memory size)..

I have used win32 imager rufus balenaEtcher 1.5.122.
I can format all cards no errors, I card write to cards write other images just not pi-star.

In some forums, Win32 Disk Imager has been deprecated (though it may be useful for making an image /from/ a card -- though my one attempt to do that to make copies of a configured system failed... the capture worked, but the copy failed due to the card internals being slightly different and the available blocks on the destination was smaller than the blocks in the image). Don't know "rufus".

Balena Etcher has been pretty reliable here. It can open multiple formats and properly extract the image from them (for ZIP files, et al.). Since the Pi-Star images are packaged as ZIP files, just let Etcher process the ZIP file -- do not extract the contents and then try to burn the extract.

While it shouldn't be needed (since Etcher and other "image copy" utilities don't use the file system that is on the card) but try doing a full format/verify using the SD Association card formatter https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/ (if it allows, [X] the CHS adjustment box -- some cards don't allow that option).

[2E0SEI]

HI
What am I missing?
I have been trying to write new image to sdcard? five days now and still cannot get a working image ie one that boots when I put it in my hotspot.
I write image with Win32 imager.
I write to card ok I am writing Pi-Star_RPi_V4.1.5_21-Jun-2021
I then make with wifi builder wpa_supplicant.conf this file I copy and paste to root of sdcard.

[2E0SEI]

Hi KE7FNS

There is no reason to make a new thread.
Did not know I had, did not mean to.
Thanks for you reply, info.

OK I am using SanDisk sdcards 4 new ones from two local shops.
I use SD Association card formatter and Raspberry Pi imager to format as well/
Balena Etcher will not work for me at all, two seconds comes up error image failed.

"How do you know you cannot write the pi-star image to the SD card? Is there some sort of error message or something?"
I get fail to write to card, if I do get to write to card "Win32" when I put it in hotspot it will not boot just sits trying to connect. At first I believed it was wrong SSID PSK But they are correct.

"It is probably booting just fine but not showing up on your network because of some issue elsewhere. Take a phone, laptop, or tablet and scan for Wi-Fi networks and see if you see "Pi-star-setup"."

OK Found
pi-star WI-FI 2.4G leggoman In my Router
So it is connecting?
#but is not setup to show on my Nexton Screen?

I unplugged Nexton Screen, and it booted up and I got address.
Went into Dashboard and entered my info.

Plugged my Nexton screen in and it dont work?
Think I need to load Nexton Driver in PI Dashboard?
Stuck on that now I did it once a long long time ago, reading up on how its done.
"Dont hold much hope on doing that.

THANKS KE7FNS for all your help

[2E0SEI]

Thank you so much.
Now have second sdcard setup and working.
Thanks for all your help.