Cant connect to wifi New update, hubpiwi board

skrapps914

@mitu i purchased the hubpiwi off of a kickstarter campaign a couple years ago, but it worked with prior retropie images. its just this recent update it wont work with. here is a link about the hub, but it doesn't have any documentation. i'm not sure which other info is needed. i can't connect to the internet with it, so i'm not sure how i can get any logs off of it.
link text

skrapps914

@mitu here i just realized something else, sorry (i've been at this all day, and its reaching 3am here now)
when booting, i see 2 errors alt text and

here is lsusb
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here is the ifconfig wlan0
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when i run iwlist wlan0 scan, i get nothing found

however, when i go through emulationstation, click on retropie, go down to wifi, i get scan results, but it still will not let me connect
alt text
and

then, after i exit and head back to terminal, and run the iwlist wlan0 scan again...
it now gives me results, instead of nothing found like before
alt text

mitu

The fact that you get to see the AP around from the wlan0 device means the driver is working, it's just not associated.
Create a configuration file as explained in the Docs. This includes the WiFi country settings, so you don't have to do it from raspi-config.Boot with the configuration files and see if you get a network connection.

skrapps914

@mitu I've tried that through the pi itself, and tried via pc. it still doesn't work
also, as i mentioned it wont scan anything through terminal, until i go through retropie, click on wifi, try to connect that way, and then go back to terminal, run a scan again, then it finds my SSID but still wont connect. it has to be something in the update that's causing this, since it works in prior versions

mitu

I've tried that through the pi itself, and tried via pc. it still doesn't work

I know you mentioned using the wifikeyfile.txt - did you also used the wpa_supplicant.conf file mentioned in the docs ?

RetroPie is just using Raspberry Pi OS (former Raspbian) underneath, there's nothing specific in RetroPie regarding WiFi drivers. What you name 'update' is just a recent Raspberry Pi Lite image + RetroPie installed on it. The driver for the WiFi card seems to be included and working (since scanning works). Can you run iw reg get and post the output ?

skrapps914

@mitu i've tried both the wifikeyfile.txt, and wpa_supplicant.conf neither work. i get error communicating with wpa supplicant messages.

here is my iw reg get after i set my country in localization, timezone.
(because it wont let me go to country i get "there was an error running option L4 WLAN Country")
initally scanning DOESNT work in terminal, it only works once i've tried to set up wifi through retropie and fail, then return to terminal and scan, and then it works. but wont connect

alt text

mitu

Looks like the WiFi country is not set.
You can set it with sudo iw reg set <COUNTRY_CODE> and maybe try again the WiFi configuration to see if it associates ? That may work until the next reboot.

I would delete the existing /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf file and then try again to configure with a wpa_supplicant.confcopied in the /boot folder.

skrapps914

@mitu i'll try setting country code via reg set, but ive tried deleting the supplicant before, and making a new one and the same thing happened

skrapps914

@mitu Reporting back

Tried to set the country with sudo iw reg set <COUNTRY_CODE> and got this
alt text

then went back, and again, deleted the wpa_supplicant.conf and recreated it
alt text

**tried to connect, and didn't work, so i went back again to localisation, and got this
alt text

won't connect. seems like a bug or something?

mitu

The wpa_supplicant.conf seems ok, the command is not, it should be:

sudo iw reg set US

<COUNTRY_CODE> was meant as a placeholder, you need to remove the < >.

skrapps914

@mitu ok, went back and tried that. it let me set it, didn't connect, and it won't save upon reboot.
seems like a bug.

alt text

and after Rebooting
alt text

mitu

Try reproducing the error with the latest Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
If the WiFi works, then you can install RetroPie manually over it - see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Manual-Installation/. If the WiFi doesn't work, then try reporting it in the Raspi OS forum at https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=66.

skrapps914

@mitu thanks, i'll give it a shot and report back

skrapps914

@mitu Ok, so i installed raspberry pi os lite.
upon booting, it gives me usb device descriptor error, and on the desktop it says no wireless lan interfaces found. but the usb hub seems to all be working, i have peripherals attached to it, keyboard, controller, and mouse and all work. just seems like an issue with wifi

skrapps914

@mitu hey just in case youre interested, ive figured it out. it indeed was a driver issue
=i'm not sure if the driver was removed, or forgotten in the update? but the driver was the issue, i did searches, was able to track the drivers down, figured out how to install them, and everything works perfectly now.

so its definitely the case of either the driver missing in the 4.7.13 update, or a glitch. copied the driver file 8188eu-5.4.72-v8-1356.tar.gz to the boot section, extracted it to its own directory, installed..and BOOM..everything works a charm now

mitu

@skrapps914 said in Cant connect to wifi New update, hubpiwi board:

so its definitely the case of either the driver missing in the 4.7.13 update, or a glitch.

As explained before, it's not a RetroPie issue - but a regression in the Linux kernel as shipped with Raspbery Pi OS. I think this issue is similar to your problem or [this forum topic]*https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=246587).

copied the driver file 8188eu-5.4.72-v8-1356.tar.gz to the boot section, extracted it to its own directory, installed..and BOOM..everything works a charm now

That's good, except that you'll get the same problem if/when you upgrade your system and the kernel version will be upgraded - currently is at 5.10.17. Keep an eye on http://downloads.fars-robotics.net/wifi-drivers/8188eu-drivers/ if you intend to upgrade, it looks like the drivers are updated and kept in-sync with the Linux kernel included in Raspberry Pi OS.

skrapps914

@mitu i'm on 4.7.14 retropie image now. everything is working. if the drivers dont work again when a new upgrade is released, i'll just have to install an older driver again. not a big deal. just glad its working.

petermeigs

I see this topic is quite old but I had this problem as well. Perhaps adding it here will help others find it more easily. My hubpiwi stopped working when I upgraded my raspberry pi zero (no W) with the hubwipi to raspbian bulleye. The thing I finally stumbled on to was to add wext to the wpa_supplicant options. Here are the details with thanks to those who wrote this up:

https://www.linuxbabe.com/debian/connect-to-wi-fi-from-terminal-on-debian-wpa-supplicant

The following is needed for hubwipi using rtl8188EUS
lsusb ->
ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter

You can get the wifi working from the command line using this:

sudo wpa_supplicant -B -D wext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Unfortunately, it will be gone after a reboot. To get it to start at boot time see (with my thanks here as well)

https://superuser.com/questions/1434621/set-wpa-supplicant-default-driver-on-startup

Here is what worked for me: To the end of the file /etc/dhcpcd.conf. add:

interface wlan0                                    
env ifwireless=1              
env wpa_supplicant_driver=wext

Your interface name may be different from wlan0. Running the command

ip addr

will tell you the name.

I have tried this on other raspberry pi zero w's and adding the "wext" did not seem to bother them. I did not do too much testing here so I only add the wext when I need it.

One of the notes I saw warned that the network speed of the rtl8188eus was low and I experienced this as well but it was sufficient for my purpose and let me update the OS on the rpi zero with the hubwipi.

I hope this helps someone searching for how to get the hubwifi to work again with a newer Raspian OS release.