Wifi Not Connecting on Pi Zero W

[ldeluzio]

Pi Model: Zero W
Power Supply used: lithium battery
RetroPie Version Used: 4.3
Built From: Pre made SD Image
USB Devices connected: none
Controller used: built in PCB connection
Error messages received: Unable to connect to network
Guide used: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Wifi/#wpawpa2_1
How to replicate the problem: system settings > wifi > import wifi credentials from/boot/wifikeyfile.txt

I have a pi zero w that I am attempting to connect to my wifi. The pi is part of the Game Boy Null 2 Kit link: https://www.null2.co.uk/

The image boots from an SD card with a wifikeyfile.txt where I have entered my credentials correctly on my Mac, then inserted the SD card into the pi card reader. I have followed the instructions for "Connecting Wifi without a Keyboard" outlined by the guide only to get an error message "Unable to connect to network"

Under system settings > wifi > connect to wifi network , my wifi network is listed, meaning that it can at least detect it. I'm sitting three feet from the router, so proximity is not the issue. Frustratingly I do not have a keyboard with which to attempt to type in my password in this prompt.

At first I thought the problem might be caused by the space in my wifi network name, but adding an underscore in place of a space yields the same result. There are no other special characters in either network name or password so that can be ruled out. By all accounts it should be working so I'm stumped. Thanks!

[mitu]

Is your WiFi SSID on 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz ? The Pi Zero W would support only 2.4Ghz SSIDs. Btw, is there a reason you're using such an old RetroPie release ?

[ldeluzio]

Hey @mitu thanks for getting back to me. It turns out the issue was not the wifi connection. I'll explain for anyone who might run into this stupid problem as well:

1. I'm working on a Mac (booooo) and when I opened the wifikeyfile.txt it opened by default in TextEdit.app. When I opened it and entered my credentials it looked a bit like this:

ssid="wifinetworkname"
psk="mypassword"

Unbeknownst to me, a non coder, it turns out there are two different types of quotation marks. WTF, right? See if you notice the difference between the two below.

Yeah, unsurprisingly if you have quotation marks like those on the left like I did, when you try to <import wifi credentials boot/wifikeyfile.txt> it won't be able to read the text correctly.

The fix?
Go to the toolbar under edit > substitutions > smart quotes. Uncheck that option and you'll be able to type no nonsense vertical quotation marks that RetroPie will recognize.

Alternatively, if you open your wifikeyfile.txt in Sublime 2 instead you shouldn't have this bs problem. Seriously, I don't need fancy quotation marks here! I'm not writing a novel and if I was I wouldn't be using TextEdit.

2. Make sure you don't have a return below your second line. It'll be invisible if you don't have your text cursor on it so delete space until you only have two lines.

Sorry for the text dump but I figured this may save newbie like me a headache if they try making their own Gameboy Null 2 and run into the same issues.

To answer your question about the old version of RetroPie, it was part of a pre-made image that was recommended for the project, likely to save me the trouble of button config etc.