Setup Wifi without ethernet

pCP Team 26 May 2022 pCP 7.0.0 Setup • How to
The preferred method to setup your wifi is through the piCorePlayer Wifi GUI page—see Setup Wifi, but there are situations where adding wpa_supplicant.conf to the boot partition (Using a setup computer) may be the only option.

Situations like the following:

  • You have a Raspberry Pi without built-in wired ethernet so wifi is the only option.
  • You want to use Raspberry Pi’s built-in Wifi.
  • You don’t have wired ethernet available.

See what networking options are available on the various models of the Raspberry Pi—see Raspberry Pi.

Below is the standard format of a wpa_supplicant.conf file that is generated by piCorePlayer.

# Maintained by piCorePlayer
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=staff
# Two Character Country Code
country=US
update_config=1

network={
	ssid="yourssid"
	psk="password"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	auth_alg=OPEN
}

Under most circumstances it is probably better to let piCorePlayer maintain your wpa_supplicant.conf file—see Maintained by piCorePlayer.

But if you really have a more complex wifi setup and know how to generate the appropriate wpa_supplicant.conf properly, then the # Maintained by user method can be used—see Maintained by user.

Maintained by piCorePlayer

Steps

Step 1
Info

Do not eject the SD card as you need to add “wpa_supplicant.conf” to the boot partition.

Step 2

Create a new file, or download a sample wpa_supplicant.conf and modify.

  • Used for quick setup at boot.
  • Can be later maintained via pCP web interface.
  • Do not use special characters.

Type or copy one of the following using your text editor (ie. Notepad++).

Maintained by piCorePlayer
# Maintained by piCorePlayer
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=staff
# Two Character Country Code
country=US
update_config=1

network={
	ssid="yourssid"
	psk="password"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	auth_alg=OPEN
}

Bare minimum

ssid="yourssid"
psk="password"
Step 3
  • [Save As] the file “DRIVE:\wpa_supplicant.conf” to the boot partition.

On a Windows PC, DRIVE will be the drive letter for your SD card. (ie. F:)

Step 4
  • Eject SD card.
Step 5
  • Insert SD card into piCorePlayer.
Step 6
  • Apply power.

Example of wpa_supplicant.conf processing

Steps

Step 1 - User created wpa_supplicant.conf
ssid="yourssid"
psk="yourpassword"
Step 2 - piCorePlayer created wpa_supplicant.conf
# Maintained by piCorePlayer
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=staff
update_config=1

network={
	#enc_ssid="yourssid"
	ssid="yourssid"
	psk="yourpassword"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	auth_alg=OPEN
}
Step 3 - piCorePlayer GUI created wpa_supplicant.conf
# Maintained by piCorePlayer
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=staff
country=AU
update_config=1

network={
	#enc_ssid="yourssid"
	ssid="yourssid"
	psk=bd9abb43d0e2dd30bd92049f926debe09fc87c8eb18f1bdabe8e17453020bfa6
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	auth_alg=OPEN
}

Maintained by user

For advanced users.

Steps

Step 1
Step 2
  • User maintains by placing this on the boot disk to update.
  • pCP will not modify in any way.
  • Special Characters are allowed.
# Maintained by user
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=staff
# Two Character Country Code
country=US
update_config=1

network={
	ssid="Your SSID"
	psk="P@ssword"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	auth_alg=OPEN
}
Step 3
  • [Save As] the file “DRIVE:\wpa_supplicant.conf” to the boot partition.

On a Windows PC, DRIVE will be the drive letter for your SD card. (ie. F:)

Step 4
  • Eject SD card.
Step 5
  • Insert SD card into piCorePlayer.
Step 6
  • Apply power.

Using setup with keyboard and monitor

Warning

Setup may not always be completely up-to-date because it is the last thing to be tested and updated.

Steps

Step 1 - Create SD card
Step 2 - Boot piCorePlayer
  • Insert SD card
  • Plug in keyboard and monitor
  • Apply power
Step 3 - Login
  • Login into your piCorePlayer:
    • login as: tc
    • password: piCore (default)
  • Type setup.

piCore login terminal

Step 4 - Read message
  • Click [OK].

Setup - Important message

Step 5 - Select Wifi
  • Select [Wifi].
  • Click [Select].

Setup - Main Menu

Step 6 - Wifi already on
Warning

If you get this message, wifi is already setup. Use the web GUI to setup Wifi further.

Setup - Wifi message

Step 7 - Enter SSID and password
Warning

Special characters may not work.

  • Enter your SSID.
  • Enter your Password.
  • Click [Save].

Setup - Wifi Menu

Step 8 - Reboot
  • Click [Yes].

Setup - Wifi Status Menu

Step 9 - Final
  • piCorePlayer will reboot with wifi active.

More information

The Software and Information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of condition, uninterrupted use, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.