Dietpi: Tinkerboard wifi not working (again)

[mukamuk1]

Creating a bug report/issue:

wifi is not working when using dietpi.txt.
when using dietpi-config adapter is enabled. It finds network but not getting IP from DHCP.

Required Information:

• DietPi version | 6.15
• Distro version | 9.5
• Kernel version | Linux TinkerBox 4.4.71+ #1 SMP Thu Feb 22 18:23:31 CST 2018 armv7l GNU/Linux
• SBC device | Asus Tinker Board (armv7l)
• Power supply used | X
• SDcard used | X

Steps to reproduce:

1. Fresh dietpi install
2. dietpi-config-->wifi
3. insert network details
4. wifi works once
5. reboot
6. no wifi

Expected behaviour:

Wifi should work

Actual behaviour:

wifi is not working

Extra details:

Might be same issue: https://dietpi.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3064

[mukamuk1]

Issue might be missing net-tools package. Because during attempt to connect wifi I could see error message of missing ifconfig. After installing net-tools wifi connection works just fine.

Not 100% sure because I made own Dietpi from newest TinkerOS but I had same problem. Fix worked with this Dietpi. Kernel running now is Linux DietPi 4.4.103+ #1 SMP Fri Jun 22 16:14:49 CST 2018 armv7l GNU/Linux.

[MichaIng]

@mukamuk1
Thanks for your report.

Related to: https://github.com/Fourdee/DietPi/issues/2071 ?

Could you as well try to move the file mentioned in the other thread out and check if it's working then?

Hmm but you say installing net-tools only solves the issue? This should be not needed anymore. Nowadays ip is used to check and apply interface settings. Can you identify which software throws the error? Perhaps some outdated network tool from the TimkerOS?

[mukamuk1]

Error is shown when using dietpi-config. After enabling wifi and inserting wifi-details. During save-procedure error of missing ifconfig is shown for short period. Same error was shown during fresh dietpi install (from dietpi-image). So you should be able to replicate error with Tinkerboard.

I removed net-tools and wifi is still working. Error is still shown:
DHCPOFFER of 192.168.0.8 from 192.168.0.1 DHCPACK of 192.168.0.8 from 192.168.0.1 bound to 192.168.0.8 -- renewal in 610632848 seconds. /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools: 141: /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools: ifconfig: not found Error for wireless request "Set Power Management" (8B2C) : SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted. Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client 4.3.5 Copyright 2004-2016 Internet Systems Consortium. All rights reserved. For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/

2071 might be cause of my problem. Wifi had 0.0.0.0 in ip-settings in dietpi-config. Some how installing net-tools still solved my problem.

[MichaIng]

@mukamuk1
Thanks for posting error message.

So /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools is the issue. Seems to be new in TinkerOS and uses outdated net-tools. We need to either remove this file or adjust it to use iproute2.

Could you paste:

cat /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools
dpkg -S /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools

The second command to check if it is added by an APT package, just in case.

[Fourdee]

@MichaIng

root@DietPi:~# dpkg -S /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools
wireless-tools: /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools

root@DietPi:~# cat /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools
#!/bin/sh

IWCONFIG=/sbin/iwconfig

if [ ! -x $IWCONFIG ]; then
  exit 0
fi

# check if this is a 802.11 device we're supposed to be effecting
case "${IF_WIRELESS:-enable}" in
        wireless-tools|iwconfig)
                # *we* and not some other 802.11 tool should be used
        ;;
        true|yes|enable|1)
                # 802.11 should be used on this device, check for extensions
                $IWCONFIG $IFACE >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0
        ;;
        *)
                exit 0
        ;;
esac

# The wireless driver madness:
#
# - Some drivers want everything to be configured before bringing the interface up
# - Some drivers want everything to be configured after bringing the interface up
# - Some drivers want some parameters before, other parameters after bringing the interface up
#
# So, we try to set every parameter when the interface is still down,
# and remember which ones failed to be configured properly.
# If some failed, we bring the interface up, and try the failed ones again.

apply_settings()
{
        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_SENS" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" sens $IF_WIRELESS_SENS && IF_WIRELESS_SENS= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_MODE" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" mode $IF_WIRELESS_MODE && IF_WIRELESS_MODE= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_AP" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" ap $IF_WIRELESS_AP && IF_WIRELESS_AP= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_RATE" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" rate $IF_WIRELESS_RATE && IF_WIRELESS_RATE= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_RTS" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" rts $IF_WIRELESS_RTS && IF_WIRELESS_RTS= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_FRAG" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" frag $IF_WIRELESS_FRAG && IF_WIRELESS_FRAG= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_POWER" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" power $IF_WIRELESS_POWER && IF_WIRELESS_POWER= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_POWERPERIOD" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" power period $IF_WIRELESS_POWERPERIOD && IF_WIRELESS_POWERPERIOD= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_POWERTIMEOUT" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" power timeout $IF_WIRELESS_POWERTIMEOUT && IF_WIRELESS_POWERTIMEOUT= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_TXPOWER" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" txpower $IF_WIRELESS_TXPOWER && IF_WIRELESS_TXPOWER= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_RETRY" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" retry $IF_WIRELESS_RETRY && IF_WIRELESS_RETRY= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_ENC" ]; then
                eval $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" enc $IF_WIRELESS_ENC && IF_WIRELESS_ENC= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_DEFAULTKEY" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key ["$IF_WIRELESS_DEFAULTKEY"] && IF_WIRELESS_DEFAULTKEY= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_KEYMODE" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key "$IF_WIRELESS_KEYMODE" && IF_WIRELESS_KEYMODE= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY" ]; then
                eval $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key $IF_WIRELESS_KEY && IF_WIRELESS_KEY= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY1" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key [1] "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY1" && IF_WIRELESS_KEY1= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY2" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key [2] "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY2" && IF_WIRELESS_KEY2= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY3" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key [3] "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY3" && IF_WIRELESS_KEY3= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY4" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" key [4] "$IF_WIRELESS_KEY4" && IF_WIRELESS_KEY4= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_FREQ" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" freq $IF_WIRELESS_FREQ && IF_WIRELESS_FREQ= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_CHANNEL" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" channel $IF_WIRELESS_CHANNEL && IF_WIRELESS_CHANNEL= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_NICK" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" nick "$IF_WIRELESS_NICK" && IF_WIRELESS_NICK= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_NWID" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" nwid "$IF_WIRELESS_NWID" && IF_WIRELESS_NWID= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_ESSID" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" essid "$IF_WIRELESS_ESSID" && IF_WIRELESS_ESSID= || FAIL=true
        fi

        if [ -n "$IF_WIRELESS_COMMIT" ]; then
                $IWCONFIG "$IFACE" commit && IF_WIRELESS_COMMIT= || FAIL=true
        fi
}

FAIL=
apply_settings 2>/dev/null

if [ -n "$FAIL" ]; then
        FAIL=
        ifconfig "$IFACE" up
        apply_settings
fi

---

Interesting, if it fails, use ifconfig

if [ -n "$FAIL" ]; then
        FAIL=
        ifconfig "$IFACE" up
        apply_settings
fi

[Fourdee]

Always applies this SSID:

[  OK  ] DietPi-Config | Desired setting in /DietPi/dietpi.txt was already set: AUTO_SETUP_NET_WIFI_SSID=MySuperDooperWiFi

[Fourdee]

Confirmed working with updated dietpi-config code:

net-tools not required.

---

Reboot test:
🈯️

root@DietPi:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: sit0@NONE: <NOARP> mtu 1480 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1
    link/sit 0.0.0.0 brd 0.0.0.0
3: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 88:d7:f6:c2:f0:42 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 80:c5:f2:46:e1:81 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.0.33/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::82c5:f2ff:fe46:e181/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

[Fourdee]

@mukamuk1

I'll update the image, please bear with us, will post when its available including the above fix.

[Fourdee]

DietPi-Config, not setting correct SSID as selected, effects recent image updates:

• https://github.com/Fourdee/DietPi/issues/2026

I won't be redoing them all, due to lack of time. However, i'll redo the popular ones.

Workaround is to either:

• Use DietPi-Automation, to set WiFi creds before 1st boot: https://dietpi.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=273#p1140
• Initially connect with Ethernet, update to v6.16, then set up WiFi in dietpi-config

---

v6.16 as hotfix?

[MichaIng]

@Fourdee
I don't get it. Maybe I need to finish the DietPi mug of coffee first 🤣.

• You just changed to method of offering and applying the SSIDs from scan? Instead of writing scan output to file and filling content into an array to loop through, now it is directly looped through the scan output, which is indeed better coding.
• But the $WIFI_SSID value afterwards should be the same 🤔?
• Also the method worked in previous version?

My goodness, took a time until I understand the purpose the the pre-up script:

• Some adapters need to have the interface up, before applying WiFi settings (via iwconfig) works, others allow or need the interface to be still down.
• So the script first tries to apply the settings pre-up, then if this fails, first brings the interface up via ifconfig, before retrying to apply left settings.
• It is indeed still an issue (from my point of view), that it uses ifconfig at all, without having the package as dependency:

root@VM-Stretch:~# apt depends wireless-tools
wireless-tools
  Depends: libc6 (>= 2.14)
  Depends: libiw30 (>= 30~pre1)

• And of course net-tools are widely known/marked as obsolete/outdated: https://linux.die.net/man/8/ifconfig
  > This program is obsolete! For replacement check ip addr and ip link. For statistics use ip -s link.

[Fourdee]

@MichaIng

But the $WIFI_SSID value afterwards should be the same

Yep, still unsure of the cause, however, the rewrite has resolved the issue in testing. I need to do more testing regardless.

Maybe I need to finish the DietPi mug of coffee first 🤣.

Same here 👍

It is indeed still an issue (from my point of view), that it uses ifconfig at all, without having the package as dependency:

Yep, thought the same 👍. I believe its more of a "fallback" should everything else fail, try using the older tool that "might" be installed?

[MichaIng]

@Fourdee
From the file:

# The wireless driver madness:
#
# - Some drivers want everything to be configured before bringing the interface up
# - Some drivers want everything to be configured after bringing the interface up
# - Some drivers want some parameters before, other parameters after bringing the interface up
#
# So, we try to set every parameter when the interface is still down,
# and remember which ones failed to be configured properly.
# If some failed, we bring the interface up, and try the failed ones again.

• So seems no fallback, but expected that some or all settings cannot be applied (on some drivers) before interface is up. Just recognized the IF_WIRELESS_*= after related setting was successfully applied, so after ifconfig * up, the failed settings are applied.
• _Just checked on Buster: Script was not fixed/updated there, so there need to be a bugreport/issue opened: Current version should be dependent on iproute2 (or ifupdown) and use related commands._
• Also on Jessie it was/is the same. I am wondering that we did not see this issue earlier. Seems that most WiFi adapters/drivers allow to apply all settings pre-up.

As a workaround:

• Can we edit the script to use ifup "$IFACE" instead? Or is it just for Ethernet interfaces? In case no iproute2 needed, but ifupdown._€: Whoopsie, of course this would not work, since ifup is the command that false, as it includes the /etc/network/if-* post/pre scripts. Would be a nested call as well, leading to script call loop 🤣!_
• Otherwise ip link set dev "$IFACE" up?
• No WiFi dongle here to test 😅.

[Fourdee]

Notes:

• 🈯️ WiFi working fine with tinkerOS 2.0.7 and updated dietpi-config.
• 🈯️ Also tested after reboot, still fine.
• Unable to replicate the previous issue with re-written dietpi-config code update, unsure of cause at this time.

[Fourdee]

@MichaIng

Can we edit the script to use ifup "$IFACE" instead? Or is it just for Ethernet interfaces? In case no iproute2 needed, but ifupdown.

We could edit script, i'd rather not, but seems until Debian can resolve this, we need to.

[Fourdee]

@MichaIng

Reboot with WiFi only, however, WiFi is connected

root@DietPi:~#systemctl status networking -l
● networking.service - Raise network interfaces
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/networking.service; enabled; vendor prese
t: enabled)
   Active: active (exited) since Thu 2018-09-13 20:57:23 BST; 54s ago
     Docs: man:interfaces(5)
  Process: 643 ExecStart=/sbin/ifup -a --read-environment (code=exited, status=0
/SUCCESS)
  Process: 639 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c [ "$CONFIGURE_INTERFACES" != "no" ] && [
-n "$(ifquery --read-environment --list --exclude=lo)" ] && udevadm settle
(code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
 Main PID: 643 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   CGroup: /system.slice/networking.service

root@DietPi:~# dpkg -l | grep net
ii  dirmngr                   2.1.18-8~deb9u2                armhf        GNU privacy guard - network certificate management service
ii  ethtool                   1:4.8-1+b1                     armhf        display or change Ethernet device settings
ii  ifupdown                  0.8.19                         armhf        high level tools to configure network interfaces
ii  iproute2                  4.9.0-1+deb9u1                 armhf        networking and traffic control tools
ii  iputils-ping              3:20161105-1                   armhf        Tools to test the reachability of network hosts
ii  libip4tc0:armhf           1.6.0+snapshot20161117-6       armhf        netfilter libip4tc library
ii  libnettle6:armhf          3.3-1+b2                       armhf        low level cryptographic library (symmetric and one-way cryptos)
ii  libnl-3-200:armhf         3.2.27-2                       armhf        library for dealing with netlink sockets
ii  libnl-genl-3-200:armhf    3.2.27-2                       armhf        library for dealing with netlink sockets - generic netlink

[Fourdee]

@mukamuk1

I've updated the ASUS TB image (TinkerOS 2.0.7), please try it and let us know if this resolves the issue:
https://dietpi.com/downloads/images/DietPi_ASUSTB-ARMv7-Stretch.7z

[mukamuk1]

@Fourdee Wifi works fine now.

Thx both of u!

[Fourdee]

@mukamuk1

Excellent 👍

I'll mark this as completed. New ticket for resolving external issue:
https://github.com/Fourdee/DietPi/issues/2074