Orange Pi One - making WiFi persistent

aliceander · August 9, 2018

Hardware: Orange Pi One with a CF-WU810N (Realtek 8188eus) USB WiFi dongle

Software: [MAINLINE] - ARMBIAN 5.38 stable Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) 4.14.14-sunxi

Goal: Configure and run the Orange Pi One HEADLESS (using a physical ethernet during initial configuration)

I've been away from armbian for awhile, so it looks like I've got some catching up to do.

I'm running a headless Orange Pi One with a CF-WU810N (Realtek 8188eus) USB dongle. Since it's headless I use a physical ethernet cable to get access and make initial configuration. From the documentation (https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_Getting-Started/#how-to-connect-to-wireless) I use nmtui-connect to specifiy my ssid and provide my key. That all works. For a few moments. If I unplug the physical ethernet cable the system freezes. And if I reboot access to the wifi network is not remembered. In the old days I would have setup a wpa_supplicant file, but I don't think that's currently recommended.

Given I want to use this headless (with a temporary physical ethernet during configuration):

- Should I be using nmtui to configure my WiFi?

- How can I make the nmuti-connection persistent (e.g. remember ssid/password across reboots)?

And thank you for the continued work. It's neat to see all the updates.

Igor · August 10, 2018

9 hours ago, aliceander said:

If I unplug the physical ethernet cable the system freezes

Are you sure? The network needs a few moments to back to life. Can you attach a serial console when doing those experiments?

But it is possible. Not many wireless drivers are good quality.

aliceander · August 11, 2018

I'm almost certain … but to be absolutely certain I'll attach a keyboard and display to the Orange Pi One and re-run the tests; hopefully I'll see something obvious and figure out the answer.

And since I'll have a head on it for these tests I'll try configuring wifi without ever using a physical ethernet connection. I guess worst case is that I'll have to configure the device with a head attached, and then remove it later for headless operation.

In the meantime, let me say something I'm inferring from your response -- that nmtui "is" a correct way to configure wifi in a current mainline release, and that the configuration should be saved and applied to subsequent reboots. I may be reading between the lines, and if I'm wrong please point out my error.

Igor · August 11, 2018

3 hours ago, aliceander said:

In the meantime, let me say something I'm inferring from your response -- that nmtui "is" a correct way to configure wifi in a current mainline release, and that the configuration should be saved and applied to subsequent reboots. I may be reading between the lines, and if I'm wrong please point out my error.

Yes. This solution just works as expected and it remembers the password. On both kernels ... but driver quality can make some troubles and in some cases, old style networking might show better results.