DreamPi Wi-Fi Configuration Utility (Updated to v1.3)

[pcwzrd13]

wificonfig has bee updated to v1.3 and includes the following changes:

- Now supports network names with spaces.
- Displays the Pi's IP address upon running the utility (this will be blank if you're not connected or if Wi-Fi is disabled).
- Added the ability to set a Country Code for the Pi 3 B+.
- Better error handling.

Instructions on how to update the utility are on the first post.

[Nz17]

Thanks, PC. You are a gem. This is why I support you and Dreamcast Live on Patreon.

[Zoarb]

Does not seem to work with dashes in the network name.

So I was doing some tinkering with my DreamPi this weekend as we were setting up everything after moving, and I found that (at least in my case) you are unable to connect to networks with a dash "-" in it. After changing the name to exclude the dash, everything worked fine.

[pcwzrd13]

Does not seem to work with dashes in the network name.

Hmmm, strange. Just tested it and it worked fine for me. Added a dummy network with a dash in it and checked to make sure it was added correctly, and it was. You must have done something wrong.

[SMiTH]

congrats on creating this utility pcwzrd.

[Retrojaner]

Can I set up DreamPi without a keyboard? For example, edit the WiFi password offline under Windows directly on the SD CARD?

Update:
With the official image "Raspberry Pi OS" I can set the wifi password without a keyboard. Just save the file wpa_supplicant.conf on the SD card:

Code: Select all

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
ssid="<YOUR_SSID>"
psk="<YOUR_Password>"
}


So there is no need for a USB keyboard for the setup. And an empty file called "ssh" on the SD card starts an ssh server on the Raspberry Pi.

So far it has not worked with DreamPi 1.7.

Update #2:
Done. I set up WiFi via SSH using wificonfig and do not need an external keyboard on the Pi.

[Nz17]

When I set up my DreamPi, it seemed that "wificonfig" only supported "open Wi-Fi" and "WPA" - it didn't support "WEP." My network uses WEP to support Nintendo DS even though WEP is no longer considered secure. In my opinion, WEP is better than no-password-open-Wi-Fi if you are only concerned about casual tech users. But I also have a LAN with something like 50 wired and wireless devices and I didn't want to re-configure all of them to use WPA.

So since "wificonfig" didn't appear to support WEP, I just edited the /etc/network/interfaces file to read as follows:

Code: Select all

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

#auto wlan0
#allow-hotplug wlan0
#iface wlan0 inet manual
#wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
#dns-nameserver 127.0.0.1

auto wlan0
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
        wireless-essid Nz17sRealm
        wireless-key SuperSecretPasswordSsh!Don'tTellAnyone!BTWThisPasswordIsn'tReallyMine
dns-nameserver 127.0.0.1

iface default inet dhcp
dns-nameserver 127.0.0.1

#manual eth0
#allow-hotplug eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp
#dns-nameserver 127.0.0.1

Also if "wificonfig" is used, it just seems to keep adding more Wi-Fi configurations instead of allowing the user to edit or delete old or misconfigured ones. Then again, it has been quite awhile since I used "wificonfig."

[Zoarb]

Does not seem to work with dashes in the network name.

Hmmm, strange. Just tested it and it worked fine for me. Added a dummy network with a dash in it and checked to make sure it was added correctly, and it was. You must have done something wrong.

Entirely possible. I'm wondering if it had to do with something specific in my network setup. I know that I tried to do it before moving, and after moving, and nothing seemed to work. This seemed to be the problem with a friend of mine as well. He removed the dash in his network name, and it fixed the issue. Although we have the exact same internet setup, so I'm wondering if it's just something specific to our internet provider (Charter). Granted, I know you've had so much more experience with this type of stuff, so we may have both just kind of goofed on something, and we accidentally fixed it while changing the name of the network (the name change part being ultimately unrelated, but still coinciding with what may have fixed it).

Also, both times I lived in an apartment complex, so when I tried to display the network names I would get way too many, and could not scroll through them all to find the one that was specifically mine. So it is 100% possible that the dash added some character that I could not see, and therefore I was putting in the incorrect name as seen by the network. Either way, love your work PC. As well as your PSO streams.

[cm1ck]

This is badass. Thank you, pcwzrd13! Now I'm fortunate that I have a CAT5 cable long enough to plug in directly to my router for Gigabit. But when I am mobile and away from home, this will come in tremendously handy. It's great that it's integrated into DreamPi, but if I ever need to hackishly use a PC-DC server a la Virtualbox, I can use this as well with the DreamPi for online gaming. Great!