WiFi Dongle for second WiFi device

[baltika_no_9]

I am using the headless image using r pi installed on my windows pc, not noobs.

I have only tried the gui version of raspberry pi configuration. I’ll try the command line / terminal with sudo next

I tried sudo raspi-config >system options> wirless LAN with the result:

Could not communicate with wpa_supplicant<ok>

There was an error running option S1 Wireless LAN<ok>

OK Paul give me a while to try the headless image.

I've used the headless image and it works fine. Here is what I did (note I use VNC but your method of connection may be different, it shouldn't affect the outcome):

Code:

1.  Downloaded the image 2020-12-16-OpenPlotter-v2-Headless.img
2.  Formatted my SD card using SD Card Formatter
3.  Copied the image to the card using Win32DiskImager
4.  Plugged the WiFi dongle into the pi (top left USB 2.0 slot)
5.  Connected the pi to my router with an ethernet cable so it gets an address on eth0 from dhcp 
6.  Put the card into the pi and booted up
7.  Scanned the network for the ip address assigned
7.  SSH into the pi using the eth0 ip address
8.  sudo raspi-config>Interface Options>VNC - enable VNC (clearly if you're using RDP for instance instead then no need for this)
9.  VNC into the pi via eth0 address
10. At the Welcome screen press Next
11. Set Country - selected UK/British etc
12. Changed pi's password
13. At the Set Up screen press next
14. Select Wifi Network - selected the SSID and entered the password
15. At the Update screen pressed Skip
16. In a terminal window enter ifconfig 

wlan1: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.0.4  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.0.255
        inet6 fda7:83dd:8aae:0:1ebf:ceff:fe69:680e  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x0<global>
        inet6 fe80::1ebf:ceff:fe69:680e  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        inet6 2a02:c7f:3121:7700:1ebf:ceff:fe69:680e  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x0<global>
        ether 1c:bf:ce:69:68:0e  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 256  bytes 84838 (82.8 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 112  bytes 47039 (45.9 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan9: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 10.10.10.1  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 10.10.10.255
        inet6 fe80::dea6:32ff:fef5:29ef  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether dc:a6:32:f5:29:ef  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 127  bytes 32526 (31.7 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
        
        
You can see that the onboard adapter (wlan9) is set up as the AP and that the USB adapter is connected and has an ip address of 192.168.0.4
Check by VNC connection to 192.168.0.4 - Everything works fine

If I do a "lsusb -v" The dongle is shown as:

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 148f:5370 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT5370 Wireless Adapter

[Paul M]

Thanks, youve been doing lots of diagnosis for me. Now I need to do some more work.

I have two 8G R PI 4B's (one for home and one for the boat).
I've now done some tests on both with some different SD cards and both the V2 headless and the V2 starter images.
Results are the same on all combinations so far.
Headless cannot seem access the .Config (as before)
Starter allows the config to be modified but does not enumerate the second wireless interface (need to test this further)
I've repeated the downloads of the image but the common parts of my process that I'll try to eliminate are

I use the Raspberry Pi Imager to burn the images to microSD card, I don't do any specific formatting (I assume FAT32 is what is needed?) - I will try formatting first before imaging.
I only have the R Pi 4B 8GB (times 2) to test.
I have an ethernet cable plugged in so the ethernet port is active, I'll try without this.

I'll try lsusb -v and ifconfig and compare my results.

I have a Ralink wifi dongle on order and should be able to test next week.
note to self: be more methodical!

[baltika_no_9]

I would be very surprised if the imaging or formatting methods were material to the problem. Formatting is something I always do but am not sure it is absolutely necessary; purists may argue. I'd fancy the pi imager to do just as good a job as the application I use but I've never tried it. Also your 8GB versus my 4GB difference is unlikely to be an issue. I left my ethernet cable connected throughout so again unlikely to be the problem.

At the core I think is the dongle itself, there does seem to be widespread issues with many of the common ones. I'm sure my process is repeatable and it will be interesting to see how you get on with the Ralink.

[Paul M]

A quick update as I haven't yet received the Ralink WiFi Dongle yet.

I have been continuing testing with the Edisun Wifi Dongle as that appeared to work to some extent.

With the OpenPlotter V2 image, even though I thought the wiFi was almost working, it seems it does need the additional driver (Mr. Engman) this works with the kernel supplied in the image (previously I made the mistake of applying both OpenPlotter and RP OS updates and then trying to load the driver which failed to find a compatible driver)

So, I applied the OpenPlotter updates and all seems to work, the two wireless networks work and I can route to the internet when VNCing to the pi.

I found that updating RP OS (sudo apt update, sudo apt full-upgrade) broke the second wireless.

My preliminary conclusions so far are:

Accessing the WiFi setup via the Wifi icon in the system tray (or whatever the correct terminology is) doesn't work and throws an error each time. in the end I used sudo raspi-config to make all changes and just quit the startup dialogue .

The Edisun dongle doesn't have native drivers in RP OS and the Mr.Engman utility doesn't appear to have a driver compatible with the latest kernel version.

So, as you say, it appears to be the dongle.

I will update the thread when the Ralink arrives and I get a chance to test it.

[baltika_no_9]

You will have seen that I applied no updates during the process I summarised above. I just took the vanilla image and applied it. I am not a fan of updating just because they're there. Others may disagree and that's fine, I am not for a moment saying my approach is right; but if something works I tend to leave it.

However following on from above I have just done a "sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade". This brings in not only the OS updates but also the OpenPlotter ones too but they need to be applied separately.

I went into OpenPlotter settings>OpenPlotter Apps and applied all the pending tasks. OS and OP then are bang up to date.
USB wifi dongle is still working perfectly.

[Paul M]

Thanks 
Thanks, good to know, let’s hope that I can replicate your success when the WiFi dongle arrives.  Regarding updates, I’ve been steeped in the virus ridden windows (dos!) ecosystem where updates are generally advised. Having a wifi dongle driver support bundled with the kernel is a distinct advantage. 
Paul

[Paul M]

You will have seen that I applied no updates during the process I summarised above. I just took the vanilla image and applied it. I am not a fan of updating just because they're there. Others may disagree and that's fine, I am not for a moment saying my approach is right; but if something works I tend to leave it.

However following on from above I have just done a "sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade". This brings in not only the OS updates but also the OpenPlotter ones too but they need to be applied separately.

I went into OpenPlotter settings>OpenPlotter Apps and applied all the pending tasks. OS and OP then are bang up to date.
USB wifi dongle is still working perfectly.

I have now received and tested the Ralink wifi dongle and can confirm that it works with Openplotter V2 without requiring any additional drivers, I have also applied the Openplotter updates and can again confirm that it works as expected without any of the symptoms I encountered with the other dongles.
Thanks to baltika_no_9 and all who have contributed to this thread.
Paul