Wifi not working on Pi zero W


 

BBondura

New member
In the process of building the HeaterMeter for my new Kamado Joe. I already have the Pi Zero W so I figured I'd get a head start and load the firmware. I've tried a few different configurations and none seem to work. I'm not getting a wifi connection. I am doing this all without a screen at this point. I keep sniffing my network to see if any new devices populate and they don't. Then I was going to SSH and set up VNC. I plan on running this withough an LCD. Does the firmware only completely load if the heatermeter board is set up? It's not a huge deal as my board should be delivered tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't having a different issue.

Thanks!
Brent
 
The RasPi code will still load even if the RasPi isn't connected to the HM board.

What method are you using to configure the wifi? Downloading from dl page or setting manually via config.txt?
 
The easiest way to get connect to the zero without a lcd would be to just load a new firmware onto the zero and turn it on.

If you are looking on your homes wifi, it won't be there, use a phone or tablet that is able to connect to WiFi, phone being the easiest. Look for heatermeter and connect, then go to WiFi settings and scan for your he network and then after it finds it enter password information and save it. Then restart the pi and it should connect. If you still don't see it then restart your router also
 
The easiest way to get connect to the zero without a lcd would be to just load a new firmware onto the zero and turn it on.

If you are looking on your homes wifi, it won't be there, use a phone or tablet that is able to connect to WiFi, phone being the easiest. Look for heatermeter and connect, then go to WiFi settings and scan for your he network and then after it finds it enter password information and save it. Then restart the pi and it should connect. If you still don't see it then restart your router also

Yep.
Ill add that once you connect to a network you cant change it without 1) using reset config from lcd screen
Or 2) inserting unconfigured sdcard again. That means downloading default firmware to card again, and rebooting with that clean copy.

If you select to disable a network you added, thinking to connect to a different one, it becomes incommunicado. It dont default back to direct wifi connection.

You really need the lcd.........and reset config. Not available thru web ui.
 
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Make sure you're downloading the snapshot image and not the release because the previous release doesn't support the Zero W. If you're using the default configuration, then watch for a "heatermeter" accesses point to be available after bootup.

You also can't install VNC on a heatermeter, because there's no graphical user environment.
 
@steve_m - I've done both. Used the download page as well as configured it by the base config.

I am using the snapshot.

So should this be configured as a client or AP? If set up as a client I would think I would see it connect to the network through a network scanner like AngryIP. It should show up as a device; which it's not. If it needs to be set up as an AP, i've been doing it wrong and am a bonehead! :)
 
If you're connecting to an access point, you need to set up client mode, IIRC.

Personally.... I'd figure out how to get video output (not the LCD,) from it. I'll bet it becomes obvious.
 
If you're connecting to an access point, you need to set up client mode, IIRC.

Personally.... I'd figure out how to get video output (not the LCD,) from it. I'll bet it becomes obvious.

Thanks. That's what I figured. I ordered a hdmi-mini hdmi adapter yesterday as well as a usb to micro usb adapter. Should have it today (Gotta love prime) That will get me a visual. Was a little bored yesterday and figured I'd get a head start. I'll work on it tonight and check back.
 
Sounds like you've got it set up right for Client as long as you've got your network parameters (network name, password, and security type) correct. It should just boot and connect. You can get a little more status information out of the LED on the Pi. At first it blinks in sync with reading the kernel from the SD card, then it will blink fast, then slow, then go steady (either on or off) once it is fully booted. At that point you should see it on your network and at http://heatermeter.com/devices/

My uncle has a heck of a time trying to get it to work (with me on the phone) and eventually I gave up and we just downloaded the "default (HeaterMeter AP)" version of firmware and used that. He was able to connect to the heatermeter network then use the LinkMeter -> Wifi page to enter the same info and it just worked. I'm not sure why it didn't work with an image with the information baked in so there's another alternative if you can't get it working with the pre-configured image.
 
My uncle has a heck of a time trying to get it to work (with me on the phone) and eventually I gave up and we just downloaded the "default (HeaterMeter AP)" version of firmware and used that. He was able to connect to the heatermeter network then use the LinkMeter -> Wifi page to enter the same info and it just worked. I'm not sure why it didn't work with an image with the information baked in so there's another alternative if you can't get it working with the pre-configured image.

I had similar issue, just configured it in web ui. Never did get it to work pre- configuring the image.
 

 

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