Zero W fails to connect

[Thoros]

Hi all,

After searching myself senseless -it seems I'm not the only one with this problem, alas none of the previous solutions have helped me out- I'll try my luck here. As the subject states, my Zero W fails to connect to any network.

I've (re)downloaded the official Stretch Lite image and burned it to a generic 8GB Sandisk SD card via Etcher on Mac. In the boot partition that is visible through Finder, I've created a plain text file called SSH (no extension nor content in the file) and the dreaded wpa_supplicant.conf. I've used this code:

Code: Select all

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

network={
    ssid="myssid"
    scan_ssid=1
    psk="mypassword"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

I've created a seperate 2,4Ghz-network specific for the Pi. It fails to connect everytime (flashed a new image on each boot) at home and on a same 2,4Ghz-network at a friend. It never shows up as a client in the list of connected devices (so no IP) and obviously SSH access through the terminal cannot connect to raspberry.local. Both files are gone when I reinsert the card into my Macbook so it seems the OS starts and copies the files?

I've installed several Pi's throughout the years, installed some other Linux distros on my main pc but this has me stumped. At first I thought the board was a dud so I had it replaced but this one fails me also. In theory I could get a mini hdmi an USB OTG cable and install full Raspbian to see if that works but I don't want to spring the money for all these extra's that I don't really need afterwards (the same goes for the full install, no need for a GUI). What else can I do?