WiFi settings on a 3A+

[tonythetechie]

I have just setup a RPi 3A+. I used Noobs and setup the WiFi connection before doing anything else.
I then installed the standard Raspian Desktop. I didn't have to setup the WiFi again during installation, but I am wondering where the WiFi configuration is stored. Is it on the SD Card or elsewhere on the Pi itself.

The reason being, I am wanting to use this Pi as a Plex Media Player. The player comes as an embedded image on a special LibreElec install. I have this installed on a separate SD Card that I had configured on a RPi 3B+. I had used the network port initially to set it up and then later configured the WiFi settings using connman by setting a a remote SSH session. Once the Wifi was configured I could remove the network cable.

I was hoping once I configured the RPi 3A+ I could swap in the Plex Media Player SD Card and it would be able to connect to the WiFi either using the settings on the SD Card or on the Pi, if they are stored there.

The trouble is when I try and boot off the Plex Media Player SD Card the screen does not move beyond the multicolour startup screen.

Is my only option to get a USB to Ethernet dongle to get the initial network setup done and then configure the WiFi settings on a remote SSH session as I did on the 3B+

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Tony Self

[B.Goode]

I have just setup a RPi 3A+. I used Noobs and setup the WiFi connection before doing anything else.
I then installed the standard Raspian Desktop. I didn't have to setup the WiFi again during installation, but I am wondering where the WiFi configuration is stored. Is it on the SD Card or elsewhere on the Pi itself.

The reason being, I am wanting to use this Pi as a Plex Media Player. The player comes as an embedded image on a special LibreElec install. I have this installed on a separate SD Card that I had configured on a RPi 3B+. I had used the network port initially to set it up and then later configured the WiFi settings using connman by setting a a remote SSH session. Once the Wifi was configured I could remove the network cable.

I was hoping once I configured the RPi 3A+ I could swap in the Plex Media Player SD Card and it would be able to connect to the WiFi either using the settings on the SD Card or on the Pi, if they are stored there.

The trouble is when I try and boot off the Plex Media Player SD Card the screen does not move beyond the multicolour startup screen.

Is my only option to get a USB to Ethernet dongle to get the initial network setup done and then configure the WiFi settings on a remote SSH session as I did on the 3B+

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Tony Self

I am wondering where the WiFi configuration is stored. Is it on the SD Card or elsewhere on the Pi itself.

Easy. It must be on the microSD card.

No model of Raspberry Pi board has any persistent non-volatile storage where this configuration data could be stored.

(With the exception of the RPi 4 which does have persistent storage for the purpose of having a field-upgradeable bootloader. This does not affect the validity of the clear statement above.)



In the case of the supported Raspbian Buster Operating System there is clear documentation describing how to configure WiFi in a headless scenario. This may not be applicable to other third-party Operating Systems.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... /README.md

[tonythetechie]

Thanks B.Goode. That was exactly the information I was after. I was obviously putting in the wrong question into my search criteria.

However that doesn't explain why putting the SD Card that has got the pre-configured wifi settings is not booting.

Regards

Tony Self