0

tldr: Pi4 can't establish wifi when booted from USB3 SSD anymore. But can, when booted from USB2 or SD Card.

update2 & Solution: I found another line in the syslog (mmc1: Controller never released inhibit bit(s). ) and soon after found this thread. The solution was to wipe the SSD, remove all the partitions it had and flash it again with the Pi Imager.

update1: with the SSD plugged into a USB2 port instead of a USB3 port the pi auto connects to my wifi. Weird.. could it be a power supply issue?

After preparing an SSD flashed with Pi OS Lite 64 and disconnecting the LAN cable, I attempted to connect my Raspberry Pi 4 to my wifi network. Despite multiple attempts over the course of three days, I was unable to connect the device to my network.

My troubleshooting attempts included changing the Network Configuration to NetworkManager, disabling Power Safe Mode, and attempting various other solutions to no avail.

  • NetworkManager: Runs well, sees all surrounding networks, but fails to connect to mine. Error: Connection activation failed: (7) Secrets were required, but not provided.
  • Disabling Power Safe Mode by adding the following line into /etc/rc.local iw dev wlan0 set power_save off

However, I was able to successfully connect to my network by booting from an SD Card using the same Pi OS and settings by flashing it with the same computer and Pi Imager.

What is particularly puzzling is that the Pi had been working flawlessly with the SSD for over four weeks, including connecting to wifi. Additionally I also have a HDD which I experimented with that also worked until I replaced it with the SSD, and even the HDD boots and cannot connect to the Wifi now.

I am currently at a loss for any further troubleshooting steps and would appreciate any advice.

Please let me know what else I could try. Thanks!

Improve this question
1
  • @Milliways tbh I am not experienced enough yet to provide proper diagnostics, so the best I could do was to try out various networking tools and commands I found in forums. Nevertheless, I did some trial and error with the USB Ports and SD Cards, with the aim to proof whether it is a power related issue or not. This led me to finally find another line in the syslog, which made me explicitly wipe the SSD and remove all the partitions and gave it a clean install. Now wifi and everything else works. Very weird but that's it^^ Also: very much agreed, with your last line!
    – ivpiter
    Apr 11 at 13:14

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

I found another line in /var/log/syslog (mmc1: Controller never released inhibit bit(s). ) and soon after found this thread.

The solution for me was to wipe the SSD, remove all the partitions it had and flash it again with the Pi Imager. Now everything works again!

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    You can select your answer as the "accepted" answer. You won't get any points for that, but it may encourage others.
    – Seamus
    Apr 11 at 15:01
  • Thank you @Seamus, just did that :)
    – ivpiter
    Apr 15 at 8:46

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.