Help, I mamed the RPI's networking drivers, and now I can't get it back to normal!

Question

everyone, I messed up my RPI4B's wifi and networking software. BAD.

Long story short , I followed a bunch of guides on how to host and connect to a wifi network at the same time (ethernet - acces point as WiFi router/repeater, optional with bridge), as well as how to host a wifi network and get a ethernet/wifi bridge running (Turn your raspberry pi 3 into a wifi hotspot)

Both of these guides, I followed to the letter, and now, the networking and WiFi drivers are a tangled mess of packages that have nothing to do with each other. (for example: I accidently set up two ethernet/wifi bridges!). I want it back to normal, because my project didn't work (and I want it organised, so it isn't a hodgepodge of random packages!) The problem is that I have no idea how to revert it back to normal!

I guess my question in whole is this: how were the RPI's networking drivers set up at factory default, and how do I get them back that way?

Here is my OS version data, I just used the "full-upgrade" command, today.

~ $ cat /etc/os-release

PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)" NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux" VERSION_ID="11" VERSION="11 (bullseye)" VERSION_CODENAME=bullseye ID=raspbian ID_LIKE=debian HOME_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/" SUPPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums" BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs"

Just restore from your backup. If you don't have one you have learned a valuable lesson; do a fresh install. — Milliways, Jun 23 '22 at 05:43
Two points: 1 : In RPi, you have image-backup - an excellent backup tool - If you go for a "wander in the woods" it's like Hansel & Gretel's breadcrumbs, but no worries about the birds. 2 : In general, "configuration risks" increase over time. Debian is not a fast-moving distro, but the configuration guide you followed was published during "early Buster". — Seamus, Jun 23 '22 at 08:49
Oh, well. I guess I will do a fresh install. Thanks for the backup tip — Project Awesome, Jun 24 '22 at 03:51

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 23 '22 at 06:41

1

Unfortunately Ingo's tutorials tell users to delete "unnecessary" network components so it is not possible to "get them back" (at least until you have a working network).

If you want to persist with systemd-networkd the simplified tutorial explains one method to setup Basic networking using systemd-networkd

answered Jun 23 '22 at 06:41

Milliways

59,890
31
101
209

I wonder if an edit should be made to @ingo Q&A? I say this because he last updated it during early days of buster, I'm not sure he's still interested in maintaining it and don't know if anyone else is willing and able to do so. He's still about - his user page shows he visited sometime during the past week, but no activity in nearly a year.... are you still there Ingo?? – Seamus Jun 23 '22 at 08:29

Help, I mamed the RPI's networking drivers, and now I can't get it back to normal!

1 Answers1