Wi-Fi on RPi3 not working

Question

I have just bought my first Raspberry Pi, it's an RPi3. However, I can't get the Wi-Fi to work. I set it up as per the instructions (i.e. I have Raspbian installed using NOOBS) yet I just have a symbol with two computers and a cross. If I right click it and open the settings I get the error

Error saving /etc/dhcpcd.conf

and

The dhcpcd configuration file is not writeable

A left click on the symbol just brings up a message saying

No wireless interfaces found

Does someone know how to get the Wi-Fi working, or help me troubleshoot the problem??

Which "instructions"? I assume you are using the GUI, but don't know what "a symbol with two computers and a cross" is supposed to mean. — Milliways, Mar 13 '16 at 04:21
They were instructions that came with it and contain the basic steps like plugging it in, installing raspbian and using the configuration menu. I am using a GUI and the symbol is a 'typical' network symbol. Its two pc screens (like the terminal screen) with a little 'X' next to them, presumably telling me I have no connection. I assumed the wifi would work 'out of the box' on a rpi3 — GeoMonkey, Mar 13 '16 at 04:27
Ah! That is the "Network Status Monitor". The Pi3 is still quite new (I have only had mine for 1 day). AFAIK that is for setting Ethernet. There should be another "WiFi Networks (dhcpcdui)" for setting up WiFi. This looks like 4 blue ring segments when connected - not sure what it looks like with no connection. Click on this to configure WiFi. — Milliways, Mar 13 '16 at 04:35
I don't have the wifi symbol at all. I have the network status monitor, a speaker (audio), a percentage box, the time and an eject symbol. If I do click on the network it says 'no wireless interfaces found' despite me being sat 5 feet from my router — GeoMonkey, Mar 13 '16 at 04:39
I don't know about the GHz for sure, but Im I can see it listed on both my mac and my phone. I haven't hidden the SSID — GeoMonkey, Mar 13 '16 at 04:51
Are you using sudo before dealing with configuration files? — fcm, Jul 22 '16 at 15:00

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:56

2

You can try configuring manually. Unlike many newer devices the Pi does not support 5GHz WiFi, only 2.4GHz.

The file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf will be created/modified by the recommended setup methods, but can be setup by hand. It should contain something like the following:-

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

network={
    ssid="ESSID"
    psk="Your_wifi_password"
}

If you need to connect to a private network (i.e. no broadcast SSID) include the line scan_ssid=1 inside network={⋯}. NOTE there are many other options which can be used see man wpa_supplicant.conf.

The above is an extract from How do I set up networking/WiFi/Static IP

If you get "Error saving /etc/dhcpcd.conf" and "The dhcpcd configuration file is not writeable" you could check the file permissions, but this would seem to indicate some problem with the installation, although I do not see why this would be changed.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:56

Community

1

answered Mar 13 '16 at 04:57

Milliways

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my spa_supplicant.conf looks nothing like that, it only has two lines in it, one that begins with 'ctrl_interface' and one that is 'update_config=1' – GeoMonkey Mar 13 '16 at 05:24
@NathanThomas You need to add details of your network/s unless the setup does this for you. This is the manual setup method. – Milliways Mar 13 '16 at 05:44
How do I save the changes in the file? It keeps losing the info I put in even though I use ctrl + X and then Y – GeoMonkey Mar 13 '16 at 05:47
1

@NathanThomas You need to edit the file with root permissions. Use sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf – Patrick Cook Mar 13 '16 at 06:45
I went into the file again and it was empty this time. The noobs installation I got came with my pi. I formatted the micro sd and did a reinstall. It has wifi connected now. Thanks for the help though – GeoMonkey Mar 13 '16 at 07:04

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 06 '17 at 15:25

1

I also had this problem. Do the set-ups as mentioned above first. However be aware that US and America are NOT the same in the pull downs for preferences. Always use US when available. Took me awhile to figure this one out.

answered May 06 '17 at 15:25

Robert L. Caputo

11
1

worked for me thanks!, this is ridiculous! – Iman Nia Sep 05 '19 at 15:13

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 28 '19 at 09:16

This may not be a solution for the exact problem, but on my RPI3 after rebooting, the WIFI does not work, tried so many solutions from here. None work for me. I discovered typing:

sudo dhcpcd

instantly fixes the WIFI. So just putting this answer here as yet another solution for anyone having issues with RPI WIFI. My Pi is fully updated as of June 2019, but still has this issue.

Buzz Z6 · Answer 4 · 2021-01-28T13:00:24.327

I am unable to comment as somehow I need to have 50 reputation points and this answer (by Fawkes Meteor) should not have a -1 as his is the correct answer !!

What we need to know is if you look at the permissions for this file you will see the following: pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ls -la /etc/dhcpcd.conf

-rw-rw-r-- 1 root netdev 1876 Jan 24 23:41 /etc/dhcpcd.conf

What you will see here is that 'root' owns the file and is part of the 'netdev'group If you run (assuming you are user pi) pi@raspberrypi:~$ groups

You will see that user 'pi' belongs to the group 'netdev'

I would, with 99% certainty, assume all people who have this issue (The dhcpcd configuration file is not writeable") is because they have logged in (or created) another user which is not belonging to the 'netdev' group, hence do not have permissions to write to this file.

What Fawkes Meteor is saying is add all the groups that pi belongs to, to the new user they have logged in as. To do this:

 1) Switch user to pi:
    sudo -pi

sudo usermod -aG adm,dialout,cdrom,sudo,audio,video,plugdev,games,users,input,netdev,spi,i2c,gpio (your new user account name)
eg: sudo usermod -aG adm,dialout,cdrom,sudo,etc, montypython

Log back in as the new user and run"
 groups


You should see that the new user now belongs to 'netdev' group

Reboot

All good and you now should be able to connect to your wireless SSID. If not connect directly with Ethernet cable and leave for 20min and your wireless will be available.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 20 '16 at 11:20

On my new PI I had the same experience: no WiFi, no access to WiFi-settings. After several trials I remembered a little sticker on the back of the SD memory blister pakage. It urged to download the latest firmware in order to enable WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. This update took about half an hour, but it kept its promise!

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 26 '17 at 20:53

I just had this problem with my new RPi3 and I was able to overcome this by disabling and enabling the WIFI interface from the Pixel desktop. After re-enabling the WIFI interface everything popped into life and I could see the WIFI symbol in the top panel and the wireless networks around me.

Mine was newly installed using the current NOOBs and an ethernet cable.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 29 '17 at 16:36

0

Issue can be solved by changing group ownership of /etc/dhcpcd.conf:

sudo chown :pi /etc/dhcpcd.conf

That will give write permission to the file to the user pi (default user). Can be checked by

ls /etc/dhcpcd.conf -l

answered May 29 '17 at 16:36

RKT

1

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 06 '17 at 07:54

Not a secure option but if you do:

sudo chmod a+w /etc/dhcpcd.conf

It will work, but remember, is by no means secure, so after configuring it the better you can do is:

sudo chmod a+w /etc/dhcpcd.conf

Also, if you check the file you will notice that it has no group, you could make it permanetly accesible by adding a group the user pi has, maybe adm, I'm not sure in this point.

sudo chgrp <theGroup> /etc/dhcpcd.conf

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Jun 10 '17 at 16:30

I just had this same problem. When I initially installed Raspian with noobs I didn't initiate wifi and only installed the operating system. After some googling found that my /etc/dhcpcd.conf file wasn't configured.

I think I solved the problem, for me, when during the reboot I pressed "shift" and it switched to "recovery mode" and you get the noobs box. From there I was able see my wifi and set the password again (the first time was by clicking on the 'no network' symbol from the panel). That didn't initially solve it.

I ended up just rebooting, again into recovery mode, and reinstalling Raspian in noobs. Note: the warning that any other data will be lost on reinstallation. In the fresh install everything was working and I had the regular network panel applet.

score -1 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 24 '18 at 05:56

-1

the account needs permission

sudo usermod -aG pi,adm,dialout,cdrom,sudo,audio,video,plugdev,games,users,input,netdev,spi,i2c,gpio <your account name>

or using this if you didn't change the user name

sudo usermod -aG pi,adm,dialout,cdrom,sudo,audio,video,plugdev,games,users,input,netdev,spi,i2c,gpio pi

answered Jul 24 '18 at 05:56

FawkesMeteor

1

1

That might help, but your answer would be better if you explain 1) Why you think this will solve the problem and 2) How it solves the problem. – Bex Jul 24 '18 at 08:00

Wi-Fi on RPi3 not working

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