Downloader Scripts Breaking WiFi

[astromaddie]

Hi, I’m pretty new to MiSTer, and while I’ve been able to have fun playing these fantastic cores, I’ve had a major tech problem that’s giving me a headache.

When I run the downloader.sh or update_all.sh, my wifi dongle stops working almost entirely. (it doesn’t seem to be consistent if one will necessarily do it.) After the wifi stops working, the dongle can still scan and see SSIDs when running wifi.sh, but can no longer connect to anything.

My dongle is the TP-Link Archer T2U Nano, I’ve confirmed it works totally fine on a computer, and it seems to work consistently on the MiSTer… up until it doesn’t, and then it never works again until re-flashing.

I’m wondering if the issue may be in my region (I’m in Japan), causing conflict with the country code for wifi— but adding country=JP3 to wpa_supplicant.conf doesn’t fix the issue. So far, I’ve flashed a new install of MiSTer three times tonight trying to troubleshoot the issue and don’t feel I’m much closer to a resolution! Can someone please help me out here?

[RealLarry]

When I run the downloader.sh or update_all.sh, my wifi dongle stops working almost entirely. (it doesn’t seem to be consistent if one will necessarily do it.) After the wifi stops working, the dongle can still scan and see SSIDs when running wifi.sh, but can no longer connect to anything.

Does this happen after a reboot? I had a similar issue with a 3 minute timeout after a reboot, but fixed that by myself.

[ARCADEAGES]

It's not a script problem, it's a WiFi problem. For some reason nobody here can admit that WiFi does not, and has not been reliable on MiSTer. Solution is to use ethernet or update via your PC

[astromaddie]

Does this happen after a reboot? I had a similar issue with a 3 minute timeout after a reboot, but fixed that by myself.

That’s an interesting suggestion, and I’ll try it out, but I’ve also tried doing cold reboots (and full reboots by unplugging the power) without any luck, so it’s not the same situation you had.

Edit: tried it just in case, no dice

[pac]

Bit harsh to say it never has been reliable. While I don't use WiFi for performance reasons anymore, with the right adapter it does the job.

Workaround here btw - got a used 5Ghz-capable Asus router, set to Media Bridge, join your home WiFi, MiSTer LAN to Asus LAN, done.

[RealLarry]

Never had any issues again since I fixed my issue, using a cheepo chinese combined WiFi+BT dongle. Dongle has 5 GHz support, but my AP's only 2.4 GHz. Fast enough (for me) even for loading PSX games, which are on a cabled NAS. Not comparable with CAT cables, naturally, but hey, PSX is using a double speed CD emulation which is way slower than a 2.4 GHz WiFi connection

[edr]

Haven't had issues with dongles that are supported and genuine (some of the no-names have lots or mostly fakes on J. Bezos). They're slow as s (mostly 5-7 MB/s) but pretty reliable once working.

MisterAddons aka porkchop aka Kurt Russell tested a bunch:
https://misteraddons.com/blogs/news/mis ... d-shootout

Currently using the WiFi/BT combo dongle from MisterAddons, and also used Asus, TP Link, and generic 300 and 600 ones, all slow, all worked for updates. Wouldn't use any of them for moving large game sets around.

[Malor]

Mister should be as reliable with WiFi as the Linux underneath, so it's probably mostly about the driver and hardware quality of whatever dongle you've chosen.

As a general observation, though, wireless networking is inherently unreliable, and can be messed up by factors out of your control, like noisy neighbors. Ethernet is solid as heck. Running wires, if that's possible where you are, will usually give you a better result, and if you do have problems, they're always local and something you can fix. Any problems are yours, not your neighbors'.

[Sigismond0]

Can confirm that I have had nothing but good results using WiFi. Used an Edimax dongle for a while, now use the 2-in-1 BT/WiFi that MiSTer Addons recommends. Never had a drop or disconnect that was unique to the MiSter, have copied entire game libraries over via FTP, and even used SMB shares for a while. Maybe I'm just an outlier, but I'm inclined to agree with other people here--if you have good hardware and good WiFi, MiSTer's wifi should be as reliable as any other device on your network.

[RealLarry]

Can confirm that I have had nothing but good results using WiFi. Used an Edimax dongle for a while, now use the 2-in-1 BT/WiFi that MiSTer Addons recommends. Never had a drop or disconnect that was unique to the MiSter, have copied entire game libraries over via FTP, and even used SMB shares for a while. Maybe I'm just an outlier, but I'm inclined to agree with other people here--if you have good hardware and good WiFi, MiSTer's wifi should be as reliable as any other device on your network.

Copy that. That's the nature of radio communications...may work (reliable), may not - depending on many circumstances (distance, (type of) walls, neighbours, weather, ...)

[Bunker]

I don’t have issues with my wireless USB adapter but it does get upset if you try and send too many files in one go, like 5000.

[darksakul]

That's Wifi for you. I usually turn off and turn on the MiSTer after a update anyways

[astromaddie]

Just wanted to share an update. I did a lot of debugging and starting over with fresh installs to systematically isolate the cause. Disabling Linux update allowed my wifi dongle to keep working even after updating— so it seems like it was a Linux update that was breaking the dongle support. I also picked up a new dongle that used a chipset that had more documented compatibility (the Archer T3U dongle, with the rtl8812bu chip, incidentally) and it works even with my original fully-updated “control” setup.

[MacDragon]

Just to chime, I've also got a T2U which worked fine till I did an update too.

[riblad_om]

I got the suggested canakit dongle which worked great until it stopped working.