Pi Zero 2W WiFi with piCore 32-bit

[oso2k]

I'm struggling to get wifi working on my Zero 2W using piCore 32-bit/armhf.  I was able to get it working on a Zero W with the same SD card.  I'm looking to build some private TCZs using the Zero 2W for the Zero W.  I'm using the following packages

firmware-rpi-wifi.pkg
readline.pkg
wifi.pkg
libnl.pkg
wireless_tools.pkg
ncurses.pkg
wireless-6.12.25-piCore.pkg
ntp.pkg
wpa_supplicant.pkg

I'm getting the 'No wifi devices found!' message from 'wifi.sh'.  My `dmesg` output is attached.

[Rich]

Hi oso2k

... I'm using the following packages ...

I don't see see these in your list:
regdb.tcz
openssl.tcz
ca-certificates.tcz

[oso2k]

Hi oso2k

... I'm using the following packages ...

I don't see see these in your list:
regdb.tcz
openssl.tcz
ca-certificates.tcz

Oh....good catch. I've been piecing together my automation script from two sources and must have missed a couple steps in my script that I performed manually.  openssl & ca-certs I recognize.  regdb is new to me but makes sense.  Thanks.

[oso2k]

Hmm.  I'm still having issues.  I don't see the device being recognized in `dmesg` nor do I see the module loaded in `lsmod`.

FWIW, I'm using these two guides

https://gist.github.com/BillyNate/13732d02c41378f1c630fa914fe63378

https://web.archive.org/web/20200710094536/https://www.novaspirit.com/2018/01/09/tiny-core-raspberry-pi-zero-w-install/

[oso2k]

One last log file

[Rich]

Hi oso2k

Code: [Select]

/dev/loop1 on /tmp/tcloop/openssh type squashfs (ro,relatime,errors=continue)
/dev/loop0 on /tmp/tcloop/openssl type squashfs (ro,relatime,errors=continue)
/dev/loop2 on /tmp/tcloop/ca-certificates type squashfs (ro,relatime,errors=continue)
/dev/loop3 on /tmp/tcloop/firmware-rpi-wifi type squashfs (ro,relatime,errors=continue)
/dev/loop4 on /tmp/tcloop/wifi type squashfs (ro,relatime,errors=continue)Most of the extensions you listed are not even installed. Did you remember to download
the  .tcz.dep  files for extensions that have them? How about the  .tcz.md5.txt  files?

[oso2k]

Thanks for the tips.  I was able to get it to work.  I needed to use these packages for a Pi Zero 2W

Code: [Select]

openssh
openssl
ca-certificates
firmware-rpi-wifi
libcap
libevent
libnl
ncurses
readline
ntp
regdb
wpa_supplicant
wireless-6.12.25-piCore-v7
wireless_tools
wifi
Thanks for all the great help!

[oso2k]

So I'm confused.  The Pi Zero 2W is a ARM v8 chip, just like the 3B.

However, the wifi drivers for it are packaged in wireless-6.12.25-piCore-v7.

Futhermore, piCore 32-bit says the CPU is being recognized as a v7l.

tc@box:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo |head -n9
processor   : 0
model name   : ARMv7 Processor rev 4 (v7l)
BogoMIPS   : 38.40
Features   : half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32 lpae evtstrm crc32
CPU implementer   : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant   : 0x0
CPU part   : 0xd03
CPU revision   : 4

Am I misunderstanding something? Is there a map somewhere of which RPis map to which wifi drivers? 

In 64-bit it's clearer.  There's only v8 drivers and v8-16k which I assume is 16k mem pages.  I also assume that support would only be for 3B & Pi Zero 2W and newer machines.

[Paul_123]

the 32 bit image is 32 bit user space.  With both 32bit and 64 bit kernels.  A kernel running in 64bit mode can execute 32bit user code just fine.

So when you download the 32bit image, it defaults to using the 32bit kernel for the PiZero2, but you can change it to the 64bit kernel if you want.  (Just be aware the 64bit kernel has a larger memory foot print, so on a memory limited device like the piZero2, the 32bit kernel is recommended.

The 64bit image only includes 64bit kernels.  The 16kpage size kernel is only for the pi5.

[oso2k]

Ahh, this helps.  Thank you Paul_123.

Last question, when would I ever need the v7l wifi drivers?

[Paul_123]

Don’t confuse the v7l shown in the cup info with the v7l in the kernel name.  The kernel names with v7l are the 32bit kernel files for the pi4.

[gadget42]

Don’t confuse the v7l shown in the cup info with the v7l in the kernel name.  The kernel names with v7l are the 32bit kernel files for the pi4.

humble admin request - please correct "cup" to "cpu" in the above post and then delete this request
reason: future forum searches will not hit on "cup" when someone searches for "cpu"

thanks everyone for all you do!

huge hugs & kudos!