I have the excellent NVMe base, and initially very happy with it when I first set it up with a an ethernet connection. However I have had to relocate my work desk and need to instead use wifi. What I am finding is that when booting Bookworm from NVMe the RPi5 cannot successfully connect to my 2.4 or 5 GHz wifi networks.
Once booted I can see the networks in the wifi list but they fail to connect. On the first boot the networks don’t show up in Bookworms ‘Select Wireless Network’ dialogue box at all (once booted they do show up in the wifi drop-down). After attempting to connect (“configuring wireless network connection”) I am prompted to re-enter wifi password “Wi-Fi Network Authentication Required”. I have tried connecting to a different wifi network (phone hotspot) and still finding the same problem.
Reverting back to SD wifi connects immediately on boot and without problem. I’ve had a look online and can’t find anyone else facing similar problems so I am wondering if it’s just me! (I saw something about booting from USB). Has anybody got any ideas what it might be?
Thanks, Will
My setup
8GB Raspberry Pi 5
Bookworm 64-bit, no special configuration options
Official PSU
Pimoroni NVMe Base
Router Asus RT-AC86U
Crucial PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB, also a generic/unknown HP one
Some things I have tried
Full-upgrade (over ethernet)> no change
Trying 2.4GHz and 5GHz > no joy
Reverting back to SD card for boot > Wifi issues immediately resolved on 2.4 and 5 GHz
A different NVMe drive (fresh install of Bookworm to generic one from a HP laptop) > same issue
Disconnecting/turning off nearby devices with USB3.0 components
Disabling ‘auto-channel’ DFS feature on router
Connecting to a different wifi router (my phone’s wifi hotspot)> same issue
Not having any WIFI issues here. I usually connect via Ethernet. I just unplugged it and booted up. Connecting just fine on 5GHz.
SD Card removed, booting from NVMe.
Is your NVMe base mounted under, or on top of the Pi 5?
Are you doing anything other than just inserting the SD Card, hardware orientation wise? I ask because the Pi’s WIFI antenna is right next to the PCIe connector. My setup is a side by side, end to end.
@willinliv your not the only one having this issue. I too have experienced the same problem. Tried placing the NVMe base at the side as the photo above shown and make no difference. Have tried the same things as you and still no luck. booting and running from sd card works fine with no issues.
wondering if this could be a power draining issue caused by the NVMe base? but not sure. Looking through other posts on here noticed @guru has mentioned about powering the NMVe base from the GPIO pins on the Pi.
Apart from that I am lost also.
my setup:
4Gb Raspberry Pi 5
Offical Pi PSU
First batch Pimoroni NVMe base
Netac PCIe 3.0 NMVe M.2 SSD 250GB and same Crucial SSD as you.
Latest firmware on the Pi 5?
My NVMe base doesn’t have the through holes for power, it has landing pads for an SMT power jack. It’s I think production batch 3, or maybe 2? I’d have to take its case apart to look for any markings etc?
Thanks everyone, I will give the suggestions a try and let you know. The base has been mounted underneath but happy to experiment. I also have a USB WiFi dongle that I can use to explore
Well I did a bit more testing… not sure why but suddenly wifi has started to work with NVMe boot 🤔
More things I tried:
Check firmware - and already running latest from 5 Jan 15:57
Tried a 3rd NVMe a Samsung 970 Evo Plus
Repositioning the Base to a side-by-side orientation as suggested. (When I previously tried with just an SD card, the base was still underneath but the cable ejected from the PCI socket, but I had also tried booting to SD card with NVME base attached. Each time SDcard worked whereas NVMe did not)
Tried a different dongle.
At some point, after a reboot suddenly the 5GHz wifi started working. It seemed to be after trying the side-by-side (no change) then reverting with the base at the bottom, this coincided with reverting back to the first NVMe I testes and using all four of the Pimoroni bolts (in earlier testing I had just used two in the middle of the board, but I here screwed in all four). Maybe this is it, or maybe there was an issue with the PCI connecting cable.
I’m watching the quality of the wifi connections, and can’t see any difference from SD boot in terms of speeds. The 2,4GHz seems to take longer to connect than the 5GHz, but no difference between SD and NVMe. So seems to be fixed for me for now at least.
The Pimoroni base virtually disables the 2.4 G wireless ( possibly through radio interference). Luckily the 5Ghz wireless still works OK. There needs to be some re-design of the base (shielding?) to avoid the interference.
connected the board making sure the cable is well fit, without SSD attached, but not screwed 5GHz kept working fine
attached SSD without screwing the board and 5GHz was still working fine
screwed the board back to Pi but this time less harsh (the first I was secured the board too well) and 5GHz kept working fine
During all these steps I’ve checked how string wi-fi signal and no interference at all, so I assume that the issue was is badly connected cable. When it’s new it can be quite firm to fit in well and align it.
