Comfast CF-912AC config

[albanberg]

Hi All,

I have a RPI 4 in a digiOne Signature.

I've been trying to set up this Comfast CF-912AC WIFI dongle . I've tried using WPS but so far it has not worked. I don't have the manual but I searched it and it is not really helpful anyway. I've tried holding the WPS button down for a long period (3 or so minutes) as well as just a short press.

I'm also wondering if this is the only dongle that will work.

Ideas?

[Tim Curtis]

Steps to configure WiFi are in the Setup Guide. There is a link to the guide on the Download page at http://moodeaudio.org

Scroll to Custom Configurations an then follow steps a - f under "1. CONFIGURE FOR WIFI CONNECTION",

You will need to know the WiFi SSID and password for the 5 GHz (and optionally 2.4 GHz) bands that you configured in your Router's Wireless setup page. Enter the SSID and password in the WiFi section of moOde's Network Config.

[albanberg]

Steps to configure WiFi are in the Setup Guide. There is a link to the guide on the Download page at http://moodeaudio.org

Scroll to Custom Configurations an then follow steps a - f under "1. CONFIGURE FOR WIFI CONNECTION",

You will need to know the WiFi SSID and password for the 5 GHz (and optionally 2.4 GHz) bands that you configured in your Router's Wireless setup page. Enter the SSID and password in the WiFi section of moOde's Network Config.

Thanks Tim!

I did go through these steps and the Comfast dongle still didn't connect. I checked on my router.

I hope you are out having fun today.

[Tim Curtis]

Post the moOde startup log and I'll have a look.

Code:

moodeutl -l

[TheOldPresbyope]

Hi All,

I have a RPI 4 in a digiOne Signature.

I've been trying to set up this Comfast CF-912AC WIFI dongle....

I'm also wondering if this is the only dongle that will work.

Ideas?

I don't know why you're not getting your Comfast WiFi adapter to associate with your access point. Since you're working with an RPi4, have you tried doing the same with the integrated WiFi adapter to make sure you are using the right credentials? The procedure Tim outlines works with both onboard and external WiFi.

To answer your final thought, there are many other USB-WiFi adapters which work "out of the box" with moOde. I own and have personally used USB-WiFi adapters from Canakit, Edimax, Netgear, Odroid, and Ralink (but not Comfast) with Raspberry Pi OS and moOde. Details matter of course but I can pass along specific model and internal chip info if need be.

For RPis which have an integrated WiFi adapter, you can try this quick-n-dirty test to see if your external USB-WiFi adapter will work "as is".

1. Set up moOde with the integrated WiFi adapter enabled and the proper credentials for your access point. When it's working you should see information like the following when you execute iwconfig from the moOde command line.

Code:

pi@m81232:~ $ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"XXXXXX"  
         Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF  
         Bit Rate=65 Mb/s   Tx-Power=31 dBm  
         Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
         Power Management:off
         Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-28 dBm  
         Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
         Tx excessive retries:169  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Here, my moOde player is named "m81232" (for rev 8.1.2, 32-bit legacy) and I have obscured the actual SSID and address of the access point.

2. Now without making any other changes plug your external adapter into a free USB port. Repeat the above command. The output should look like

Code:

pi@m81232:~ $ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"XXXXXX"  
         Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF  
         Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=31 dBm  
         Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
         Power Management:off
         Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-31 dBm  
         Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
         Tx excessive retries:169  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

wlan1     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"XXXXXX"  
         Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF  
         Bit Rate=65 Mb/s   Tx-Power=30 dBm  
         Retry short  long limit:2   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
         Power Management:off
         Link Quality=63/70  Signal level=-47 dBm  
         Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
         Tx excessive retries:1  Invalid misc:35   Missed beacon:0

In other words, you should now see two wlan interfaces with both associated with your access point. If you get this, then you should be able to disable the RPi's integrated WiFi adapter [1] and run with just the external USB-WiFi adapter. 

Incidentally, the two interfaces will have been assigned different IP addresses as you can look up in your access point user interface or by executing ifconfig from moOde's command line. However, you can only ping the wlan1 interface. It will not respond to attempts to access it via ssh or HTTP. This is only been a test of the basic plumbing.

Regards,
Kent

[1] As I just discovered, this gets tricky with an RPi 2 W board. @Tim Curtis, this board needs to be added to the list of RPis with integrated adapter.
 

Regards,
Kent

[albanberg]

pi@moode:~ $ moodeutl -l
20220717 143734 worker: --
20220717 143734 worker: -- Start moOde 8 series
20220717 143734 worker: --
20220717 143734 worker: Successfully daemonized
20220717 143736 worker: File check (OK)
20220717 143737 worker: Session vacuumed
20220717 143737 worker: Session loaded
20220717 143737 worker: Debug logging (OFF)
20220717 143737 worker: --
20220717 143737 worker: -- Audio debug
20220717 143737 worker: --
20220717 143737 worker: ALSA cards: (0ndallodigione | 1:empty | 2:empty | 3:empty
20220717 143737 worker: MPD config: (0:Allo DigiOne Signature | mixernone) | card:0)
20220717 143737 worker: ALSA mixer actual (none)
20220717 143737 worker: ALSA volume (none)
20220717 143737 worker: --
20220717 143737 worker: -- System
20220717 143737 worker: --
20220717 143738 worker: Host (moode)
20220717 143738 worker: moOde (8.1.2 2022-07-08)
20220717 143738 worker: RaspiOS (11.3)
20220717 143738 worker: Kernel (5.15.32-v8+ #1538)
20220717 143738 worker: Platform (Pi-4B 1.4 2GB)
20220717 143738 worker: ARM arch (aarch64, 64-bit)
20220717 143738 worker: MPD ver (0.23.5)
20220717 143738 worker: CPU gov (ondemand)
20220717 143738 worker: USB boot (enabled)
20220717 143738 worker: File sys (expanded)
20220717 143738 worker: HDMI port (On)
20220717 143738 worker: Sys LED0 (On)
20220717 143738 worker: Sys LED1 (On)
20220717 143738 worker: --
20220717 143738 worker: -- Network
20220717 143738 worker: --
20220717 143739 worker: eth0 adapter exists
20220717 143739 worker: eth0 check for address (No)
20220717 143739 worker: IP addr (192.168.50.142)
20220717 143739 worker: Netmask (255.255.255.0)
20220717 143739 worker: Gateway (192.168.50.1)
20220717 143739 worker: Pri DNS (192.168.50.1)
20220717 143739 worker: Domain ()
20220717 143739 worker: wlan0 adapter does not exist
20220717 143739 worker: --
20220717 143739 worker: -- Audio config
20220717 143739 worker: --
20220717 143739 worker: MPD conf updated
20220717 143739 worker: ALSA card number (0)
20220717 143739 worker: MPD audio output (Allo DigiOne Signature)
20220717 143739 worker: Audio formats (S16_LE, S24_LE)
20220717 143739 worker: ALSA mixer name (none)
20220717 143739 worker: MPD mixer type (software)
20220717 143739 worker: Hdwr volume controller not detected
20220717 143739 worker: ALSA output mode (Default: plughw)
20220717 143739 worker: ALSA loopback (Off)
20220717 143739 worker: Reset renderer active flags
20220717 143739 worker: CamillaDSP (off)
20220717 143739 worker: --
20220717 143739 worker: -- MPD startup
20220717 143739 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: MPD started
20220717 143740 worker: MPD accepting connections
20220717 143740 worker: MPD output 1 ALSA Default (On)
20220717 143740 worker: MPD output 2 ALSA Bluetooth (Off)
20220717 143740 worker: MPD output 3 HTTP Server (Off)
20220717 143740 worker: MPD crossfade (off)
20220717 143740 worker: MPD ignore CUE files (yes)
20220717 143740 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: -- Music sources
20220717 143740 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: USB sources (none attached)
20220717 143740 worker: NAS sources (none configured)
20220717 143740 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: -- Feature availability
20220717 143740 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: Source select (available)
20220717 143740 worker: Source select (source: MPD)
20220717 143740 worker: Source select (output: Allo DigiOne Signature)
20220717 143740 worker: Bluetooth (available)
20220717 143740 worker: Airplay renderer (available)
20220717 143740 worker: Spotify renderer (available)
20220717 143740 worker: Squeezelite (available)
20220717 143740 worker: RoonBridge renderer (not installed)
20220717 143740 worker: Multiroom sender (available)
20220717 143740 worker: Multiroom receiver (available)
20220717 143740 worker: UPnP renderer (available: started)
20220717 143740 worker: DLNA server (available)
20220717 143740 worker: GPIO button handler (available)
20220717 143740 worker: Stream recorder (n/a)
20220717 143740 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: -- Other
20220717 143740 worker: --
20220717 143740 worker: USB volume knob (Off)
20220717 143740 worker: USB auto-mounter (udisks-glue)
20220717 143740 worker: Saved MPD vol level (0)
20220717 143740 worker: Preamp volume level (0)
20220717 143740 worker: MPD volume level (24) restored
20220717 143740 worker: ALSA volume level (None)
20220717 143740 worker: Auto-play (Off)
20220717 143740 worker: LocalUI started
20220717 143740 worker: CoverView toggle (-off)
20220717 143740 worker: Maintenance interval (120 minutes)
20220717 143740 worker: Screen saver activation (Never)
20220717 143740 worker: Session permissions (OK)
20220717 143740 worker: Watchdog started
20220717 143740 worker: Ready
20220717 145410 worker: Job shellinabox
pi@moode:~ $

[albanberg]

Also note that I got the internal (RPI 4) wireless to work...Thanks TheOldPresbyope!

I just tried the same procedure for the Comfast and it didn't work. I'm wondering if there is an issue with the Comfast dongle...although I may still be dong something wrong. I was careful to follow the directions though.

I assume that the internal wifi does not have good range.

[albanberg]

So...what am I doing wrong?

[Tim Curtis]

The log indicates no WiFi adapter, either the internal Pi adapter or a USB WiFi dongle was detected.

20220717 143739 worker: wlan0 adapter does not exist

[albanberg]

Ok, I think when I ran that log I had the Comfast plugged in and the internal wifi off...but I can test that. I'm wondering if the Comfast is not working.