Fix "No wireless interface found" on a Raspberry Pi

raspberry-pi-no-wireless-interface-found.md

Fix "No wireless interface found" on a Raspberry Pi

Step 1 - Fix the interfaces file

Remove everything but first 'source-directory' line in /etc/network/interfaces.

Using nano:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Use CTRL+K to delete lines, CTRL+O to save, and CTRL+X to exit nano editor.

Step 2 - Enable dhcpcd

Enable 'dhcpcd' with:

sudo systemctl enable dhcpcd

Step 4 - Disable networking

sudo systemctl disable networking

Step 5 - Restart Raspberry Pi

Restart the Pi to have the changes take effect.

Reboot from GUI, or use terminal command:

sudo reboot

WiFi should work now.

I am able to reproduce this on a new raspios image on a Raspberry Pi 2 with a working USB wifi adapter. I posted the solution here:

https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/139807/no-wireless-interface-found-when-using-wifi-adapter-tl-wn725n/141152#141152

Tested RPi Zero w1.1 brand new install: method doesn't work

This worked for me on a Raspberry Pi Zero W running Raspberry Pi OS Lite 5.15.

Still not working😭

If nothing else works it may be easier just to reinstall the OS 🤷‍♂️ Good luck though

I tried reinstalling the new OS from the official site, still facing the same issue. I am using raspberry pi 3B

Hey there,

I have been using raspberry pi 2 and 3 for a while with the same wifi dongles. I found them back recently and loaded the latest raspberry pi OS version and my 2 realtek dongles who have been working for years are not anymore recognized, even after installing firmware-realtek.

So I guess the problem comes from the OS as it's the only thing I have changed.

Hey there,

I have been using raspberry pi 2 and 3 for a while with the same wifi dongles. I found them back recently and loaded the latest raspberry pi OS version and my 2 realtek dongles who have been working for years are not anymore recognized, even after installing firmware-realtek.

So I guess the problem comes from the OS as it's the only thing I have changed.

Same issue here with a pi1 B+ with an RTL8188CUS based dongle. Seems the kernel modules may have quietly been deleted for these devices... They work fine on buster, and even earlier bullseye versions, but do not work on the latest Bullseye, they do show when using lsusb though which leads me to think driver / module related.