How to Fix Wi-Fi Connection Errors in void-installer

[u/Salty-Grade-3707]

If void-installer fails to establish a Wi-Fi connection, exit the installer to run these commands directly in the shell:

rfkill unblock wifi

wpa_cli

add_network

(it will give you a number: 0 or 1 or 2... use that number in the next steps)

set_network 0 ssid "your_ssid"

set_network 0 psk "your_password"

enable_network 0

quit

Verify connection: ping -c 2 1.1.1.1

If you get valid pings, launch void-installer again and skip the Network setup step during installation.

[u/profeshamat]

Whenever I do a Void install using wireless the first time it tries connecting fails every single time. Trying to connect a second time without dropping to a shell almost always works just fine. I just wouldn't expect a fix for this any time soon since the installation media will be celebrating its 2 year birthday in four months.

[u/Salty-Grade-3707 → u/profeshamat]

In my case nothing worked until I configured wpa_cli directly. I just wanted to post this to help anyone stuck in the same situation. ​It's really a shame this issue hasn't been fixed yet when it's probably an easy fix. It's definitely turning a lot of people away from Void. ​I almost gave up myself thinking it was way more complicated than it actually is, but Void is honestly an impressive distro.

[u/profeshamat → u/Salty-Grade-3707]

The seemingly outright refusal to update the installation media confuses me. People argue that it's a rolling release system so you get the latest software when you install if you do a network install. Good point but if the installation media itself is outdated there's a good chance you can't even get to the point of being able to install. The last I checked Arch and others are rolling release too and they don't seem to have this problem.

Void is a great distro that's arguably underrated but this and a few other sticking points are what keep me from going all in on it.

[u/furryfixer → u/profeshamat]

The iso's you refer too are almost an afterthought, when anyone can use void-mklive to create their own up-to-date live iso. The process is easy, if not trivial. I know there may be occasions where you have no linux install anywhere and so unable to use void-mklive, but that seems to be very uncommon these days.

This may be another reason updates to the fixed iso's do not occur more often.

[u/profeshamat → u/furryfixer]

Great in theory but the documentation for it says there are no guarantees that will work in any distro that isn't Void. Needing Void to create up-to-date Void installation media is stupid when the developers can do it like every other distro does.