I found one of these in my stash:
CanaKit Raspberry Pi WiFi Wireless Adapter/Dongle (802.11 n/g/b 150 Mbps) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GFAN498/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9G4FCb93WKB0K
So tomorrow I will format a new SD Card and do a fresh install with Wi-Fi only and see where it fails.
I truly appreciate the information you have given me and your help to make this a better product.
Ah, geez… I just figured out the what and why of NOOBS. doh.
I followed instructions how to set up the access point but none of them worked. I manually started the hostapd and I managed to see my new access point but it wouldn’t let me connect to it. After some time, it disappeared. I assume it has some power management enabled but was not able to turn it off.
Maybe my dnsmasq is not set properly or something else is missing.
That worked and when I ran “sudo systemctl start hostapd” the access point came up and is working again but on a reboot it doesn’t start up again. Furthermore, ArchiveSW is still not reachable even though I can ssh and VNC into the RPi.
OK, tried the install and everything seemed to go OK. Was able to connect to the server and configure everything. When I rebooted the panel comes up but with an error of localhost refused to connect. I also can no longer connect to the server using the IP address with error 192.xxx.xxx.xxx refused to connect. The following in terminal window:
bash: exec: matchbox-window-manager: not found
–disable-quic --enable-tcp-fast-open --disable-gpu-compositing --ppapi-flash-path=/usr/lib/chromium-browser/libpepflashplayer.so --ppapi-flash-args=enable_stagevideo_auto=0 --ppapi-flash-version=
Fontconfig warning: “/etc/fonts/fonts.conf”, line 160: blank doesn’t take any effect anymore. please remove it from your fonts.conf
[1049:1049:0306/192428.426057:ERROR:gpu_process_transport_factory.cc(1029)] Lost UI shared context.
[1049:1182:0306/192429.708760:ERROR:bus.cc(394)] Failed to connect to the bus: Could not parse server address: Unknown address type (examples of valid types are “tcp” and on UNIX “unix”)
ATTENTION: default value of option force_s3tc_enable overridden by environment.
[1187:1187:0306/192432.895122:ERROR:sandbox_linux.cc(375)] InitializeSandbox() called with multiple threads in process gpu-process.
[1049:1184:0306/192435.131151:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(626)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.GetDevices: object_path= /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.NetworkManager was not provided by any .service files
[1049:1184:0306/192435.131653:ERROR:networking_private_linux.cc(733)] Failed to enumerate network devices
[1049:1184:0306/192520.969692:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(626)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.GetDevices: object_path= /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.NetworkManager was not provided by any .service files
[1049:1184:0306/192520.969849:ERROR:networking_private_linux.cc(733)] Failed to enumerate network devices
[1049:1184:0306/192538.591248:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(626)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.GetDevices: object_path= /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.NetworkManager was not provided by any .service files
[1049:1184:0306/192538.591405:ERROR:networking_private_linux.cc(733)] Failed to enumerate network devices
I’m no pro with linux. Last I messed with it was 20 years ago. Know just enough to be dangerous.
I am currently working on the reported issues. I’ll update everyone when I have the solutions.
I followed the steps in the middle of this post: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1437905#p1438251
This fixed the issue of the access point not auto starting up. On my test RPi 3B+ I ran “sudo rpi-update” and all went well until the reboot. It has been working on something for the past hour as the activity light is on nearly constantly. I may have to start over with this one.
Now I just have to get ArchiveSW working again.
I am currently running through a new install, searching for issues and making adjustments.
My sincere apologies for breaking your working units.
Let me know when I should do a test install on my test unit. I can start from scratch if you want.
I thought that was part of the adventure. 
I actually don’t think it was you. I think the changes in the repositories are the culprits. I just didn’t know they were coming.
Are you running Stretch with Desktop or Stretch Lite?
I’ve been working on this all evening and I still don’t know why it’s an issue or how to fix it.
if I
sudo systemctl unmask hostapd
suto systemctl start hostapd
it works until a reboot.
After lots of googling, I found out that the hostapd is obviously started too early (before the wlan interface is assigned or up). If it is started manually a bit later (e.g. in /etc/rc.local), it could work OK.
I think I found the answer.
https://www.web3.lu/raspberry-pi-revisited/
Go down the page to this line: (do a find)
init file /etc/init.d/hostapd.
These steps need to be done: The last two steps were not in the original document.
To start hostapd at boot, we need to do some additional tasks. First we must uncomment and complete the parameter DAEMON_CONF in the file /etc/default/hostapd as follows :
DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf"
We need to insert the same parameter in the init file /etc/init.d/hostapd .
Next we enable starting of hostapd at booting with the command
sudo systemctl enable hostapd
Awesome! It works!
Next step is to turn the power management off on wlan0.
That’s one issue I have not had. The Wi-Fi has never turned off.
I’m done for the night. I’ll start over tomorrow with a fresh image. The good news is I have made several improvements in the scripts and have more to add.
Stretch with the Desktop
I am going through a new install now to remove unnecessary items.
Do you have a LCD attached to the RPi? As in either a 3.5" or the official 7" touchscreen?
I have the official 7" touchscreen.
One last question, did you Add and Start the Panel under the Processes tab?
Yes I did. Left server running per the instructions
Doing a fresh install.
Round 6.