Hi dom0
Thanks for your reply. Thanks for taking the time, and sorry my slow reply. I just wanted to keep playing around with it, to see if I could indeed get it working as described, or to see what would work for me.
ok just for feedback, in case it helps to inform anyone else.
ok I tried playing with the hardware wifi switch, turning it on and off, as recommended. Unfortunately it did not work for me.
It seems to me, that the hardware wifi switch MUST be ON, throughout the whole boot and startup and login process, until the SYS-NET qube has fully established itself. I think if the hardware switch is off at ANY stage before the sys-net qube is fully started, then sys-net will not detect and attach the PCI Device (Wireless card) during its startup process, and so there will be no wifi at all.
My only concern really, was that with the wifi hardware switch enabled, so that wifi is enabled and on, that decrypt and login passphrases could be leaked out via the enabled wifi.
However, I think now that this is not possible.
Because, until the sys-net qube starts, (after all those passphrases have been input) the PCI Device (wifi card) is not even attached to the sys-net, and there is therefore NO networking functionality (or even networking icon shown in top right hand corner tray). So at the time of entering and typing in the decrypt and user passphrases, there is no wifi functionality at all, even with the wifi enabled on the hardware switch. The wifi functionality only happens AFTER sys-net starting up and the networking icon and functionality starting up.
I do remember there were bugs before in the intel chip, (the Spectre bug?) where entered passphrases that were still held in memory or ram, could be accessed and copied out by malware (I think it was the Spectre or maybe Meltdown bug? - sorry, can’t remember now), so this could a security vulnerablity - BUT, Purism has patched this, I remember reading somewhere, so that these bugs cannot access passwords stored in memory now.
So, even typing in passphrases in at startup, should have no security vulnerablities at all, as far as I can see. (Although I am always happy to learn and be corrected, if anyone has superior knowledge).
ok I just thought I would post this, in case it helps to ease anyone’s mind.
But yes, to recap, I found the hardware switch must have wifi enabled throughout the whole startup and login process, and that turning that switch off at any time before sys-net has fully started, will result in no wifi.
But once the sys-net has started, and the network icon appears, THEN the network can be disconnected, and the hardware switch turned off for wifi. Then if it is switched on again, just restart sys-net, and wifi networking is working again. But you do have to restart sys-net.
ok hope this helps someone else who may have had same issues.
Thanks for reading.
T