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Atheros 802.11n devices (ath9k)

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Atheros 802.11n chipsets, using the ath9k driver on Debian systems.

ath9k is a module for Atheros 802.11n (non-USB) wireless LAN chipsets.

It does not require a binary HAL (hardware abstraction layer) for its use. No firmware is required to be loaded from userspace. It is a completely free and open-source driver. Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

This driver is included in the mainline Linux kernel since version 2.6.27. It is present in Debian kernel images since 2.6.28.

<!> USB devices based on the Atheros AR9170 chipset are not supported, see ar9170usb.

Installation

Squeeze

  1. Install the wireless-tools package:

    # aptitude update && aptitude install wireless-tools
  2. If not already performed, physically connect the device to your system.
  3. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:

    # modprobe ath9k
  4. Verify your device has an available interface:

    # iwconfig
  5. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

    # ifconfig wlan0 up
  6. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Lenny

  1. Add the Debian Backports repository to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Backported packages for Debian Lenny/5.0
    deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports lenny-backports main
  2. Update the list of available packages:

    # aptitude update
  3. Install a 2.6.32 kernel image appropriate for your system, along with the wireless-tools package. For example:

    # aptitude -t lenny-backports install linux-image-2.6-$(uname -r | sed 's,.*-,,') wireless-tools
  4. Restart your system and boot with the newly installed kernel. If not already performed, physically connect the device to your system.
  5. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:

    $ su
    # modprobe ath9k
  6. Verify your device has an available interface:

    # iwconfig
  7. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

    # ifconfig wlan0 up
  8. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Supported Devices

The page HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI explains how to identify a PCI device.

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo ath9k in Debian 2.6.32 (2.6.32-30) kernel images.

See Also


CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless