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Atheros AR9271, AR7010 devices (ath9k_htc)

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Atheros AR9271 and AR7010 chipsets on Debian systems.

ath9k_htc is a driver supporting Atheros 802.11n USB chipsets, included in the mainline Linux kernel since version 2.6.35. Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

AR7010-based devices (e.g. Netgear WNDA3200, TP-Link TL-WN821N v3) operate in USB mass storage mode by default. Since Linux 2.6.39, the driver sends the necessary command to enable wireless LAN operation.¹

As for firmware (required for the device to function), there are two options: either download and compile the open ath9k_htc firmware yourself or install the non-free firmware which is a part of the firmware-atheros package.

Atheros AR9170-based 802.11 draft-n devices are supported by ar9170usb.

Installation (free firmware)

Install required packages:

sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake git

Create temporary directory:

mkdir ~/ath9k_htc-firmware && cd ~/atk9k_htc-firmware

Clone the 1.3 branch:

git clone -b 1.3 https://github.com/qca/open-ath9k-htc-firmware.git

cd open-ath9k-htc-firmware

Fix issue 6 which causes the build process to fail:

mkdir target_firmware/magpie_fw_dev/build/utility/bin

Build the toolchain:

make toolchain

Build the firmware:

./build

Copy the firmware files to /lib/firmware:

sudo cp htc_9271.fw /lib/firmware/
sudo cp htc_7010.fw /lib/firmware/

Remove temporary directory:

rm -rf ~/ath9k_htc-firmware

All done! Now you should be able to use your wifi device.

Installation (non-free firmware)

Squeeze

1. Add the Debian Backports repository to /etc/apt/sources.list, also including the "non-free" component. For example:

   # Backported packages for Debian Squeeze/6.0
   deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main contrib non-free

2. Update the list of available packages:

   aptitude update

3. Install a Linux 3.2.0 kernel image appropriate for your system, along with the squeeze-backports/firmware-atheros package. For example:

   aptitude -t squeeze-backports install linux-image-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') firmware-atheros

4. Restart your system and boot with the newly installed Linux kernel.

5. Connect the device to your system. The ath9k_htc kernel module is automatically loaded for supported devices.

6. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Wheezy

1. Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

   # Debian Wheezy (testing)
   deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib non-free

2. Update the list of available packages and install the firmware-atheros package:

   aptitude update && aptitude install firmware-atheros

3. Connect the device to your system. The ath9k_htc kernel module is automatically loaded for supported devices.

4. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Supported Devices

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

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo ath9k_htc in Debian 3.2.0 (3.2.41-2) kernel images.

• USB: 040D:3801 VIA Technologies, Inc. (Device name unknown)
  USB: 0411:017F BUFFALO INC. (formerly MelCo., Inc.) Sony UWA-BR100 802.11abgn Wireless Adapter [Atheros AR7010+AR9280]
  USB: 04CA:4605 Lite-On Technology Corp. (Device name unknown)
  USB: 057C:8403 AVM GmbH Fritz!WLAN N v2 [Atheros AR9271]
  USB: 07D1:3A10 D-Link System DWA-126 802.11n Wireless Adapter [Atheros AR9271]
  USB: 083A:A704 Accton Technology Corp. (Device name unknown)
  USB: 0846:9018 NetGear, Inc. WNDA3200 802.11abgn Wireless Adapter [Atheros AR7010+AR9280]
  USB: 0846:9030 NetGear, Inc. WNA1100 Wireless-N 150 [Atheros AR9271]
  USB: 0CF3:1006 Atheros Communications, Inc. TP-Link TL-WN322G v3 / TL-WN422G v2 802.11g [Atheros AR9271]
  USB: 0CF3:20FF Atheros Communications, Inc. AR7010 (no firmware)
  USB: 0CF3:7010 Atheros Communications, Inc. (Device name unknown)
  USB: 0CF3:7015 Atheros Communications, Inc. TP-Link TL-WN821N v3 802.11n [Atheros AR7010+AR9287]
  USB: 0CF3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n
  USB: 0CF3:B003 Atheros Communications, Inc. Ubiquiti WiFiStationEXT 802.11n [Atheros AR9271]
  USB: 13D3:3327 IMC Networks (Device name unknown)
  USB: 13D3:3328 IMC Networks (Device name unknown)
  USB: 13D3:3346 IMC Networks (Device name unknown)
  USB: 13D3:3348 IMC Networks (Device name unknown)
  USB: 13D3:3349 IMC Networks (Device name unknown)
  USB: 13D3:3350 IMC Networks (Device name unknown)
  USB: 1668:1200 Actiontec Electronics, Inc. [hex] 802AIN Wireless N Network Adapter [Atheros AR9170+AR9101]

See Also

• ar9170usb - Atheros AR9170 devices

• How to use a WiFi interface

External Links

• http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k_htc

• http://wireless.kernel.org/en/developers/GSoC/2012/ath9k_htc_open_firmware

• https://github.com/qca/open-ath9k-htc-firmware

CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless