Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Ethernet & networking

ASIX AX88179 USB Ethernet

The AX88179 USB network controller uses ax88179_178a on its documented vendor-specific interface. A USB ID alone identifies the controller path, not a whole docking station or its negotiated USB generation.

Editorial source review: Share public profileOpen in the identification tool
On this page
  1. Overview & identity
  2. Driver & binding
  3. Firmware
  4. Read-only diagnostics
  5. Limitations & related issues
  6. References

Overview & identity

0b95:1790 is matched with interface class/subclass/protocol ff/ff/00. That interface qualification is part of the upstream match and should not be hidden when interpreting a composite USB report.

Curated identifiers
usb 0b95:1790

A numeric match establishes a candidate family within the reviewed evidence. Marketing names, board variants, subsystem conditions and successful operation remain separate questions.

Driver & binding

The kernel table explicitly labels AX88179 and points to ax88179_info. The shared module also covers AX88178A, but that does not make every ASIX device the same exact controller.

  • ax88179_178a — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

No host payload established here

No host-loaded firmware filename was established for this profile in the reviewed driver sources. EEPROM/NVM on the adapter is separate from files installed in the operating system.

Inspect firmware packaging on your distribution

Read-only diagnostics

Run one displayed command at a time. Replace uppercase placeholders with the affected device, interface or module from your own output. Commands are never executed here. Read-only output can still contain private identifiers.

Read the USB vendor/product pair

lsusb -d 0b95:1790

Confirms a visible USB descriptor pair 0b95:1790. It identifies the controller family, not the dock brand or the bound interface driver. No root access is normally needed.

Inspect the USB topology

lsusb -t

Locate the adapter under its USB bus. Driver names and 480M/5000M describe interface binding and USB transport speed; they do not report Ethernet carrier speed.

Identify the network interface driver

ethtool -i INTERFACE

Replace INTERFACE with the real interface name. Driver and bus-info connect this interface to its device. A displayed firmware-version is adapter information; it does not prove a file was loaded. Candidate: ax88179_178a.

Compare supported modes with the current link

ethtool INTERFACE

Supported/advertised link modes describe capability or negotiation offers. Speed, Duplex and Link detected describe the current link, not measured throughput. An unsupported query is a limitation of the interface/driver.

Limitations & related issues

USB resets and Ethernet link drops can have different causes. Inspect the USB tree, interface binding and ethtool output together; a controller’s gigabit description is not a throughput measurement.

These guides are linked for relevant observations, not as known defects of every device in this family.

Choose a hardware diagnostic workflow · Inspect a log excerpt in Fix Lab

References

Source review records a checked implementation or document, not a reproduced hardware test. Version-specific tables do not establish a minimum kernel or guaranteed operation.