Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Wi-Fi adapters

Atheros ath9k PCIe family (168c:002b)

A register-driven ath9k PCIe family. Unlike ath9k_htc USB devices, its reviewed path does not declare a host-loaded firmware image.

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

The PCI table admits 168c:002b; the hardware revision is still needed to distinguish the actual chip. A short ID is not promoted to a unique adapter name.

Curated identifiers
pci 168c:002b

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

ath9k is the PCI driver candidate. Its register-based path and mac80211 dependencies differ from the firmware-driven ath9k_htc USB transport.

  • ath9k — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

No host payload established here

No host-loaded external firmware filename is established for the reviewed ath9k PCIe path. This does not assert that hardware has no onboard code or calibration.

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 selected PCI function

lspci -nnk -s BDF

Replace BDF with the address from your report. Compare Kernel driver in use with Kernel modules; only the former records binding. This ordinary query normally needs no root privileges.

Read firmware metadata

modinfo -F firmware MODULE

Replace MODULE with ath9k or the actual candidate module in your report. Metadata lists declared filenames; it does not prove a file was loaded. This query needs no root privileges.

Read existing Wi-Fi association

iw dev INTERFACE link

Replace INTERFACE with the wireless interface from iw dev. Association and rate are observations, not a throughput or firmware test. This query normally needs no root privileges.

Limitations & related issues

No external firmware filename was established for this path; that does not mean the device has no onboard firmware or calibration data. RF and power-state behavior remain untested.

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.