ath9k
ath9k is a completely FOSS wireless driver for Atheros IEEE 802.11n WLAN based chipsets.
Contents
Mailing list
Our mailing list for this driver is:
https://lists.ath9k.org/mailman/listinfo/ath9k-devel
Get the code
ath9k is part of wireless-testing now.
To build wireless-testing, use the instructions in this page: en/users/Download
Enabling ath9k
To enable ath9k, you must first enable mac80211:
Networking ---> Wireless ---> <M> Improved wireless configuration API <M> Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211)
You can then enable ath9k in the kernel configuration under
Device Drivers ---> [*] Network device support ---> Wireless LAN ---> <M> Atheros 802.11n wireless cards support
Type of cards
HB: PCIe Half MiniCard
XB: PCIe Full MiniCard
- MB: Mini PCI card
- CB: PCI Cardbus card
- SB: Single band, 1x2, 2x2 configuration
- DB: Dual band, 2x3, 2x2 configuration
supported chipsets
- AR5418+AR5133
- AR5416+AR5133
- AR5416+AR2133
- AR9160
- AR9280
- AR9281
- AR9285
Products in the retail market containing Atheros 11n solutions
Acer
<AR9281/XB91, 1x2 SB>
- Aspire 6530
- Aspire 4530
Asus
<AR9281/XB91, 1x2 SB>
- Eee PC S101
Belkin
<AR5416+AR2133>
- N1 Wireless Notebook Card
D-Link
<AR5416+AR2133>
DWA-642 RangeBooster N Notebook Adapter
DWA-645 RangeBooster N650 Notebook Adapter
DWA-542 RangeBooster N Desktop Adapter
DWA-547 RangeBooster N650 Desktop Adapter
- DWA-652 XtremeN Notebook Adapter
- DWA-552 XtremeN Desktop Adapter
DWA-643 Xtreme N ExpressCard Notebook Adapter
- DWA-556 Xtreme N PCIe Desktop Adapter
Fujitsu
<AR5418+AR5133/XB72 2x3 DB>
- FMV-BIBLO LOOX T70WN
- FMV-BIBLO LOOX T70XN
- FMV-BIBLO LOOX R70YN
- FMV-BIBLO LOOX R/A70
- FMV-BIBLO NX95X/D
- FMV-BIBLO NX95Y/D
- FMV-BIBLO NX/A90N
- FMV-BIBLO NF75XN/D
- FMV-BIBLO NF75XN
- FMV-BIBLO NF75YN/D
- FMV-BIBLO NF75YN
- FMV-BIBLO NF/A75ND
- FMV-BIBLO NF/A70N
- FMV-BIBLO MG75X/V
- FMV-BIBLO MG75XN
- FMV-BIBLO MG90Y/V
- FMV-BIBLO MG90YN
- FMV-BIBLO MG90Y/V
- FMV-BIBLO MG/A75
<AR9281/HB91, 1x2 SB>
- FM BIBLO NF/B75
- FM BIBLO LOOX R/B50
LifeBook A1110
<AR9280/HB92, 2x2 DB>
- FM BIBLO MG/B75
- FM BIBLO LOOX U/B59
Fujitsu Siemens
<AR9281/XB91, 1x2 SB>
- Amilo Pa3515
- Amilo Pa3553
- Amilo Si3655
- Amilo Xi3450
- Amilo Xi3550
- Amilo Xi3585
<AR9280/XB92, 2x2 DB>
- Amilo Sa3650
- Amilo Xa3530
HP
<AR9280/HB92, 2x2 DB>
- HP Pavilion dv5
- Compaq Presario CQ50
- HP G50
- Compaq Presario CQ70
- HP G70
- HP Pavilion dv7
Lenovo
<AR5418+AR5133/XB72, 2x3 DB>
- T60
- X60
- X61
- T61
- R60
- R61
Linksys
<AR5416+AR2133>
- WPC300Nv2
- WMP300Nv2
- WPC100N
- WMP110N
NEC
<AR5416+AR5133/CB72, 2x3 DB>
- WL300NC
<AR9223/CB91 2x2 SB>
- WL300NC-G
<AR5418+AR5133/XB72, 2x3 DB>
- Lavie C LC950/MG
- Valuestar W VW790/MG
Netgear
<AR5416+AR2133>
- WNHDE111 Video Bridge
- WN711, Wireless-N eXpresscard adapter
SONY
<AR9281/HB91, 1x2 SB>
- Type R
- Type L
- Type S
Toshiba
<AR5418+AR5133/XB72, 2x3 DB>
- Sattelite A305D-S6831
- Sattelite M305-S4835
- Qosmio G55-Q801
- Qosmio G55-Q802
- Satellite K30 226E/253E
- Satellite T40 T40210E/5W
- Satellite T40 T40213C/5W
- Dynabook/Qosmio FX77GW/79GW/WXW
- Dynabook/Qosmio FXW/75GW
- Dynabook/Qosmio G50W/95GW
- Dynabook/Qosmio F50W/85GW
- Dynabook/Satellite PXW/57FW
<AR9281/XB91, 1x2 SB>
- Dynabook AX/54G
- Dynabook AX/53G
- Dynabook AX/53GBL
- Dynabook AX/53GPK
- Dynabook AX/52G
- Dynabook TX/67G
- Dynabook TX/66G
- Dynabook TX/66GBL
- Dynabook TX/66GPK
- Dynabook TX/65G
- Dynabook CX/48G
- Dynabook CX/45G
- Dynabook CX/47G
- Dynebook Qosmio FX/77G
- Dynebook Qosmio GX/79G
- Qosmio F50/88G
- Qosmio F50/86G
- Qosmio F40/86G
- Qosmio G50/98G
- Qosmio G50/97G
- Qosmio F50/F55-Q502
- Qosmio F50/F55-Q503
- Satelite A-300/A305-S6864**
Working
Station Mode
AP Mode
IBSS Mode
Other supported features
- LED
- RFKILL ( RFKILL subsystem has to be enabled in the kernel )
TODO
Things on our TODO list.
Being worked on
- AP
- 802.11h support (Initial patches for CSA and Power Constraint have been merged)
Cleanup
- Merge ath_tx_status, ath_rx_status, ath_desc with ar5416_desc.
- HW capabilities is still too convoluted.
ChannelFlags are still a bit ugly.
- Cleanup ath_hal and ath_hal_5416.
- Rate Control cleanup ( RC should be easily swappable with other algorithms, minstrel, for example )
- Revamp aggregation.
- Buffer management for TX/RX is very messy, some love would make it better.
- Review locking.
Minor
- Review inline usage.
- Kerneldoc usage.
In the long run
- WDS - Already part of mac80211, probably can be added after AP
- Power management – needs work and integration on mac80211/cfg80211, see Johanne's e-mails
A little history on ath9k
When it went in
ath9k was announced to have been merged into Linux-2.6.27-rc3 by Linus on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:33:16 -0700 (PDT), and consisted of 58.8% of the entire rc3 patch.
Early distributions which picked it up
OpenWrt became the first distribution to pick up ath9k and contribute to it.
Reported bugs on ath9k
This is a collection of bug reports both unresolved and resolved to help users track issues and to find patches for fixes which have not yet been merged.
Distribution bugs