How to change configuration of kernel while installing a driver (ath9k) on Ubuntu

Question

I am a newbie trying to install ath9k for my wireless network interface card with Atheros AR9170 chipset. The install procedure says after the install of the compat wireless stable release, go to menuconfig and enable a couple of things under Networking (cfg80211, mac80211) and Driver (atheros 802.11n support) while compiling the kernel. I did go to usr/src/(linux kernel header in use)/ and change these configurations. What do I need to do next? How do are these configurations reflected? When I connect my hardware, it doesn't get recognized yet/

Answer 1

You need to rebuild your kernel. Have a look here . Specially arround the line that says make-kpkg clean .

Answer 2

If you are using Ubuntu (guessing from the tag), you should have ath9k enabled in the kernel already, as well as its dependencies (such as mac80211). You only need compile-wireless (now renamed to backports) if you need new features or bug fixes not available in the Ubuntu kernel. But even then, you should not need to recompile the kernel. It should have the configuration you need. An important goal of backports is to avoid the need to recompile vendor kernels while upgrading some of the drivers.

You are probably experiencing some other issue, such as missing AR9170 firmware, so you decided that you need to install the driver. Or maybe it's the Windows mindset - new devices need installing new drivers. It's hard to say without a detailed report that includes the relevant software versions, what you observe, what you expect and what you do. When quoting documentation, please quote exactly.