# Wifi adapter won't connect after update **URL:** \ **Category:** Kernel, boot, graphics & hardware\ **Created:** [October 17, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003 "2026-10-17T17:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/YSt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003/1 "2026-10-17T17:07:08Z")
Atheros ath9k chipset wifi usb dangle stopped working after update. It powers up, gets warm, but won’t connect. the thing is there is also an interface problem on xfce, like black desktop (only with custom wallpaper; if default wallpaper, then no problem), dead icons on system tray, dead sensors plugin, wrong dual display connection. i think yesterday’s update of gpu driver broke smth. today updated, checked keyrings and linux-headers; today updating linux-headers re-updated nvidia drivers (open driver due to nvidia drop of pascal chips), but didn’t fix anything. ```auto lsusb Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n ``` ```auto sudo dmesg | grep -i ath9k [591.236477] usbcore: registered new interface driver ath9k_htc [591.698265] usb 3-1: ath9k_htc: Transferred FW: ath9k_htc/htc_9271-1.4.0.fw, size: 51008 [591.949113] ath9k_htc 3-1:1.0: ath9k_htc: HTC initialized with 33 credits [592.175361] ath9k_htc 3-1:1.0: ath9k_htc: FW Version: 1.4 [592.175373] ath9k_htc 3-1:1.0: FW RMW support: On ``` ```auto lsmod | grep ath9k_htc ath9k_htc 131072 0 ath9k_common 53248 1 ath9k_htc ath9k_hw 585728 2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common ath 40960 3 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common,ath9k_hw mac80211 1818624 2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_hw cfg80211 1581056 4 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common,ath,mac80211 rfkill 45056 4 ath9k_htc,cfg80211 ``` ```auto rfkill ID TYPE DEVICE SOFT HARD 0 wlan phy0 unblocked unblocked ``` ```auto pacman -Qi linux-firmware Name : linux-firmware Version : 20260916-1 ....... Required By : None Optional For : linux Conflicts With : None Replaces : None Installed Size : 0,00 B Packager : Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig) heftig@archlinux.org Build Date : Th 17 Sep 2026 06:21:22 Install Date : Sa 17 Oct 2026 16:35:27 Install Reason : Explicitly installed Install Script : No Validated By : Signature ``` ```auto ip link wlan0: mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000 ``` ```auto sudo ip link set wlan0 up RTNETLINK answers: Message too long ``` ```auto pacman -Qk linux linux-firmware glibc xfce4-panel linux: 7749 total files, 0 missing files linux-firmware: 0 total files, 0 missing files glibc: 1637 total files, 0 missing files xfce4-panel: 415 total files, 0 missing files ``` ```auto lspci -k | grep -A 3 -i net 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15) Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Motherboard (one of many) Kernel driver in use: r8169 Kernel modules: r8169 ``` What to do, does anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![Rei\_Kurosawa](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rei\_Kurosawa](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/Rei_Kurosawa)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003/2 "2026-10-17T23:26:02Z")
Two separate things here. The broken desktop is almost certainly your Pascal card: the Arch news of 20.12.2025 says driver 590 dropped Pascal (GTX 10xx) and the main packages switched to the open kernel modules, which breaks the graphical environment on exactly those cards - the documented fix is to uninstall the nvidia packages and install nvidia-580xx-dkms from the AUR. For the wifi, your own dmesg shows the ath9k\_htc firmware loading fine, and the “empty” linux-firmware package is normal: Arch split it into vendor packages back in June 2025, so the meta package is intentionally 0 files. My hypothesis for the “Message too long” at link-up is a kernel/userspace mismatch from the interrupted driver update - do a full pacman -Syu and a reboot after the driver fix, then check wlan0 again. If it still refuses, a fresh dmesg line from the firmware load would tell more. ---
**Author:** ![YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/YSt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 8:56am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003/3 "2026-10-18T08:56:21Z")
Thanks for your interest in the question and your answer. Updated today, rebooted, but nothing got fixed. Wi-Fi Networks: device not ready open nvidia driver from AUR i’m using for a year now. yesterday i tried to check if anything wrong, powered up Steam and played a game, everything seems fine. Steam overlay also shows temperatures from CPU and GPU being read correctly. I have no idea what’s going on and how to fix this… ---
**Author:** ![YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/YSt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003/4 "2026-10-18T09:38:54Z")
If simply switch to lts kernel, this is safe bet, right? ```auto sudo pacman -Syyu linux-lts linux-lts-headers ``` and then save the bootloader ```auto sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg ``` no compatibility problem will be with open nvidia driver from AUR? ---
**Author:** ![YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/YSt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 11:26am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003/5 "2026-10-18T11:26:39Z")
installed lts kernel. not fixed ☹ ```auto uname --kernel-release 6.18.57-2-lts ``` ---
**Author:** ![YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@YSt](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/YSt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/wifi-adapter-wont-connect-after-update/82003/6 "2026-10-18T19:20:30Z")
Does anybody know, how likely is the next kernel release to fix the issue?