External USB wifi adapter on android issues

[francesco96]

I'd like to use my external usb wifi adapter (A tp-link tl-wn722n, using atheros 9271 chipset) on my android device (xiaomi redmi note 2 prime, hermes, mt6795) I installed kali through Linux Deploy on my sdcard. I installed the atheros firmware via

apt-get install firmware-atheros

and when I do

lsusb

I do get

...
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0cf3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n
...

which, I suppose, means that the device is reconized by kali. But if I run ifconfig or iwconfig I don't see it, just normale wlan0 built-in wifi.

I read that I have to install the kernel module, so if I do

modinfo ath9k_htc

I get

filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.61+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/ath9k_htc.ko
firmware:       htc_9271.fw
firmware:       htc_7010.fw
description:    Atheros driver 802.11n HTC based wireless devices
license:        Dual BSD/GPL
author:         Atheros Communications
alias:          usb:v0CF3p20FFd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v04DAp3904d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0411p0197d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0411p017Fd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v083ApA704d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0846p9018d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0CF3p7010d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v1668p1200d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0CF3p7015d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v057Cp8403d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0CF3pB002d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0CF3pB003d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v040Dp3801d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v04CAp4605d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v13D3p3350d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v13D3p3349d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v13D3p3348d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v13D3p3346d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v13D3p3328d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v13D3p3327d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v07D1p3A10d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0846p9030d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0CF3p1006d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0CF3p9271d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
depends:        ath9k_hw,ath9k_common,mac80211,ath,cfg80211
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.16.0-4-armmp SMP mod_unload modversions ARMv7 p2v8
parm:           debug:Debugging mask (uint)
parm:           nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption (int)
parm:           btcoex_enable:Enable wifi-BT coexistence (int)
parm:           ps_enable:Enable WLAN PowerSave (int)

which, I suppose, means that there is a kernel module for my chipset. But if I run

modprobe ath9k_htc

I get:

modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'ath9k_htc': Function not implemented

What shall I do to make my wifi adapter work with kali installed on my device? I read also to build your kernel module starting from your device's kernel source... I am a noob about kernels... Am I confusing beetween kali and android kernels? Is this the source of my kernel, from which I should create the ath9k_htc module? I'm very confused, please help! Thank you very much.

[steev]

the kernel for the device tends to be built with the absolute minimum enabled to run on the device. i believe most of android doesn't actually support modprobe, you need to insmod the modules, which also means insmodding the dependencies that the ath9k_htc module would need.

there are many tutorials out there for building a kernel - but to be frank, just building a kernel and adding the modules won't work without replacing the kernel that gets booted. so, you may want to read up on xda or some other android forum and see if anyone has built custom kernels for it. every device is different, unfortunately, but the general concept is the same.

[francesco96]

the kernel for the device tends to be built with the absolute minimum enabled to run on the device. i believe most of android doesn't actually support modprobe, you need to insmod the modules, which also means insmodding the dependencies that the ath9k_htc module would need.

there are many tutorials out there for building a kernel - but to be frank, just building a kernel and adding the modules won't work without replacing the kernel that gets booted. so, you may want to read up on xda or some other android forum and see if anyone has built custom kernels for it. every device is different, unfortunately, but the general concept is the same.

Thanks for your answer.
I asked on xda about the kernel, and the source is not public (there is a general source of mt6795 kernel, but the one with the specified drivers for the device is missing), so I have to wait to compile a new kernel. You were speaking about insmod... Is possible to load a kernel module without a custom kernel? Typing insmod in terminal I get "usage: insmod <module.o>" . I thought that the module extensions was .ko, what file do I have to insmod?