$ lsusb | grep -i atheros
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n

$ lsmod | grep ath
ath9k_htc              98304  0
ath9k_common           40960  1 ath9k_htc
ath9k_hw              520192  2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common
ath                    36864  3 ath9k_htc,ath9k_common,ath9k_hw
mac80211             1040384  2 ath9k_htc,ath9k_hw
cfg80211              897024  5 ath9k_htc,rndis_wlan,ath9k_common,ath,mac80211

$ dmesg | grep usbcore
[    0.283931] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    0.283931] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    0.283931] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    0.496156] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
[    1.572249] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[    1.582610] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[    1.837501] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[    2.361923] usbcore: registered new device driver usbip-host
[   40.150903] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm
[   46.238860] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
[   46.243165] usbcore: registered new interface driver rndis_host
[   46.252903] usbcore: registered new interface driver rndis_wlan
[  276.169716] usbcore: registered new interface driver ath9k_htc

$ dmesg | grep firmware
[    7.527730] 0000:02:00.0: Missing Free firmware (non-Free firmware loading is disabled)
[    7.528504] r8169 0000:02:00.0: Unable to load firmware /*(DEBLOBBED)*/ (-2)
[   46.231133] platform regulatory.0: Direct firmware load for regulatory.db failed with error -2

$ dmesg | grep ath
[  276.169607] usb 1-5: ath9k_htc: Firmware ath9k_htc/htc_9271-1.4.0.fw requested
[  276.169716] usbcore: registered new interface driver ath9k_htc
[  276.451318] usb 1-5: ath9k_htc: Transferred FW: ath9k_htc/htc_9271-1.4.0.fw, size: 51008
[  276.703155] ath9k_htc 1-5:1.0: ath9k_htc: HTC initialized with 33 credits
[  339.486448] ath9k: ath9k: Driver unloaded
[  369.816874] ath9k_htc: Failed to initialize the device
[  369.816966] usb 1-5: ath9k_htc: USB layer deinitialized