NRF24L01 presence detection
This library distinguishes the NRF24L01 from the NRF24L01+ by trying to set the 250Kbps data rate. If it succeeds then the chip is of the + variety. You might also try just powering the chip on and off. It seems unlikely that you would disturb other driver software? by setting and re-setting these settings. https://github.com/jpbarraca/pynrf24/blob/master/nrf24.py#L671