Re: modules problems

Sheldon E. Newhouse (sen1@math.msu.edu)
Fri, 20 Sep 1996 10:04:12 -0400

Jacques Gelinas writes:
> On Thu, 19 Sep 1996, Franz Sirl wrote:
>
> > At 13:43 19.09.96 -0400, Sheldon E. Newhouse wrote:
> > >I have begun to try to use modules again, and am still having
> > >problems.
> > >
> > >I have a P5-100, ide, etc.
> > >
> > >I am using kernel 2.0.20 and modules 2.0 from the RH-3.0.3 upgrade page.
> > >
> > >I have an ISA Western Digital 8013 ethernet card. When I compile its
> > >support into the kernel, there is no problem.
> > >
> > >When I try to compile it as a loadable module, and use insmod, I get
> > >error messages saying symbol versions don't match and it won't load.
> > >The same thing happens with my sound.o modules and ppp.o. I have tried
> > >this both the config_mod_versions turned on and off. It does not make
> > >any difference.
> > >
> > >I also have a 3COM590, and the module works fine for this with insmod,
> > >rmmod giving no problems at all.
> > >
> > >Is there anyone out there who has successfully used the module version
> > >of the WD8013?
> >
> > Did you 'insmod 8390.o' before 'insmod wd.o'? The wd.o depends on 8390.o
>
> People should really forget about insmod. The utility (part of the same
> distribution btw) to use is modprobe. Once you have run "/sbin/depmod -a",
> you can forget about dependancies. All you do is /sbin/modprobe wd and
> this is it.
First, thank all for the replies.

I think the HOW-TO and /usr/src/linux/Documentation/modules.txt should
be revised to clarify this point. At least when I read that text, I
thought that insmod and rmmod were the natural tools to use. It seemed
that depmod was only a cute add-on. Also, is it possible that my problems have
arisen because I have the directories /lib/modules/1.2.13 and
/lib/modules/2.0.20 and the modprobe does not know which to look
in? The man page seems to indicate that this is not so, but I have not
played to see.

What is the recommended way to set up the default paths so that each new
build of kernel and modules will search for the properly compiled
modules? If the current kernel is 2.0.20, I suppose one could set up a link
/lib/modules/current -> /lib/modules/2.0.20
and pass options to depmod in /etc/conf.modules to search this
directory, but this requires the link to be updated with each new
kernel build. Is there a better way?

TIA,

-sen

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| Sheldon E. Newhouse | e-mail: sen1@math.msu.edu |
| Mathematics Department | |
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