Stopping modules from loading at boot time

kpg · 01-04-2005, 07:23 AM

Hi!

What do I do if I want to block certain modules, viz. i810_rng, hw_random and pci_ehp from loading at boot time? I'm using Debian Sarge with the default 2.4.27 kernel. Also, if I install debian with the linux26 option, the kernel gives an error with mount after the base installation is over and the machine reboots.

Kaustubh

slackie1000 · 01-04-2005, 07:53 AM

hi there,

i will answer the first question.
in *slackware*, the file is called

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.modules

i suppose there must be something similiar in Debian.
if not, try a grep to 'modprobe'. that is the command the load the modules.

regards

slackie1000

yanik · 01-04-2005, 09:52 AM

are you using hotplug?

kpg · 01-06-2005, 07:03 AM

I know how to do it in slack. The problem is that slack uses bsd-style init scripts, while debian is sysv, which is a lot more complicated.

Yes, I'm using hotplug.

Kaustubh

yanik · 01-06-2005, 07:35 AM

Ok you can either blacklist in hotplug those modules (there is a file for that somewhere) or like I did, get rid of hotplug and enter yourself the modules you want in /etc/modules. Mine has those modules:

psmouse
8139too
nvidia
snd-pcm-oss
snd-via82xx
ohci-hcd
ehci-hcd
uhci-hcd

you can enable disable hotplug with sysv-rc-conf, if you don't have it, just apt-get it. Note that debian uses rc2 by default.

m_yates · 01-06-2005, 08:11 AM

To disable modules loading automatically by hotplug, you need to add the module name to /etc/hotplug/blacklist Debian uses hotplug by default and adding the module name to the blacklist file is the easiest way to stop problematic modules from loading.

Dead Parrot · 01-06-2005, 08:19 AM

Check out "man discover.conf" to find out how to prevent discover from loading specific modules.

zuralin · 01-06-2005, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by slackie1000
in *slackware*, the file is called

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.modules

i suppose there must be something similiar in Debian.

The file is located at /etc/modules on a Debian system

kpg · 01-07-2005, 07:44 AM

My /etc/modules only has ide-cd and ide-detect listed. However, I have yet to try disabling discover.
Will my USB thumb drive work if I stop hotplug?

Kaustubh

m_yates · 01-07-2005, 08:03 AM

The modules listed in /etc/modules are those that need to be LOADED at boot time. The modules in /etc/hotplug/blacklist are those that you DON'T want loaded by hotplug. There is no need to get rid of hotplug, just put i810_rng, hw_random and pci_ehp in the file /etc/hotplug/blacklist. You shouldn't need to do anything to discover either.

I had similar errors in loading hw_random on my laptop. I added hw_random to /etc/hotplug/blacklist and I have had no more problems.