LinuxQuestions.org - module-assistant howto/description?

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module-assistant howto/description?

Over the weekend, I discovered module-assistant when setting up lirc for my MythTV remote control. I had never heard of this tool before and was quite impressed by it's simplicity. Since then, I've been scouring google trying to find some good documentation on it (mostly just for curiosity sake), but am coming up short.

Does anyone know of a good description/howto about what exactly m-a does? Maybe something like the old APT howto?

Looked around and was surprised to find there really are no detailed howtos. By far the best thing I was able to find was the man page.

On the other hand, for the average user, it's a piece of cake. As I'm sure you discovered, all you have to do is install the source code of whatever module you want, then:

Code:

m-a prepare /* you only need to do this if you've 

                  /* upgraded the kernel since the last 

                  /* time you used module-assistant



m-a a-i <module name>



modprobe <module name>

Of course, if the module is to replace an already active one, it would be a good idea to disable the active one before the modprobe. For a module like fglrx or nvidia, you probably need to go to single user mode for the modprobe.

I don't know if other distros have a similar tool, but it has certainly made compiling and installing a kernel module a piece of cake. I understand that some older modules will not work with module-assistant. Probably not a good idea to use it on Sarge, but any kernel module designed for Etch should work.