I've been looking for info on how to find out what module controls what device and if I need all the ones loaded on my system. I have tried the modinfo command, but it's output is rather limited. I see modules that have a 0 in the Used by column and am wondering if I can rmmod or even blacklist some of them. Can anyone tell me a good place to get info on the module names and what they do?

Example:

sony_acpi is on my system, buy I don't have a sony system. I rmmod the module and it doesn't appear to make a difference. I also noticed that joydev loads and found that this is most likely joystick support, which I don't use on my laptop either. I also see a tcm_1100 module and can't find out what it's used for.

Thanks

search the kernel documentation for the module name and you'll get a description in the most cases.
(in make menuconfig, type / and your search words...)

BTW: use modprobe -r instead of rmmod, it is somewhat more intelligent...

some modules are loaded using /etc/modules, some are discovered by udev, but there is a blacklist file somewhere (try /etc/udev/...)

HTH,
Flo

I checked out the information in make menuconfig and it does provide a little more info. I did add some modules to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
I noticed that some modules are still loading, while others are now "blacklisted". I take it if they are still loading they are needed.

Thanks