Manually change module dependencies
 

I'm running openslug on a Linksys NSLU2, and I'm trying to get my USB wireless dongle to work. I got it running with no problems using openwrt, but I'd like to use the slug as a printserver among other things, and openwrt doesn't seem flexible enough.

My problem is the kernel-module-ieee80211-crypt-wep package requires a crypt module and isn't finding it. (I will update this post with the exact package, module and error message, I'm currently at work). I think the problem is that the necessary module isn't listed as a dependency for kernel-module-ieee80211-crypt-wep, so it isn't loaded beforehand.

Is there some way to manually change the module dependencies or, at the very least, some way to make sure one module is loaded before another?

Thanks a lot, more specific info coming soon.

UPDATE: The error message is "ieee80211_crypt_wep: could not allocate crypto API arc4" There's a arc4 module, but I can't ensure it loads before ieee802111_crypt_wep

See man depmod. Chances are you don't have that module. Which means you have to build it.

I have depmod, but it doesn't seem to change anything. It just lists dependencies.

It certainly does. See man depmod. It builds modules.dep file in modules directory. What module is required? You may need to build it.

Yes, it does build the modules.dep file, but that file is regenerated every time I boot, so I can't change the dependency there. I don't see anything on the man page describing how depmod can change dependencies, it seems only to list them.

From the man page: "depmod creates a list of module dependencies, by reading each module under /lib/modules/version and determining what symbols it exports, and what symbols it needs. By default this list is written to modules.dep in the same directory."

I've got the module, and I can see from modules.dep where the dependency needs to be, I just can't change it! The module loads fine, but I don't think it's loading before ieee80211_crypt_wep

I regret I cannot help much here. I build always my own kernels, I use modules only in very rare cases if I need to pass parameters to them. There is /etc/modules.autoload.d/<kernelversion> file in Gentoo to load modules at boot time. There probably is something similar in your distro, too.

I understand, I'm used to building my own kernels too. I'm a bit stuck at this point as I really can't recompile the kernel on the slug itself. I may end up going back to openwrt, as much as I'd rather not.

Other thoughts:
1. Do not let depmod run at boot time, it really isn't necessary.
2. Use a custom script to load the module you need earlier than rest.

I thought of that, I just can't find out what's starting it! I'll search for a bit longer,then switch back if I can't figure it out.

Even if I can stop depmod, I'll have to re-edit modules.dep and add my changes every time I install a new module since it will be regenerated.

This is killing me because on any other computer I'd simply put arc4 into the kernel instead of as a module!