Hi all

How do I unload a module that is currently busy. Basically I want to force it to unload and then restart it up again. I have fedora core 1.

thanks,

you cant !!!

thats like trying to replace a piston in a running engine.

post your lsmod, and say which module you are trying to unload, it should be obviouse what the module is being used by.

ohh, and why do you want to unload it, then load again ? what does that gain ?

The 2.6 kernels can be compiled to support unloading modules. I don't know if the precompiled versions support it, but in any event you'll have to upgrade your kernel to use this feature

Hi,

If your kernel supports unloading module, use

modprobe -r modulename

see man modprobe for details

quote: "2.6 kernel support module unloading"

yeah, so do 2.4 kernels, but that doesnt change the fact that you cannot rip out a module that is in use.

basically my sound stalled when gxine was accessed for some website. I lost my sound so without a reboot i tried to unload sound module then reload it again. But later i found out that if i start up gxine then close it my sound came back. It was a bit weird but thats what i wanted to do at least. Thanks for all the help guys.

Here is my lsmod i know soundcore is being used by cmpci both devices are busy.
Module Size Used by Not tainted
cmpci 38676 1 (autoclean)
gameport 3380 0 (autoclean) [cmpci]
soundcore 6500 4 (autoclean) [cmpci]
parport_pc 18468 1 (autoclean)
lp 8356 0 (autoclean)
parport 36800 1 (autoclean) [parport_pc lp]
autofs 12052 0 (autoclean) (unused)
natsemi 19008 1
ipt_REJECT 4216 1 (autoclean)
ipt_state 1112 3 (autoclean)
ip_conntrack 28616 1 (autoclean) [ipt_state]
iptable_filter 2444 1 (autoclean)
ip_tables 14752 3 [ipt_REJECT ipt_state iptable_filter]
floppy 56348 0 (autoclean)
sg 34796 0 (autoclean)
sr_mod 17016 0 (autoclean)
ide-scsi 11856 0
scsi_mod 109384 3 [sg sr_mod ide-scsi]
ide-cd 34176 0
cdrom 34048 0 [sr_mod ide-cd]
ohci1394 28520 0 (unused)
ieee1394 203940 0 [ohci1394]
scanner 11544 0 (unused)
keybdev 2624 0 (unused)
hid 23652 0 (unused)
ehci-hcd 19784 0 (unused)
usb-uhci 25740 0 (unused)
usbcore 77984 1 [scanner hid ehci-hcd usb-uhci]
mousedev 5204 1 (autoclean)
input 5824 0 (autoclean) [keybdev hid mousedev]
ext3 70980 2
jbd 51084 2 [ext3]

also try running "ps aux" to check if anything is still running and use "kill" if so.

you need to rm all the top 3 modules at the same time...

rmmod moduleA moduleB moduleC

if a module has a module listed in USED BY, then it will not unload. unload the module thats using it first, also..

lsof /dev/dsp

will list the user level programs using the sound card. kill them too.

and

modprobe -r -f <modname> (if you have compiled in 'force module unloading' in 2.6 kernel)

gets really serious, although if there is a file open, you will end up in trouble. however, desperate times call for desperate measures. E.g. if you have an open file on a hard mounted nfs share without the interruptable (intr) flag set...