Re: Unused modules in 2.6.x

Michael Tokarev
2009-02-25T18:40:26Z

Alex Buell wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Perhaps I missed something when the 2.6.x kernels got started a few
> years back, but why is it not possible for unused modules to be
> automatically unloaded anymore i.e with rmmod -a? I remember being able
> to do that with the 2.2.x and 2.4.x series a long time ago.

It's a pure userspace question now. Well, almost, except of the
single bit which were kept before 2.6 for each module - if it
was loaded with -k flag (auto-unload) or not.

Better question to ask, IMHO, is why network drivers don't gets
referenced properly as all other drivers are. Because right now
they're unused even if the network interfaces are up-n-running,
and rmmod'ing a seemingly unused module will cause that particular
interface to be removed too...

/mjt