I've recently compiled a 2.2.17 kernel, specifying most everything as modules. Oddly enough, "make menuconfig" won't allow me to specify my mouse (PS/2) as a kernel, instead forcing a "*" in the config box. But that's not my question.
I'm trying to get a handle on how modules work. I've commented out all the items in /etc/modules, so that it is in essence an empty file. When I reboot, my ethernet card doesn't work. Yet other items, like vfat and serial and smbfs do load. I thought since vfat and serial and smbfs were loading even though I had previously commented them out of of /etc/modules, that the kmod (or kerneld, or whatever it's called) was automatically loading those modules when a need arose (such as when during bootup the fstab instructed the system to mount a Windows95 partition - although this doesn't explain the smbfs loading, since I don't do any samba mounts automatically during bootup). So my question is: Why are the vfat and serial and smbfs loading when they are commented out of /etc/modules, but the 3c59x module does not load when it's commented out? And my second question: should I specifically load modules via /etc/modules, or should I leave that file empty and let kmod handle the modules? Thanks! Kent
