[Techtalk] Loading kernel modules automatically

[Megan Golding]

Saturday, on irc.linuxchix.org, a few of us were
talking about how to load kernel modules
automatically. I've forgotten now who wanted to know,
so I figured I'd just share what little I've learned
with the list :)

The key lies in /etc/modules.conf. Ok, so I just
figured this out today and am probably out of my
league here, but I understand this file tells the
kernel how to load modules.

There's a man page for modules.conf. Fortunately, I
was trying to change the ethernet driver and had only
to alter one line.

Before finding this, I was manually loading the
ethernet driver:
insmod
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/kernel/drivers/net/tulip/tulip.o

Here's what my /etc/modules.conf looked like:
(I installed linux to this machine by putting the hard
drive in another box, so I assume Red Hat's kudzu
found the other box's hardware and that's why the
wrong ethernet driver was being loaded.)

alias eth0 8139too

Here's what I changed /etc/modules.conf to:
alias eth0 tulip

Now, I don't have to manually load the driver for my
ethernet card.

Here are a few links that helped me out:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5208

http://www.linuxheadquarters.com/howto/networking/networkconfig.shtml

A very thankful Meg

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