How do I add or remove hardware device driver from running Linux kernel?
Linux systems comes with modprobe command, to add and remove modules from the Linux Kernel. Please note that:
=> Under MS-Windows you use term device driver for modules.
=> Under Linux you use term modules for device drivers.
=> The Linux kernel has a modular design.
=> At boot time, only a minimal resident kernel is loaded into memory.
=> If you add new hardware you need to add driver aka modules
=> The modprobe command intelligently adds or removes a module from the Linux kernel
=> Usually modules stored in the module directory located that /lib/modules/$(uname -r) directory. To see current modules, type:
$ ls /lib/modules/$(uname -r)
Output:
boot initrd misc modules.ccwmap modules.ieee1394map modules.isapnpmap modules.symbols source build kernel modules.alias modules.dep modules.inputmap modules.pcimap modules.usbmap
Task: Add a Module (driver) Called foo
Type the command as root user:
# modprobe foo
Task: List All Loaded Modules
Use the lsmod command to show the status of modules in the Linux Kernel:
# lsmod
Output:
Module Size Used by smbfs 75465 0 md5 5953 1 ipv6 284193 10 ipt_TOS 4033 2 iptable_mangle 4545 1 ip_conntrack_ftp 74801 0 ip_conntrack_irc 74033 0 ipt_REJECT 8897 43 ipt_LOG 8513 2 ipt_limit 4033 6 iptable_filter 4673 1 ipt_multiport 3521 4 ipt_state 3393 16 ip_conntrack 54297 3 ip_conntrack_ftp,ip_conntrack_irc,ipt_state ip_tables 21825 8 ipt_TOS,iptable_mangle,ipt_REJECT,ipt_LOG,ipt_limit,iptable_filter,ipt_multiport,ipt_state i2c_dev 13889 0 i2c_core 28865 1 i2c_dev dm_mirror 32721 0 dm_mod 68609 1 dm_mirror button 9313 0 battery 11465 0 ac 6985 0 ohci_hcd 24529 0 ehci_hcd 33989 0 tg3 109381 0 floppy 66065 0 ext3 137937 2 jbd 69105 1 ext3 sata_svw 10053 3 libata 78345 1 sata_svw sd_mod 19393 4 scsi_mod 141457 2 libata,sd_mod
Task: Remove a module called foo
Pass the -r option to modprobe command to remove a module, type:
# modprobe -r foo
You can also use the rmmod command, which is simple program to remove a module from the Linux Kernel:
# rmmod foo
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
when the system is rebooted the module inside the kernel will not be present.But i want the modules to be seen permenently.what should i do.
In Debian…
http://wiki.debian.org/KernelModuleBlacklisting
Thanks alot for this, very helpful for teh newbz.
Thank’s first for the helpfull command , where can i get the new modules other then my OS,
thank tou
thanks
how to build linux kernel module with new device driver module during build
Thanks a lot for the info…:) :)
Hi there…
I am trying to remove TCP IP from a linux kernel, and want to recompile the LINUX kernel. But being a novice with the administrations of the linux (UBUNTU 10.4), I know a little about it. Agter recompilation can I again design mu own TCPIP using the C language code?
Guys please help me out…waiting for the reply .
Regards…
Thanks for this very short but very clear information. That helps me to understand the concept (of add or remove module on Linux) very much.
One question remain: how do we check to know what modules are available to add on a existing system?
Thank you in advance!
cd to /lib/modules/$(uname -r) directory and you can see the list of available modules (run as root):
The following will list all drives
To find out more info about a module called foo:
Hope this helps!