Arch Linux

dhave

Arch Linux f@h Team Member

From: Outside the matrix.

Registered: 2005-05-15

Posts: 1,112

Can I toggle between sets of kernel modules?

I occasionally like to load an alternative kernel for testing purposes. The problem is that each kernel requires custom modules for my nvidia graphics card and for VMware.

It's such a hassle to have to rebuild those two sets of modules every time I want to load the other kernel. Is there not a way to keep the custom modules on hand, then select one set or the other when I choose a particular kernel? I don't suppose grub can be made to load particular kernel modules, can it? Or could I possible control this in my rc.conf MODULES section, perhaps by having alternate rc.conf files that could somehow be associated with the two different kernels?

Or could I even go further and somehow have Kernel A select nvidia-module-A and vmware-modules-A, while Kernel B would select nvidia-module-B and vmware-modules-B?

Thanks.

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lucke

Member

From: Poland

Registered: 2004-11-30

Posts: 4,018

Re: Can I toggle between sets of kernel modules?

Err, just build the module packages for different kernels with different names, then you'll have nvidia.ko and whatever the vmware module is called in two /lib/modules/$_kernver dirs.

Or am I missing something?

Last edited by lucke (2008-08-10 21:17:30)

ianegg

Member

Registered: 2007-06-18

Posts: 38

Re: Can I toggle between sets of kernel modules?

This is a purely packaging related problem really. It's entirely possible to keep various versions of a kernel and its modules there if you install them manually, or otherwise prevent pacman from removing them. As long as the kernels have different version strings you can have as many as you like, and all the modules will be kept in seperate dirs under /lib/modules. For nvidia, you'll need to have the modules all at the same version so you don't have to keep switching nvidia-utils.

dhave

Arch Linux f@h Team Member

From: Outside the matrix.

Registered: 2005-05-15

Posts: 1,112

Re: Can I toggle between sets of kernel modules?

Maybe the problem has been that my two alternate kernels often aren't from the same version, e.g., 2.6.25.x vs. 2.6.27. All I know is that, when I switch kernels, I always have to reinstall the nvidia driver (which I do manually using the nvidia installer) and also build fresh kernel modules for VMware.

I guess I'm the one who's missing something here. I'll examine the file locations and see if I can work through the problem.

Last edited by dhave (2008-08-10 22:19:21)

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