zzz: PREFLIST fix and improved

December 18, 2010 — BarryK

Wary 102 testers CHLee and rerwin reported on issues with the PREFLIST variable, in the case of the 8139cp module getting loaded instead of 8139too. Forum posts:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=62891
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=62891&start=45

/etc/rc.d/MODULESCONFIG has a PREFLIST variable:

#PREFLIST: sometimes there are two hits, that is, two modules match the same

#'modalias' (that is, they are both claiming the same hardware). In such a case,

#here we can specify a preference. Each entry here is of the form

#'module1:module2' where module2 is the preferred choice.

#101218 format can have multiple ':', ex: 8139cp:8139too:8139xx (last is most preferred).

#note, list needs a space char at beginning and at end.

#w471 removed: ath5k:ath_pci martian_dev:ltserial r8169:r8101

#101209: added 8139cp:8139too

PREFLIST=' 8139cp:8139too rtl8180:r8180 rtl8187:r8187 rt2500usb:rt73usb orinoco_nortel:hostap_plx orinoco_plx:hostap_plx orinoco_tmd:hostap_plx orinoco_pci:hostap_pci bcm43xx:ssb prism54:p54pci tulip:dmfe option:hso hcfpcihw:hsfpcibasic2 dgcusbdcp:cdc_acm slamr:snd_intel8x0m '

The script /sbin/pup_event_backend_modprobe manages loading of modules and reads the above variable, and chooses the second variable if they both claim the same hardware -- that was broken, now fixed.

I have also extended it to support multiple ':' delimiters, as suggested by rerwin. Comment:

#101218 format can have multiple ':', ex: 8139cp:8139too:8139xx (last is most preferred).

Rerwin also wondered if 8139cp should be blocked entirely, however I was uncertain if this should be done for the one modalias in which 8139cp and 8139too do not claim the same hardware.

This is the new code in pup_event_backend_modprobe:

#101218 bugfix, improve...

#preferences list, ex rt2500usb and rt73usb both hits, then choose latter...

modPATTERN='^'"$MODULE"':'

PREFHIT="`echo -n "$PREFLIST" | tr ' ' '\n' | grep "$modPATTERN"`"

if [ "$PREFHIT" != "" ];then

 #note, rc.sysinit deletes all blacklist*.conf...

 PREFMODS="`echo -n "$PREFHIT" | cut -f 2-9 -d ':' | tr ':' ' '`"

 for PREFMOD in $PREFMODS #format can have multiple ':', ex: 8139cp:8139too:8139xx (last is most preferred).

 do

  echo "blacklist $MODULE" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-${MODULE}.conf

  xMODULE="`/sbin/modprobe --show-depends $MODALIAS 2>/dev/null | tail -n 1 | rev | cut -f 1 -d '/' | rev | cut -f 1 -d '.' | tr '\-' '_'`"

  [ "$xMODULE" = "$PREFMOD" ] && MODULE="$xMODULE"

  [ "$xMODULE" = "" ] && rm -f /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-${MODULE}.conf

 done

 [ -f /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-${MODULE}.conf ] && rm -f /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-${MODULE}.conf

fi

Comments

Modems masquerading as CD drives
Username: 01micko
With all the work you are doing with 3G modems has the modem showed up on the desktop as a CD drive at all? I expect that the E160E you have been testing may not as it doesn't need to be switched. My oldish (now) E169 shows up as a CD drive, even in the drive wizard. I was using Universal Installer and it thought my modem was the cd drive, so I had to run the drive wizard to get around that. Is there a way, through device ID I guess, to blacklist these modems from being recognised as CD drives? I'm sure it would cause some noobie confusion and frustration. Cheers

Re 3G cd drive
Username: BarryK
"Yes, my Huawei E160-E does display a CD icon. I thought about it, and decided that it will not cause confusion ...probably. When I plug in my E160-E, a message pops up informing that a 3G modem is plugged in, then when the /dev/ttyUSB* nodes appear another popup informs modem ready for use. So, the appearance of the CD icon should not deter a user from going ahead and using the modem. I would like to know of other 3G modems that do not need to be switched, as I need to create a special udev rule for them. So far I only have my E160-E modem, ids 12d1:140c.

Tags: wary