[NTLUG:Discuss] How to get Soundblaster to autoload?

[Darin W. Smith]

On Mon, 19 May 2003 09:50:25 -0500, Dennis Daupert <ddaupert at csc.com> 
wrote:
> How do I get it to autoload?

Also, rather than adding it to /etc/modules, you could try adding:

alias sound-slot-0 emu10k1

to your /etc/modules.conf file.


There is (unfortunately) a lot of confusion over which file does what.  To 
put it simply:
/etc/modules is a list of modules you want the system to load at boot.
/etc/modules.conf is a configuration file for modprobe and depmod, which 
can allow you to specify things to do before or after installing or 
unloading a module, as well as aliases.  Aliases are handy for automating 
loading of some things.

For example, say you are writing a generic boot script.  You don't know 
what soundcard everyone who uses the script has, so you might say:

modprobe sound-slot-0

modprobe will look at /etc/modules.conf and see:
alias sound-slot-0 emu10k1

modprobe then knows to look for emu10k1.o in the normal path for modules 
for this kernel.

You can do lots of other cool stuff with it too.  modules.conf has a lot of 
(usually untapped) capability...you can pass specific options on to insmod, 
you can actually script stuff, etc.

My machine (Mandrake 8.1) does try to load sound-slot-0 on boot, so it is 
not necessary for me to put emu10k1 in my /etc/modules file...just the 
alias.

-- 
D!
Darin W. Smith
AIM: JediGrover