Hi,
I asked a question on this topic on the linux-net mailing list,
and here is the answer. Just thought I'd share it with with folks since
the subject has been discussed a bit on this list lately.
Kenneth
There is no such thing as luck. 'Luck' is nothing but an absence of bad luck.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 17:20:46 +0000 (GMT)
From: Glynn Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: modules.conf and net-pf-*
Kenneth Stephen wrote:
> I recently figured out how to use the /etc/modules.conf file to
> shut off the messages from kerneld about not finding net-pf-[45]. Before
> figuring out this bit, I found out that these messages arise when
> 'ifconfig' is used during the boot process to set up the network
> intefaces. So :
>
> 1. Given the fact that I didnt ask for Appletalk or IPX support while
> building my kernel, why does 'ifconfig' trigger this message?
The startup code for ifconfig always tries to create a socket for each
protocol family which it understands. A precompiled ifconfig binary
generally supports TCP/IP, IPX, AppleTalk and AX.25, so it will
attempt to create a socket for each of these protocol families.
> 2. On my RedHat 5.1 system, both net-pf-4 and net-pf-5 messages were
> seen. But on my Debian 2.0 system, only the net-pf-5 message was
> displayed. So this message depends on other stuff too. What?
Presumably either:
a) the kernel had IPX (net-pf-4) support, or
b) the ifconfig binary didn't support IPX
Running ifconfig under strace will indicate which is the case.
> 3. Why does this message only show up at boot time? Subsequent 'ifconfig'
> usage does not produce the message.
It may have something to do with whether klogd is running. klogd is
typically started after the networking has been configured, so the
initial network configuration will occur without klogd running.
--
Glynn Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
