Re: kernel module (un)loader

[Keith Owens]

On Mon, 26 Jun 2000 23:50:06 EDT, 
"William Knop" <[e-mail]> wrote:
>I'm not a kernel-elite, but I've been wracking my brain over a way to find a 
>way to be able to isolate a module in the event it crashes. The module would 
>then be unloaded and then a clean one loaded in its place. Perhaps this 
>could be integrated into the intelligent module (un)loader or there could be 
>a deamon to oversee this. Perhaps the kernel could be locked when crash is 
>detected, and then modules could be dealt with-- not too sure. I'd 
>definitely be willing to code something like this, but I need a little 
>direction. Thanks!

Define "crash".  If the module corrupts critical kernel code or fails
with interrupts disabled then the entire kernel is dead, reboot time.
If the module fails and leaves a non-zero use count on something then
the module cannot be unloaded, not even manually.  Only if a module
runs clean and has no dangling resources can it be removed.  In which
case, how do you tell it crashed?