modprobe: Can't locate module char-major-???

[tony j. podrasky]

O/S: RedHat 3.0 AS

PLATFORM: HP Kayak

Problem: Periodically the following entries
appear in the message files:

modprobe: Can't locate module char-major-188.

Instead of 188, it might be 226/180/81/3.

Is this refering to the special files major
and minor numbers? - I can't find any documention.

The system may run for days before they appear.

[Kodjo Agbenu · Accepted solution]

Hello,

In /usr/src/linux/Documentation/devices.txt, you may find the meaning of char and block device numbers.

3 char Pseudo-TTY slaves
81 char video4linux
180 char USB devices
188 char USB serial converters
226 char Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI)

If your system is running well with this messages, I would suggest change nothing.
However if you are sure that your Kayak does not support Pseudo-TTY, video4linux, USB and DRI (may be a very old kayak), then edit /etc/modules.conf and add :

alias char-major-188 off
...
...

Save the file, then type "depmod -a".

Good luck.

Kodjo