Yann E. Morin's update to modprobe usage.

1 files changed, 60 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/include/usage.h b/include/usage.h
index 2cfd2b0c1..e595bd9d9 100644
--- a/include/usage.h
+++ b/include/usage.h
@@ -1951,18 +1951,74 @@
 	"-rw-------    1 andersen andersen        0 Apr 25 17:10 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM\n"
 
 #define modprobe_trivial_usage \
-	"[-knqrsv] [MODULE ...]"
+	"[-knqrsv] MODULE [symbol=value ...]"
 #define modprobe_full_usage \
-	"Used for high level module loading and unloading.\n\n" \
 	"Options:\n" \
 	"\t-k\tMake module autoclean-able\n" \
 	"\t-n\tJust show what would be done\n" \
 	"\t-q\tQuiet output\n" \
 	"\t-r\tRemove module (stacks) or do autoclean\n" \
 	"\t-s\tReport via syslog instead of stderr\n" \
-	"\t-v\tVerbose output"
+	"\t-v\tVerbose output\n\n"
+#define modprobe_notes_usage \
+"modprobe can (un)load a stack of modules, passing each module options (when\n" \
+"loading). modprobe uses a configuration file to determine what option(s) to\n" \
+"pass each module it loads.\n" \
+"\n" \
+"The configuration file is searched (in order) amongst:\n" \
+"\n" \
+"    /etc/modprobe.conf (2.6 only)\n" \
+"    /etc/modules.conf\n" \
+"    /etc/conf.modules (deprecated)\n" \
+"\n" \
+"They all have the same syntax (see below). If none is present, it is\n" \
+"_not_ an error; each loaded module is then expected to load without\n" \
+"options. Once a file is found, the others are tested for.\n" \
+"\n" \
+"/etc/modules.conf entry format:\n" \
+"\n" \
+"  alias <alias_name> <mod_name>\n" \
+"    Makes it possible to modprobe alias_name, when there is no such module.\n" \
+"    It makes sense if your mod_name is long, or you want a more reprenstative\n" \
+"    name for that module (eg. 'scsi' in place of 'aha7xxx').\n" \
+"    This makes it also possible to use a different set of options (below) for\n" \
+"    the module and the alias.\n" \
+"    A module can be aliased more than once.\n" \
+"\n" \
+"  options <mod_name|alias_name> <symbol=value ...>\n" \
+"    When loading module mod_name (or the module aliased by alias_name), pass\n" \
+"    the \"symbol=value\" pairs as option to that module.\n" \
+"\n" \
+"Sample /etc/modules.conf file:\n" \
+"\n" \
+"  options tulip irq=3\n" \
+"  alias tulip tulip2\n" \
+"  options tulip2 irq=4 io=0x308\n" \
+"\n" \
+"Other functionality offered by 'classic' modprobe is not available in\n" \
+"this implementation.\n" \
+"\n" \
+"If module options are present both in the config file, and on the command line,\n" \
+"then the options from the command line will be passed to the module _after_\n" \
+"the options from the config file. That way, you can have defaults in the config\n" \
+"file, and override them for a specific usage from the command line.\n"
 #define modprobe_example_usage \
-	"$ modprobe cdrom\n"
+	"(with the above /etc/modules.conf):\n\n" \
+	"$ modprobe tulip\n" \
+	"   will load the module 'tulip' with default option 'irq=3'\n\n" \
+	"$ modprobe tulip irq=5\n" \
+	"   will load the module 'tulip' with option 'irq=5', thus overriding the default\n\n" \
+	"$ modprobe tulip2\n" \
+	"   will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308',\n" \
+	"   which are the default for alias 'tulip2'\n\n" \
+	"$ modprobe tulip2 irq=8\n" \
+	"   will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308 irq=8',\n" \
+	"   which are the default for alias 'tulip2' overriden by the option 'irq=8'\n\n" \
+	"   from the command line\n\n" \
+	"$ modprobe tulip2 irq=2 io=0x210\n" \
+	"   will load the module 'tulip' with default options 'irq=4 io=0x308 irq=4 io=0x210',\n" \
+	"   which are the default for alias 'tulip2' overriden by the options 'irq=2 io=0x210'\n\n" \
+	"   from the command line\n"
 
 #define more_trivial_usage \
 	"[FILE ...]"