Ubuntu Wiki

Goal

This page intends to provide descriptions of various kernel modules that are loaded with an out of the box Ubuntu system, in order to allow users to be able to determine if a particular module could be deactived (blacklisted) for resources/energy saving purposes.

Of course, each module has a specific role and, while some are strictly related to a type of hardware or functionality (ex: the bluetooth module, which , as its name suggests, is related to bluetooth hardware/functionalities), others are for crucial and basic purposes (ex: the ext3 module, which is needed for the file system). In any event, it may be safer for a user to not bother with kernel modules "management" (i.e. choosing which module should be load and which shouldn't) to avoid any risk of doing something that would prevent the system to load or to function. However doing some wise kernel modules management on a Ubuntu system can be a good way to reduce resources/energy consumption, which may be of a valuable interest for notebooks and low capacity systems.

For now and, I guess, for a while, this page will be mostly incomplete (and probably inaccurate...) as my knowledge of kernel modules is quite limited. Hopefully,it's completeness and accuracy will improve with the input of well informed contributors.

USE THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WITH CAUTION AS IT MAY RENDER YOUR SYSTEM UNUSABLE

How to deactivate (blacklist) a module

Once you have identify a modulex that you think is useless for you (ex: bluetooth module on a system without bluetooth hardware), you can try to unload it by issuing this command in a terminal:

sudo rmmod bluetooth

If you want to prevent the module to load at the next system startup (ex: bluetooth module on a system without bluetooth hardware), you have to blacklist it, by creating a file in /etc/modprobe.d with the following content:

blacklist bluetooth

Modules Descriptions