Question about "unmaintained kernel modules"

Our Neighbors CentOS
1

Right at the start of CentOS I get some warnings about “unmaintained” kernel modules. Actually, these modules are in use after booting. Hence, a recommendation from an neighbouring forum to simply prevent these modules form loading seems not a good idea.

Yet, how can I find out what this “possibly dropped in the near future” means? I installed CentOS because I wanted a stable and long-lasting working environment. Replacing the hardware is an irritating recommendation as it was bought in 2023.

Do I have to fear that my network components stop working after an update? Is there anything different I could do?

Kind regards,
Jürgen

2

Unmaintained modules is not a message I recall seeing.

Please share the messages about the modules, so we know what you are seeing.

3

This is what I get:

Warning: Unmaintained driver is detected: cnic_init
Warning: Unmaintained driver is detected: cnic

4

I looked up that message. Which lead me to this forum that maybe useful [Kernel] Warning: Unmaintained driver is detected - Support - AlmaLinux

edit:

It shows how to see if the modules are in use and if you want to supress the warnings how to do that.

Of course if you have the hardware the drivers support you will have to replace the hardware it seems.

5

Hi

Thanks, as you can see from my first post, I started from there.

What I get from modinfo and research is that cnic and bnix2i provide some additional capabilities, but Realtek Wireless Network Adapter is actually driven by rtw89_8852ae.

Does this mean it that they’re non-essential? How do I find out?

Kind regards
JüS

6

If a web search does not provide an answer I’d read the source code of the modules to see what they do. THere is often some comments that help in source code.