init_module: device or resource busy???

[jinihou]

I tried to install the device driver esscom.o for my ESS winmodem, I got the error message:
"init_module: device or resource busy"
what does it mean? what should I do about it?

thank you.

HOU

[DMR]

"device or resource busy" usually indicates an IRQ or I/O address conflict. Try the following (assuming the modem is a PCI card):

1. Turn off Plug-N-Play support in your BIOS; it often causes resource conflicts with PCI devices under Linux.

2. Check to see if the modem is sharing an IRQ with another device:
less /proc/interrupts

3. Check to see if the I/O address range of the modem conflicts with another device:
less /proc/ioports.

If you have a resource conflict even after turning off BIOS P-N-P support, try rearanging the slot order of your cards. This can often force the system to re-allocate resources, which might clear up the problem.

[jinihou]

thanks for your reply.

I couldn't find PnP support option in my BIOS setup, and it's a laptop, so no luck to rearrange the cards.

how can i re-assign IRQ or I/O address to the existing devices?

I'm using Mandrake 8.2

thank you.

[DMR]

OK, I've been doing some quick research on the ESS module situation, and unfortunately it look rather grim. There seem to be two different versions of the module, one compiled under a 2.2x kernel and one compiled under (apparently) a Mandrake 2.4.18 kernel. The 2.2x version certainly won't work on the kernel version shipped with Mandrake 8.2, and the 2.4.18 version doesn't seem to play nice on all systems. The "device or resource busy" error seems to be a common symptomfor people who've had trouble with both modules.

Read through this ESS mini-FAQ (http://andrew.cait.org/ess/) carefully for more information. If you need it, you can download the 2.4.18 version of the module from a link in that FAQ.