I’ve been puzzling over the new naming convention for the /etc/modprobe.d/sound file, where all the files are now proceeded by a number.
I believe all files in the /etc/modprobe.d directory are attempted to be loaded, and hence I woke up this morning, thinking the new naming convention may be because that will specify the order in which those files are loaded.
Any views/comments on that speculation?
For those who don’t have 11.2 installed, but who are also curious, this is what I see in that directory in 11.2 milestone5
oldcpu@stonehenge01:/etc/modprobe.d> dir
total 52
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3201 2009-08-04 22:48 00-system.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 532 2009-08-04 22:48 10-unsupported-modules.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5763 2009-08-01 08:43 50-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 128 2009-08-01 10:02 50-bluetooth.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 2009-08-08 10:07 50-ipv6.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 33 2009-08-01 10:00 50-ipw2200.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 858 2009-08-05 03:08 50-module-renames.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 86 2009-08-04 22:15 50-nvidia.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 18 2009-08-01 10:00 50-prism54.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 120 2009-08-08 10:14 50-sound.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2009-08-08 10:14 50-sound.conf.YaST2save
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 405 2009-07-30 00:08 50-thinkpad_acpi.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2009-08-08 10:13 50-tv.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 47 2009-08-04 22:48 99-local.conf
Ok, after getting some guidance (where to chase this up) on #opensuse-factory , I downloaded this change log: http://download.opensuse.org/factory/repo/oss/ChangeLog
Where I found: yast2-sound: convert /etc/modprobe.d/sound to /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf during package update (bnc#485942)
Chasing up BNC#485942 sent me here:
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=485942
which sent me here:
[opensuse-packaging] /etc/modprobe.* changes](http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-packaging/2009-03/msg00113.html)
which in essence noted the name change was “the new module-init-tools, which will appear in Factory soon, deprecated /etc/modprobe.conf(.local) and only uses /etc/modprobe.d/.conf configuration files (files without the .conf suffix are still read, but cause a warning)*”
… and so I’m no further ahead in understanding why (other than the new module-init-tools needs it). 
oldcpu adjusted his/her AFDB on Saturday 08 Aug 2009 10:56 to write:
>
> For those who don’t have 11.2 installed, but who are also curious, this
> is what I see in that directory in 11.2 milestone5
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> oldcpu@stonehenge01:/etc/modprobe.d> dir
> total 52
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 3201 2009-08-04 22:48 00-system.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 532 2009-08-04 22:48 10-unsupported-modules.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 5763 2009-08-01 08:43 50-blacklist.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 128 2009-08-01 10:02 50-bluetooth.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 22 2009-08-08 10:07 50-ipv6.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 33 2009-08-01 10:00 50-ipw2200.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 858 2009-08-05 03:08 50-module-renames.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 86 2009-08-04 22:15 50-nvidia.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 18 2009-08-01 10:00 50-prism54.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 120 2009-08-08 10:14 50-sound.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 0 2009-08-08 10:14 50-sound.conf.YaST2save
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 405 2009-07-30 00:08 50-thinkpad_acpi.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 0 2009-08-08 10:13 50-tv.conf
> -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 47 2009-08-04 22:48 99-local.conf
> --------------------
>
>
Now I have not had much time to study this yet oldcpu as I cannot get 11.2
any milestone to install on any of my machines except the laptop which is no
good as it is so old it runs like treacle.
But this naming convention might be to do with the fastboot structure.
From what I am led to believe during and after install SuSE creates a sorta
databse of what is needed to be installed on boot and has them all lined up
to be squirted into the boot process without all the modprobes and such, bit
like a super suspend to disk but a mixture with trad boot incase you have
added new hardware and such.
That is a quick non techy and probably way off explanation but I have only
spent an hour or so looking round to find out why my machines will not even
boot once it is installed, they just kernel crash as soon as I it starts to
load and even getting the damn thing installed is a hairy task has to be
done in super safe text mode as in normal load the initial kernel crashes.
Oh I could go on and on.
Have spent hours d/loading and burning the last 3 releases and not one will
boot.
–
Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum
Have you written a bug report? If not, you should write one now. The longer you wait (to write a bug report) the less the chance this will be fixed in 11.2.
Possibly. From what I have read, it is due to an update in module-init-tools. I did not think that had much to do with boot speed, but I’m keen on being educated if that is the case.
I think I suggested before, in another thread, but didn’t see a comment back.
The numbers look to me like they can be used as a priority or system of precedence, possibly by the tools you mention or other applications even, rather like repo priorities in Yast.
My guess is 50- is the default conf files. Allowing higher or lower precedence. If local.conf should override system.conf (your judgement here is better than mine), then 99 = high and 0 = low. Normally it’s the other way round i.e. lower numbers = higher precedence, isn’t it? 
/etc/*.conf.d
directories are normally worked out in sequence: Such that higher numbered files woold overwrite lower ones.
All not *.conf ending files should be errors, because of such files:
> “-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 0 2009-08-08 10:14 50-sound.conf.YaST2save”
and your own backups like: *.conf~