What is the meaning of <MODULE>: disagrees about version of symbol <SYMBOL>

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Issue

  • During the boot, the below message is shown:


...
tq_base: disagrees about version of symbol module_layout
...
  • We are seeing many messages recorded in the logs as shown below:


Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol dput
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol done_path_create
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol vfs_link
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol mntget
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol kmalloc_caches

Resolution

  • The <MODULE> may not be compatible with the currently running kernel.

  • Please check with the module vendor in order to request they confirm compatibility with the current running kernel, and verify if any module updates are needed.

  • If the module is provided and supported by Red Hat, please engage with your Red Hat support representative for further analysis.

Root Cause

  • This message is generated by the below function in the kernel code:

"kernel/module.c"
-----------------
static int check_version(Elf_Shdr *sechdrs,
                         unsigned int versindex,
                         const char *symname,
                         struct module *mod,
                         const unsigned long *crc,
                         const struct module *crc_owner)
{
        unsigned int i, num_versions;
        struct modversion_info *versions;

        /* Exporting module didn't supply crcs?  OK, we're already tainted. */
        if (!crc)
                return 1;

        /* No versions at all?  modprobe --force does this. */
        if (versindex == 0)
                return try_to_force_load(mod, symname) == 0;

        versions = (void *) sechdrs[versindex].sh_addr;
        num_versions = sechdrs[versindex].sh_size
                / sizeof(struct modversion_info);

        for (i = 0; i name, symname);
        return 0;

bad_version:
        printk("%s: disagrees about version of symbol %s\n",
               mod->name, symname);
        return 0;
}

Diagnostic Steps

Using journalctl

If systemd is present, you may search the disagrees about version of symbol messages in the journald log files by using the journalctl and grep commands:


# journalctl | grep 'disagrees about version of symbol'

Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol dput
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol done_path_create
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol vfs_link
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol mntget
Aug 10 20:05:12 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: cvbf: disagrees about version of symbol kmalloc_caches

Using /var/log/messages

You may search the disagrees about version of symbol messages in /var/log/messages files by using the grep command:


# grep 'disagrees about version of symbol' /var/log/messages

May 22 15:30:55 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: bnxt_re: disagrees about version of symbol ib_device_set_netdev
May 22 15:30:55 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: bnxt_re: disagrees about version of symbol ib_umem_get
May 22 15:30:55 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: bnxt_re: disagrees about version of symbol ib_dealloc_device
May 22 15:30:55 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: bnxt_re: disagrees about version of symbol rdma_user_mmap_io
May 22 15:30:55 RHEL-HOSTNAME kernel: bnxt_re: disagrees about version of symbol ib_set_device_ops

Using dmesg

You may search the disagrees about version of symbol messages in the kernel ring buffer messages by using the dmesg and grep commands:


# dmesg | grep 'disagrees about version of symbol'

[ 3794.194391] tq_base: disagrees about version of symbol module_layout
[ 3794.198452] tq_base: disagrees about version of symbol module_layout

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