kernel module tulip.o - how to load on startup

["Aniseed" <herminio@gmail.com>]

<excerpt>
This question boils down to asking how to force a kernel module to load
on startup in the style of 'instmod -f'. I include the rationale for
it, in case I am approaching this the wrong way
</excerpt>

My PCI network card is an unusual model from the company SMC. I am
trying to get it to work with Debian, but this is my first Debian
installation.

I am running Debian 3.0r1 (woody) (2.2.20-idepci kernel)

The NIC comes with Linux drivers. For kernel version 2.2.* it comes as
a tulip.c file, which I managed to compile into tulip.o

I have copied tulip.o into /lib/modules/.../net/tulip.o

The directions on the driver readme say I should then use the command
# instmod tulip
But I get an error saying that tulip.o was compiled for kernel 2.2.20,
and I am running kernel 2.2.20-idepci. Which is true, but I can't find
the kernel sources for 2.2.20-idepci.

I am guessing as far as the network driver is concerned, these two
versions might be 'compatible'. So, I tried
# instmod -f tulip
and it worked!

(Am I totally reckless to use instmod -f ?)

Anyway, this is just a test installation. So now I want to load tulip.o
on startup. I've added it into the /etc/modules file, with the -f flag
after the name on the same line, but it fails to load. I can see what
looks like an error message from instmod flash past the screen on
bootup.

Could someone point me in the right place to see what the error message
is? I've tried looking in /var/log/messages and I've tried calling
dmesg, but no sign of that error message (its quite
distinctive-looking).

Thanks for your attention.