Linux bridge module won't load: ERROR: could not insert 'bridge': Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter

[whatthe]

Hello, I need to talk to the Linux service desk please, my Linux is not working.

I have reinstalled:

• bridge-utils
• kernel and kernel headers

I have already tried:
sudo pacman -Syu
sudo mkinitcpio -P
sudo depmod -a

I tried kernels 6.10, 6.6-lts, and now 5.15-lts

$ lsmod | grep bridge

returns nothing

I want to load the bridge module:

$ sudo modprobe bridge
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'bridge': Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)

My kernel is 5.15 LTS (I tried it on kernel 6.10 and 6.6 too)

$ uname -r
5.15.165-1-MANJARO

modinfo bridge
filename:       /lib/modules/5.15.165-1-MANJARO/kernel/net/bridge/bridge.ko.xz
alias:          rtnl-link-bridge
version:        2.3
license:        GPL
srcversion:     4802D0033DD1EE28FABFA7F
depends:        stp,llc
retpoline:      Y
intree:         Y
name:           bridge
vermagic:       5.15.165-1-MANJARO SMP preempt mod_unload 

bridge module depends on stp en llc modules.

$ sudo modprobe llc
returns nothing

$ sudo modprobe stp
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'stp': Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)

sudo dmesg | grep -i stp
[ 3494.800292] stp: Unknown symbol llc_sap_close (err -2)
[ 3494.800361] stp: Unknown symbol llc_sap_open (err -2)
[ 4288.048680] stp: Unknown symbol llc_sap_close (err -2)
[ 4288.048745] stp: Unknown symbol llc_sap_open (err -2)

The error messages in dmesg indicate that the bridge module is trying to call two functions: llc_sap_close and llc_sap_open, but these symbols are not available in the kernel. This is why the module fails to load with the “Unknown symbol” error.

zcat /proc/config.gz | grep STP
CONFIG_BRIDGE_EBT_STP=m
CONFIG_STP=m
CONFIG_GPIOLIB_FASTPATH_LIMIT=512
CONFIG_SENSORS_STPDDC60=m

the stp module is present (and the bridge and llc modules too, but I’ve omitted the proofs to not make the post too long.):

locate stp.ko
/usr/lib/modules/5.15.114-2-MANJARO/kernel/net/802/stp.ko.xz
/usr/lib/modules/5.15.114-2-MANJARO/kernel/net/bridge/netfilter/ebt_stp.ko.xz
/usr/lib/modules/5.15.165-1-MANJARO/kernel/net/802/stp.ko.xz
/usr/lib/modules/5.15.165-1-MANJARO/kernel/net/bridge/netfilter/ebt_stp.ko.xz
/usr/lib/modules/6.6.47-1-MANJARO/kernel/net/802/stp.ko.zst
/usr/lib/modules/6.6.47-1-MANJARO/kernel/net/bridge/netfilter/ebt_stp.ko.zst

Sorry for the long post, I have tried a bunch of things already and this is where I’m stuck. I think it’s something difficult and for more advanced linux users.

[freggel.doe]

@whatthe

$ sudo modprobe bridge

I’m using unstable branch so my kernel 6.10 kernel might be newer, but this works for me:

$ sudo modprobe bridge
$ lsmod | grep bridge
bridge                454656  0
stp                    12288  1 bridge
llc                    16384  2 bridge,stp
$ uname -sr
Linux 6.10.9-2-MANJARO

[DeLinuxCo]

Are you trying to create a bridge to your Ethernet connection?

[whatthe]

Who? Me? No, I am trying to install docker but docker does not work without a bridge module.
and now I realize something more is going on. but I don’t know why I can’t load the module.

[DeLinuxCo]

Ah… the smell of sarcasm, early in the day

Have not tried this while using containers, but I can’t see why it would not work.

Virt-manager and QEMU

Easiest way is to use nmtui from the command line; From the main menu, select “edit a connection”, You should be presented with your current network, Ethernet, WIFI etc. Click <Add> to add a new connection From the list select “Bridge”, it will take you to the edit of the connection instantly. Name the profile and device what ever you want. In the “Bridge Slaves”, go to and select the current network device you want to use for the bridge. For example if you are hardwired via Ethernet, sele…

-John

[Yochanan]

@whatthe

docker does not work without a bridge module

Really? Then why doesn’t the Arch wiki Docker page mention it then?

Disclaimer: I don’t really know much about Docker. I’d like to learn someday, so I’m curious.

[whatthe]

Yeah I’m no expert but I get this error:

sudo dockerd -D
ERRO[2024-09-09T15:41:25.168306212+02:00] Failed to create bridge docker0 via netlink   error="operation not supported"

see my other thread:

I can't run docker; "Failed to create bridge docker0 via netlink"

Hi, I can’t run docker, but I really want to. Can somebody help me figure this out? I am stuck. Check out below what I tried alredy; sudo systemctl restart docker Job for docker.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status docker.service" and "journalctl -xeu docker.service" for details. Sep 09 15:38:51 john systemd[1]: docker.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE Sep 09 15:38:51 john systemd[1]: docker.service: Failed with res…

[Yochanan]

Have you tried Podman?

If you want to replace Docker, one can install podman-docker to mimic the docker binary along with man pages.