lsmod 'used by' shows -1 while CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD=y

Question

In this post there is some explanation about why does lsmod show -2 in 'used by' column. The idea is that the kernel config option CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD was not set.

But what if lsmod shows -1 only for one specific module while CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD is set in my current kernel? How to debug this muddle?

Answer 1

A module reference count of -1, visible both in /sys/module/<module>/refcnt and in lsmod’s output, means that the module is currently unloading.

If a module’s reference count stays at -1, that indicates a problem — dmesg should tell you more.