"can't locate module <netdev>:xx" kernel warnings are produced when /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-post runs ifup-aliases (where <netdev> is typically lo or eth0 and xx is a number from 0 to 49). Suggested fix: change line 20 of ifup-post to if [ "$ISALIAS" = "yes" ] ; then (please check that this is correct though!)
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These warnings are being generated from other startup scripts too. I haven't figured out which ones yet, but hopefully if I never do, someone who knows more about initscripts than me will know where else they're coming from.
I've finally figured out where else these warnings are coming from, and it's whenever linuxconf --hint netdev gets run. I looked at the linuxconf code, and thought about it, and maybe it is actually doing the right thing, in which case presumably the only fix is to add things like alias lo:* off alias eth0:* off to /etc/conf.modules. Or maybe linuxconf should do this itself?
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 3588 ***