How can I know what is tainting my kernel

[Greg KH]

On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 08:23:32PM -0200, Daniel Hilst Selli wrote:
> Two questions about taint system..
> 
> 1. I have a installation of archlinux with kernel 3.0, just after boot I 
> cat /proc/sys/kenrel/tainted and receives 1024, but cat 
> /var/log/messages | grep -i taint gives me no output. How can I know 
> what is tainting my kernel?

Look for the "BIOS is broken..." message, 1024 is
TAINT_FIRMWARE_WORKAROUND.

> 2. I was studying char devices, and have writed some code. I have put 
> the MODULE_LICENSE("GPL"); on the module, build it, put it on a initrd 
> image and boot with qemu using -kernel and -initrd options. When I 
> loadit with modprobe I receives a message on console saying that kernel 
> was tainted and /proc/sys/kernel/tainted gives me 4024. There is any 
> other thing on module, besides license that can taint the kernel?

Yes, lots of things, look at kernel.h for the full list.

hope this helps,

greg k-h