Possible cause of my modem crashes

THIS IS A FAQ.  I have answered this question twice in the last 2 weeks,
and seen it asked 2 more times since.  

To get rid of the net-pf-# errors on bootup add the following to
/etc/conf.modules.

alias net-pf-3 off      # no ax25 module available (yet)
alias net-pf-4 off      # if you don't use the ipx module
alias net-pf-5 off      # if you don't use the appletalk module

These files are needed for the above networking protocols.  If you
recompiled the kernel with these protocols off, then it will give you the
error messages.
At 01:56 PM 11/10/96 -0800, you wrote:
>Ed Alexander wrote:
>...........
>.....
>> Also, I'm getting about several messages at boot up as follows:
>> 
>>         modprobe: can't locate module net-pf-#
>> (where # is 4, 5, 6, etc.)
>
>I started getting that same thing since 2.0.22 although 
>I didn't compile any "net-pf-4" modules. I just ignore 
>that since it doesn't seem to cause any problems. However,
>it would be interesting to find out why that error message
>appears. 
>
>[vlad@borg lessons]$ modprobe -l
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/binfmt_aout.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/binfmt_java.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/fat.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/hpfs.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/isofs.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/minix.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/msdos.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/nfs.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/smbfs.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/sysv.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/fs/vfat.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/misc/lp.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/misc/serial.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/misc/sound.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/net/bsd_comp.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/net/dummy.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/net/eql.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/net/plip.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/net/ppp.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/net/slhc.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/scsi/ppa.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/scsi/scsi_mod.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/scsi/scsi_syms.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/scsi/sd_mod.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/block/floppy.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/block/rd.o
>/lib/modules/2.0.25/cdrom/sbpcd.o
>[vlad@borg lessons]$ 
>
>
>-- 
>*** #include <disclaimer.h> ***** Good pings come in small packets
>******** Vlad Petersen ********** ********************************
>*** <vladimip@iceonline.com> **** **** Linux: OS I can trust *****
>******** Vancouver, B.C. ******** ********************************
>
>
>--