WARNING: ddi_installdrv: no major number for ipf WARNING: mod_installdrv: Cannot install ipf

This has been discussed before, over multiple threads, about different
Solaris platforms. However, I believe I may have a new variation of the
problem. The OS is Solaris7 SPARC, pure 32-bit.

Some of the tell-tale signs are

WARNING: ddi_installdrv: no major number for ipf
WARNING: mod_installdrv: Cannot install ipf
can't load module: Out of memory or no room in system tables
open device: No such device or address
open device: No such device or address
ioctl(SIOCIPFFL): Bad file number
constructing minimal name resolution rules...
open device: No such device or address
1:ioctl(add/insert rule): Bad file number
open device: No such device or address
1:ioctl(add/insert rule): Bad file number
open device: No such device or address
ioctl(SIOCIPFFL): Bad file number
open device: No such device or address
open device: No such device or address
ioctl(SIOCSWAPA): Bad file number
open device: No such device or address
SIOCFRSYN: Bad file number
/dev/ipf: open: No such device or address


Some of the solutions included:

- checking that the /etc/devlinks.tab file is populated with correct
entries - and it is
- running a reconfiguration boot, which I did with `touch /reconfigure; exec
init 6`, and it ran
- verifying that the /dev/ipf* and /devices/pseudo/ipf* files are there -
and they are
- checking that there is an entry in /etc/name_to_major for ipf, and there
is, corresponding to the major number of files in /devices/pseudo/ipf*
- running `rem_drv ipf; add_drv ipf` which is what I also did, and in this
case ipfilter attaches to the interfaces and I can run `/etc/init.d/ipfboot
start` and it starts up.

However, when I reboot, I get the same messages as above, and the ipf module
hasn't been loaded in, because `modinfo | grep ipf` returns nothing.

This has been happening with 3.4.28, 3.4.29, 3.4.33pre2. Based on this, I
suspect other revisions of the software will exhibit the same behaviour.

I'm not using le0, only qe0 and qe1 (at the moment).

What exactly *IS* the problem in this case, and why won't ipf start
automatically upon reboot?????