The kexec-initrd build copied a fixed set of module directories plus
drivers/net/mii.ko. Ubuntu ships that as mii.ko.zst, so the -e test
skipped it, and usbnet, r8152 and cdc_ether then failed to load with
"Unknown symbol mii_*": USB-C to RJ45 adapters never appeared (seen
2026-10-05, Dell USB-C adapter). igb lacked dca and i2c-algo-bit the
same way.
Walk the host modules.dep from the copied modules and copy every
dependency (73 on 6.8.0-71). Also copy rtl_nic, tigon, bnx2, bnx2x and
e100 firmware, which those drivers request at probe.
372c3802e5