I'm asking this in relation to another question that was posted:
Select which driver binds to a device
I posted an answer suggesting that built-in device drivers can't be blacklisted, as they are built-in to the kernel (and so by definition, are not loadable/un-loadable). The top answer to this question on Ask Ubuntu seemed to back that up. However, Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams posted in the comments that he believes built-in modules can be blacklisted (although they can't be unloaded with modprobe).
Perhaps he's right and, seeing as this question doesn't seem to have been asked before, I think it would be good to clear this up. So, can built-in modules be blacklisted? If so, can anyone provide some insight into the details of how this works 'under the hood'? How is blacklisting different to using modprobe and why does one work and not the other?
Any links or references to back up either position would be appreciated too.
