can't keep modules loaded

I decided to give linux-wlan-ng another "shot". In the process of doing so,
I executed modprobe -kr orinoco_cs which not only removed the orinoco
drivers but it also removed pcmcia_core, yenta_socket, and ds. I thought
that I knew what I was doing by removing drivers that could potentially
conflict with the linux-wlan-ng drivers. I ended up creating more problems
for myself since pcmcia_core, yenta_socket, and ds are required modules
for pcmcia devices to work. I can manually install them with modprobe or
insmod but they don't get loaded on a pcmcia restart or a reboot, of
course. I tried using /etc/rc.local to load the modules with insmod. Even
though I used absolute paths to the drivers, /var/log/messages shows
messages that the modules can't be found. I tried to add the modules to
/etc/modules.conf but it appears that didn't work - my standard entry was :
install <module> insmod (that's probably not the right way to do it but it
was worth a try - it seemed like that was the appropriate way to do it
though). Any suggestions?

RedHat 9.0, 2.4.20-8 kernel