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  • From: James Miller <jamtat AT mailsnare.net>
  • To: baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [BL] Linux hardware ID prog
  • Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 21:19:42 -0500 (CDT)

I ran into the following information reading an article on linuxtoday. Seemed like this program could be of key interest to those of us who inherit alot of old hardware and want to analyze its potential usefulness under Linux. Source code is only about 32kb. Not sure if it will compile on libc5, but it may be worth looking into in case it does, or could be compiled using uclibc. Here's the info from the article:

Identifying hardware without having to physically open the box is a tremendous time-saver, and the right utility will tell you more than a physical examination of the hardware.

A particularly useful software utility for this is dmidecode. dmidecode reads information about a system's hardware as it is described in the system BIOS, according to the SMBIOS/DMI standard. (SMBIOS stands for System Management BIOS, while DMI stands for Desktop Management Interface.) dmidecode reads specs like system manufacturer, model name, serial numbers, CPU data, types of expansion slots, and pretty much everything on the mainboard, like so:

root@windbag:~# dmidecode
# dmidecode 2.6
SMBIOS 2.3 present.
36 structures occupying 1128 bytes.
at 0x000F0800.
Handle 0x0000
DMI type 0, 20 bytes.
BIOS Information
Vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
Version: 6.00 PG
Release Date: 10/05/2000
Address: 0xE0000
Runtime Size: 128 kB
ROM Size: 256 kB
Characteristics:
PCI is supported
PNP is supported
APM is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
ESCD support is available
Boot from CD is supported
Selectable boot is supported
BIOS ROM is socketed
EDD is supported
5.25"/360 KB floppy services are
supported (int 13h)
5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are
supported (int 13h)
3.5"/720 KB floppy services are supported
(int 13h)
3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are
supported (int 13h)
Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
8042 keyboard services are supported (int
9h)
Serial services are supported (int 14h)
Printer services are supported (int 17h)
CGA/mono video services are supported
(int 10h)
ACPI is supported
USB legacy is supported
AGP is supported
LS-120 boot is supported
ATAPI Zip drive boot is supported

And this is just a tiny snippet! The total output is several hundred lines. One useful aspect of dmidecode is that it tells you what kind of memory is installed and what is supported:

Handle 0x0006
DMI type 6, 12 bytes.
Memory Module Information
Socket Designation: DIMM1
Bank Connections: 0 1
Current Speed: 70 ns
Type: DIMM SDRAM
Installed Size: 256 MB (Single-bank Connection)
Enabled Size: 256 MB (Single-bank Connection)
Error Status: OK
Handle 0x0007
DMI type 6, 12 bytes.
Memory Module Information
Socket Designation: DIMM2
Bank Connections: 2 3
Current Speed: 70 ns
Type: Unknown
Installed Size: Not Installed
Enabled Size: Not Installed
Error Status: OK

dmidecode runs on Linux, BeOS, the BSDs, and on Windows under Cygwin. It can also run on other machines when included in a home-built customized Knoppix disk. Simply boot up Knoppix on the machines you wish to examine.

James




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