How can I know my machine specs within Linux

Palula · 12-12-2005, 01:16 PM

Hi there everybody!

I have a Linux machine working at home as my Firewall/Router and it is working really fine but I have one concern wich is storage. My LinuxBox has a hard disk as big as 2GB. Wich ius very small and I would like to buy a new one with about 80GB. But there is the problem:

My Linuxbox is a Pentium 1 / 64MB RAM. And the BIOS is as old as the wheel :-)

I need to upgrade my BIOS so the system can recognize bigger storage devices (for example an 80GB Hard Disk).

But I don´t know my motherboard technical specs to search for the correct BIOS upgrade... I know there are some diagnosing programs that could tell me that type of information. But the thing is I only know Windows platform diagnosing programs and would like to know if there are any system diagnosing programs for Linux. So that I can, from Linux console, run the soft and receive all kinds of information about the motherboard brand, BIOS version etc.

Thanks a lot!

XavierP · 12-12-2005, 01:50 PM

You could start off with lspci (run it as root). Check 'man lspci' for the switches to apply to get more information on it.

Tinkster · 12-12-2005, 02:35 PM

Another most valuable tool is
lshw

I don't know whether it comes with Fudora by default, though

Cheers,
Tink

farslayer · 12-12-2005, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Who made my motherboard

In order to obtain an updated BIOS for your system, you will need to identify the motherboard manufacturer and BIOS identification number. To do this, reboot the machine. You will need to record the BIOS ID string, which will be located at the bottom-left corner during startup. On most systems, you can press the Pause key during the memory test to suspend the process and allow more time to properly copy the ID string.

http://motherboards.mbarron.net/bios.html

- Reboot the machine
- Write down the BIOS ID string and who made the BIOS (award, AMI, Phoenix, etc..)
- Consult the provided web page for the appropriate search tool to locate the actual board manufacturer
- Go to the download section of the manufacturers site to obtain an updated BIOS for your motherboard.

Alternately you can look at the physical motherboard for a Manufacturer name and part/revision number..