Hardware information
Like for every thing, there are plenty of commands to check information about the hardware of your linux system. Some commands report only specific hardware components like cpu or memory while the rest cover multiple hardware units.
This post takes a quick look at some of the most commonly used commands to check information and configuration details about various hardware peripherals and devices. The list includes lscpu, hwinfo, lshw, dmidecode, lspci etc.
1. lscpu
The lscpu command reports information about the cpu and processing units. It does not have any further options or functionality.
$ lscpu
Architecture: x86_64
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order: Little Endian
CPU(s): 4
On-line CPU(s) list: 0-3
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 4
Socket(s): 1
NUMA node(s): 1
Vendor ID: GenuineIntel
CPU family: 6
Model: 23
Stepping: 10
CPU MHz: 1998.000
BogoMIPS: 5302.48
Virtualization: VT-x
L1d cache: 32K
L1i cache: 32K
L2 cache: 2048K
NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-3
2. lshw – List Hardware
A general purpose utility, that reports detailed and brief information about multiple different hardware units such as cpu, memory, disk, usb controllers, network adapters etc. Lshw extracts the information from different /proc files.
$ sudo lshw -short
H/W path Device Class Description
===================================================
system ()
/0 bus DG35EC
/0/0 processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
/0/0/1 memory 2MiB L2 cache
/0/0/3 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/2 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/4 memory 64KiB BIOS
/0/14 memory 8GiB System Memory
/0/14/0 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/1 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/2 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/3 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/100 bridge 82G35 Express DRAM Controller
/0/100/2 display 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/2.1 display 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/19 eth0 network 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
/0/100/1a bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
/0/100/1a.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
/0/100/1a.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1b multimedia 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
/0/100/1c bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1
/0/100/1c.1 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2
/0/100/1c.2 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3
/0/100/1c.2/0 storage JMB368 IDE controller
/0/100/1d bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1d.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1d.2 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
/0/100/1d.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1e bridge 82801 PCI Bridge
/0/100/1e/5 bus FW322/323 [TrueFire] 1394a Controller
/0/100/1f bridge 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) LPC Interface Controller
/0/100/1f.2 storage 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA Controller [IDE mode]
/0/100/1f.3 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
/0/100/1f.5 storage 82801HR/HO/HH (ICH8R/DO/DH) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE m
/0/1 scsi3 storage
/0/1/0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 500GB ST3500418AS
/0/1/0.0.0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 70GiB Windows NTFS volume
/0/1/0.0.0/2 /dev/sda2 volume 395GiB Extended partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/5 /dev/sda5 volume 97GiB HPFS/NTFS partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/6 /dev/sda6 volume 97GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/7 /dev/sda7 volume 1952MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/8 /dev/sda8 volume 198GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/3 scsi4 storage
/0/3/0.0.0 /dev/cdrom disk DVD RW DRU-190A
3. hwinfo – Hardware Information
Hwinfo is another general purpose hardware probing utility that can report detailed and brief information about multiple different hardware components, and more than what lshw can report.
$ hwinfo --short
cpu:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
keyboard:
/dev/input/event2 AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
mouse:
/dev/input/mice Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
graphics card:
Intel 965G-1
Intel 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
sound:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
storage:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller
JMicron JMB368 IDE controller
network:
eth0 Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
network interface:
eth0 Ethernet network interface
lo Loopback network interface
disk:
/dev/sda ST3500418AS
partition:
/dev/sda1 Partition
/dev/sda2 Partition
/dev/sda5 Partition
/dev/sda6 Partition
/dev/sda7 Partition
/dev/sda8 Partition
cdrom:
/dev/sr0 SONY DVD RW DRU-190A
usb controller:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
bios:
BIOS
... TRUNCATED ...
4. lspci – List PCI
The lspci command lists out all the pci buses and details about the devices connected to them.
The vga adapter, graphics card, network adapter, usb ports, sata controllers, etc all fall under this category.
$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G35 Express DRAM Controller (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HR/HO/HH (ICH8R/DO/DH) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
03:00.0 IDE interface: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB368 IDE controller
04:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): LSI Corporation FW322/323 [TrueFire] 1394a Controller (rev 70)
Filter out specific device information with grep.
$ lspci -v | grep "VGA" -A 12
5. lsscsi – List scsi devices
Lists out the scsi/sata devices like hard drives and optical drives.
$ lsscsi
[3:0:0:0] disk ATA ST3500418AS CC38 /dev/sda
[4:0:0:0] cd/dvd SONY DVD RW DRU-190A 1.63 /dev/sr0
6. lsusb – List usb buses and device details
This command shows the USB controllers and details about devices connected to them. By default brief information is printed. Use the verbose option “-v” to print detailed information about each usb port
$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 045e:00cb Microsoft Corp. Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
On the above system, 1 usb port is being used by the mouse.
7. Inxi
Inxi is a 10K line mega bash script that fetches hardware details from multiple different sources and commands on the system, and generates a beautiful looking report that non technical users can read easily.
$ inxi -Fx
8. lsblk – List block devices
List out information all block devices, which are the hard drive partitions and other storage devices like optical drives and flash drives
$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 465.8G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 70G 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 1K 0 part
├─sda5 8:5 0 97.7G 0 part /media/4668484A68483B47
├─sda6 8:6 0 97.7G 0 part /
├─sda7 8:7 0 1.9G 0 part [SWAP]
└─sda8 8:8 0 198.5G 0 part /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
9. df – disk space of file systems
Reports various partitions, their mount points and the used and available space on each.
$ df -H
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda6 104G 26G 73G 26% /
none 4.1k 0 4.1k 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
udev 4.2G 4.1k 4.2G 1% /dev
tmpfs 837M 1.6M 835M 1% /run
none 5.3M 0 5.3M 0% /run/lock
none 4.2G 13M 4.2G 1% /run/shm
none 105M 21k 105M 1% /run/user
/dev/sda8 210G 149G 51G 75% /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1
/dev/sda5 105G 31G 75G 30% /media/4668484A68483B47
10. Pydf – Python df
An improved df version written in python, that displays colored output that looks better than df
$ pydf
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda6 96G 23G 68G 24.4 [#.....] /
/dev/sda8 195G 138G 47G 70.6 [####..] /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1
/dev/sda5 98G 28G 69G 29.2 [##....] /media/4668484A68483B47
11. fdisk
Fdisk is a utility to modify partitions on hard drives, and can be used to list out the partition information as well.
$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x30093008
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 146801969 73400953+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 146802031 976771071 414984520+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 146802033 351614654 102406311 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda6 351614718 556427339 102406311 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 556429312 560427007 1998848 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8 560429056 976771071 208171008 83 Linux
12. mount
The mount is used to mount/unmount and view mounted file systems.
$ mount | column -t
/dev/sda6 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (rw)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /run/user type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=104857600,mode=0755)
none on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw)
/dev/sda8 on /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1 type ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda5 on /media/4668484A68483B47 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
systemd on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,none,name=systemd)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/1000/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=enlightened)
Again, use grep to filter out only those file systems that you want to see
$ mount | column -t | grep ext
13. free – Check RAM
Check the amount of used, free and total amount of RAM on system with the free command.
$ free -m
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 7975 5865 2110 0 24 622
-/+ buffers/cache: 5218 2757
Swap: 1951 921 1030
14. dmidecode
The dmidecode command is different from all other commands. It extracts hardware information by reading data from the SMBOIS data structures (also called DMI tables).
# display information about the processor/cpu
$ sudo dmidecode -t processor
# memory/ram information
$ sudo dmidecode -t memory
# bios details
$ sudo dmidecode -t bios
Check out the man page for more details.
15. /proc files
Many of the virtual files in the /proc directory contain information about hardware and configurations. Here are some of them
CPU/Memory information
# cpu information
$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
# memory information
$ cat /proc/meminfo
Linux/kernel information
$ cat /proc/version
Linux version 3.11.0-12-generic (buildd@allspice) (gcc version 4.8.1 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.8.1-10ubuntu7) ) #19-Ubuntu SMP Wed Oct 9 16:20:46 UTC 2013
SCSI/Sata devices
$ cat /proc/scsi/scsi
Attached devices:
Host: scsi3 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
Vendor: ATA Model: ST3500418AS Rev: CC38
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Host: scsi4 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
Vendor: SONY Model: DVD RW DRU-190A Rev: 1.63
Type: CD-ROM ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Partitions
$ cat /proc/partitions
major minor #blocks name
8 0 488386584 sda
8 1 73400953 sda1
8 2 1 sda2
8 5 102406311 sda5
8 6 102406311 sda6
8 7 1998848 sda7
8 8 208171008 sda8
11 0 1048575 sr0
16. hdparm
The hdparm command gets information about sata devices like hard disks.
$ sudo hdparm -i /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Model=ST3500418AS, FwRev=CC38, SerialNo=9VMJXV1N
Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec Fixed DTR>10Mbs RotSpdTol>.5% }
RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=4
BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=16384kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=16
CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=976773168
IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled
Drive conforms to: unknown: ATA/ATAPI-4,5,6,7
* signifies the current active mode
Summary
Each of the command has a slightly different method of extracting information, and you may need to try more than one of them, while looking for specific hardware details. However they are available across most linux distros, and can be easily installed from the default repositories.
On the desktop there are gui tools, for those who do not want to memorise and type commands. Hardinfo, I-nex are some of the popular ones that provide detailed information about multiple different hardware components.
Get hardware information on Linux with lshw command
Lshw – List hardware
Lshw is a nifty small command line utility that generates detailed reports about various hardware components on the system. It does so by reading different files in the /proc directory.
Lshw is capable of reporting memory configuration, firmware version, mainboard configuration, CPU version and speed, cache configuration, bus speed etc.
Install lshw
Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora users can get it from default repositories. On CentOS lshw can be installed from Epel repo.
# ubuntu, debian
$ sudo apt-get install lshw
# fedora, centos (epel)
$ sudo yum install lshw
Using lshw
The lshw command needs to run with super privileges to be able to detect and report the maximum amount of information. So run as root, or use sudo.
Lshw assorts hardware components into groups called “class”. Processor, memory, display, network, storage are all different classes.
1. Display full information
Running lshw without any options would generate full information report about all detected hardware. It would generate a big output with quite a lot of technical details
$ sudo lshw
enlightened
description: Desktop Computer
product: ()
width: 64 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.4 dmi-2.4 vsyscall32
configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop uuid=949AC704-8C43-11DE-9395-000EA68F7260
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: DG35EC
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
version: AAE29266-210
serial: BTEC934000EK
slot: Base Board Chassis Location
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 0
bus info: cpu@0
version: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
slot: LGA 775
size: 2664MHz
capacity: 4GHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 333MHz
capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 xsave lahf_lm dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority cpufreq
...TRIMMED
2. Display information in short
With the “-short” the lshw command would generate a brief information report about the hardware devices that would quickly give an idea about the hardware profile of the system.
$ sudo lshw -short
H/W path Device Class Description
===================================================
system ()
/0 bus DG35EC
/0/0 processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
/0/0/1 memory 2MiB L2 cache
/0/0/3 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/2 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/4 memory 64KiB BIOS
/0/14 memory 8GiB System Memory
/0/14/0 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/1 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/2 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/3 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/100 bridge 82G35 Express DRAM Controller
/0/100/2 display 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/2.1 display 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/19 eth0 network 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
/0/100/1a bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
/0/100/1a.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
/0/100/1a.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1b multimedia 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
/0/100/1c bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1
/0/100/1c.1 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2
/0/100/1c.2 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3
/0/100/1c.2/0 storage JMB368 IDE controller
/0/100/1d bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1d.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1d.2 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
/0/100/1d.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1e bridge 82801 PCI Bridge
/0/100/1e/5 bus FW322/323 [TrueFire] 1394a Controller
/0/100/1f bridge 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) LPC Interface Controller
/0/100/1f.2 storage 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA Controller [IDE mode]
/0/100/1f.3 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
/0/100/1f.5 storage 82801HR/HO/HH (ICH8R/DO/DH) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE m
/0/1 scsi3 storage
/0/1/0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 500GB ST3500418AS
/0/1/0.0.0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 70GiB Windows NTFS volume
/0/1/0.0.0/2 /dev/sda2 volume 395GiB Extended partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/5 /dev/sda5 volume 97GiB HPFS/NTFS partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/6 /dev/sda6 volume 97GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/7 /dev/sda7 volume 1952MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/8 /dev/sda8 volume 198GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/3 scsi4 storage
/0/3/0.0.0 /dev/cdrom disk DVD RW DRU-190A
The above output is easy to interpret. The system has an intel processor, 4 RAM slots, 1 500gb hard drive with 6 partitions, 1 dvd writer, 1 network adapter, couple of usb ports etc.
The 3rd column is the class name. Lshw can display information only about a particular class if requested with the “-class” options.
3. Display only memory information
To display information about the memory, specify the memory class
$ sudo lshw -short -class memory
H/W path Device Class Description
===================================================
/0/0/1 memory 2MiB L2 cache
/0/0/3 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/2 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/4 memory 64KiB BIOS
/0/14 memory 8GiB System Memory
/0/14/0 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/1 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/2 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
/0/14/3 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
4. Display processor information
With class processor, lshw would display information about the cpu. It is better to not use the short option and get full details about the processor.
$ sudo lshw -class processor
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 0
bus info: cpu@0
version: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
slot: LGA 775
size: 2664MHz
capacity: 4GHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 333MHz
capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 xsave lahf_lm dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority cpufreq
It should be noted that lshw does not accurately tell about the number of cores or processing units available. The above system for example is a quadcore processor with 4 processing units. Another command called lscpu gives more accurate information about the cpu.
5. Disk drives
Display the disk drives with the disk class.
$ sudo lshw -short -class disk
[sudo] password for enlightened:
H/W path Device Class Description
===================================================
/0/1/0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 500GB ST3500418AS
/0/3/0.0.0 /dev/cdrom disk DVD RW DRU-190A
To display information about the partitions and controllers also, specify the storage and volume class along with the disk class. Then it would give a more clear picture about the storage on the system.
$ sudo lshw -short -class disk -class storage -class volume
H/W path Device Class Description
===================================================
/0/100/1c.2/0 storage JMB368 IDE controller
/0/100/1f.2 storage 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA Controller [IDE mode]
/0/100/1f.5 storage 82801HR/HO/HH (ICH8R/DO/DH) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE m
/0/1 scsi3 storage
/0/1/0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 500GB ST3500418AS
/0/1/0.0.0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 70GiB Windows NTFS volume
/0/1/0.0.0/2 /dev/sda2 volume 395GiB Extended partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/5 /dev/sda5 volume 97GiB HPFS/NTFS partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/6 /dev/sda6 volume 97GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/7 /dev/sda7 volume 1952MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/0/1/0.0.0/2/8 /dev/sda8 volume 198GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/3 scsi4 storage
/0/3/0.0.0 /dev/cdrom disk DVD RW DRU-190A
6. Network adapter information
Use the network class to display information about the network adapter/interface. Omitting the short option is a good idea to get detailed information about it.
$ sudo lshw -class network
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 19
bus info: pci@0000:00:19.0
logical name: eth0
version: 02
serial: 00:1c:c0:f8:79:ee
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000e driverversion=2.3.2-k duplex=full firmware=1.1-0 ip=192.168.1.2 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
resources: irq:43 memory:e0300000-e031ffff memory:e0324000-e0324fff ioport:20c0(size=32)
The value of the “serial” field is same as the MAC address. The configuration field indicates that autonegotiation is turned on and the current operating speed is 100Mbit/s. These configurations can be modified with the ethtool command.
7. Display address details with businfo
With the businfo option lshw would output the address details of pci, usb, scsi and ide devices
$ sudo lshw -businfo
Bus info Device Class Description
=====================================================
system ()
bus DG35EC
cpu@0 processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
memory 2MiB L2 cache
memory 32KiB L1 cache
memory 32KiB L1 cache
memory 64KiB BIOS
memory 8GiB System Memory
memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
pci@0000:00:00.0 bridge 82G35 Express DRAM Controller
pci@0000:00:02.0 display 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
pci@0000:00:02.1 display 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
pci@0000:00:19.0 eth0 network 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
pci@0000:00:1a.0 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
pci@0000:00:1a.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
pci@0000:00:1a.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
pci@0000:00:1b.0 multimedia 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
pci@0000:00:1c.0 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1
pci@0000:00:1c.1 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2
pci@0000:00:1c.2 bridge 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3
pci@0000:03:00.0 storage JMB368 IDE controller
pci@0000:00:1d.0 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
pci@0000:00:1d.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
pci@0000:00:1d.2 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
pci@0000:00:1d.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
pci@0000:00:1e.0 bridge 82801 PCI Bridge
pci@0000:04:05.0 bus FW322/323 [TrueFire] 1394a Controller
pci@0000:00:1f.0 bridge 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) LPC Interface Controller
pci@0000:00:1f.2 storage 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA Controller [IDE mode]
pci@0000:00:1f.3 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
pci@0000:00:1f.5 storage 82801HR/HO/HH (ICH8R/DO/DH) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE
scsi3 storage
scsi@3:0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 500GB ST3500418AS
scsi@3:0.0.0,1 /dev/sda1 volume 70GiB Windows NTFS volume
scsi@3:0.0.0,2 /dev/sda2 volume 395GiB Extended partition
/dev/sda5 volume 97GiB HPFS/NTFS partition
/dev/sda6 volume 97GiB Linux filesystem partition
/dev/sda7 volume 1952MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/dev/sda8 volume 198GiB Linux filesystem partition
scsi4 storage
scsi@4:0.0.0 /dev/cdrom disk DVD RW DRU-190A
The output is similar to “short” option, with the first column replaced with Bus Info.
8. Generate report in html/xml format
Lshw is capable of producing reports in html, xml and json formats.
$ sudo lshw -html > hardware.html
For xml format
$ sudo lshw -xml > hardware.xml
Summary
The above examples covered nearly most of what lshw can do. Check out the man page for full documentation.
Lshw also comes with a gui frontend called lshw-gtk that reports the same information in a minimal graphical user interface. Here is a screenshot.
There are many other gui tools for checking hardware information, like hardinfo that generate report in a more well organised manner and visually rich format.
Inxi is an amazing tool to check hardware information on Linux
Inxi
A very common thing linux users struggle with is to find what hardware has the OS detected and how well. Because unless the OS is aware of the hardware, it might not be using it at all. And there an entire ocean of commands to check hardware information.
There are quite a few gui tools like hardinfo, sysinfo etc on the desktop, but having a generic command line tool is far more useful and this is where Inxi works well. Inxi is a set of scripts that will detect a whole lot of information about the hardware, including vendor details, device driver configuration etc. And most importantly, it will print everything in a easy to read format.
Install inxi
Inxi is there in the default repos of most distros so just get it quick
# Ubuntu/Debian users
$ sudo apt-get install inxi
# CentOS/Fedora users
$ sudo yum install inxi
If inxi is not present on your distro, then install it by following the instructions here
https://code.google.com/p/inxi/wiki/Installation
Using inxi
Inxi comes with a huge list of options that will display more and more information about different hardware parts as much possible. So in this post we shall cover just some basics to get started and the rest you can explore.
1. Run Inxi
To get a one line snapshot of your hardware just run inxi like this.
$ inxi -c 5
CPU~Quad core Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q8400 (-MCP-) clocked at 1998.000 Mhz Kernel~3.11.0-12-generic x86_64 Up~1:43 Mem~4774.1/7975.7MB HDD~500.1GB(38.8% used) Procs~301 Client~Shell inxi~1.9.12
Color schemes - Inxi output is colored and if you need to change the color for better visibility just use the c option followed by a random number between 0-32.
2. Getting basic information
The b flag will present a good amount of basic information about the system.
$ inxi -c 5 -b
System: Host: enlightened Kernel: 3.11.0-12-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: KDE 4.11.2 Distro: Ubuntu 13.10
Machine: Mobo: Intel model: DG35EC version: AAE29266-210
Bios: Intel version: ECG3510M.86A.0112.2009.0203.1136 date: 02/03/2009
CPU: Quad core Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q8400 (-MCP-) clocked at 1998.00 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
X.Org: 1.14.3 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1360x768@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 965G GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 9.2.1
Network: Card: Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (38.8% used)
Info: Processes: 304 Uptime: 1:50 Memory: 4983.3/7975.7MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 1.9.12
The about output contains plenty of information, about the CPU, Graphics card, drives, and the OS installation. Very useful when installing drivers or diagnosing.
3. Print Hard drive partitions
Lets now print out the information about hard drive partitions. It will print out all the mounted partitions along with their mount points, and space usage.
$ inxi -p
Partition: ID: / size: 97G used: 22G (24%) fs: ext4 ID: /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1 size: 196G used: 132G (71%) fs: ext4
ID: /media/4668484A68483B47 size: 98G used: 28G (29%) fs: fuseblk ID: swap-1 size: 2.05GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
To print out the unmounted partitions along with the mounted ones, use the o option with p
$ inxi -p
Partition: ID: / size: 97G used: 22G (24%) fs: ext4 ID: /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1 size: 196G used: 132G (71%) fs: ext4
ID: /media/4668484A68483B47 size: 98G used: 28G (29%) fs: fuseblk ID: swap-1 size: 2.05GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
enlightened@enlightened:~$ inxi -po
Partition: ID: / size: 97G used: 22G (24%) fs: ext4 ID: /media/13f35f59-f023-4d98-b06f-9dfaebefd6c1 size: 196G used: 132G (71%) fs: ext4
ID: /media/4668484A68483B47 size: 98G used: 28G (29%) fs: fuseblk ID: swap-1 size: 2.05GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
Unmounted: ID: /dev/sda1 size: 75.16G label: N/A uuid: 5E38BE8B38BE6227
Print the hard drive details like make, model and size with D option
$ inxi -D
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (38.8% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST3500418AS size: 500.1GB
4. Optical drive details
Print out full list of drives, including all storage and optical drives along with their specifications.
$ inxi -d
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (38.8% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST3500418AS size: 500.1GB
Optical: /dev/sr0 model: N/A dev-links: cdrom
Features: speed: 12x multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram
That was quick.
5. Network interfaces and configurations
The n option simply prints out the details about the network interface along with the configuration details
$ inxi -n
Network: Card: Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:1c:c0:f8:79:ee
Use the i optio along with n to get ip address details (both wan and lan)
$ inxi -ni
Network: Card: Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:1c:c0:f8:79:ee
WAN IP: 122.163.33.2 IF: eth0 ip: 192.168.1.2
6. Show Audio/sound card and graphics card information
The A option is for audio information and G is for graphics card information
$ inxi -AG
Graphics: Card: Intel 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
X.Org: 1.14.3 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1360x768@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 965G GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 9.2.1
Audio: Card: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel Sound: ALSA ver: k3.11.0-12-generic
The graphics card details are already included with the b option.
7. Show distro specific repository data
$ inxi -r
Repos: Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy main restricted
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy main restricted
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates main restricted
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates main restricted
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy universe
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy universe
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates universe
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates universe
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy multiverse
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy multiverse
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates multiverse
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates multiverse
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security multiverse
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy main
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ saucy partner
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian saucy contrib
Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
On CentOS you would get something like this
# inxi -r
Repos: Active yum sources in file: /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo
base ~ http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo=os
updates ~ http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo=updates
extras ~ http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&repo=extras
Active yum sources in file: /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo
epel ~ https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-6&arch=$basearch
Active yum sources in file: /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx.repo
nginx ~ http://nginx.org/packages/centos/$releasever/$basearch/
8. Print full information
The F option give a more detailed overview of the system compared to the b (basic) option. But it does not include everything that inxi is capable of reporting.
# inxi -F
System: Host: dhcppc3 Kernel: 2.6.32-358.11.1.el6.x86_64 x86_64 (64 bit)
Console: tty 0 Distro: CentOS release 6.4 (Final)
Machine: System: innotek product: VirtualBox version: 1.2 serial: 0
Mobo: Oracle model: VirtualBox version: 1.2 serial: 0 Bios: innotek version: VirtualBox date: 12/01/2006
CPU: Single core Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q8400 (-UP-) cache: 6144 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) clocked at 2653.954 MHz
Graphics: Card: InnoTek Systemberatung VirtualBox Graphics Adapter
X-Vendor: N/A driver: N/A tty size: 76x26 Advanced Data: N/A for root out of X
Audio: Card: Intel 82801AA AC'97 Audio Controller driver: Intel ICH Sound: ALSA ver: 1.0.21
Network: Card: Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: e1000
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 08:00:27:54:e4:c6
Drives: HDD Total Size: 4.3GB (32.6% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: VBOX_HARDDISK size: 4.3GB
Partition: ID: / size: 2.5G used: 1.3G (53%) fs: ext4 ID: /boot size: 485M used: 52M (12%) fs: ext4
ID: swap-1 size: 1.04GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info: Processes: 76 Uptime: 34 min Memory: 92.1/490.6MB Runlevel: 3 Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 1.9.14
Use the i option to print the ip address information
$ inxi -Fi
9. Print eXtra data
The x option can be used with individual options to print extended or extra information about that particular hardware or profile
To print addtional information about audio system
$ inxi -A -x
Audio: Card: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.11.0-12-generic
To get extra information about any subset of hardware profile use the x option like above.
To get more extra information use -xx. To get even more extra information use -xxx. Inxi can’t give you anything more beyond that.
Summary
Each option prints out information about a specific hardware part. Select the ones needed or print all of it, either way its very simple and quick.
Resources
https://code.google.com/p/inxi/
Check hardware information on Linux with hwinfo command
Hwinfo
The hwinfo command is a very handy command line tool that can be used to probe for details about hardware components. It reports information about most hardware units like cpu, hdd controllers, usb controllers, network card, graphics cards, multimedia, printers etc.
Hwinfo depends on the libhd library to gather hardware information which depends on libhal.
Hwinfo is available in the repositories of Ubuntu and Debian.
# ubuntu, debian
$ sudo apt-get install hwinfo
Using hwinfo
The help information explains how to use it
$ hwinfo --help
Usage: hwinfo [options]
Probe for hardware.
--short just a short listing
--log logfile write info to logfile
--debug level set debuglevel
--version show libhd version
--dump-db n dump hardware data base, 0: external, 1: internal
--hw_item probe for hw_item
hw_item is one of:
all, bios, block, bluetooth, braille, bridge, camera, cdrom, chipcard,
cpu, disk, dsl, dvb, fingerprint, floppy, framebuffer, gfxcard, hub,
ide, isapnp, isdn, joystick, keyboard, memory, modem, monitor, mouse,
netcard, network, partition, pci, pcmcia, pcmcia-ctrl, pppoe, printer,
scanner, scsi, smp, sound, storage-ctrl, sys, tape, tv, usb, usb-ctrl,
vbe, wlan, zip
Note: debug info is shown only in the log file. (If you specify a
log file the debug level is implicitly set to a reasonable value.)
The options are few, just mention the hardware item for which you would like to see the information and it would display that only.
1. Display all information
Running hwinfo without any options would display detailed information about all hardware units
$ hwinfo
2. Display brief information
The “–short” option will display brief information about the hardware and not the details
$ hwinfo --short
Here is the output from my system
cpu:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
keyboard:
/dev/input/event2 AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
mouse:
/dev/input/mice Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
graphics card:
Intel 965G-1
Intel 82G35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
sound:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
storage:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller
JMicron JMB368 IDE controller
network:
eth0 Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
network interface:
eth0 Ethernet network interface
lo Loopback network interface
disk:
/dev/sda ST3500418AS
partition:
/dev/sda1 Partition
/dev/sda2 Partition
/dev/sda5 Partition
/dev/sda6 Partition
/dev/sda7 Partition
/dev/sda8 Partition
cdrom:
/dev/sr0 SONY DVD RW DRU-190A
usb controller:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
bios:
BIOS
bridge:
Intel 82G35 Express DRAM Controller
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3
Intel 82801 PCI Bridge
Intel 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) LPC Interface Controller
hub:
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
memory:
Main Memory
firewire controller:
Agere FW323
unknown:
FPU
DMA controller
PIC
Timer
Keyboard controller
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
Serial controller
Save it to a file
$ hwinfo --short > hardware_brief.txt
3. View CPU details
With the “–cpu” option, hwinfo would display only cpu information.
$ hwinfo --short --cpu
cpu:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Remove the short option to display detailed information, about the cpu.
4. Display network card information
$ sudo hwinfo --short --netcard
network:
eth0 Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
<h4>5. Storage devices and partitions</h4>
[term]
$ sudo hwinfo --short --block
disk:
/dev/sda ST3500418AS
partition:
/dev/sda1 Partition
/dev/sda2 Partition
/dev/sda5 Partition
/dev/sda6 Partition
/dev/sda7 Partition
/dev/sda8 Partition
cdrom:
/dev/sr0 SONY DVD RW DRU-190A
6. Hard drive controllers
$ sudo hwinfo --short --storage
storage:
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller
Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller
JMicron JMB368 IDE controller
7. USB devices and controllers
$ sudo hwinfo --short --usb
mouse:
/dev/input/mice Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
hub:
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
8. Display multiple devices together
To display multiple hardware units together, just add all the options
$ sudo hwinfo --short --usb --cpu --block
cpu:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz, 2000 MHz
mouse:
/dev/input/mice Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
disk:
/dev/sda ST3500418AS
partition:
/dev/sda1 Partition
/dev/sda2 Partition
/dev/sda5 Partition
/dev/sda6 Partition
/dev/sda7 Partition
/dev/sda8 Partition
cdrom:
/dev/sr0 SONY DVD RW DRU-190A
hub:
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
Linux 3.11.0-12-generic ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
9. Log information to a file
The hwinfo has an option to log all data to a file. The following command will log detailed information about all hardware units to a text file.
$ hwinfo --all --log hardware_info.txt
To log short information in addition to the detailed information, add the “short” option too. Not sure if it is supposed to work like that.
$ hwinfo --all --short --log hardware_info.txt