Knowing your motherboard version can be crucial in various situations, such as performing BIOS updates or confirming compatibility with new hardware components. On Linux, one of the most practical and efficient ways to obtain this information is by using the dmidecode command.
In this guide, we will show you how to check the motherboard version using dmidecode and other commands to filter the desired information.
What is dmidecode?
The dmidecode is a tool that allows access to detailed system information, such as the motherboard model and manufacturer, BIOS version, processor, and memory, among others. It does this by interpreting data from the hardware’s SMBIOS (System Management BIOS) table.
Step-by-Step to Check the Motherboard Version
Open the terminal
Ensure you have administrative privileges (sudo) on the system.
Run the command below:
sudo dmidecode | grep -A3 "BIOS Information"What this command does:
dmidecode: displays all information from the SMBIOS table.grep: is the main command used to search for text patterns. It looks for a string or regular expression within a file or the output of another command.-A3: the option-Ameans “after”, and the number3indicates that we want to capture three subsequent lines to the line containing the searched text. In this case, the three lines right below the occurrence of “BIOS Information”."BIOS Information": this is the text pattern we are looking for. It is enclosed in quotes to indicate that it is a specific string (which may contain spaces or special characters).
Example output:
After running the command, you will see something like this:
BIOS Information
Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: 5.17
Release Date: 10/01/2023
- Vendor: The BIOS manufacturer.
- Version: The installed BIOS version.
- Release Date: The release date of this version.
For more motherboard details:
If the goal is to obtain specific information about the motherboard, such as model and manufacturer, use:
sudo dmidecode -t baseboard
Expected output:
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product Name: PRIME B450M-A
Version: Rev X.0x
Serial Number: 1234567890- Manufacturer: Motherboard manufacturer (e.g., ASUS).
- Product Name: Motherboard model (e.g., PRIME B450M-A).
- Version: Model revision (e.g., Rev X.0x).
- Serial Number: Unique serial number for identification (e.g., 1234567890).
Considerations
- Administrative permissions: The
dmidecoderequires superuser privileges as it accesses sensitive hardware information. - Compatibility: This tool works on most Linux distributions and hardware compatible with SMBIOS.
With these commands, you will have quick and reliable access to your motherboard information and can use it to troubleshoot or plan hardware upgrades.
Want access to more tutorials like this? Follow Master da Web on our social media for more tips like this!
