Friday, August 29, 2008

SKY-HDTV on Ubuntu

Ubuntu 8.04 can detect cx23881 chipset automatically.
but It doesn't have tuner information.

so, let ubuntu know which tuner is used.

sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/options

add following

# set sky HDTV
options cx88xx card=31 tuner=64


reboot and now you can use your tv card.

sudo modprobe cx88-dvb
sudo apt-get install dvb-utils

scan /usr/share/doc/dvb-utils/examples/scan/atsc/us-Cable-Standard-center-frequencies-QAM256 > channels.conf

if you want to use kaffeine as tv viewer

sudo apt-get install kaffeine

and convert channels.conf file in your home directory into kaffeine's channels.dvb file.

http://websvn.kde.org/branches/work/~pfister

download all the files in this url.
and compile it using make

you can get atsc-converter .

in your home directory atsc-converter channels.conf channels.dvb

you now can have channels.dvb
cp ./channels.dvb .kde/share/apps/kaffeine/channels.dvb

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Get Information About Your BIOS in linux

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/querying-dumping-bios-from-linux-command-prompt.html


Get Information About Your BIOS / Server Hardware From a Shell Without Opening Chassis ( BIOS Decoder )
Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: July 24, 2008]

biosdecode is a command line utility to parses the BIOS memory and prints information about all structures (or entry points) it knows of. You can find out more information about your hardware such as:

=> IPMI Device

=> Type of memory and speed

=> Chassis Information

=> Temperature Probe

=> Cooling Device

=> Electrical Current Probe

=> Processor and Memory Information

=> Serial numbers

=> BIOS version

=> PCI / PCIe Slots and Speed

=> Much more


biosdecode parses the BIOS memory and prints the following information about all structures :

=> SMBIOS (System Management BIOS)

=> DMI (Desktop Management Interface, a legacy version of SMBIOS)

=> SYSID

=> PNP (Plug and Play)

=> ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)

=> BIOS32 (BIOS32 Service Directory)

=> PIR (PCI IRQ Routing)

=> 32OS (BIOS32 Extension, Compaq-specific)

=> VPD (Vital Product Data, IBM-specific)

=> FJKEYINF (Application Panel, Fujitsu-specific)


In this tip you will learn about decoding BIOS data (dumping a computer's DMI ) and getting all information about computer hardware without rebooting the server.


More about the DMI tables


The DMI table doesn’t only describe what the system is currently made of, it also can report the possible evolutions such as the fastest supported CPU or the maximal amount of memory supported.


dmidecode - Read biosdecode data in a human-readable format


Data provided by biosdecode is not in a human-readable format. You need to use dmidecode command for dumping a computer’s DMI (SMBIOS) table contents on screen. This table contains a description of the system’s hardware components, as well as other useful pieces of information such as serial numbers and BIOS revision. Thanks to this table, you can retrieve this information without having to probe for the actual hardware.


Task: Display information about IPMI Device


# dmidecode --type 38

Output:


# dmidecode 2.7
SMBIOS 2.4 present.

Handle 0x0029, DMI type 38, 18 bytes.
IPMI Device Information
Interface Type: KCS (Keyboard Control Style)
Specification Version: 2.0
I2C Slave Address: 0x10
NV Storage Device: Not Present
Base Address: 0x0000000000000CA2 (I/O)
Register Spacing: Successive Byte Boundaries

Task: Display information about PCI / PCIe Slots


# dmidecode --type 9


# dmidecode 2.7
SMBIOS 2.4 present.

Handle 0x000E, DMI type 9, 13 bytes.
System Slot Information
Designation: PCIX#1-133MHz
Type: 64-bit PCI-X
Current Usage: Available
Length: Long
ID: 1
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided

Handle 0x000F, DMI type 9, 13 bytes.
System Slot Information
Designation: PCIX#2-100MHz
Type: 64-bit PCI-X
Current Usage: Available
Length: Long
ID: 2
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 9, 13 bytes.
System Slot Information
Designation: PCIE#3-x8
Type: Other
Current Usage: Available
Length: Other
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided

Handle 0x0011, DMI type 9, 13 bytes.
System Slot Information
Designation: PCIE#4-x8
Type: Other
Current Usage: Available
Length: Other
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 9, 13 bytes.
System Slot Information
Designation: PCIE#5-x8
Type: Other
Current Usage: Available
Length: Other
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided

Task: Find out Information about BIOS


# dmidecode --type 0

Output:


# dmidecode 2.7
SMBIOS 2.4 present.
Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes.
BIOS Information
Vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
Version: 6.00
Release Date: 01/26/2007
Address: 0xE56C0
Runtime Size: 108864 bytes
ROM Size: 1024 kB
Characteristics:
PCI is supported
PNP is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
ESCD support is available
Boot from CD is supported
Selectable boot is supported
EDD is supported
3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
ACPI is supported
USB legacy is supported
LS-120 boot is supported
ATAPI Zip drive boot is supported
BIOS boot specification is supported
Targeted content distribution is supported

Understanding BIOS keywords


dmidecode --type {KEYWORD / Number }

You need to pass dmidecode following keywords:



  • bios

  • system

  • baseboard

  • chassis

  • processor

  • memory

  • cache

  • connector

  • slot


All DMI types you need to use with dmidecode --type {Number}:







































































































































































# TypeShort Description
0BIOS
1System
2Base Board
3Chassis
4Processor
5Memory Controller
6Memory Module
7Cache
8Port Connector
9System Slots
10On Board Devices
11OEM Strings
12System Configuration Options
13BIOS Language
14Group Associations
15System Event Log
16Physical Memory Array
17Memory Device
1832-bit Memory Error
19Memory Array Mapped Address
20Memory Device Mapped Address
21Built-in Pointing Device
22Portable Battery
23System Reset
24Hardware Security
25System Power Controls
26Voltage Probe
27Cooling Device
28Temperature Probe
29Electrical Current Probe
30Out-of-band Remote Access
31Boot Integrity Services
32System Boot
3364-bit Memory Error
34Management Device
35Management Device Component
36Management Device Threshold Data
37Memory Channel
38IPMI Device
39Power Supply

Display Power supply information, enter:

# dmidecode --type 39

Display CPU information, enter:

# dmidecode --type processor

Read man page for more information:

$ man dmidecode


Other tools and commands to gather hardware information



Updated for accuracy.