Blame man/dmidecode.8

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.TH DMIDECODE 8 "March 2012" "dmidecode"
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.SH NAME
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dmidecode \- \s-1DMI\s0 table decoder
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B dmidecode
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.RB [ OPTIONS ]
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.B dmidecode
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is a tool for dumping a computer's \s-1DMI\s0 (some say \s-1SMBIOS\s0) table
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contents in a human-readable format. This table contains a description of the
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system's hardware components, as well as other useful pieces of information
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such as serial numbers and \s-1BIOS\s0 revision. Thanks to this table, you can
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retrieve this information without having to probe for the actual hardware.
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While this is a good point in terms of report speed and safeness, this also
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makes the presented information possibly unreliable.
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The \s-1DMI\s0 table doesn't only describe what the system is currently made
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of, it also can report the possible evolutions (such as the fastest supported
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\s-1CPU\s0 or the maximal amount of memory supported).
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\s-1SMBIOS\s0 stands for System Management \s-1BIOS\s0, while \s-1DMI\s0
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stands for Desktop Management Interface. Both standards are tightly related
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and developed by the \s-1DMTF\s0 (Desktop Management Task Force).
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As you run it,
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.B dmidecode
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will try to locate the \s-1DMI\s0 table. It will first try to read the DMI table
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from sysfs, and next try reading directly from memory if sysfs access failed.
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If
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.B dmidecode
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succeeds in locating a valid DMI table, it will then parse this table
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and display a list of records like this one:
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Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 8 bytes.
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Base Board Information
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        Manufacturer: Intel
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        Product Name: C440GX+
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        Version: 727281-001
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        Serial Number: INCY92700942
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Each record has:
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.IP \(bu "\w'\(bu'u+1n"
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A handle. This is a unique identifier, which allows records to
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reference each other. For example, processor records usually reference
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cache memory records using their handles.
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.IP \(bu
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A type. The \s-1SMBIOS\s0 specification defines different types of elements
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a computer can be made of. In this example, the type is 2, which
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means that the record contains "Base Board Information".
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.IP \(bu
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A size. Each record has a 4-byte header (2 for the handle, 1 for the type,
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1 for the size), the rest is used by the record data. This value doesn't
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take text strings into account (these are placed at the end of the record),
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so the actual length of the record may be (and is often) greater than the
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displayed value.
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.IP \(bu
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Decoded values. The information presented of course depends on the type
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of record. Here, we learn about the board's manufacturer, model, version
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and serial number.
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.BR "-d" ", " "--dev-mem FILE"
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Read memory from device \fBFILE\fR (default: \fB/dev/mem\fR)
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.TP
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.BR "-q" ", " "--quiet"
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Be less verbose. Unknown, inactive and \s-1OEM\s0-specific entries are not
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displayed. Meta-data and handle references are hidden.
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.TP
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.BR "-s" ", " "--string KEYWORD"
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Only display the value of the \s-1DMI\s0 string identified by \fBKEYWORD\fR.
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\fBKEYWORD\fR must be a keyword from the following list: \fBbios-vendor\fR,
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\fBbios-version\fR, \fBbios-release-date\fR,
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\fBsystem-manufacturer\fR, \fBsystem-product-name\fR,
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\fBsystem-version\fR, \fBsystem-serial-number\fR,
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\fBsystem-uuid\fR, \fBsystem-family\fR,
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\fBbaseboard-manufacturer\fR, \fBbaseboard-product-name\fR,
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\fBbaseboard-version\fR, \fBbaseboard-serial-number\fR,
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\fBbaseboard-asset-tag\fR, \fBchassis-manufacturer\fR,
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\fBchassis-type\fR,
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\fBchassis-version\fR, \fBchassis-serial-number\fR,
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\fBchassis-asset-tag\fR, \fBprocessor-family\fR,
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\fBprocessor-manufacturer\fR,
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\fBprocessor-version\fR, \fBprocessor-frequency\fR.
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Each keyword corresponds to a given \s-1DMI\s0 type and a given offset
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within this entry type.
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Not all strings may be meaningful or even defined on all systems. Some
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keywords may return more than one result on some systems (e.g.
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\fBprocessor-version\fR on a multi-processor system).
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If \fBKEYWORD\fR is not provided or not valid, a list of all valid
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keywords is printed and
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.B dmidecode
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exits with an error.
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This option cannot be used more than once.
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Note: on Linux, most of these strings can alternatively be read directly
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from
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.BR sysfs ,
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typically from files under
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.IR /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id .
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Most of these files are even readable by regular users.
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.TP
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.BR "-t" ", " "--type TYPE"
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Only display the entries of type \fBTYPE\fR. \fBTYPE\fR can be either a
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\s-1DMI\s0 type number, or a comma-separated list of type numbers, or a
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keyword from the following list: \fBbios\fR, \fBsystem\fR,
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\fBbaseboard\fR, \fBchassis\fR, \fBprocessor\fR, \fBmemory\fR,
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\fBcache\fR, \fBconnector\fR, \fBslot\fR. Refer to the DMI TYPES section
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below for details.
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If this option is used more than once, the set of displayed entries will be
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the union of all the given types.
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If \fBTYPE\fR is not provided or not valid, a list of all valid keywords
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is printed and
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.B dmidecode
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exits with an error.
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.TP
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.BR "-H" ", " "--handle HANDLE"
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Only display the entry whose handle matches \fBHANDLE\fR.  \fBHANDLE\fR
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is a 16-bit integer.
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.TP
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.BR "-u" ", " "--dump"
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Do not decode the entries, dump their contents as hexadecimal instead.
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Note that this is still a text output, no binary data will be thrown upon
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you. The strings attached to each entry are displayed as both
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hexadecimal and \s-1ASCII\s0. This option is mainly useful for debugging.
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.TP
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.BR "  " "  " "--dump-bin FILE"
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Do not decode the entries, instead dump the DMI data to a file in binary
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form. The generated file is suitable to pass to \fB--from-dump\fR
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later.
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.TP
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.BR "  " "  " "--from-dump FILE"
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Read the DMI data from a binary file previously generated using 
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\fB--dump-bin\fR.
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.TP
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.BR "  " "  " "--no-sysfs"
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Do not attempt to read DMI data from sysfs files. This is mainly useful for
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debugging.
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.TP
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.BR "  " "  " "--oem-string N"
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Only display the value of the \s-1OEM\s0 string number \fBN\fR. The first
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\s-1OEM\s0 string has number 1. With special value "count", return the
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number of OEM strings instead.
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.TP
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.BR "-h" ", " "--help"
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Display usage information and exit
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.TP
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.BR "-V" ", " "--version"
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Display the version and exit
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.P
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Options --string, --type, --dump-bin and --oem-string
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determine the output format and are mutually exclusive.
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.P
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Please note in case of
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.B dmidecode
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is run on a system with BIOS that boasts new SMBIOS specification, which
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is not supported by the tool yet, it will print out relevant message in
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addition to requested data on the very top of the output. Thus informs the
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output data is not reliable.
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.SH "DMI TYPES"
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The \s-1SMBIOS\s0 specification defines the following \s-1DMI\s0 types:
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.TS
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r l
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__
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r l.
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Type	Information
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0	BIOS
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1	System
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2	Baseboard
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3	Chassis
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4	Processor
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5	Memory Controller
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6	Memory Module
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7	Cache
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8	Port Connector
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9	System Slots
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10	On Board Devices
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11	OEM Strings
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12	System Configuration Options
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13	BIOS Language
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14	Group Associations
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15	System Event Log
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16	Physical Memory Array
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17	Memory Device
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18	32-bit Memory Error
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19	Memory Array Mapped Address
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20	Memory Device Mapped Address
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21	Built-in Pointing Device
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22	Portable Battery
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23	System Reset
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24	Hardware Security
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25	System Power Controls
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26	Voltage Probe
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27	Cooling Device
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28	Temperature Probe
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29	Electrical Current Probe
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30	Out-of-band Remote Access
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31	Boot Integrity Services
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32	System Boot
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33	64-bit Memory Error
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34	Management Device
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35	Management Device Component
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36	Management Device Threshold Data
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37	Memory Channel
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38	IPMI Device
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39	Power Supply
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40	Additional Information
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41	Onboard Devices Extended Information
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42	Management Controller Host Interface
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.TE
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Additionally, type 126 is used for disabled entries and type 127 is an
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end-of-table marker. Types 128 to 255 are for \s-1OEM\s0-specific data.
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.B dmidecode
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will display these entries by default, but it can only decode them
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when the vendors have contributed documentation or code for them.
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Keywords can be used instead of type numbers with \fB--type\fR.
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Each keyword is equivalent to a list of type numbers:
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.TS
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l l
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__
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l l.
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Keyword	Types
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bios	0, 13
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system	1, 12, 15, 23, 32
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baseboard	2, 10, 41
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chassis	3
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processor	4
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memory	5, 6, 16, 17
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cache	7
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connector	8
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slot	9
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.TE
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Keywords are matched case-insensitively. The following command lines are equivalent:
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.IP \(bu "\w'\(bu'u+1n"
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dmidecode --type 0 --type 13
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.IP \(bu
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dmidecode --type 0,13
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.IP \(bu
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dmidecode --type bios
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.IP \(bu
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dmidecode --type BIOS
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.SH BINARY DUMP FILE FORMAT
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The binary dump files generated by --dump-bin and read using --from-dump
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are formatted as follows:
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.IP \(bu "\w'\(bu'u+1n"
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The SMBIOS or DMI entry point is located at offset 0x00.
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It is crafted to hard-code the table address at offset 0x20.
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.IP \(bu "\w'\(bu'u+1n"
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The DMI table is located at offset 0x20.
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.SH FILES
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.I /dev/mem
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.I /sys/firmware/dmi/tables/smbios_entry_point (Linux only)
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.I /sys/firmware/dmi/tables/DMI (Linux only)
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.SH BUGS
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More often than not, information contained in the \s-1DMI\s0 tables is inaccurate,
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incomplete or simply wrong.
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.SH AUTHORS
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Alan Cox, Jean Delvare
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
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.BR biosdecode (8),
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.BR mem (4),
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.BR ownership (8),
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.BR vpddecode (8)