Re: [gentoo-user] how can i find out my motherboard?

["Dave Nebinger" <dnebinger@joat.com>]

> There certainly is a lot of useful information in this output, but it's 
> not
> necessarily the information needed (and certainly not all of the 
> information
> requested by the OP). So how would I, or the OP, use this utility
> properly to answer the question, "What is the make (manufacturer) and
> model number of my motherboard?" Or does it not answer that question 
> fully?

The dmidecode utility dumps all of the DMI information available to the 
BIOS, so it is, in effect, the same thing as checking for the MOBO via the 
BIOS at system boot.

That said, it's important to note that your BIOS knows how to take the DMI 
information and display it in a format for the display at boot time.

So your bios automatically knows it's a shuttle, but the AK32 is used to 
show the exact MOBO revision.

That said, the bios must know to check another DMI value to determine 
whether it is the AK32A as opposed to a straight AK32 or some other 
revision.

On one of my servers, dmidecode produces:

# dmidecode 2.6
SMBIOS 2.3 present.
61 structures occupying 1735 bytes.
Table at 0x000EF130.
Handle 0x0000
 DMI type 0, 19 bytes.
 BIOS Information
  Vendor: IBM
  Version: PLKT44AUS
  Release Date: 02/13/2002
  Address: 0xF0000
  Runtime Size: 64 kB
  ROM Size: 256 kB
  Characteristics:
   ISA is supported
   PCI is supported
   PNP is supported
   APM is supported
   BIOS is upgradeable
   BIOS shadowing is allowed
   Boot from CD is supported
   Selectable boot is supported
   Japanese floppy for NEC 9800 1.2 MB is supported (int 13h)
   Japanese floppy for Toshiba 1.2 MB is supported (int 13h)
   5.25"/360 KB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
   5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
   3.5"/720 KB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
   3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
   Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
   8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
   Serial services are supported (int 14h)
   Printer services are supported (int 17h)
   CGA/mono video services are supported (int 10h)
   ACPI is supported
   USB legacy is supported
   AGP is supported
   LS-120 boot is supported
   ATAPI Zip drive boot is supported
Handle 0x0001
 DMI type 1, 25 bytes.
 System Information
  Manufacturer: IBM
  Product Name: 686831U
  Version: Not Specified
  Serial Number: 23NN078
  UUID: 0036AB92-E6AD-2212-8B2C-CFF000D0B779
  Wake-up Type: Power Switch
Handle 0x0002
 DMI type 2, 8 bytes.
 Base Board Information
  Manufacturer: IBM
  Product Name: 686831U
  Version: Not Specified
  Serial Number: JNZNL0T7V8D

The difference in output is merely a reflection of what is stored in the 
DMI; in my case it happens to be a little more complete than yours.

Regardless, the tool provides the best opportunity to get the information 
w/o having to a) find the docs, b) open the box, or c) reboot to get into 
the BIOS.

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