How do I find out BIOS version using a Linux command line option?

10:50:00 PM Mahesh Kumar Yadav 1 Comments


To find out BIOS version under Linux operating systems use the dmidecode command which is a tool to analyse BIOS data. I have tested on 'Dell 3542 i5 4th Gen'. You must login as admin to run dmidecode command:

sudo dmidecode | less

Output

 # dmidecode 2.12

# SMBIOS entry point at 0x000f04c0

SMBIOS 2.8 present.

45 structures occupying 2092 bytes.

Table at 0x000EC720.

Handle 0xDA00, DMI type 218, 251 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DA FB 00 DA B2 00 0D 5F 0F 37 40 7D 00 00 00 00

                00 7E 00 01 00 00 00 75 01 01 80 01 00 76 01 02

                80 01 00 2D 01 03 80 01 00 2E 01 04 80 00 00 4F

                02 05 80 01 00 50 02 06 80 00 00 E2 01 02 00 00

                00 E1 01 02 00 01 00 E3 01 02 00 02 00 58 02 20

                80 00 00 57 02 20 80 01 00 9C 00 03 00 01 00 9B

                00 03 00 00 00 8A 01 04 00 01 00 89 01 04 00 00

                00 7F 01 05 00 00 00 80 01 05 00 01 00 53 01 06

                00 00 00 52 01 06 00 01 00 7B 01 07 00 00 00 7C

                01 07 00 01 00 94 01 08 00 00 00 93 01 08 00 01

                00 7D 00 09 00 00 00 2D 00 0A 00 01 00 2E 00 0A

                00 00 00 6E 00 0B 00 00 00 95 00 0C 00 01 00 96

                00 0C 00 00 00 2F 02 0D 00 01 00 30 02 0D 00 00

                00 4B 01 0E 00 01 00 4A 01 0E 00 00 00 37 01 0F

                00 00 00 38 01 0F 00 01 00 39 01 0F 00 02 00 2E

                02 07 80 01 00 FF FF 00 00 00 00

Handle 0xDA01, DMI type 218, 35 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DA 23 01 DA B2 00 0D 5F 0F 37 40 2D 02 08 80 01

                00 4F 03 09 80 01 00 50 03 0A 80 01 00 FF FF 00

                00 00 00

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes

BIOS Information

        Vendor: Dell Inc.

        Version: A09

        Release Date: 10/16/2015

        Address: 0xF0000

        Runtime Size: 64 kB

 ROM Size: 2048 kB

        Characteristics:

                MCA is supported

                PCI is supported

                BIOS is upgradeable

                BIOS shadowing is allowed

                ESCD support is available

                Boot from CD is supported

                Selectable boot is supported

                BIOS ROM is socketed

                EDD is supported

                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

                ATAPI Zip drive boot is supported

                BIOS boot specification is supported

                Targeted content distribution is supported

                UEFI is supported

        BIOS Revision: 65.9

Handle 0x002E, DMI type 13, 22 bytes

BIOS Language Information

        Language Description Format: Long

        Installable Languages: 1 en|US|iso8859-1

        Currently Installed Language: en|US|iso8859-1

Handle 0x002D, DMI type 131, 64 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                83 40 2D 00 31 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

                F8 00 43 9C 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 05 00 09 00

                9C 07 37 00 00 00 00 00 C8 00 FF FF 00 00 00 00

                00 00 00 00 26 00 00 00 76 50 72 6F 00 00 00 00

Handle 0x002C, DMI type 136, 6 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                88 06 2C 00 5A 5A

Handle 0x001B, DMI type 19, 31 bytes

Memory Array Mapped Address

        Starting Address: 0x00000000000

        Ending Address: 0x000FFFFFFFF

        Range Size: 4 GB

        Physical Array Handle: 0x0007

        Partition Width: 1

Handle 0x001A, DMI type 20, 35 bytes

Memory Device Mapped Address

        Starting Address: 0x00000000000

        Ending Address: 0x000FFFFFFFF

        Range Size: 4 GB

        Physical Device Handle: 0x0017

        Memory Array Mapped Address Handle: 0x001B

        Partition Row Position: 1

        Interleave Position: 1

        Interleaved Data Depth: 1

Handle 0x0017, DMI type 17, 40 bytes

Memory Device

        Array Handle: 0x0007

        Error Information Handle: Not Provided

        Total Width: 64 bits

        Data Width: 64 bits

        Size: 4096 MB

        Form Factor: SODIMM

        Set: None

Locator: DIMM_A

        Bank Locator: Bank 0

        Type: DDR3

        Type Detail: Synchronous

        Speed: 1600 MHz

        Manufacturer: Samsung

        Serial Number: F16EF064

        Asset Tag: 01143900     

        Part Number: M471B5173DB0-YK0  

        Rank: 1

        Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz

        Minimum voltage:  1.350 V

        Maximum voltage:  1.500 V

        Configured voltage:  1.350 V

Handle 0x0007, DMI type 16, 23 bytes

Physical Memory Array

        Location: System Board Or Motherboard

        Use: System Memory

        Error Correction Type: None

        Maximum Capacity: 8 GB

        Error Information Handle: Not Provided

        Number Of Devices: 1

Handle 0x0006, DMI type 7, 19 bytes

Cache Information

        Socket Designation: CPU Internal L3

        Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 3

        Operational Mode: Write Back

        Location: Internal

        Installed Size: 3072 kB

        Maximum Size: 3072 kB

        Supported SRAM Types: Unknown

        Installed SRAM Type: Unknown

        Speed: Unknown

        Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC

        System Type: Unified

        Associativity: 12-way Set-associative

Handle 0x0005, DMI type 7, 19 bytes

Cache Information

        Socket Designation: CPU Internal L2

        Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 2

        Operational Mode: Write Back

        Location: Internal

        Installed Size: 512 kB

        Maximum Size: 512 kB

        Supported SRAM Types: Unknown

        Installed SRAM Type: Unknown

        Speed: Unknown

        Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC

        System Type: Unified

        Associativity: 8-way Set-associative

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 7, 19 bytes

Cache Information

        Socket Designation: CPU Internal L1

        Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 1

        Operational Mode: Write Back

        Location: Internal

        Installed Size: 128 kB

        Maximum Size: 128 kB

        Supported SRAM Types: Unknown

        Installed SRAM Type: Unknown

        Speed: Unknown

        Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC

        System Type: Other

        Associativity: 8-way Set-associative

Handle 0x0024, DMI type 4, 42 bytes

Processor Information

        Socket Designation: SOCKET 0

        Type: Central Processor

        Family: Core i5

 Manufacturer: Intel

        ID: 51 06 04 00 FF FB EB BF

        Signature: Type 0, Family 6, Model 69, Stepping 1

        Flags:

                FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)

                VME (Virtual mode extension)

                DE (Debugging extension)

                PSE (Page size extension)

                TSC (Time stamp counter)

                MSR (Model specific registers)

                PAE (Physical address extension)

                MCE (Machine check exception)

                CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)

                APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)

                SEP (Fast system call)

                MTRR (Memory type range registers)

                PGE (Page global enable)

                MCA (Machine check architecture)

                CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)

                PAT (Page attribute table)

                PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)

                CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)

                DS (Debug store)

                ACPI (ACPI supported)

                MMX (MMX technology supported)

                FXSR (FXSAVE and FXSTOR instructions supported)

                SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)

                SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)

                SS (Self-snoop)

                HTT (Multi-threading)

                TM (Thermal monitor supported)

                PBE (Pending break enabled)

        Version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4210U CPU @ 1.70GHz

        Voltage: 1.2 V

        External Clock: 100 MHz

        Max Speed: 3800 MHz

        Current Speed: 1700 MHz

        Status: Populated, Enabled

        Upgrade: Socket rPGA988B

        L1 Cache Handle: 0x0004

        L2 Cache Handle: 0x0005

        L3 Cache Handle: 0x0006

        Serial Number: Not Specified

        Asset Tag: Fill By OEM

        Part Number: Fill By OEM

        Core Count: 2

        Core Enabled: 2

        Thread Count: 4

        Characteristics: 64-bit capable

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes

System Information

        Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

        Product Name: Inspiron 3542

        Version: Not Specified

        Serial Number: C6CQ332

        UUID: 4C4C4544-0036-4310-8051-C3C04F333332

        Wake-up Type: Power Switch

        SKU Number: 0652

        Family: Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes

Base Board Information

        Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

        Product Name: 0926J6

        Version: A09

        Serial Number: .C6CQ332.CN762064AU00MZ.

        Asset Tag: Not Specified

        Features:

                Board is a hosting board

                Board is replaceable

        Location In Chassis: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

        Chassis Handle: 0x0003

        Type: Motherboard

        Contained Object Handles: 0

Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 22 bytes

Chassis Information

        Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

        Type: Portable

        Lock: Not Present

        Version: Not Specified

        Serial Number: C6CQ332

        Asset Tag: Not Specified

        Boot-up State: Safe

        Power Supply State: Safe

        Thermal State: Safe

        Security Status: None

        OEM Information: 0x00000000

        Height: Unspecified

        Number Of Power Cords: 1

        Contained Elements: 0

        SKU Number: To be filled by O.E.M.

Handle 0x0008, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

        Internal Reference Designator: J1A1

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: PS2Mouse

        External Connector Type: PS/2

        Port Type: Mouse Port

Handle 0x0009, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

        Internal Reference Designator: J1A1

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: Keyboard

        External Connector Type: PS/2

        Port Type: Keyboard Port

Handle 0x000A, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

  Internal Reference Designator: J2A2B

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: Video

        External Connector Type: DB-15 female

        Port Type: Video Port

Handle 0x000B, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

        Internal Reference Designator: J3A1

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: USB1

        External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)

        Port Type: USB

Handle 0x000C, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

        Internal Reference Designator: J3A1

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: USB2

        External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)

        Port Type: USB

Handle 0x000D, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

        Internal Reference Designator: J3A1

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: USB3

        External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)

        Port Type: USB

Handle 0x000E, DMI type 8, 9 bytes

Port Connector Information

        Internal Reference Designator: J5A1

        Internal Connector Type: None

        External Reference Designator: LAN

        External Connector Type: RJ-45

        Port Type: Network Port

Handle 0x000F, DMI type 9, 17 bytes

System Slot Information

        Designation: J6B2

        Type: x16 PCI Express

        Current Usage: In Use

        Length: Long

        ID: 0

        Characteristics:

                3.3 V is provided

                Opening is shared

                PME signal is supported

        Bus Address: 0000:00:01.0

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 9, 17 bytes

System Slot Information

        Designation: J6B1

        Type: x1 PCI Express

        Current Usage: In Use

        Length: Short

        ID: 1

        Characteristics:

                3.3 V is provided

                Opening is shared

                PME signal is supported

        Bus Address: 0000:00:1c.3

Handle 0x0011, DMI type 10, 6 bytes

On Board Device Information

        Type: Video

        Status: Enabled

        Description: Mobile Intel HD Graphics

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 11, 5 bytes

OEM Strings

        String 1: Dell System

        String 2: 1[0652]

        String 3: 3[3.3]

        String 4: 4[0001]

        String 5: 6[D0, D4, D8, D9, DA, DB, DC, DD, DE]

        String 6: 10[A09]

 String 7: 13[P40F]

        String 8: 14[0]

        String 9: 15[11]

Handle 0x0013, DMI type 12, 5 bytes

System Configuration Options

        Option 1: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Handle 0x0014, DMI type 21, 7 bytes

Built-in Pointing Device

        Type: Touch Pad

        Interface: Bus Mouse

        Buttons: 2

Handle 0x0015, DMI type 22, 26 bytes

Portable Battery

        Location: Sys. Battery Bay

        Manufacturer: SMP-SDI2.8         

        Serial Number: 1076         

        Name: DELL FW1MN31

        Chemistry: Lithium Ion

        Design Capacity: 28000 mWh

        Design Voltage: 14800 mV

        SBDS Version: 1.0                

        Maximum Error: 2%

        SBDS Manufacture Date: 2014-09-22

        OEM-specific Information: 0x00000001

Handle 0x0016, DMI type 32, 20 bytes

System Boot Information

        Status: No errors detected

Handle 0x0018, DMI type 27, 12 bytes

Cooling Device

        Type: Fan

        Status: OK

        OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0x0019, DMI type 28, 20 bytes

Temperature Probe

        Description: CPU Internal Temperature

        Location: Processor

        Status: OK

        Maximum Value: 127.0 deg C

        Minimum Value: 0.0 deg C

        Resolution: 1.000 deg C

        Tolerance: 0.5 deg C

        Accuracy: Unknown

        OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0xB000, DMI type 176, 10 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                B0 0A 00 B0 00 00 00 00 52 06

Handle 0xB100, DMI type 177, 12 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                B1 0C 00 B1 1A 0E 00 00 00 00 00 00

Handle 0x001C, DMI type 208, 12 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                D0 0C 1C 00 02 05 FE 00 52 06 01 02

        Strings:

                20141031

                20141031

Handle 0x001D, DMI type 212, 57 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                D4 39 1D 00 70 00 71 00 01 49 50 48 9C 00 49 FC

                01 9B 00 49 FC 00 7F 01 4A FB 04 80 01 4A FB 00

                53 01 4A F7 08 52 01 4A F7 08 7B 01 4A EF 10 7C

                01 4A EF 10 FF FF 00 00 00

Handle 0x001E, DMI type 216, 9 bytes

OEM-specific Type

 Header and Data:

                D8 09 1E 00 01 02 01 00 00

        Strings:

                INTEL

                0000

Handle 0x001F, DMI type 217, 8 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                D9 08 1F 00 01 02 00 00

        Strings:

Handle 0x0020, DMI type 219, 11 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DB 0B 20 00 00 01 02 03 00 04 05

        Strings:

Handle 0x0021, DMI type 220, 22 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DC 16 21 00 01 F0 00 00 02 F0 00 00 00 00 03 F0

                04 F0 00 00 00 00

Handle 0x0022, DMI type 221, 19 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DD 13 22 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 00

                00 00 00

Handle 0x0023, DMI type 222, 16 bytes

OEM-specific Type

 Header and Data:

                D8 09 1E 00 01 02 01 00 00

        Strings:

                INTEL

                0000

Handle 0x001F, DMI type 217, 8 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                D9 08 1F 00 01 02 00 00
        Strings:
Handle 0x0020, DMI type 219, 11 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DB 0B 20 00 00 01 02 03 00 04 05

        Strings:

Handle 0x0021, DMI type 220, 22 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DC 16 21 00 01 F0 00 00 02 F0 00 00 00 00 03 F0

                04 F0 00 00 00 00

Handle 0x0022, DMI type 221, 19 bytes

OEM-specific Type

        Header and Data:

                DD 13 22 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 00

                00 00 00

Handle 0x0023, DMI type 222, 16 bytes

OEM-specific Type

  Header and Data:

                DE 10 23 00 01 08 FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Handle 0x002F, DMI type 127, 4 bytes

End Of Table

 



dmidecode is a tool for dumping a computer's DMI (some say SMBIOS) table contents in a human-readable format. 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. While this is a good point in terms of report speed and safeness, this also makes the presented information possibly unreliable. 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). SMBIOS stands for System Management BIOS, while DMI stands for Desktop Management Interface. Both standards are tightly related and developed by the DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force). As you run it, dmidecode will try to locate the DMI table. If it succeeds, it will then parse this table and display a list of records

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