9 Uncover system information
The Terminal provides a host of tools for divulging key info about your hardware. Start with the following command for a table-like summary of your hardware (list hardware): $ sudo lshw -short You can also output a full-blown detailed report for viewing in your web browser: $ sudo lshw -html > sysinfo.html Other related tools include lscpu (list processor information), lsblk (list block storage), lspci (list internal hardware) and lsusb (USB devices). They all work slightly differently – for example, sudo lspci -v provides a handy summary, while lsusb works best if you first identify the device you wish to check out via sudo lsusb , then use the following command based on its bus and device number: $ sudo lsusb -D /dev/bus/usb/00x/00y One final tool – dmidecode – can provide useful information via the -t flag and keywords including bios, baseboard (motherboard), processor, memory and chassis – for example, sudo dmidecode -t memory . Be warned, however, as the DMI tables it polls aren’t always accurate, so don’t be shocked if things don’t stack up.