How to Obtain BIOS Information Remotely

dmidecode is very useful as it provides the details about your system such as the number of memory slots, BIOS version, etc.

root@V2000# dmidecode # dmidecode 2.9 SMBIOS 2.31 present. 18 structures occupying 595 bytes. Table at 0x000DC010. Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes BIOS Information Vendor: Hewlett-Packard Version: F.25 Release Date: 03/23/2006 Address: 0xE5BF0 Runtime Size: 107536 bytes ROM Size: 512 kB Characteristics: PCI is supported PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported PNP is supported APM is supported BIOS is upgradeable BIOS shadowing is allowed ESCD support is available Boot from CD is supported 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 Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 25 bytes System Information Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard Product Name: Presario V2000 (PV340AV#ABA) Version: Rev 1 Serial Number: XXXXXXXXX UUID: XXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXX Wake-up Type: Power Switch Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 8 bytes Base Board Information Manufacturer: Quanta Product Name: 3097 Version: 47.0E Serial Number: None Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 21 bytes Chassis Information Manufacturer: Quanta Type: Notebook Lock: Not Present Version: N/A Serial Number: None Asset Tag: Boot-up State: Safe Power Supply State: Safe Thermal State: Safe Security Status: None OEM Information: 0x00000000 Height: 52 U Number Of Power Cords: 18 Contained Elements: 0 Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 35 bytes Processor Information Socket Designation: U23 Type: Central Processor Family: Opteron Manufacturer: AMD ID: 42 0F 02 00 FF FB 8B 07 Signature: Family 15, Model 36, Stepping 2 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) MMX (MMX technology supported) FXSR (Fast floating-point save and restore) SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions) SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2) Version: AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile ML Voltage: 2.2 V External Clock: 200 MHz Max Speed: 1600 MHz Current Speed: 1600 MHz Status: Populated, Enabled Upgrade: ZIF Socket L1 Cache Handle: Not Provided L2 Cache Handle: 0x0005 L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided Serial Number: Not Specified Asset Tag: Not Specified Part Number: Not Specified Handle 0x0005, DMI type 7, 19 bytes Cache Information Socket Designation: L2 Cache Configuration: Enabled, Socketed, Level 2 Operational Mode: Write Back Location: Internal Installed Size: 1024 KB Maximum Size: 1024 KB Supported SRAM Types: Burst Pipeline Burst Installed SRAM Type: Synchronous Speed: Unknown Error Correction Type: Unknown System Type: Unknown Associativity: Unknown Handle 0x0006, DMI type 9, 13 bytes System Slot Information Designation: MiniPCI Slot J20 Type: 32-bit PCI Current Usage: Available Length: Long ID: 0 Characteristics: 5.0 V is provided 3.3 V is provided PME signal is supported Handle 0x0007, DMI type 10, 6 bytes On Board Device Information Type: Video Status: Enabled Description: 128 Handle 0x0008, DMI type 11, 5 bytes OEM Strings String 1: $HP$ Handle 0x0009, DMI type 16, 15 bytes Physical Memory Array Location: System Board Or Motherboard Use: System Memory Error Correction Type: None Maximum Capacity: 4 GB Error Information Handle: Not Provided Number Of Devices: 2 Handle 0x000A, DMI type 17, 27 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0009 Error Information Handle: No Error Total Width: 32 bits Data Width: 32 bits Size: 512 MB Form Factor: DIMM Set: 1 Locator: U5 Bank Locator: Channel A0 Type: DRAM Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: Not Specified Serial Number: Not Specified Asset Tag: Not Specified Part Number: Not Specified Handle 0x000B, DMI type 17, 27 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0009 Error Information Handle: No Error Total Width: 32 bits Data Width: 32 bits Size: 512 MB Form Factor: DIMM Set: 1 Locator: U6 Bank Locator: Channel A3 Type: DRAM Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: Not Specified Serial Number: Not Specified Asset Tag: Not Specified Part Number: Not Specified Handle 0x000C, DMI type 19, 15 bytes Memory Array Mapped Address Starting Address: 0x00000000000 Ending Address: 0x0003FFFFFFF Range Size: 1 GB Physical Array Handle: 0x0009 Partition Width: 0 Handle 0x000D, DMI type 20, 19 bytes Memory Device Mapped Address Starting Address: 0x00000000000 Ending Address: 0x0001FFFFFFF Range Size: 512 MB Physical Device Handle: 0x000A Memory Array Mapped Address Handle: 0x000C Partition Row Position: 2 Interleave Position: 2 Interleaved Data Depth: 2 Handle 0x000E, DMI type 32, 20 bytes System Boot Information Status: Handle 0x000F, DMI type 126, 4 bytes Inactive Handle 0x0010, DMI type 127, 4 bytes End Of Table Handle 0x0011, DMI type 127, 4 bytes End Of Table

How to Keep Hardware Clock in Local Time

If you dual boot or multiple boot different systems (Linux/Windows), you should keep your system clock in local time meaning you want to disable UTC; otherwise, the clock will be inconsistent between different systems.

Fedora/Red Hat systems:

newemachine# vi /etc/sysconfig/clock

Change 'True' to 'False' in the line where it says 'UTC=True'

Ubuntu/Debian Systems:

newemachine# vi /etc/default/rcS

Change 'yes' to 'no' in the line where it says 'UTC=yes'

Reference

Have fun experimenting with RAID

If your kernel compiled with RAID support and your system supports RAID, the /proc/mdstat exists

[shanren@newemachines ~]$ cat /proc/mdstat Personalities : unused devices:

I have reserved two equal-sized unformatted partitions

[shanren@newemachines ~]$ egrep '(sda4|sdb3|blocks)' /proc/partitions major minor #blocks name 8 4 9052627 sda4 8 19 9052627 sdb3

Let's grab mdadm--RAID administration tool

[root@newemachines shanren]# yum -y install mdadm Loading "installonlyn" plugin Setting up Install Process Parsing package install arguments fedora 100% |=========================| 2.1 kB 00:00 Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package mdadm.i386 0:2.6.2-4.fc7 set to be updated Dependencies Resolved ============================================================================= Package Arch Version Repository Size ============================================================================= Updating: mdadm i386 2.6.2-4.fc7 updates 817 k Transaction Summary ============================================================================= Install 0 Package(s) Update 1 Package(s) Remove 0 Package(s) Total download size: 817 k Downloading Packages: (1/1): mdadm-2.6.2-4.fc7. 100% |=========================| 817 kB 00:11 Running Transaction Test Finished Transaction Test Transaction Test Succeeded Running Transaction Updating : mdadm ######################### [1/2] Cleanup : mdadm ######################### [2/2] Updated: mdadm.i386 0:2.6.2-4.fc7 Complete!

I want to construct RAID 1 with two partitions on separate hard drives and format it with ext3 file system

[root@newemachines shanren]# /sbin/mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md0 --level=raid1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/sda4 /dev/sdb3 mdadm: size set to 9052544K mdadm: array /dev/md0 started. [root@newemachines shanren]# /sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/md0 mke2fs 1.39 (29-May-2006) Filesystem label= OS type: Linux Block size=4096 (log=2) Fragment size=4096 (log=2) 1133440 inodes, 2263136 blocks 113156 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user First data block=0 Maximum filesystem blocks=2319450112 70 block groups 32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group 16192 inodes per group Superblock backups stored on blocks: 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632 Writing inode tables: done Creating journal (32768 blocks): done Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done This filesystem will be automatically checked every 32 mounts or 180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.

Checking the status of building the RAID

[root@newemachines shanren]# cat /proc/mdstat Personalities : [raid1] md0 : active raid1 sdb3[1] sda4[0] 9052544 blocks [2/2] [UU] [==========>..........] resync = 50.0% (4530496/9052544) finish=5.0min speed=15035K/sec unused devices: [root@newemachines shanren]# cat /proc/mdstat Personalities : [raid1] md0 : active raid1 sdb3[1] sda4[0] 9052544 blocks [2/2] [UU] unused devices:

Mount the RAID

[root@newemachines shanren]# mkdir /mnt/raid [root@newemachines shanren]# mount -t ext3 -v /dev/md0 /mnt/raid /dev/md0 on /mnt/raid type ext3 (rw)

Create the configuration file for mdadm so I can assemble the created array easily later on. I use mdadm with --detail option to obtain the detailed array information and add that information to /etc/mdadm.conf. My final mdadm.conf is shown.

[root@newemachines shanren]# /sbin/mdadm --detail --scan ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=00c674c9:04162ff3:124ba3d9:31646810 [root@newemachines ~]# cat /etc/mdadm.conf DEVICE /dev/sda4 /dev/sdb3 ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=00c674c9:04162ff3:124ba3d9:31646810 devices=/dev/sda4,/dev/sdb3

Should we check how well RAID 1 perform?

[root@newemachines shanren]# ls -lh debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso |cut -d" " -f5 159M [root@newemachines shanren]# time cp debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso Desktop/ real 0m0.720s user 0m0.018s sys 0m0.629s [root@newemachines shanren]# time cp debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso /mnt/raid/ real 0m0.697s user 0m0.019s sys 0m0.613s [root@newemachines shanren]# ls -lh F-7-i386-DVD.iso |cut -d" " -f5 2.8G [root@newemachines shanren]# time cp F-7-i386-DVD.iso Desktop/ real 3m18.350s user 0m0.422s sys 0m14.498s [root@newemachines shanren]# time cp F-7-i386-DVD.iso /mnt/raid/ real 7m14.209s user 0m0.453s sys 0m13.556s

As the file size increases, the overhead of RAID 1 becomes quite noticeable.

I would like to see if RAID 1 does what it is supposed to do--Mirroring

[root@newemachines shanren]# umount /dev/md0 [root@newemachines shanren]# /sbin/mdadm --stop /dev/md0 mdadm: stopped /dev/md0 [root@newemachines shanren]# mkdir /mnt/raiddevice0 /mnt/raiddevice1 [root@newemachines ~]# mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/raiddevice0 [root@newemachines ~]# mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/raiddevice1 [root@newemachines ~]# md5 /mnt/raiddevice0/F-7-i386-DVD.iso 355bdb01b0268a4bb7c757f2737dcf7c /mnt/raiddevice0/F-7-i386-DVD.iso [root@newemachines ~]# md5 /mnt/raiddevice1/F-7-i386-DVD.iso 355bdb01b0268a4bb7c757f2737dcf7c /mnt/raiddevice1/F-7-i386-DVD.iso

Obviously, it does because the md5 of the files written to two RAID devices is the same

Let's clean it up...

[root@newemachines ~]# umount /mnt/raiddevice0 /mnt/raiddevice1 [root@newemachines ~]# rmdir /mnt/raiddevice0 /mnt/raiddevice1 [root@newemachines shanren]# /sbin/mdadm --assemble --verbose /dev/md0 mdadm: looking for devices for /dev/md0 mdadm: /dev/sda4 is identified as a member of /dev/md0, slot 0. mdadm: /dev/sdb3 is identified as a member of /dev/md0, slot 1. mdadm: added /dev/sdb3 to /dev/md0 as 1 mdadm: added /dev/sda4 to /dev/md0 as 0 mdadm: /dev/md0 has been started with 2 drives.

Reference: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

Quick way to find out what types of file systems you can under FreeBSD on your machine

Open a terminal and run:

ls /sbin/mount_*

The following tells the kinds of file systems I can mount under my FreeBSD such as ntfs, ext2fs(linux ext2, ext3 file systems) and etc.

newemachine# ls /sbin/mount_* /sbin/mount_cd9660 /sbin/mount_mfs /sbin/mount_procfs /sbin/mount_devfs /sbin/mount_msdosfs /sbin/mount_reiserfs /sbin/mount_ext2fs /sbin/mount_nfs /sbin/mount_std /sbin/mount_fdescfs /sbin/mount_nfs4 /sbin/mount_udf /sbin/mount_linprocfs /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_umapfs /sbin/mount_linsysfs /sbin/mount_nullfs /sbin/mount_unionfs

Say, now I plug in a USB drive have two slices. The first slice da0s1 is a NTFS file system and the second slice da0s2 is an ext3 file system. I can mount them as follows:

newemachine# mount -t ntfs /dev/da0s1 /media newemachine# mount -t ext2fs /dev/da0s2 /mnt

How to Add Startup Programs (Linux & FreeBSD)

This applies to different desktop managers (XDM, GDM, and KDM)

newemachine$ vi ~/.xsession

then put your commands to the following in the file

#!/bin/sh gnome-terminal & exec /usr/bin/gnome-session

This runs gnome-terminal after you log into a Gnome session. You can substitute 'gnome-terminal' with other commands that you want to run. 'exec /usr/bin/gnome-session' is required here; otherwise, as soon as starting gnome-terminal process finishes, you will be taken back to the log in window. The directory of window managers such as Gnome varies from distribution to distribution. If you run a different window manager, you want to change '/usr/bin/gnome-session' accordingly.

newemachine$ chmod u+x ~/.xsession

.xsession has to be executable to get this working.

Learning FreeBSD

How to Install a FreeBSD Application

• install pre-compiled applications

newemachine# pkg_add -r bash

The above command installs precompiled Bash application.


• install ports

newemachine# cd /usr/ports/www/bash newemachine# make install clean

The above command download necessary source pre, then compile and install it.

How to find a FreeBSD Application

• Option 1: (If you know the exact application name)

newemachine# whereis xclock xclock: /usr/local/bin/xclock /usr/share/man/man1/xclock.1.gz /usr/ports/x11/xclock



• Option 2:

newemachine# cd /usr/ports newemachine# make search name=xclock Port: xclock-1.0.2 Path: /usr/ports/X11/xclock Info: Analog and digital clock for X .......

How to Give User Superuser Privilege

• allow a user to sudo

newemachine# pkg_add -r sudo newemachine# /usr/local/sbin/visudo


then add the following line after 'root ALL=(ALL) ALL'


shawn ALL=(ALL) ALL

this gives user shawn the superuser privilege


• allow a user to su

newemachine# vi /etc/group

then add change 'wheel:*:0:root' to 'wheel:*:0:root,shawn', this adds user shawn to the wheel group which have the superuser privilege.

How to Configure X

• create a X server configuration file

newemachine# Xorg -configure



• test newly created configuration file

newemachine# X -config /root/xorg.conf.new

If you see a gray screen with x mouse cursor, then X is running ok. Now Ctrl + Alt + Backspace to exit X


• fine-tune X configuration

newemachine# mv /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf


Move tested configuration to the system-wide configuration directory

newemachine# vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf


Under Section "Screen", add a line DefaultDepth 24 after the line where it says Monitor "Monitor0"
then under SubSection "Display", add a line Modes "1024x768" (#change to your own screen resolution) after the line where it says Depth 24

newemachine# startx

start the X server!

How to Configure Sound Card

• load a set of common sound device drivers

newemachine# kldload snd_driver



• test loaded sound card driver

newemachine# cat /dev/sndstat

You will see something similar to the following:


FreeBSD Audio Driver (newpcm)
Installed devices:
pcm0:  at io 0xffa7f800, 0xffa7f400 irq 17 bufsz 16384 kld snd_ich (1p/1r/0v channels duplex default)

This means that my actual sound card driver is snd_ich; therefore, I can load snd_ich instead of snd_driver.


newemachine# kldload snd_ich



• load modules at boot

newemachine# vi /boot/loader.conf


add snd_ich_load="YES" to the file

OSes

Too many operating systems to choose from? Or you only use Windows? Read on:
--> Plain English: FreeBSD vs Linux vs Windows
--> Kernel Talk: A Comparison of Solaries, Linux, and FreeBSD Kernels