- Check BIOS Version in Ubuntu Linux – Command
- Check BIOS Version in Linux
- How to know the motherboard BIOS version using the command line
- 4 Answers 4
- How to check the BIOS version or name in Linux through a command prompt? [closed]
- 3 Answers 3
- How to Get BIOS Version Information in Linux
- Get BIOS Version Only
- Get All BIOS Information
- SMBIOS DMI Types
- Conclusion
Check BIOS Version in Ubuntu Linux – Command
BIOS is a firmware interface between a computer’s hardware and the operating system and like any software, it can be updated.
Knowing the BIOS version can tell you if you have the most up-to-date version of the BIOS or it has to be updated.
This note shows how to check the BIOS version in Ubuntu Linux from the command-line, though these commands should work for the other Linux systems as well.
Cool Tip: How to create a swap file in Linux! Read more →
Check BIOS Version in Linux
In Linux, to get the complete information about the computer’s BIOS from the command-line, use the dmidecode command:
$ sudo dmidecode -t bios -q --- BIOS Information Vendor: American Megatrends Inc. Version: UX31A.219 Release Date: 06/14/2013 Address: 0xF0000 Runtime Size: 64 kB ROM Size: 6144 kB Characteristics: PCI is supported BIOS is upgradeable BIOS shadowing is allowed 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) ACPI is supported USB legacy is supported Smart battery is supported BIOS boot specification is supported Targeted content distribution is supported UEFI is supported BIOS Revision: 4.6 BIOS Language Information Language Description Format: Long Installable Languages: 1 en|US|iso8859-1 Currently Installed Language: en|US|iso8859-1
To check the BIOS version only, you can run the dmidecode command as follows:
$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version --- UX31A.219
How to know the motherboard BIOS version using the command line
How can get the BIOS version of my motherboard? The command dmidecode gives you some information about the BIOS, but I can’t find what I need. I tried dmidecode command before asking and I didn’t find what I needed — I want only the BIOS version and nothing else in the output.
Please make sure your question accurately reflects what you are looking for. In this case, you appearently are looking for a way to print only the BIOS version instead of all the information including the BIOS version.
@drc I state that. Read the question again please i just say i want the bios version and i state that i use dmidecode but i can’t find the version
Finding the BIOS version is as easy as looking for the string Version in the BIOS Information block, as multiple answers said. If you are looking for a way to print only this version string, say so.
4 Answers 4
Using dmidecode (of course), but the problem was with the result.
I don’t want to list block result about my bios I just need the version..
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
The output will just print the version:
Also, from the dmidecode man page: «Note: on Linux, most of these strings can alternatively be read directly from sysfs, typically from files under /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id. Most of these files are even readable by regular users.» So it seems you can do cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_version or even cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_* without the need for sudo .
@Maythux is wrong. I ran Avinash’s command on my PC and it does indeed show the BIOS version. I can even use vim-like commands, so I’d say it’s better than Maythux’s answer.
dmidecode usually returns, amongst other things, a block with information about your BIOS. It should look something like this:
BIOS Information Vendor: American Megatrends Inc. Version: 0309 Release Date: 04/18/2013 Address: 0xF0000 Runtime Size: 64 kB ROM Size: 8192 kB Characteristics: PCI is supported APM is supported BIOS is upgradeable BIOS shadowing is allowed 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) ACPI is supported USB legacy is supported BIOS boot specification is supported Targeted content distribution is supported UEFI is supported BIOS Revision: 4.6
The information here includes both version and BIOS revision. If dmidecode does not include that data on your machine, I’m afraid you will have to reboot and actually look at the BIOS.
How to check the BIOS version or name in Linux through a command prompt? [closed]
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I want to retrieve the current BIOS version and name while working on the terminal. What could be the commands to find it?
3 Answers 3
BIOS version is exposed through the SMBIOS tables. On Linux, we can access this with dmidecode (which requires root privileges to run).
To show only BIOS information, use -t bios to specify that we only want to see entries of the type BIOS, and -q to silence unnecessary output.
# dmidecode -t bios -q BIOS Information Vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD Version: 6.00 Release Date: 02/22/2012 Address: 0xE72C0 Runtime Size: 101696 bytes ROM Size: 64 kB Characteristics: ISA is supported PCI is supported . BIOS Revision: 4.6 Firmware Revision: 0.0
To get just the BIOS version information, use -s to specify certain strings:
# dmidecode -s bios-vendor Phoenix Technologies LTD # dmidecode -s bios-version 6.00 # dmidecode -s bios-release-date 02/22/2012
How to Get BIOS Version Information in Linux
If you want to get BIOS version under your Linux systems, and you can use a Linux command called dmidecode. It is a tool for dumping a computer’s DMI (some say SMBIOS) table contents in a human-readable format.
Get BIOS Version Only
If you want only to get BIOS Version for your Linux Operating systems from command line, and you can issue the following command:
$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
devops@devops:~$ sudo dmidecode [sudo] password for devops: # dmidecode 3.1 Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs. SMBIOS 2.5 present. 10 structures occupying 449 bytes. Table at 0x000E1000. Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes BIOS Information Vendor: innotek GmbH Version: VirtualBox Release Date: 12/01/2006 Address: 0xE0000 Runtime Size: 128 kB ROM Size: 128 kB Characteristics: ISA is supported PCI is supported Boot from CD is supported Selectable boot is supported 8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h) CGA/mono video services are supported (int 10h) ACPI is supported Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes System Information Manufacturer: innotek GmbH Product Name: VirtualBox Version: 1.2 Serial Number: 0 UUID: 098C043A-4252-4AF9-A54F-BB400B7635EA Wake-up Type: Power Switch SKU Number: Not Specified Family: Virtual Machine Handle 0x0008, DMI type 2, 15 bytes Base Board Information Manufacturer: Oracle Corporation Product Name: VirtualBox Version: 1.2 Serial Number: 0 Asset Tag: Not Specified Features: Board is a hosting board Location In Chassis: Not Specified Chassis Handle: 0x0003 Type: Motherboard Contained Object Handles: 0 Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 13 bytes Chassis Information Manufacturer: Oracle Corporation Type: Other Lock: Not Present Version: Not Specified Serial Number: Not Specified Asset Tag: Not Specified Boot-up State: Safe Power Supply State: Safe Thermal State: Safe Security Status: None Handle 0x0007, DMI type 126, 42 bytes Inactive Handle 0x0005, DMI type 126, 15 bytes Inactive Handle 0x0006, DMI type 126, 28 bytes Inactive Handle 0x0002, DMI type 11, 7 bytes OEM Strings String 1: vboxVer_6.0.8 String 2: vboxRev_130520 Handle 0x0008, DMI type 128, 8 bytes OEM-specific Type Header and Data: 80 08 08 00 41 77 1B 00 Handle 0xFEFF, DMI type 127, 4 bytes End Of Table
devops@devops:~$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version VirtualBox
From the above outputs, the current BIOS version is VirtualBox.
Get All BIOS Information
If you only want to get All BIOS related information from dmidecode command, and you can issue the following command:
devops@devops:~$ sudo dmidecode --type bios # dmidecode 3.1 Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs. SMBIOS 2.5 present. Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes BIOS Information Vendor: innotek GmbH Version: VirtualBox Release Date: 12/01/2006 Address: 0xE0000 Runtime Size: 128 kB ROM Size: 128 kB Characteristics: ISA is supported PCI is supported Boot from CD is supported Selectable boot is supported 8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h) CGA/mono video services are supported (int 10h) ACPI is supported
SMBIOS DMI Types
The SMBIOS specification defines the following DMI types:
Type Information ──────────────────────────────────────────── 0 BIOS 1 System 2 Baseboard 3 Chassis 4 Processor 5 Memory Controller 6 Memory Module 7 Cache 8 Port Connector 9 System Slots 10 On Board Devices 11 OEM Strings 12 System Configuration Options 13 BIOS Language 14 Group Associations 15 System Event Log 16 Physical Memory Array 17 Memory Device 18 32-bit Memory Error 19 Memory Array Mapped Address 20 Memory Device Mapped Address 21 Built-in Pointing Device 22 Portable Battery 23 System Reset 24 Hardware Security 25 System Power Controls 26 Voltage Probe 27 Cooling Device 28 Temperature Probe 29 Electrical Current Probe 30 Out-of-band Remote Access 31 Boot Integrity Services 32 System Boot
So if you want to get Base Board Information in your Linux system, and you can get one DMI type called “Baseboard” from the above list, and then run the following dmidecode command:
$ sudo dmidecode --type Baseboard
devops@devops:~$ sudo dmidecode --type Baseboard # dmidecode 3.1 Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs. SMBIOS 2.5 present. Handle 0x0008, DMI type 2, 15 bytes Base Board Information Manufacturer: Oracle Corporation Product Name: VirtualBox Version: 1.2 Serial Number: 0 Asset Tag: Not Specified Features: Board is a hosting board Location In Chassis: Not Specified Chassis Handle: 0x0003 Type: Motherboard Contained Object Handles: 0
If you want to get more information about dmidecode command, and you can run the following command to get it manual pager, type:
Conclusion
You should know that how to use dmidecode tool to get information about your Linux system’s BIOS.