Ubuntu Guide For Windows Users: Display And Generate System Hardware Information

As all Windows users know, running Device Manager will give you an overview of all installed hardware on your System. Ubuntu also includes a Device Manager utility (located at System \ Preferences \ Hardware Information) which is very similar to Windows Device Manager.

One common feature missing in both Windows and Ubuntu Device Manager versions, is the capability to generate a summary report. Fortunately there is another tool available that provides greater detail of hardware information, with two added features: Summary and Benchmark reporting.

The utility, Hardinfo will gather information about your system's hardware and operating system, perform benchmarks, and generate printable reports either in HTML or plain text formats.

To install, open a Terminal window by clicking on Applications \ Accessories \ Terminal from the panel.

At the command prompt enter the following:

sudo apt-get install hardinfo

When prompted, enter your password. After installation has completed, click on Applications \ System Tools \ Hardinfo.

Right off the bat, Hardinfo provides a complete summary of your Ubuntu system and hardware setup.

Two main categories exist. Computer which provides high level system information such as Operating System, Kernel, Filesystems, Network Interface and Devices which gathers hardware device information such as Processor, Memory, USB and Storage.

A feature missing in Device Manager is the capability to generate a report. Just click on the Generate Report icon in the toolbar…

…and Firefox will open, displaying the report that you can save or print.

Hardinfo can also perform a benchmark of your System and compare it against Intel and Power PC systems.

Six benchmark tests are available which includes CPU Zlib, Fibonacci, MD5, SHA1, Blowfish and FPU Raytracing. Unfortunately I could not run Zlib benchmark (it produced an error) and it appears to be a known bug with the utility.

Hardinfo is a great utility to add in your toolbox, that fills in the gaps where Device Manager misses, and provides a detailed System report (including benchmarks) that can be useful if you ever need to rebuild your System.