What kind of hardware does your Ubuntu computer have?

I got my laptop secondhand, so I wasn’t entirely sure what I had.

The following command not only details my hardware, but creates an HTML (web page) file for reference, which you can then read in a browser like Firefox.

Which is good news for me: turns out there is lots of room for more RAM to make the software work better. A kind of upgrade that’s inexpensive — always a plus — and makes the computer last longer.

That command?

$sudo lshw -html > your-file-name.html

Type (or cut and paste) everything after the $ in a terminal window (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and supply your password.

Note: if you’re not sure what you’re doing, don’t run commands beginning with sudo or su. You can really mess your machine up. And never, ever run “sudo rm -rf” — that’ll wipe you’re computer clean — ’cause it’s a terrible, malicious trap for new Linux user. But this command worked fine for me.

Now to get that RAM . . . .

Hattip to (and at details) Ubuntu Blog.

Published
Categorized as Ubuntu Linux

By Scott Wells

Scott Wells, 46, is a Universalist Christian minister doing Universalist theology and church administration hacks in Washington, D.C.

1 comment

  1. My old ‘beater’ box is a good partner for Ubuntu Linux: Gateway Profile3T (third generation of Gateway’s all-in-one Profile, now called One), 930MHz Intel Pentium 3, 40GB HD, and maximized 512MB RAM. Works very well with XP, and helped me thru grad school, but the computer has been slowing lately and I think the hard drive is slowly dying. Quite looking forward to trying improvements in Intrepid Ibex.

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