Bash-based hardware detection for PCI and USB

DISCOVERY SCRIPTS

Article from Issue 60/2005

Author(s): MIRKO DÖLLE

If you need fast answers for what's inside, you can use a Bash script to obtain an inventory of hardware on your Linux system.

If you operate outside of the mainstream distributions or compile your own Linux system, whether an em-bedded Linux, a rescue system, or just a do-it-yourself distro, you need to solve the issue of finding the right kernel modules for your collection of hardware. Armed with some background know-ledge, you can use almost any programming language to create a system for PCI or USB hardware detection. In this article, I’ll show you a method for obtaining information about devices on your Linux system with a Bash script. Using sysfs or proc, you can find all the information you need about the manufacturer, device, and device class just by asking the kernel.

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