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I want to get the BIOS version from Linux without going directly to the BIOS.

I mean, is there a way to get the BIOS version from inside Linux?

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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
95

Without superuser privileges

It is as simple as reading the following file:

$ cat /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_version
1.1.3

With superuser privileges

Use dmidecode:

$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
1.1.3

Also, you might have to install this package, which is available in:

  • Linux i386, x86-64, ia64
  • FreeBSD i386, amd64
  • NetBSD i386, amd64
  • OpenBSD i386, amd64
  • BeOS i386
  • Solaris x86
  • Haiku i586
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  • 14
    The /sys/.... approach should be used if possible.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    May 4, 2018 at 14:29
  • I believe dmidecode only works if /dev/mem is available, which isn't the case on modern distros.
    – forest
    May 6, 2018 at 7:04
  • @forest what's modern do you mean? At least it works in my Linux Mint 18.3
    – cuonglm
    May 6, 2018 at 7:58
  • Do you have a readable /dev/mem on that system?
    – forest
    May 6, 2018 at 8:06
  • @forest yes. I don't see any distros with desktop environment don't have /dev/mem
    – cuonglm
    May 6, 2018 at 10:39
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You can use lshw , hwinfo , inxi and hardinfo (DMI):

# lshw -class memory
# hwinfo --bios
$ inxi -M
$ hardinfo

The above command should work after installing them through your package manager.

Only the first answer proposed by @cuonglm allow you the get bios information without installing an additional package:

$ cat /sys/class/dmi/id/bios*

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  • 1
    hwinfo and hardinfo are not installed by default on Linux Mint.
    – Davidw
    May 6, 2018 at 3:59
  • 2
    And none of them are available by default on CentOS 7.
    – Davidw
    May 6, 2018 at 6:34
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I was wandering in /sys folder then I went into /sys/firmware/dmi/tables then got two files DMI and smbios_entry_point. If you read DMI file then in my case first word was LENOVO and second word was BIOS version. I know this is not simple and straight answer but you can get more information regarding your pc from this file.

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3

This is working for me:

sudo dmidecode | grep "BIOS Information" -A10 | grep -e "Version:" -e "Vendor:"
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  • 14
    This sort of text filtering is fragile. Much better to make a specific request for the specific information you want, as shown by cuonglm.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    May 4, 2018 at 11:25
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    will BIOS version is meaning full without vendor name?
    – Siva
    May 7, 2018 at 12:26
  • I don't understand your comment, sorry.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    May 7, 2018 at 12:34

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