- How to get all the required BIOS information (name, serial, version, type, etc ..) using Linux

The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is boot firmware, designed to be the first code run by a PC when powered on. The initial function of the BIOS is to identify, test, and initialize system devices such as the video display card, hard disk, floppy disk and other hardware. The BIOS sets the machine hardware into a known state, so that software stored on compatible media can be loaded, executed, and given control of the PC. This process is known as booting, or booting up, which is short for bootstrapping.

dmidecode is a tool for dumping a computer's DMI (some say SMBIOS ) table contents in a human-readable format. This table contains a description of the system's hardware components, as well as other useful pieces of information such as serial numbers and BIOS revision. Thanks to this table, you can retrieve this information without having to probe for the actual hardware.

The DMI table doesn't only describe what the system is currently made of, it also can report the possible evolutions (such as the fastest supported CPU or the maximal amount of memory supported).

Go to terminal and run the command : dmidecode will try to locate the DMI table. If it succeeds, it will then parse this table and display a list of records like this one:

Each record has:
  * A handle. This is a unique identifier, which allows records to reference each other. For example, processor records usually reference cache memory records using their handles.

  * A type. The SMBIOS specification defines different types of elements a computer can be made of.

  * Decoded values. The information presented of course depends on the type of record. Here, we learn about the board's manufacturer, model, version and serial number.

source:http://linuxpoison.blogspot.com/2010/04/13578167759836.html