Finding Out Power Supply Information With Linux

By Kristen Waters

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The Linux operating system uses the biosdecode utility to get information from the computer's BIOS, such as information about the power supply. This is a command line utility; the utility accesses the information from the DMI (Desktop Management Interface) tables. The "dmidecode" command is used to print the information to the screen. The "dmidecode" command uses a number that corresponds to each item from the DMI table. The number "39" corresponds to the power supply.

Step 1

Open a terminal window. The terminal window is usually found under the "System Tools," "Utilities" or "Accessories" section of the main "Applications" menu.

Step 2

Type the command "su" to switch to the root user. Ubuntu users should type "sudo" before the next command.

Step 3

Type the command "dmidecode --type 39" to find the power supply information.

Step 4

Type the command "exit" to close the root session.

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