101.1: Determining and Configuring Hardware Settings

Tutorial: Determining and Configuring Hardware Settings for LPIC-1 Exam #

Introduction #

In this tutorial, we will cover how to determine and configure fundamental system hardware, an essential skill for the LPIC-1 exam. This includes enabling and disabling integrated peripherals, differentiating between mass storage devices, determining hardware resources, and using various tools to list and manipulate hardware information. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have a strong grasp of the necessary commands and concepts.

Key Knowledge Areas #

1. Enable and Disable Integrated Peripherals #

Enabling/Disabling Integrated Peripherals in BIOS/UEFI #

Integrated peripherals, such as onboard audio, network interfaces, and USB controllers, can be enabled or disabled in the system BIOS/UEFI settings. To access these settings:

  1. Reboot your computer.
  2. Press the designated key (often F2, F10, DEL, or ESC) during startup to enter the BIOS/UEFI setup.
  3. Navigate to the appropriate section (usually “Advanced” or “Peripherals”).
  4. Enable or disable the desired peripherals.
  5. Save changes and exit.

2. Differentiate Between Various Types of Mass Storage Devices #

Types of Mass Storage Devices #

  • HDD (Hard Disk Drive): Traditional spinning disk storage.
  • SSD (Solid State Drive): Faster, solid-state storage with no moving parts.
  • NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express): A high-speed SSD that connects directly to the PCIe bus.

3. Determine Hardware Resources for Devices #

Using lspci #

The lspci command lists all PCI devices on the system. It’s useful for identifying hardware resources.

lspci

Example output:

00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Device 9d71 (rev 21)
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (6) I219-V (rev 21)

Using lsusb #

The lsusb command lists all USB devices connected to the system.

lsusb

Example output:

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 04f2:b39a Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd Integrated Camera
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp. Bluetooth wireless interface

4. Tools and Utilities to List Various Hardware Information #

Using lshw #

The lshw command provides detailed information about all hardware components.

sudo lshw

5. Tools and Utilities to Manipulate USB Devices #

Using usb_modeswitch #

The usb_modeswitch tool allows switching USB devices from their default modes to their actual working modes.

sudo usb_modeswitch -v [vendor_id] -p [product_id]

6. Conceptual Understanding of sysfs, udev, and dbus #

  • sysfs: A virtual filesystem that provides a tree of system device information.
  • udev: A device manager for the Linux kernel that handles device nodes in /dev.
  • dbus: A message bus system that allows communication between multiple processes running concurrently on the same machine.

Key Commands and Utilities #

/sys/ #

A virtual filesystem that provides detailed information about the system’s hardware.

Example: Listing all devices:

ls /sys/class

/proc/ #

A virtual filesystem that provides information about processes and system information.

Example: Viewing CPU information:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

/dev/ #

A directory containing device nodes representing hardware devices.

Example: Listing all block devices:

ls /dev

modprobe #

The modprobe command adds or removes modules from the Linux kernel.

Example: Loading a module:

sudo modprobe [module_name]

lsmod #

The lsmod command shows the status of modules in the Linux kernel.

lsmod

lspci #

As mentioned earlier, this command lists all PCI devices.

lspci

lsusb #

As mentioned earlier, this command lists all USB devices.

lsusb

Real-World Examples #

Example 1: Disabling Onboard Audio #

  1. Enter BIOS/UEFI setup during system startup.
  2. Navigate to the “Peripherals” section.
  3. Find “Onboard Audio” and set it to “Disabled”.
  4. Save changes and exit.

Example 2: Identifying an Unknown USB Device #

  1. Connect the USB device to your computer.
  2. Run lsusb to list all connected USB devices.
lsusb
  1. Identify the device from the list using its vendor and product ID.

Example 3: Loading a Kernel Module for a Network Card #

  1. Determine the module name for your network card.
  2. Load the module using modprobe.
sudo modprobe e1000e
  1. Verify the module is loaded using lsmod.
lsmod | grep e1000e

Conclusion #

In this tutorial, we covered how to determine and configure fundamental system hardware for the LPIC-1 exam. We explored enabling and disabling integrated peripherals, differentiating between mass storage devices, determining hardware resources, and using various tools and utilities. With these skills, you should be well-prepared to manage hardware settings on a Linux system.