VPDDECODE(8)						      System Manager's Manual						      VPDDECODE(8)

NAME

       vpddecode - VPD structure decoder

SYNOPSIS

       vpddecode [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION

       vpddecode prints the "vital product data" information that can be found in almost all IBM and Lenovo computers. Available items are:

       o BIOS Build ID

       o Box Serial Number

       o Motherboard Serial Number

       o Machine Type/Model

       Some systems have these additional items:

       o BIOS Release Date

       o Default Flash Image File Name

       Note  that  these  additional  items  are not documented by IBM, so this is guess work, and as such should not be blindly trusted. Feedback
       about the accuracy of these labels is welcome.

OPTIONS

       -d, --dev-mem FILE
	      Read memory from device FILE (default: /dev/mem)

       -s, --string KEYWORD
	      Only display the value of the VPD string identified by KEYWORD.  KEYWORD must be a keyword from the following  list:  bios-build-id,
	      box-serial-number,  motherboard-serial-number,  machine-type-model,  bios-release-date.  Each keyword corresponds to an offset and a
	      length within the VPD record.  Not all strings may be defined on all VPD-enabled systems.  If KEYWORD is not provided or not  valid,
	      a  list  of  all	valid keywords is printed and vpddecode exits with an error.  This option cannot be used more than once.  Mutually
	      exclusive with --dump.

       -u, --dump
	      Do not decode the VPD records, dump their contents as hexadecimal instead.  Note that this is still a text output,  no  binary  data
	      will  be	thrown upon you. ASCII equivalent is displayed when possible. This option is mainly useful for debugging.  Mutually exclu-
	      sive with --string.

       -h, --help
	      Display usage information and exit

       -V, --version
	      Display the version and exit

FILES

       /dev/mem

AUTHOR

       Jean Delvare

SEE ALSO

       biosdecode(8), dmidecode(8), mem(4), ownership(8)

dmidecode							   February 2007						      VPDDECODE(8)