Can I tell the type of memory I have in my machine without opening it up?

[willz06jw]

Hi and thanks for your help,

I need to buy some more RAM for my old PC. I know there are Windows applications that can tell me the type of RAM I have installed. I am running Ubuntu and I was wondering if there was an alternative that would tell me about the RAM I am using.

Any ideas?

Thanks again for the help,
Will

[mike555]

you could go to ; http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?pid=55&kwd=memory%20ram and put in info ...

[john newbuntu]

Open up a terminal(apps->acc->terminal) and Try:
sudo lshw -html > spec.htm
view the spec.htm file on your browser. Try "man lshw" for other options.

[r m h]

Certainly, but you need to have a good idea of what you are currently using as a computer.

(1) www.4allmemory.com
(2) www.upgradememory.com
(3) www.memory.com
(4) - (99) many other vendor sites
(100) STFI for your mainboard tech specs
(101) Open the computer case and pull one of your existing DIMMs, cross-reference with an internet search

[r m h]

Open up a terminal(apps->acc->terminal) and Try:
sudo lshw -html > spec.htm
view the spec.htm file on your browser. Try "man lshw" for other options.

Uhhhm, if the gentelman/lady is asking the OP question, I don't think something like a typical lshw output:

*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 39
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 12GiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM 1066 MHz (0.9 ns)
product: ModulePartNumber00
vendor: Manufacturer00
physical id: 0
serial: SerNum00
slot: DIMM0
size: 2GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1066MHz (0.9ns)
*-bank:1
description: DIMM 1066 MHz (0.9 ns)
product: ModulePartNumber01
vendor: Manufacturer01
physical id: 1
serial: SerNum01
slot: DIMM1
size: 2GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1066MHz (0.9ns)
*-bank:2
description: DIMM 1066 MHz (0.9 ns)
product: ModulePartNumber02
vendor: Manufacturer02
physical id: 2
serial: SerNum02
slot: DIMM2
size: 2GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1066MHz (0.9ns)
*-bank:3
description: DIMM 1066 MHz (0.9 ns)
product: ModulePartNumber03
vendor: Manufacturer03
physical id: 3
serial: SerNum03
slot: DIMM3
size: 2GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1066MHz (0.9ns)
*-bank:4
description: DIMM 1066 MHz (0.9 ns)
product: ModulePartNumber04
vendor: Manufacturer04
physical id: 4
serial: SerNum04
slot: DIMM4
size: 2GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1066MHz (0.9ns)
*-bank:5
description: DIMM 1066 MHz (0.9 ns)
product: ModulePartNumber05
vendor: Manufacturer05
physical id: 5
serial: SerNum05
slot: DIMM5
size: 2GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1066MHz (0.9ns)

would really be useful to tell the type of memory in his/her machine.

...just saying...

[cascade9]

Yes, lshw wont tell you what type of memory is fitted.I dont know of any linux tools that will (if somebody else does, please post it! :) )

Probably the easiest way to find what memory is in your machine is to check your BIOS ;)

[dandnsmith]

I'm afraid that I've never seen a BIOS display that will show type of RAM installed. The best you can expect is quantity - you may not even get operating speed for the RAM or the number of slots and listing of empty/full.

I'd still have to go with knowing the manufacturer/model of the hardware (PC or motherboard), or using a Windows tool (my favourite is CPU-Z).

[Rubi1200]

If I am not mistaken the following commands in the terminal should bring you further:

hwinfo

lspci

you may need to run them as root i.e.

sudo lspci

Hope this helps.

[bumanie]

If I do sudo lshw it shows DDR2 533 MHz (1.9ns) as below

bank:0
description: SODIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
product: 0x4D342037305432383634515A332D43453620
vendor: 0xCE00000000000000
physical id: 0
serial: 0x836B6735
slot: DIMM0
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)

Maybe try lshw as root - it has lots more details than lshw without root privileges.

[cascade9]

I'm afraid that I've never seen a BIOS display that will show type of RAM installed. The best you can expect is quantity - you may not even get operating speed for the RAM or the number of slots and listing of empty/full.

I'd still have to go with knowing the manufacturer/model of the hardware (PC or motherboard), or using a Windows tool (my favourite is CPU-Z).

I've seen BIOSes that show the RAM type, eg-

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/motherboards/2008/asus-rampage-formula/BIOS_extreme_tweaker.jpg

That wasnt what I meant though, I meant that its easier to just get the manufacturer/model from the BIOS bootscreen, then go from there.

To be honest, for me its a lot easier to just peel the side of the case and check with eyballs than to bother with software. Not everybody is happy to do that though.


If I do sudo lshw it shows DDR2 533 MHz (1.9ns) as below

bank:0
description: SODIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
product: 0x4D342037305432383634515A332D43453620
vendor: 0xCE00000000000000
physical id: 0
serial: 0x836B6735
slot: DIMM0
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)

Maybe try lshw as root - it has lots more details than lshw without root privileges.

I'd run lshw and seen the warning msg "this program should be run as superuser" but never bothered actually doing it.

Heh, thanks ;)

[willz06jw]

Great. sudo lshw worked perfectly for me.

Thanks again,
Will
:popcorn: