List of Linux Hardware and System Monitoring Tools

• dmidecode
• hwinfo
• lscpu
• lshw
• lspci (lspci -v | grep -A 10 for graphics driver info)
• lsblk
• blkid (Like lsblk, but gives UUID without extra params required)
• /proc/cpuinfo
• /proc/meminfo
• free -m
• hdparm -i /dev/sdX
• hdparm -Tt /dev/sdX (Quick hard drive read speed test)
• df -h Disk usage on mounted drives
• du -h -d1 (Disk usage from current dir down, but only output one level)
• mount -l (Show all mount points, also cat /proc/mounts)
• top
• iotop / iostat
• jenttop / iptraf
• netstat

Prebuilt Computers: Understanding Prices to Protect Yourself as a Consumer

If you're in the market for a new computer and can't build it yourself, it pays to understand a bit about the parts that go into a computer, and what the going rate is for the parts in any particular machine you might be looking at buying.

Buying a pre-built computer is fine if you choose the right one. They often come with sub-standard parts — particularly in important areas like the power supply — but you can find good options. Shops tend to charge anywhere from $50 upwards of $200 for putting it together, with $100 being about average.

Some shops border on the ridiculous though. As an example, here is an advertisement on gumtree for a pre-built computer (google cache link in case the ad disappears). Here's a list of the parts included in the computer, with approximate "going rate" prices for each of the parts that can be purchased locally in South Australia:

• CPU: Intel i3 6100 $160
• Motherboard: unknown, assume middling H110 $90
• RAM: 8GB DDR4 2133MHz $50
• HDD: WD 1TB $70
• ODD: DVD-RW $20
• Case: Coolermaster K282 $60
• PSU: Corsair VS350 $50
• OS: Win 10 Home $140

That comes to $640. The price being asked? $1149! That's nearly double the retail price of the parts, or a build fee of $500.

That's a very expensive deal. Don't get caught with stuff like this.

What Can Twenty Bucks Buy You These Days?

What can $20 buy you these days? In the second hand "box of random IT stuff" department, it seems like quite a lot.

I'd been looking around for a cheap low profile graphics card for a while to get an old PC up and running again. Eventually found one offered on the much-maligned-but-often-useful^† site gumtree.

I found a guy listing a GT220 along with a box of "random stuff" for $20. So I went to pick it up, and was amazed at what I found in this treasure trove. Among the items (keep in mind I really only wanted to graphics card) I discovered:

• The GT220 graphics card (of course)
• USB TV tuner with aerial and coax adapter
• Brand new unopened Display Port cable
• DVI and VGA cables and adapters
• PCI wireless card (54Mbps — old and slow, but whatever)
• SATA/Molex adapter cables
• Case fan and other 3/4-pin fan adapters
• Coax splitter and cable
• AEC power cables
• Various USB adapters and extenders
• RJ45 network cables
• Modem/telephony/RJ11 cables and adapters
• A smattering of modular power supply cables (from an unknown power supply ;)
• IDE cables (blastus from the pastus)
• A whole bunch of audio cables
• A whole bunch of audio adapter like 3.5mm <-> 6.5mm adapters)
• A UPS (wtf?). Probably bad battery, but still
• A label maker (again...wtf?)
• Random RAM sticks of various (old and most likely useless) denominations
• A whole bunch of other stuff I couldn't even identify

The trove...some of it at least, already nabbed the best parts

Now, I probably won't ever use much from this smorgasbord of geek hardware wet dream. The funny thing is that many of the parts — like the DP cable, coax cable, USB tuner, USB extension, coax splitters, etc. — I've actually bought previously. So I know they're useful. Just don't know if they'll be useful to me again. Pot luck at its best though!

_{† Maligned because while you get the occasional good transaction (like I did in this case) you also get a lot of time wasters, low-ballers, overpriced, over-bearing, clueless kind of people on both the buyer and seller side.}

How to Choose a Replacement Socket 1155 Motherboard

In another what I assume is a soon-to-be-deleted superuser question, due to the affectations of the moderator squad there, a user asked:

"I have a socket 1155 motherboard (P67 chipset with i5-2400) that died. What do I need to consider for a replacement?"

Here's my answer (extended a little here to try and cover all bases), in case it helps anyone else going through the same process:

The i5-2400 will work with pretty much any socket 1155 motherboard, so you can look at the boards that were released with SandyBridge CPUs — for example, H61, H67, Z68 — as well as those that were released for IvyBridge CPUs, such as B75, H77, Z77.

Most board manufacturers have a CPU compatibility list for each board, so if you find a particular board, you should be able to confirm by searching for the make/model.

Given that they're not made any more, finding a "good" replacement might be tricky. As long as the motherboard has all the ports and sockets you need, it should do the job. In the general case, some of the factors that should be considered:

• What sized case do you have? Physical size is imperative: An ATX motherboard won't fit in a micro-ATX sized case, for example. A board that is otherwise suitable must fit the case, otherwise it is pointless to consider it.
• Number of and/or combination of PCI and PCIe slots required. All current motherboards have at least one PCIe x16 slot for a graphics card, and keep in mind that most graphics card take up at least two slots.
• Number of RAM slots required. Some low-end boards only have 2 RAM slots — if you have more sticks than that it might mean you either have to reduce your amount of RAM, or buy a new kit with larger size per stick.
• Number of SATA ports. Most drives (hard drives, DVDs, and SSDs) around in the socket 1155 timeframe used SATA as the connector type. Make sure the motherboard has enough SATA ports for all your drives.
• Number of USB ports required. In addition the ports on the motherboard, consider what USB ports your case has. Any USB 3 ports will most likely require a USB 3 header on the motherboard, which are physically different sizes to USB 2 headers.
• Number and type of onboard graphics ports. If not using a dedicated GPU, consider what types of onboard graphics connectors you need.
• Number of fan headers. Required for case fans
• Chipset matching to avoid confusing your operating system. You may want to attempt to match the existing board — by chipset and/or manufacturer — in order to reduce the risk of your operating system from "rejecting" the change.
• Overclocking support. If overclocking with a 'K' CPU, choose a 'Z' chipset

Most DDR3 RAM will work with any board, but you can also try and confirm RAM compatibility either with the motherboard or RAM manufacturer's compatibility lists.

The i5-2400 which has limited overclocking potential is a little easier to source a replacement that for an overclockable 'K' CPU. In the latter case, the Z68 or Z77 boards are the best choice as they support overclocking.

2nd hand is most likely a cost-effective option if you can find one. Some socket 1155 boards are still available at online stores, so you could check Newegg, Amazon, and similar places. Alternatively, you could call a few local computers stores to see if by chance they've got old stock.

As an example of the process: here's a listing for the Gigabyte B75M-D3H at Amazon. The CPU support list shows that the i5-2400 is supported. It has 4 RAM slots, and after the GPU is in will have a PCI and PCIe slot free. It is only micro-ATX sized, so should fit all but the smallest cases.

When replacing, if you change the make and model of the board, you may have difficulty booting your OS with the updated board. This depends what OS you're using, and how different the replacement board is as far as drivers go. Windows traditionally hates hardware being replaced, and may refuse to boot; if you were using, say, Linux it would most likely just work. So keep that in mind that some recovery — or worst-case, a reinstall — of the OS might be required. Finding an exact model motherboard should avoid this issue; finding a similar chipset should reduce the risk of boot issues (but licensing issues may still need to be dealt with).

During the replacement process, after removing the heatsink, clean existing thermal paste from the CPU and heatsink using isopropyl alcohol. Reapply fresh paste before putting the cooler back on the CPU when it's installed in the new motherboard.

_{(As an aside, confirming that a motherboard fault is the problem — and not something else like a dead power supply — is a worthwhile activity to go through first).}