[HowTo] Provide System Information

[cscs]

This tutorial is superseded by this one. Remember all Tutorials are wiki posts that can be edited by TL3 (Trust Level 3) members and above.

[HowTo] Find system information

Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆ Rather than providing the commercial reference of a computer or piece of hardware, it is usually better to directly ask the system to describe itself. On top of saving time to everyone, this also often provides more details, including something specific to the running system. Below is a (not exhaustive) list of commands for retrieving system information. If you don’t know how to use those commands, or how to provide them to support, see: [HowTo] Use the terminal / TTY …

Welcome to Manjaro!

To allow all of us helpful people on this forum TO HELP YOU, we need some basic information about your system. This probably means you described the symptoms of your problem, but now we need some more information to know where the origin of your issue is exactly.

Someone else probably linked you to this tutorial, so if you’re reading this in response to a question, please click the link above this text to bring you to the full and unabridged text of the tutorial.

---

If you can read this line, you’re all set, and you already are where you need to be!

Please click the  ► at the beginning of the section below this text which is appropriate for you.

I'm really new to both this forum software and Linux in general, please hold my hand!

It’s OK to be new!

1. If you don’t know the importance of posting text instead of images, Please read this first and then continue reading below.

2. Regardless of your problem, always do the following:

   • Go to the Manjaro forum home page

   • Choose the correct category

   • Create a new topic

   • Describe the symptoms of your issue succinctly simply and shortly.

   • Go to a terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T, or by going to your start menu and look for something called Konsole or Console or xterm and click on it.

   • Maximise that black screen (that’s “the terminal”)

   • If you’re on a non-English version of Manjaro, copy-paste the following:

     export LANG=C
     

     and then press Enter

   • Copy-paste the following:

     inxi --full --admin --filter --width
     

     • Please note that by hovering over the above text, a small icon will appear at the end of a single line or at the top right of multiple lines of text.
     • Clicking that icon takes care of the copy part already, so you just have to paste it into the terminal by right-clicking on it and choosing Paste.
     • Personally Identifiable Information like serial numbers and MAC addresses will be filtered out by the above command.

   • Press Enter to execute the command

   • Now go back to your question and type 3 backticks `

   • Select, and copy-paste the full output of the inxi command FROM the terminal TO BELOW those 3 backticks

   • End the output with another set of 3 backticks.
     (your output is now correctly formatted to allow us to help you more efficiently)

     ```
     text
     ```

   • End your post with an actual question like:

     • What should I do now?
     • How should I proceed?

Your question should look something like this now:

My flux capacitor is discharging at 10 Kilo-Cochranes per second and I don’t know why.
This is my inxi output:

System:
  Kernel: 5.10.15-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10-x86_64 
  root=UUID=9b539186-41e9-46f0-a515-1ec6c3544367 rw apparmor=1 
  security=apparmor resume=UUID=18360b04-a96d-4a99-8323-b07717f36a30 
  udev.log_priority=3 zswap.enabled=1 sysrq_always_enabled=1 
  acpi_backlight=vendor 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.20.5 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM 
  Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Predator G9-793 v: V1.13 serial:  
  Chassis: type: 10 serial:  
  Mobo: Acer model: Challenger2_SKS v: V1.13 serial:  UEFI: Insyde 
  v: 1.13 date: 12/04/2017 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 42.3 Wh condition: 44.4/90.0 Wh (49%) volts: 17.3/14.8 
  model: AS15B3N type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: Charging 
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.58 GiB used: 3.13 GiB (20.1%) 
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:
  Info: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-7700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Kaby Lake family: 6 model-id: 9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: DE 
  L2 cache: 6 MiB bogomips: 44817 
  Speed: 3404 MHz min/max: 800/3800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3404 2: 3401 
  3: 3404 4: 3416 5: 3407 6: 3403 7: 3402 8: 3561 
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon art 
  avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush clflushopt cmov constant_tsc cpuid 
  cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est 
  f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht hwp hwp_act_window 
  hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs ida intel_pt invpcid invpcid_single lahf_lm lm 
  mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe mpx msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat 
  pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts 
  rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep smap smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 
  sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_adjust 
  tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt 
  xsaves xtopology xtpr 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
  Type: l1tf 
  mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable 
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
  Type: spec_store_bypass 
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional, 
  IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling 
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP104BM [GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile] 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 460.39 
  alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1be1 
  class ID: 0300 
  Device-2: Chicony HD WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus ID: 1-9:3 
  chip ID: 04f2:b571 class ID: 0e02 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.10 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: 
  loaded: nvidia display ID: :0 screens: 1 
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 128 s-size: 381x211mm (15.0x8.3") 
  s-diag: 436mm (17.1") 
  Monitor-1: DP-4 res: 1920x1080 hz: 75 dpi: 128 size: 382x215mm (15.0x8.5") 
  diag: 438mm (17.3") 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1070/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 460.39 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:a171 
  class ID: 0403 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP104 High Definition Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10f0 
  class ID: 0403 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.15-1-MANJARO 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Bigfoot Networks driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel port: 4000 
  bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 168c:003e class ID: 0280 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac:  
  IP v4:  type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  broadcast:  
  IP v6:  type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  IP v6:  type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: alx v: kernel port: 3000 
  bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 1969:e0a1 class ID: 0200 
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac:  
  Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 Bluetooth 4.0 type: USB driver: btusb 
  bus ID: 1-7:2 chip ID: 0cf3:e300 class ID: e001 
  WAN IP:  
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 Bluetooth 4.0 type: USB driver: btusb 
  v: 0.8 bus ID: 1-7:2 chip ID: 0cf3:e300 class ID: e001 
  Message: Required tool hciconfig not installed. Check --recommends 
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci 
  v: 3.0 port: 5020 bus ID: 00:17.0 chip ID: 8086.282a rev: 31 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.38 TiB used: 949.45 GiB (67.4%) 
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Micron model: 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN 
  size: 238.47 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  rotation: SSD serial:  rev: A020 scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Micron model: 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN 
  size: 238.47 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  rotation: SSD serial:  rev: A020 scheme: GPT 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Toshiba model: MQ01ABD100 
  size: 931.51 GiB block size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  rotation: 5400 rpm serial:  rev: 5J scheme: GPT 
  Message: No Optical or Floppy data was found. 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw size: 48 GiB size: 47 GiB (97.91%) used: 32.57 GiB (69.3%) 
  fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 label: N/A 
  uuid: 9b539186-41e9-46f0-a515-1ec6c3544367 
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw size: 100 MiB size: 96 MiB (96.00%) 
  used: 57.4 MiB (59.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: ESP 
  uuid: 2462-755F 
  ID-3: /home raw size: 111.59 GiB size: 109.34 GiB (97.98%) 
  used: 68.31 GiB (62.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6 label: N/A 
  uuid: b4108631-e051-48d8-b2ff-a1d924a893f0 
  ID-4: /media/Data raw size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%) 
  used: 848.52 GiB (91.1%) fs: ntfs dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 
  label: Fab-Data uuid: 634E43D367B0A4BA 
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache pressure: 75 (default 100) 
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 20 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
  dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7 label: N/A 
  uuid: 18360b04-a96d-4a99-8323-b07717f36a30 
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 16 MiB fs:  
  label: N/A uuid: N/A 
  ID-2: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 48 GiB fs: ntfs label: Acer 
  uuid: 029873F49873E497 
  ID-3: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 size: 1024 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
  uuid: 0EB23063B2305207
  ID-4: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 size: 47.45 GiB fs: ext4 label: N/A
  uuid: 26055107-28cd-457e-9a31-46781de4065d
  ID-5: /dev/sdb3 maj-min: 8:19 size: 156.3 GiB fs: ext4 label: N/A
  uuid: c9dd0f4c-5793-446e-90bb-d10e27bf4922
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 16 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0002 class ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-7:2 info: Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 Bluetooth 4.0 type: Bluetooth
  driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 0cf3:e300
  class ID: e001
  Device-2: 1-9:3 info: Chicony HD WebCam type: Video driver: uvcvideo
  interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 04f2:b571 class ID: 0e02
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 8 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s
  chip ID: 1d6b:0003 class ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-6:2 info: Realtek Card Reader type: Mass Storage
  driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s chip ID: 0bda:0316
  class ID: 0806 serial: 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 61.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 53 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 245 Uptime: 2h 25m wakeups: 5 Init: systemd v: 247 Compilers:
  gcc: 10.2.0 Packages: pacman: 1420 lib: 405 flatpak: 0 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.0
  running in: konsole inxi: 3.3.01

What should I do to ensure my flux capacitor discharges at a normal rate?

I'm scared of the terminal because I once did something stupid under Windows and that totally f@#$! up my system!

The above methodology cannot harm your computer, but we’re not going to fight your phobia so the manjaro-log-helper package can make generating and sharing information even easier:

• Simply go to Add/Remove Software in your menu
• Click the magnifying glass to search
• Type manjaro-log-helper
• Click Install next to the package as per below screenshot:
  
  
  
• Click Apply
• Go back to your menu and click the new application
• and you’ll get something like this:

Please note that posts containing destructive commands like fork bombs and/or other intentionally destructive commands (like dd) will be unlisted and the users who posted them will get a very stern talking to…

I'm not new OR I have hardware errors OR I have boot errors

• Whatever the question is you’re asking:

  • Unless you’re asking in a foreign language section AND if you’re on a non-English version of Manjaro, always, always execute this command:

    export LANG=C
    

    even when the person you’re communication is not asking you to because that will change the language of that particular terminal session to English until you exit it…

  • always, always provide the output of:

    inxi --full --admin --filter --width
    

    even if you think it’s not relevant.

• If you’re asking a question about an application, run it in the terminal first and provide the output enclosed in code formatting (3 ```, see N00b section above)

• If you have display problems, provide xrandr output too.

Examine kernel ring buffer logs for hardware errors

• dmesg is the command you need

  Usage examples:

  sudo dmesg | less
  

  The above uses the | ‘pipe’ command to less so output is scrollable with arrow keys.

  sudo dmesg | grep usb
  

  The above will get info on USB devices

  sudo dmesg --level emerg,alert,crit,err,warn
  

  will only give emergency, alert, critical, error, and warning messages.

Query the SystemD /Journal logs.

The journalctl command queries the SystemD /Journal logs as documented here

Usage examples:

  journalctl --catalog --priority=3 --boot=-1

The flags of the above command correspond to explanatory output, priority level, and which boot to pull logs from.

  journalctl --follow

The above command will allow a continuous refresh of the journal.

Query more logs

The directory /var/log/ contains logs from a number of sources.

Usage examples:

  cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log

The above will print the entire Xorg log (your Window Manager) from the current session.

  less /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old

The above will show the Xorg log from the previous successful session allowing you to use the ↑ ↓ keys on your keyboard

  less /var/log/Xorg.1.log

The above will show the Print Xorg log from after the last suspend.

  cat /var/log/pacman.log

will print the entire pacman (and pamac) log to view package management history.

Please note that this Post is still under construction.
Adapted from original by @anika200

[cscs]

All of them should work fine with something like this:

COMMAND(S) | sed "s/$HOSTNAME/HOST/gI" | sed "s/$USER/USER/gI"

[cscs]

@maycne.sonahoz

condescending

I see the point … but it is supposed to cover ‘how to post’ such as using backticks as well.
Maybe
“How to find and share system information” ?
(or ‘[HowTo]’ … it works better in that case too…)
“[HowTo] Find and Share System Information”

• How To Provide Good Information
• [HowTo] Provide Good Information
• How To Provide System Information
• [HowTo] Provide System Information
• How to Find and Share System Information
• [HowTo] Find and Share System Information

[cscs]

Just so folks know … I am not ignoring this … I am just leaving it up for a while to try and get a better sample. As of this posting there are only 9 voters.

[banjo]

To be honest, as long as it is pinned on top and easy to find, I don’t care what it is named .
Cheers

[cscs]

OK. Well The change is made.

@banjo - it is still pinned.
Though we used to have this in the Support section, pinned (also maybe explains the missing ‘howto’ piece) … and while it is technically better placed in tutorials … I kind of wish it were more obvious when folks were first beginning to write a new help request like in the past…

[banjo]

I kind of wish it were more obvious when folks were first beginning to write a new help request

When I look at Manjaro Linux Forum , just below “rules & notices” there is “introduce yourself”, a more or less useless category, which can simply be replaced/complemented with something like “useful tips,tricks and links for new manjaro users” , filled up with all useful things that are spread all over the forum and wiki.
“Generation smartphone” must have successfully completed its search within 60sec, the attention span is limited.

[_0din]

I tend to agree with your sentiment that a “Newbies Section” or “Beginners Guide” would be a good idea for forum specific question. I tried using the search tool for “Beginners Guide” and “New User” and got no results. A small section with pinned posts that would give some useful tips on how to use the forum. Perhaps things like:

[HowTo] Post a question
[HowTo] Search the forum
[HowTo] Find error messages
[HowTo] Provide system information
[HowTo] Increase your chances of solving your issue

All of these already exist in the tutorials but are buried under many other [HowTo] tutorials.

Information about using Manjaro seems to get lost in the fog too, things like ‘[HowTo] become a manjaro power user when you’re a wizard at windows but a n00b at manjaro linux’

This is just someone own spin on the Manjaro Wiki “Using Manjaro for Windows users” they could have just redirected to Manjaro Wiki and saved the confusion. Redirects like this to Manjaro Wiki and Arch Wiki could help a new user enormously with basic questions.

The argument could be made that people should look there anyway, but like you say, most want an instant no thinking answer. LOL… maybe just one pinned message [HowTo] Use Manjaro.

It would be a big job but could make a good project if someone was willing.

[Yochanan]

@_0din

All of these already exist in the tutorials but are buried under many other [HowTo] tutorials.

How are they buried? They’re currently pinned to the top of Tutorials

[kisun]

Hello @Yochanan,

I agree easily with @_0din. There are lots of good tutorials in these section but sometimes it takes very long to find the right one.

Any subsection could be helpful I think.
For example

• manjaro related - mirrors, pamac, pacman …
• linux related - mount, permissions …
• 3rd party programms related …
• troubleshooting

[JiaZhang]

There are 3 pinned HowTo in #contributions:tutorials:

• [HowTo] Provide System Information
• Tutorial Content Creation Guide
• [HowTo] How do I ask a question?

But I also agree with @_0din and @kisun that it’s still very easy to miss these sections.

The better UI/UX I think is that the moment user enters https://forum.manjaro.org/, the user should somehow easily notice these information and should be enticed to read these first.

[SomeGuy]

I’d have to agree that this info - especially relevant to newcomers - is hard to find and stashed away in a section with a name (contributions) that doesn’t sound like it’s where you’d find introductory tutorial info.

Perhaps a better location would be under “Rules & Notices” or perhaps somewhere near the top of the “Support” category?

In short, noobs (like myself) are the forum users who are least familiar with the layout of topics, so anything closer to the top of the stack and/or more descriptive in category would help.

Regardless, overall this forum is incredibly well-constructed and head and shoulders above most of what’s seen in the broader Linux community.

[_0din]

Thanks for the feedback Yochanan

Yes, it does appear that they are currently pinned to the top of the #contributions:tutorials.

Though I and a few others, very nearly did not find any of it because, as a new user, I wasn’t going to even look at the Contributions section yet because I didn’t think myself ready to contribute. Some might think it unnecessary, but I think that a Beginners Guide/Section covering basics of forum use and etiquette could be very useful as well as make new users feel welcome and create an environment to learn the skill to better engage.

After all, posting to an established community for the first time can be fraught and intimidating especially for new users that are in unfamiliar territory.

[SomeGuy]

@_0din

Though I and a few others, very nearly did not find any of it because, as a new user, I wasn’t going to even look at the Contributions section yet because I didn’t think myself ready to contribute.

Same.

Again, this platform is outstanding. Just a wee bit of constructive-spirited feedback in hopes of helping to further grow this user community.

[matmu]

Can add to tutorial how to export system info if you loggin in terminal mode?

[kisun]

There is still such a tutorial there:

[HowTo] use public command-line pastebin services without installing anything!

Sometimes we might want to easily share terminal output. While this can be accomplished directly in the forums or manually through websites like pastebin, there also exist a number of open services that allow you to paste and share directly from the command line by using tools you already have installed. This is great for many situations, including troubleshooting from a non-graphical boot, or simply very large outputs. Here I will share a few examples and how to use them. Services and Exampl…

[Lando]

Possible newb question, but after reviewing verbosity levels 0-8 as listed in

$ inxi -h

is it ALWAYS necessary for us to give --admin -v 7 --filter information when trying to track down issues?

Won’t it often times just depend on what you’re trying to get diagnosed? I’m just wondering if -v 7 is ever giving out too much information, even with the --filter on? Do you even need to set --admin every time? $ inxi -v 2 -z seems to be a good amount of baseline information.

I’m just trying to understand the privacy aspect of handing out system information is all, as I’m sure many of us migrated to Linux for privacy reasons.

[Fabby]

@Lando

is it ALWAYS necessary for us to give --admin -v 7 --filter information when trying to track down issues?

It’s a one size fits none tutorial, so if you know what you’re doing: provide what you want; however, if you don’t know what you’re doing, please provide as above as that will allow most of us to answer your question…

E.G. one of the things --verbosity=7 does is also provide swap usage and if you have no swap and you’re running OoM, the oomkiller assumes a non-0 swap file…